Rescue by Kalantaka-Shiva One legend relates the story of how
Shiva, one of the main deities of Hinduism, protected Markandeya from the clutches of death, personified as
Yama. Sage
Mrikanda performed penance to propitiate Shiva for several years and sought from him the boon of begetting a son. Shiva offered him the choice of either a virtuous and pious son who would have a short life, or a dull-witted, malicious child who would have a long life. Mrikanda chose the former, and was blessed with Markandeya, an exemplary son, destined to die at the age of sixteen. Markandeya mastered the
Vedas and the
Shastras and grew up to be a great devotee of Shiva. Learning his fate from his distressed parents shortly before his sixteenth year, he started to engage in severe austerities. On the day of his destined death, he continued his worship of Shiva in the deity's aniconic form of a
lingam. The
messengers of
Yama, the god of death, were unable to take away his life because the power of his devotion to Shiva shielded him against them. Yama came in person to take away Markandeya's life, even as the sage embraced the lingam, crying for help. Yama sprung his noose around the young sage's neck, which also circled the lingam. Angered, Shiva emerged from the lingam, attacking Yama to save his devotee. After slaying Yama, Shiva revived him under the request of the
devas, under the condition that Markandeya remain sixteen years old forever. For this act, Shiva acquired the epithet
kalantaka (destroyer of time and death).
Vision of Pralaya The
Bhagavata Purana describes Markandeya worshipping
Vishnu for six
manvanataras (an age of
Manu). Alarmed by the sage's prowess,
Indra tasked a number of
apsaras,
gandharvas, and the god of love,
Kamadeva, to disrupt his ascetic practice. The celestial beings travelled to the
hermitage of the sage, located on the
Himalayas along the banks of the river Pushpabhadra. The sage remained undisturbed by the songs, dances, and attempts of seduction by the beings, after which they fled. Impressed by Markandeya, Vishnu appeared before him in his form of the sage-brothers
Nara-Narayana. Markandeya extolled the sage-brothers, and requested that he be granted a sight of Vishnu's
maya (illusion), which was granted. One evening, while Markandeya prayed, he experienced a vision of the
pralaya, the dissolution of the universe. A great deluge submerged the earth, destroying all living beings, and the sage found himself being the only creature left alive, thrashed by the waters. Even as the torrent propelled him, the sage observed a
banyan tree, upon whose branch he saw a dazzling baby upon a leaf. Markandeya marvelled at the sight of its wondrous form. Entering the form of the baby, he witnessed the entire universe, the passage of the ages, all living beings, as well as a vision of his own hermitage. Leaving the baby's form and returning to the vision of the pralaya, the sage attempted to hug the baby, knowing it to be Vishnu himself. The baby vanished, and the maya was subsequently dispelled, returning Markandeya back to his hermitage. Even as Markandeya extolled
Vishnu,
Shiva and
Parvati appeared before the sage, and the latter sang their praises. Pleased by the sage, Shiva offered him a boon. The sage asked for the devotees of Vishnu and Shiva to be blessed. Shiva granted this boon, declaring that Markandeya would also be immortal, gain great
religious merit, and also blessed with the authorship of a
Purana. ==Veneration==