Sage Markandeya & Yamaraj
It was all gloomy in the ashram of sage Mrikanda. He was a great sage. He was the son of the great sage Bhrigu. But he was helpless. His wife Manasvini was also in deep peril. Even after years of marriage they had no offspring. Every day Sage Mrikanda would pray mahadev and ask for a son with teary eyes. " How will I do my duty as a family man, O great god? The duty of a married couple is to give a healthy and educated child to the society so that he can propel the grihastha ashram further. But after years of marriage, our lap is empty till now." With a choked voice the sage asked in front of Shiva lingam. His wife was also sitting by him with wet eyes.
At once the dark puja room got illuminated with the radiant glow of light coming from the lingam. Both duos got blinded with the light. It seemed as if many suns rose up at once. The husband and wife could not believe their eyes. But when the light subsided a figure appeared. Both of them were in tears of exhalation. Bhagwan appeared. The cry of unhappiness was converted to a bliss of enlightenment. " O great sage, ask what you want?" Told bhagwan shiva. The couple caught hold of the feet of Mahadev. " Bhagwan we have only one need. We want a son." Mahadev smiled and said, " O great sage, you are not destined to have a child. But you have made me pleased. So I give you two options. Either you have a child who has a long life but diminished intellect or a child with a limited life span but supreme intellect." Sage Mrikanda was an advanced being. A son with diminished intellect is equivalent to a pet animal. He understood it perfectly. That's why he nodded to the second option. "Tathastu " said bhagwan Shiva and disappeared.
After some days the pious couple had a beautiful boy. The duo were extremely happy. " I will call him Markandeya " said the mother. From birth the child was much more intelligent in comparison to children of his age. He learnt the vedas and Upanishads very easily. At the age of 5 he could defeat the greatest scholars of his time. Like his parents he lost himself in the devotion of Mahadev. Slowly he grew up. He would do meditation for hours. After deep meditation he could know that his life span was only 16 years. Like a heightened sage he continued his devotion without being affected by his short life span. But both his parents were very worried.
Finally the day of his demise came. Early in the morning he got up and went near the shivling. He sat for meditation for hours. When the final moments came, young markandeya sat embracing the lingam and uttered a mantra written by him. Messengers of death couldn't take him because of his devotion to Mahadev. Yamraj came riding his buffalo. When he threw the noose to catch hold of young markandeya, the rope landed on lingam. The boy caught hold of the lingam more tightly and continued his mantra.
Suddenly the earth shook. A white light came out of the lingam. An angry and heavy voice came out of the shrine, "Yamraj, you can't take this boy. Leave him." Suddenly a huge white figure came out of the lingam. He was Maharudra. His eyes were looking like fire. He stood in front of young Markandeya. But Yamraj was determined to take away his victim. He started pulling the noose. This enraged bhagwan Rudra. Within a fraction of a second he threw the all powerful trident towards Yamraj. And Yamraj collapsed at once. Bhagwan Rudra kept his hand with deep affection on the head of young markandeya and said, " long live my son." All Devas gathered and requested bhagwan Shiva to resurrect Yamraj for saving the creation. The all compassionate god smiled and resurrected the Yamraj. " O mighty Yamraj. Let this boy live ever young at the age of 16, " said bhagwan Shiva. Yamraj nodded with acceptance. All Devas blessed sage Markandeya and termed the mantra written by him as Maha Mrityunjay Mantra as he won over death uttering the Mantra. Later sage Markandeya wrote the famous Markandeya puran. From that day another name of Mahadev was Kalantaka. It means he who killed the death itself.
Omm namah shivaya
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