Conversation between Shiva and the Messenger

Sanatkumara said

The danava lord stayed where he was and, being wise, picked one of the great danava chiefs as his envoy and sent him to Shankara. The envoy arrived and found the moon-crested lord sitting beneath a banyan, shining like a crore suns. Shiva sat smiling in a yogic posture, showing various mudras, blazing with the energy of brahman and clear as crystal. He bore a trident and a spear and wore a tiger skin. He is the one who removes death for his devotees, Gouri's beloved, calm and three-eyed, the giver of the fruit of every austerity and the source of every kind of prosperity. Ashutosha's face was gentle, for he is full of compassion for devotees. Vishvanatha is the seed of the universe, which is his form: it arises from him, he makes it, keeps it and brings about its end, and he is the cause behind all causes. He carries people across the ocean that is hell, gives knowledge, is the seed of knowledge and is knowledge itself, eternal bliss.

The envoy stepped down from his chariot, saw him, and bowed his head to Shankara and Kumara. Bhadrakali stood on the left and Skanda in front, and Kali, Skanda and Shankara returned his greeting with blessings. Well schooled in the sacred texts, the messenger folded his hands and spoke respectfully. He said he was Shankhachuda's messenger, come to Shiva's presence, and asked what Maheshvara wished to be done and to be told truly. Hearing the king's message, Mahadeva was pleased and replied that the envoy, being wise, should listen to something that would bring happiness, and that Shankhachuda should be told it and reflect on it without arguing.

Mahadeva then traced the lineage. Brahma is creator of the universe and father of Dharma. His son was Marichi, whose son was Kashyapa. Out of affection for Kashyapa, Daksha gave him thirteen daughters, one of whom was the virtuous Danu, who added to his good fortune. Danu bore four fierce sons, the danavas. One of them was the strong and valiant Viprachitti, whose son was the intelligent and righteous Dambha, and Shankhachuda was Dambha's best son. Shiva reminded the envoy that Shankhachuda had himself been a gopa and attendant, the most dharmic of all the gopas, and that by Radhika's curse he had taken birth among the danavas. Though born of a danava woman, he was not really a danava. Knowing his past conduct, he should drop his enmity towards the devas, treat them with affection, enjoy his own station alongside them, and rule without overstepping his rights. Shiva asked him to honour the affection he bore for him and give the gods back their kingdom, so that each might live happily in their own domain. Even opposition to any creature is wrong, let alone hatred of the devas. Everyone of Kashyapa's line is noble and does pure deeds, and sins such as killing a brahmana do not come to a sixteenth of the sin of hating one's own kin. With these and many other words drawn from shruti and smriti, Shankara sought to plant right understanding in him.

The messenger had been briefed by Shankhachuda, and, deluded by destiny, he answered with humility. What Shiva said was true and could not be otherwise, he granted, but he would set out what he had heard. If hatred of kin is so grave a sin, he asked, does it bind only the asuras and not the gods? It should hold for all. He asked Shiva to settle this and clear his doubt. Why, in the ocean of dissolution, did the discus-bearer cut off the heads of the two fine daityas Madhu and Kaitabha? Why did Shiva fight the people of Tripura and burn them? Why was he known as the gods' partisan? Why did the mace-bearer go to Bali's gate, take all he owned, uproot him and banish him to Sutala? Why did the devas strike down Hiranyaksha and his brother, and bring down Shumbha and the others? When the ocean was churned the danavas shared the labour but the gods drank the nectar. The whole universe, he said, is a vessel the supreme self toys with in the form of time, and whoever it favours enjoys the prosperity. The enmity between gods and danavas is ancient, set off by some cause or other, and victory or defeat follows time. Shiva's wish to interfere between them was futile. As Ishvara, he should be even-handed towards both, being the great self and lord of gods and asuras alike. Challenging them now was a matter of shame, and defeat or victory would add nothing to his glory.

Hearing this, the three-eyed one laughed and answered the danava's envoy in sweet words. Shiva said that he serves his devotees and is never independent, acting as they wish and taking no fixed side. In the ocean of dissolution Hari fought Madhu and Kaitabha because Brahma begged him to. He killed Hiranyakashipu, for Prahlada's sake and at the devas' entreaty, to protect his devotees. Shiva himself fought Tripura and burned it because the gods prayed to him, and the universal mother likewise fought and killed Shumbha and the others because the gods asked. Now, he said, all the heaven-dwellers had taken refuge with Brahma, and Brahma and Hari, with the devas, had come to him. He answers the prayers of Hari, Brahma and the rest, and is Ishvara for the gods, which was why he had come to fight. The envoy was among the foremost of the great-souled Krishna's attendants, and none of the other daityas slain had been Shankhachuda's equal. What shame was there, then, in fighting such a king? As Isha he had been humbly sent to carry out the gods' task. He told the envoy to go back and repeat his words, and let Shankhachuda do what he judged right, while Shiva did the gods' work. With that Maheshvara fell silent, and the envoy rose and went back to Shankhachuda.