After the death of his faithful wife Sati, the gloomy Shiva, the great hermit, completely moved away from the gods and indulged in severe asceticism in solitude. Foreseeing the future, Vishnu predicted that Sati would be born again on earth in a different form and would again unite with Shiva. But Shiva was inconsolable. Grieving for his beloved wife, he wandered through the mountains like a madman, finding no relief from his grief; and one day he came to the sacred pine forest on the top of Himavat, where the wise Lords of creatures, the sons of Brahma and their wives, lived, fulfilling pious vows.
Shiva appeared near the abode of the divine sages naked, with his body covered in ash, with loose and disheveled hair; his eyes were bloodshot; in his hands he held smoldering brands. He either laughed a terrible laugh, or sang, or burst into terrifying screams. And in front of the eyes of the virtuous wives of the sages, who came out of their homes, he began to dance wildly and shamelessly. And he either screamed like a donkey, or roared like a bull. His dance enchanted the wives of the wise men; and wherever he went, dancing, they followed him, not taking their eyes off him.
Great anger seized the heavenly sages. None of them recognized Shiva. "Who is this? A demon or other creature intent on disturbing our peace and seducing our wives?” - they asked each other. And they cursed him: “O you braying donkey, turn into a donkey!” But no matter how great the power of their asceticism was, it was not enough for this curse to strike Shiva; so the stars cannot outshine the sun. However, the wise men were even more angry that their wives, enchanted, followed the dancing madman. And, combining all their strength, bestowed upon them by asceticism, they cursed the stranger for his shamelessness: “O ugly creature, may you lose your courage!” And immediately his reproductive member fell away, and Shiva himself disappeared.
And immediately everything around me changed and became confused. And the sages saw that the light had faded and the sun no longer provided heat, the sacrificial fires were no longer burning, and the planets and constellations had moved from their eternal places in the sky and mixed up their paths. Then the sequence of seasons was disrupted. And the sages, although they continued to fulfill their vows, wavered in their judgment about the sacred law of dharma, weakened in spirit and body and lost their masculine nature. In confusion they resorted to Brahma. They told the Progenitor about the arrival of a strange stranger, about their anger at him and about the curse. “You did not recognize the great god Shiva,” said Brahma. “Now forget about your anger and try to appease the formidable Lord. You must carve a Shiva linga and worship it. From now on, in the form of a lingam you will worship the mighty Shiva. The sages returned to their pine forest and did as Brahma commanded. For a whole year they revered Shiva in the form of a lingam, and when spring came and the sweet singing of kokila filled the fragrant booths of blooming flowers on the slopes of the high Himavat, the great god appeared again in the abode of the sages. They prostrated themselves before him and gave him praise; He forgave them for their error. He explained to them then that both nudity and anointing the body with ashes were necessary for the sake of cleansing from sins in order to suppress passions and gain higher power. And the divine sages recognized his superiority. Since then, the linga has been revered everywhere as an image of Shiva.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru