Śiva and Umā

Having seen this display of the māyā of Nārāyaṇa, Mārkaṇḍeya took refuge in him. Hari, he said, I have come to your feet, which give fearlessness to all who come. Even the wise are bewildered by your māyā, which looks like knowledge.

Śiva was passing through the sky on his bull with Umā and his attendants, and saw the sage sitting there with his mind held still. Look at this brahmin, my lord, Umā said, with his self and senses and mind held still, like the sea when the wind has dropped and the fish lie quiet. Give his austerity its fruit; you are the giver of fulfilment.

This brahmin sage wants no blessing of any kind, Śiva said, not even release. He has won the highest devotion to the imperishable Lord. Still, let us speak with this good man, for meeting the good is the greatest gain there is.

The sage's mind was so still that he did not know the lord and the goddess had come, nor his own self, nor the world. So Śiva entered by his yoga into the space of the sage's heart, as the wind enters a crack. Mārkaṇḍeya saw Śiva within himself: his matted hair tawny as lightning, three eyes and ten arms, tall, like the rising sun, wearing a tiger skin and carrying trident and bow and drum and skull and sword. In wonder he came out of his meditation and opened his eyes, and there was Śiva with Umā and his attendants, the teacher of the three worlds. He bowed his head and honoured them with welcome, a seat, water for their feet, scents and garlands, incense and lamps. What can we do for you, lord, he said, you whose every wish is already fulfilled?

Śiva laughed and said: Choose a boon from us. Brahmins who are good and peaceful and free from attachment, kind to all creatures, devoted to us alone, without hatred and seeing all alike, are honoured by the guardians of the worlds, and by Brahmā and Hari and me. They see no difference at all between me and Hari and Brahmā, nor between themselves and others. That is why we come to you. Holy waters and images of the gods make a man pure only after a long time; you make him pure by being seen.

Mārkaṇḍeya drank in his words like nectar and was not satisfied. What boon should I choose, he said, better than the sight of you? Still, I ask one thing: unfailing devotion to the Lord, and to those devoted to him, and to you.

Then Śiva, with Umā glad beside him, said: Great sage, all you wish is yours. You will have devotion to the Lord. Your fame will be holy until the end of the age. You will be free of old age and death. You will know past, present and future, and have knowledge and detachment, and shine with holy splendour, and the old stories will be yours to tell. Having given these boons, Śiva went on his way, telling Umā what the sage had seen.