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Tales from Indian Mythology "My Lord, what are we to do with a hundred sons? We do not need them. If it pleases you, bless us with the only son. It does not matter how long he lives, if he lives in virtue."
"Your request is granted.” A flash of lightning blinded Mrikandu and Marudwati but only momentarily and, when they opened their eyes again, the Supreme Lord of the Three Worlds had already vanished. Beaming with smiles of fulfilment, they trekked back to their ashram, where antelopes, in their own way, had been at penance. At once they greeted the holy couple by obstructing their path till Mrikandu and Marudwati smothered each one of the herd with kisses and caresses.
In course of time, Marudwati gave birth to a son, and people from far and near began to surge towards Mrikandu's ashram, as they had heard that the child was yet another form assumed by Shiva himself. And those who actually saw the baby felt that he was the reincarnation of, not just one god, but of all the thirty-three crore deities of the Vedic pantheon put together. "I am still thinking of his eyes," said one of his admirers. "Are they not like the sun and the moon?” “Oh, you should have seen his forehead!” exclaimed another. "It dazzles and overawes like Mahadev's Third Eye." "I wish the boy had brought Ganga also along with fire," observed a third. "Of course, he has. Did you not notice the tears he shed at the sight of the poor and the afflicted?" "Yes," echoed a fourth. "I am sure he will prove our saviour, as he grows up.”
With due ceremony, Mrikandu named son Markandeya, is the elders chanted the Vedic mantras, according to which he
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