Markandeya and the Lord of Time

The sage Mrikandu and his wife Marudvati had no children. After long austerities Shiva appeared and offered them a strange choice:

"You may have one of two sons — an ordinary son who lives a hundred years, or a brilliant son who lives sixteen."

Mrikandu said, "The brilliant one."

Markandeya was born. He was an extraordinary child — quick with the Vedas, calm by nature, and utterly devoted to Shiva.

His parents never told him the truth about his lifespan. But as his sixteenth year approached, the sadness in their eyes gave them away. When he asked, they told him everything.

Markandeya neither wept nor ran. He walked to the Shiva temple, sat down before the linga, wrapped both arms around it, and began chanting the Mahamrityunjaya mantra.

The appointed day came. Yama arrived with his noose. The boy did not let go. Yama cast the noose — and it fell around the linga along with the child.

At that instant Shiva burst from the stone. Time itself answers to him, and he was standing there. Yama stepped back.

Shiva told Markandeya, "You will remain sixteen forever." He became one of the immortals, and later gave his name to the Markandeya Purana.

Moral: Told how long he had, Markandeya did not choose to weep — he chose to chant. What we do with the time we are given is the part that is actually ours. (The Mahamrityunjaya mantra comes from this story — you will find it in the mantra library.)