Lord Shiva and the Demon

 Many times people are confused about the manifestation of ’miracles’.  This is a story of how even genuine miracles can at times misfire:

A long time ago, in response to great austerities of a demon, the Great God, Shiva, offered him a boon.

“What do you want of me that you have worked so hard to please Me?” asked Shiva in benevolence.

The demon replied: “When I put my hand on the head of a person he should immediately be burned to ashes.”

‘Oh dear’, Lord Shiva thought, but granted the somewhat gruesome request, delighting the demon, who answered: “Right, you first!”

A shocked Shiva resorted to flight as the demon tried to touch His head. The demon’s motivation had had nothing to do with pleasing the Lord, but merely to gain the affections of Shiva’s consort Parvati.

As this little drama unfolded, another Divine Manifestation, Lord Vishnu, watched with great interest from behind a clump of bushes.  It was quite a sight, Shiva running here and there, the demon in hot pursuit, hand poised to incinerate the God of Destruction.

Vishnu decided that something had to be done; He had to intervene, and changing Himself into the form of Parvati, He confronted the demon in a rather seductive manner.

“Really”, She said, why bother chasing after Shiva when I am willing to come to you?  You are so attractive; there is no need to destroy Shiva.”

This pleased the vanity of the demon tremendously who approached Parvati with demonic lust.
“No, wait please”, She halted him, “whenever Shiva comes to Me, He performs his wonderful dance first.”

“But I cannot dance” said the demon dejectedly.

“Never mind, I will show you.” replied Parvati, and She began to teach him the movements of the Tandava, Shiva’s celestial dance of destruction, which involves placing one hand upon the head!

So the demon danced.  He danced the dance of destruction with all his heart and soul, and a small pile of ashes at the feet of Parvati was all that bore witness to the event.

In the meantime, from a safe distance, Shiva had watched the entire spectacle. The danger over He ventured forth to meet the admonishing gaze of Vishnu, now Himself again.

“Granting boons to demons, indeed!” reminded Vishnu.

Shiva may have demonstrated His powers with no other motivation than love, even toward a demon, but the result was disaster. It is a mistake to associate any kind of sensationalism with Divinity. The performance of miracles does not gauge the caliber of spiritual awareness in God or Guru.