Premnath Thirumalaisamy
Bhringi, Three-legged, Dance master of the gods
The story about Bhringi is pretty interesting. Bhringi was an ardent devotee of lord Shiva. But he never considered Parvati (Shiva’s better half) to be a part of his worship.
Bhringi regularly worshiped lord Sshiva at his abode in the Kailasa mountain. At the end of his worship he would religiously circum-ambulate Shiva. Parvati having seen this ritual of bhringi, chose to be part of it and sat closer to Lord Shiva. Bhringi noticed this, and realizing what had just happened, he turned himself into a bee and went around Shiva thrice.
Parvati was enraged and Shiva noticed what had happened. In order to teach Bhringi a lesson that Parvati is an integral part of him and cannot be excluded, he merged himself with Parvati such that Bhringi would have to circum-ambulate both of them.
Bhringi is often depicted as a skeleton in many images, this is because Parvati having noticed that Bhringi did not go around her, cursed him in fury to become thin and completely emaciated, so weak that he could not stand. Shiva, moved by Bhringi's plight, gave a 3rd leg for support….hence Bhringi has 3 legs.
Source:www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/India/South/Andhra_Pradesh...
Bhringi, Three-legged, Dance master of the gods
The story about Bhringi is pretty interesting. Bhringi was an ardent devotee of lord Shiva. But he never considered Parvati (Shiva’s better half) to be a part of his worship.
Bhringi regularly worshiped lord Sshiva at his abode in the Kailasa mountain. At the end of his worship he would religiously circum-ambulate Shiva. Parvati having seen this ritual of bhringi, chose to be part of it and sat closer to Lord Shiva. Bhringi noticed this, and realizing what had just happened, he turned himself into a bee and went around Shiva thrice.
Parvati was enraged and Shiva noticed what had happened. In order to teach Bhringi a lesson that Parvati is an integral part of him and cannot be excluded, he merged himself with Parvati such that Bhringi would have to circum-ambulate both of them.
Bhringi is often depicted as a skeleton in many images, this is because Parvati having noticed that Bhringi did not go around her, cursed him in fury to become thin and completely emaciated, so weak that he could not stand. Shiva, moved by Bhringi's plight, gave a 3rd leg for support….hence Bhringi has 3 legs.
Source:www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/India/South/Andhra_Pradesh...