LORD MAHA SHAMBHUNATHAR
In an age when there was a constant power struggle between the devas and asuras ,there lived an asura of the name Tarakasura.By virtue of his penance he obtained a boon from the creator,Brahma himself, that he could only be killed by a son born to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. Having obtained this boon he began to harass the devas. The troubled devas decided to take matters into their own hands and appointed the God of Love Manmadhan to the task of disturbing Lord Shiva from his tapas by arousing amorous feelings in him towards his consort Parvathi so that the prophecy may come true and that they may beget a son who would slay Tarakasura. Despite the dire warnings issued by his wife, Rathi, Manmadhan proceeded to the spot where Shiva was meditating and aimed his arrow of lust at the Lord.
Sensing Manmadhan's presence and enraged by the blasphemous outrage that he had perpetrated Lord Shiva reduced him to ashes. Meanwhile one of Lord Shiva's ganas of the name Chitrakarman modeled a human form of Manmadhan's ashes and brought it to the Lord. The moment Lord Shiva set his eyes upon it, it sprang to life and upon the advice given by Chitrakarman he recited Rudram with great devotion in order to please Lord Shiva. . Indeed the ways of fate are mysterious and inconceivable.
Immensely pleased by his devotion Lord Shiva appeared before him and granted him two boons. The first one being that he would rule the earth for over 60,000 years and the second that at any instance of combat he would acquire half of his opponent's power .On witnessing the Lord conferring these boons upon him Brahma screamed Bhand meaning shame in Sanskrit. Thus he acquired the name Bhandasura.
From the ashes of Manmadhan came Bhandasura's 2 brothers Vishukra and Vishanga along with thousands of other demons. Having established his kingdom at Shunyaka he decided to torment the gods.
To be continued...
