Bhringi - The three-legged sage

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There once was a sage, named Bhringi, a keen devotee of Lord Shiva. One day, he went to Mount Kailash to worship Shiva by circumambulation.

Seeing Bhringi solely worshipping Shiva, provoked Parvati. So, she sat next to Shiva. Bhringi sensed what was going on and was reluctant. To make sure his wife gets the same devotion, Shiva embraced Parvati, so tight that they emerged into the Ardhanarishwara form.

The arrogant sage, then, took the form of a bee, flew round only the male portion of the Ardhanarishwara. Parvati's wrath now, knew no bounds. Consequently, she took away all the blood and flesh out from Bhringi's body. (You see, in Tantrism it's believed that the human body gets the strong parts like the nerves & bones from the father while the soft & delicate parts i.e. blood & flesh come from the mother.) Thus, Bhringi lost all the parts that came from the Universal Mother. Now, he was just a mere skeleton, struggling to stand still. Beholding his devotee's dilemma, Shiva endued Bhringi with a third leg.

Certain scriptures mention Bhringi as the ardent, three-legged devotee of Lord Shiva, whose chauvinistic opinions led to his penalization. He's depicted in temples alongside Shiva as a skeleton figure in most parts of South India.


Moral - (1) The masculine (Purusha) & the feminine (Prakriti) energies are both of equal importance. Respect all.

(2) Never nurture ego (Aham) or you might end up with an extra limb. Figuratively.

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