Markandeya

Markandeya was a great devotee of Lord Siva. His father Mrikandu performed rigorous
austerities to get a son. Lord Siva appeared before him and said: “O Rishi, do you want a good son
who will die in his sixteenth year or a bad and foolish son who will live for a long time?” Mrikandu
... replied: “O my venerable Lord, let me have a good son”.

The boy came to know about his fate and began to worship Lord Siva whole-heartedly with
intense faith and devotion. The boy entered into deep meditation and Samadhi on the day decreed as
the day of his death. The messengers of Lord Yama were not able to approach him. Hence, Yama
himself went to take away his life. The boy prayed to Lord Siva for protection and embraced the
Linga. Then Yama threw his noose round the Linga and the boy. Lord Siva came out of the Linga
immediately and killed Yama to protect the boy. Lord Siva was called Mrityunjaya and Kala-kala
from that day.

Then the Devas approached Lord Siva and said: “O adorable Lord, salutations unto Thee.
Pardon Yama for his mistake. O ocean of mercy, bring him back to life”. Then Lord Siva brought
Yama back to life at the request of the gods. He also conferred a boon to the boy Markandeya that he
should live for ever as a boy of sixteen years of age. He is a Chiranjivi. In South India, even now
men and women bless a boy when he does prostration to them: “Live as a Chiranjivi like
Markandeya”.

Through Tapas and meditation you can achieve anything in the three worlds.See More