Story of Maharishi Markandeya
Markandeya was an exemplary son, who was destined to die at the age of 12. He grew up to be a great devotee of Shiva and on the day of his destined death he continued his worship of Shiva in His form of Shivalingam. The messengers of Yama, the God of death were unable to take away his life because of his great devotion and continual worship of Shiva. Finally, Yama came himself to take Markandeya's life away and sprung his noose around the young sage's neck. By mistake, the noose landed around the Shivalingam and out of it, Shiva emerged in all his fury attacking Yama for his act of aggression. After defeating Yama in battle to the point of death, Shiva then revived him, under the condition that the young Markandeya would live forever. Thus, the Maha Mrityunjaya Stotra is attributed to Maharishi Markandeya.
The Markandeya Purana comprises a dialogue between Markandeya and a sage called Jaimini and a number of chapters in the Bhagavata Purana are dedicated to his conversations and prayers. Maharishi Markandeya is also mentioned in the Mahabharata.
Read more about this topic: Markandeshwar
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