Markandeya was a child of rare devotion, born to a sage and his wife after long prayer, but granted only sixteen years of life. As his sixteenth birthday neared, his parents grew heavy with grief, and the boy, learning his fate, gave himself wholly to the worship of Lord Shiva.

On the appointed day, Yama, the lord of death, came with his noose to claim him. Markandeya clung to the Shiva linga, and as Yama cast his noose, it fell around both the boy and the linga itself.

At this, Lord Shiva burst forth from the linga in fury and struck down Yama to protect his devotee. The Lord then blessed Markandeya to remain forever sixteen, an eternal youth, and is worshipped in this act as Mrityunjaya, the conqueror of death.

The Moral

The story of Markandeya is the assurance that sincere devotion can overcome even death. It teaches that the one who takes refuge in the Lord with a whole heart is never abandoned, and that Shiva, as Mrityunjaya, holds the power to grant life and to free his devotees from the fear of death.