Chapter 19 of 20 · Rudra Samhita - Srishti Khanda · Overall chapter 51 of 464
Shiva's Friendship with Kubera
A new rebirth of the same lamp-devotee, now Vaishravana's son and lord of Alaka, performs austerities so severe he is reduced to skin and bone over a hundred thousand years. Granted sight of Shiva and Parvati directly, an improper glance at the Goddess's beauty bursts his own eye - earning him, alongside great boons of wealth and lordship, both his new name (Kubera) and his distinguishing epithet (Ekapinga, the one-eyed).
Brahma said
In the Padma kalpa I had a mind-born son, Pulastya, whose son was Vishrava. Vishrava's son Vaishravana lived in Alaka, the city Vishvakarma had built, and had once worshipped the three-eyed god with fierce austerity. That kalpa passed and the Megavahana kalpa began. In it Yajnadatta's son, now called Shrida, took up austerity of unbearable severity. He knew from experience how much power lies in the devotion born of offering nothing but lamps to Shambhu. Carrying that inner light, he came in those early days to the city of Kashika. There, with love that never flickered, he chanted the mantras of the eleven Rudras and held his meditation steady, ringed by the fire of his own austerity, until he found union with Shiva. Desire, anger and every great obstacle were burnt like insects and thrown away. His breath became pure and so did his sight. He installed a Shiva lingam and worshipped it with flowers, his heart full of virtue, and kept tormenting his body for a hundred thousand years until only skin and bones were left. At last Vishveshvara, pleased, came with Vishalakshi and looked at the lord of Alaka, who stood motionless as a pillar with his mind on the lingam. "Lord of Alaka," he said, "ask a boon." The store of austerity opened his eyes, and it was as though a thousand suns had risen at once, only brighter. He saw Uma's beloved Shrikantha before him with the moon on his crest, and the glare overpowered his sight, so he shut his eyes. He said to the god, who lies beyond the reach of the mind: "Lord, give me strength to see your feet. To have seen you is boon enough. Shashishekhara, what would I do with another? I bow to you." Hearing this, the lord of the gods touched him with the palm of his hand and gave him the power of sight. Opening his eyes, Yajnadatta's son looked first at Uma and thought: "Who is this lady beside Shambhu, so lovely in every limb? Has she done greater austerity than I? What beauty! What love, what good fortune, what splendour!" Son, he said this several times, gazing at her with an improper look, and because of that look his left eye burst. Devi said to the god: "Who is this wicked ascetic? He stares at me with a wrong look and wants to match the strength of his austerity against mine. Now he looks again with his right eye. He envies my beauty, love, fortune and splendour." Her lord laughed. "Uma, this is your son. His look is not wrong; he is only marvelling at the power of your austerity." Then Isha spoke to him: "Child, I am satisfied with your austerity and will give you a boon. You will be lord of the treasures and of the guhyakas, Rajaraja, king of yakshas and kinnaras, always Dhanada, lord of the punyajanas. You will always be my friend and I will live near you, near Alaka, to increase your joy. Come, bow at your mother's feet." The great devotee was overjoyed. Then Shiva said to Shivaa: "Deveshi, show him your favour. This ascetic was born from your limbs." Hearing Shambhu, Parvati, mother of the universe, said to Yajnadatta's son:
Devi said
Child, may your devotion to Bhava always be flawless. Because your left eye burst, you will be called Ekapinga. The boons the god gave you will come true. And because you envied my beauty, your name will be Kubera.
Brahma concluded
So Maheshvara and Devi gave Dhanada his boons, and Vishveshvara returned to his abode. That is how Dhanada won the friendship of Shri Shambhu, who came to live near Alaka, in his own abode on Kailasa.
Retold in our own words from Bibek Debroy's English translation of the Shiva Purana (Penguin Classics). Names, numbers and the order of events follow the source.