Mahabharata and Devi Bhagavata Purana
Narrate a story of the birth of Samba, Jambavati's chief son. Jambavati was unhappy when she realized that only she had not borne any children to Krishna while all other wives were blessed with many children. She approached Krishna to find a solution and to be blessed with a son like the handsome Pradyumna, Krishna's first-born son from his chief wife Rukmini.
Then Krishna went to the hermitage of the sage Upamanyu in the Himalayas and as advised by the sage, he started to pray to the god Shiva.
He did penance for six months in various postures;
Pleased with the austerities, Shiva finally appeared before Krishna as Samba, (Ardhanarishvara) the half-female, half-male form of the god, asked him to ask a boon. Krishna then sought a son from Jambavati, which was granted. A son was born soon thereafter who was named as Samba, the form Shiva had appeared before Krishna
Once, Lord Krishna went to Kailash mountain to do penance with the desire of having a son. He found Maharishi Upamanyu engrossed in his meditation. He told Upamanyu about his desire and requested him to describe about the greatness of lord Shiva. Upamanu described about his own experience when he had divine glimpses of lord Shiva who was meditating "Once I saw Shiva who was surrounded by all the deities. Lord Shiva was engrossed in his deep meditation. Shiva had in his possession all the divine weapons like - Trident, Axe, Noose, Sudarshan etc. Lord Vishnu and Brahmaji were also present there. I eulogized lord Shiva who became pleased with me. Lord Shiva wanted to bless me with a boon. I requested lord Shiva to bless me with three things-
1) I should always remain his devotee
2) to be able to know about the past, present and future events,
3) My family should never feel the scarcity of rice and milk."
"Lord Shiva not only blessed me with all these three things, but also to be able to see the Vaivasvat kalpa." After completing his story, sage Upamanyu told Krishna he must worship lord Shiva if he was desirous of a son, because Lord Shiva can be pleased quite easily.
SRI KRISHNA DOES PENANCE
Sri Krishna then proceeded to do his penance after getting initiated by Upamanyu with the mantra - Om Namah Shivay. He did a tremendous penance for fifteen months by standing on his toe. In the sixteenth month lord Shiva and Parvati appeared before him after being pleased by his penance. Lord Shiva expressed his desire to bless Krishna. Krishna demanded eight boon.
1) May his intelligence always remain inclined towards religiousness.
2) May he attain immortal fame,
3) May he has his abode in Shiva's proximity,
4) May his faith and devotion in Shiva be unswerving,
5) May he have ten valiant sons,
6) May he be victorious against his enemies,
7) May all his enemies be destroyed and
8) May be dear to all the yogis.
After receiving eight boons from Lord Shiva, Krishna demanded one boon from goddess Parvati May he always be in the service of
Narrate a story of the birth of Samba, Jambavati's chief son. Jambavati was unhappy when she realized that only she had not borne any children to Krishna while all other wives were blessed with many children. She approached Krishna to find a solution and to be blessed with a son like the handsome Pradyumna, Krishna's first-born son from his chief wife Rukmini.
Then Krishna went to the hermitage of the sage Upamanyu in the Himalayas and as advised by the sage, he started to pray to the god Shiva.
He did penance for six months in various postures;
- once holding a skull and a rod,
- then standing on one leg only in the next month and surviving on water only,
- during the third month he did penance standing on his toes and living on air only.
Pleased with the austerities, Shiva finally appeared before Krishna as Samba, (Ardhanarishvara) the half-female, half-male form of the god, asked him to ask a boon. Krishna then sought a son from Jambavati, which was granted. A son was born soon thereafter who was named as Samba, the form Shiva had appeared before Krishna
Once, Lord Krishna went to Kailash mountain to do penance with the desire of having a son. He found Maharishi Upamanyu engrossed in his meditation. He told Upamanyu about his desire and requested him to describe about the greatness of lord Shiva. Upamanu described about his own experience when he had divine glimpses of lord Shiva who was meditating "Once I saw Shiva who was surrounded by all the deities. Lord Shiva was engrossed in his deep meditation. Shiva had in his possession all the divine weapons like - Trident, Axe, Noose, Sudarshan etc. Lord Vishnu and Brahmaji were also present there. I eulogized lord Shiva who became pleased with me. Lord Shiva wanted to bless me with a boon. I requested lord Shiva to bless me with three things-
1) I should always remain his devotee
2) to be able to know about the past, present and future events,
3) My family should never feel the scarcity of rice and milk."
"Lord Shiva not only blessed me with all these three things, but also to be able to see the Vaivasvat kalpa." After completing his story, sage Upamanyu told Krishna he must worship lord Shiva if he was desirous of a son, because Lord Shiva can be pleased quite easily.
SRI KRISHNA DOES PENANCE
Sri Krishna then proceeded to do his penance after getting initiated by Upamanyu with the mantra - Om Namah Shivay. He did a tremendous penance for fifteen months by standing on his toe. In the sixteenth month lord Shiva and Parvati appeared before him after being pleased by his penance. Lord Shiva expressed his desire to bless Krishna. Krishna demanded eight boon.
1) May his intelligence always remain inclined towards religiousness.
2) May he attain immortal fame,
3) May he has his abode in Shiva's proximity,
4) May his faith and devotion in Shiva be unswerving,
5) May he have ten valiant sons,
6) May he be victorious against his enemies,
7) May all his enemies be destroyed and
8) May be dear to all the yogis.
After receiving eight boons from Lord Shiva, Krishna demanded one boon from goddess Parvati May he always be in the service of
- his parents and
- the brahmins. Sri Krishna then went back to Upamanyu and narrated the whole story. At last he returned to Dwarka.
