Daksha’s Yajna
Daksha’s daughter was Sati and Sati was married to Shiva. Daksha was thus Shiva’s father-in-law.
Daksha once organized a yajna (sacrifice). To this, he invited all the other gods and the sages. But he did not invite Shiva. Sati went to the sacrifice and was insulted by her father. Thereupon, she immolated herself in the fire of the yajna.
Shiva was stricken with grief. He sent Virbhadra to destroy the yajna. The sacrifice was being held in the foothills of Himalayas, in a place named Kankha. Virabhadra completely destroyed the sacrifice. His companions killed many of gods and the sages, and flung their bodies into the water of the Ganga which flowed nearby. Virabhadra plucked out the eyes of the god Bhaga, smashed the teeth of the god Pusha and gave the moon-god a resounding kick. He sliced off Indra’s head and the arms of the fire-god Agni. As for Vishnu, a mighty battle raged between Virabhadra and Vishnu. But Vishnu more than met his match and had his head cut for his pains. Daksha’s head was also severed by Virabhadra. Sarasvati, the goddess of learning, lost her nose.
Brahma was thunderstruck at all this destruction and started to pray to Virabhadra and Shiva. Shiva was pacified and forgave the gods and the sages. Everything was restored to what it had been prior to Virabhadra beginning his process of destruction.
(The story of Daksha’s yajna is one of the more interesting stories in the Puranans. But like most stories, the Linga Purana treats it cursorily. If you are interested int his story, you should read the Mahabharata or the Bhagavata Purana.)
Parvati
Sati was reborn as Parvati, the daughter of Mena (or Menaka) and the Himalayas. She had two sisters named Ekaparna and Ekapatala, although she was the eldest. Parvati was also known as Aparna.
When Parvati was twelve years old, she began to perform very difficult tapasya so that she might attain Shiva as a husband.
At that time, there was a terrible demon named Tarakasura. He was the son of the demon Tara. Tara himself was so powerful that he managed to defeat all the gods. Fora thousand years Vishnu fought with Tara, but to no avail. Tara simply picked Vishnu up and flung him far away. Finally, Vishnu prayed to Brahma and obtained all sorts of wonderful powers. With these powers, he managed to kill Tara.
But Tarakasura was still around. He defeated the gods and drove them out of heaven. Vishnu fought with Tarakasura for twenty thousand years, but could do nothing to the demon. The gods fled in desperation to Brahma.
“Don’t be so disconsolate,” Brahma assured the gods. “Sati has been reborn as Parvati. She will marry Shiva, and she and Shiva will have a son named kartikeya. He will be your general and will defeat Tarakasura.”
(According to the Shiva Purana, Tarakasura had obtained a boon from Brahma that only Shiva’s son could kill him.)
Meanwhile, Parvati had been meditating so that she might marry Shiva, and Shiva was pleased at these prayers.
The marriage took place amidst a lot of fanfare. The first son to be born was Ganapati, the second was Skanda or Kartikeya.
(More commonly, Skanda is regarded as the elder. The story of how Skanda killed Tarakasura is recounted in the Shiva Purana.)
Upamanyu
There was a boy named Upamanyu who was once taken on a visit to his maternal uncle’s house. Compared to his cousins, Upamanyu got inferior and diluted milk to drink.
He therefore told his mother, “Why can’t I have better milk to drink?’
His mother started to weep. “My son,” she said, “we are poor. We do not have the money to buy you good milk.”
But so insistent was her son, that the mother ground some rice with water and gave it to her son to drink, pretending that it was milk. As soon as he tasted what his mother gave him. Upamanyu realized that it was not milk and began to cry even more profusely.
Finally the mother told the son, “Please do not cry. Unfortunately, we are poor. The only option left for those who suffer from misfortune is to pray to Shiva. Perhaps we are amiss in that we did not pray to Shiva in our earlier lives. Why don’t you pray to Shiva now?”
Upamanyu started to meditate. He built a hermitage in the Himalyas.
Shiva decided to test Upamanyu. He appeared before the boy in the guise of Indra and said, “I am pleased with your tapasya and will grant you a boon. What boon do you wish for?”
“I am indeed fortunate that the king of the gods has come to visit me,” replied Upamanyu. “Please grant me the boon that I may be devoted to Shiva.”
“Who is this Shiva?” asked the fake Indra. “I am the king of the gods, I am much superior to that upstart. Worship me instead.”
Upamanyu was not prepared to hear such insults hurled at Shiva. He thought that he had committed a great sin in allowing such insults to be uttered in his presence. He therefore prepared to kill himself. Shiva now appeared before Upamanyu in his own form and blessed the boy. Through Shiva’s grace, Upamanyu never suffered from a lack of milk to drink.
Subsequently, Upamanyu taught the pashupata vrata to Krishna.
The Linga Purana now has some section on the virtues of being devoted to Vishnu. It also describes various rites that must be observed in praying to Shiva.
Epilogue
Lomaharshana completed his recital of the Linga Purana and the assembled sages were thrilled with what they had heard. They bowed down in obeisance before Shiva.
The Linga Purana is most sacred. Brahma himself has said that a person who reads it is forgiven all his sins. Reading this text is far superior to meditating, performing sacrifices, or donating alms. Brahma cannot possibly be wrong.
The sages thanked Lomaharshana for his pains and went their several ways.
