Kaal was born in a small cottage, barely kept up against the
ravages of time, located near the banks of a once beautiful river. In this time, modern amenities rarely still
worked and the fitted clothing of the old ones was wearing thin and gave way to
the rougher homespun clothing of the new generation. The sprawling cities were covered in the
overgrown and untrimmed plants, and the concrete roads were all cracked and
uneven. Smoke clung to the clouds and
the rain, when it came, was often very acidic.
Kaal was born strong and his mind beheld great wisdom, even
for a person so young as he. He used his
young years and energy to learn the ways of his father, the local sage. He meditated for long hours, and in the early
hours of the morning he presented flowers to the shrine that was located on the
roof. During the great shortage, many
people turned to Shiva for hope and worship, he was the great answer. A simple god that was not only the creator,
but also the destroyer, he controlled their destinies. With this worship people hoped that the Earth
would once again have clear skies, beautiful fields, and sweet rivers and
oceans that ran clear and clean.
Kaal devoted himself to this god and spent all his waking
hours learning more about him and when finally he learned all that his father
knew he asked, “Father, I wish with all my heart to worship Shiva in the purest
way possible, but I am distracted here. There are too many people and I am
young, where can I go to worship the great god?”
His father was so proud of Kaal and, with that pride,
prepared him for a journey to the pool of light. A place untouched by time and
people, the best place to worship Shiva.
So Kaal left his people and his little cottage and came to the greatest
place left on Earth and each day he would lay flowers in the waters of the pool
and keep it clean from pollution and secret from other humans. Unfortunately Kaal was not as supremely happy
as he thought he should be, but he couldn’t help but think that there were
better flowers for the pool that he couldn’t reach with his own hands.
He prayed every day to Shiva, continued to lavish the pool
of light, and asked again and again to be granted the ability to provide Shiva
with the best flowers. Then one day he
woke up and realized he was changed. His
hands had turned into claws, his eyesight was six times stronger, and his feet
became more powerful like those of a tiger.
With these new abilities he without flaw gathered the best flowers for
Shiva and continued to worship him unfaltering the rest of his days.
Author’s note:
While I didn’t mention this story in my reading diary,
however I found it interesting in labeling the saints of Shiva. This saint was called “Tiger-footed” due to
Shiva granting him a boon so that he could reach the best flowers for Shiva’s
pond. The story is much the same and
Kaal’s name is really much longer, it is “Pulikaalmuni.”
This was from Sister Nivedita’s book “Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists.” I wanted to use the setting of a slightly
post-apocalyptic world to change it up a little bit and give it a little more
interest.
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