Pippalada Avatara Continued

Nandishvara said

Virtuous sage, Pippalada wished to establish dharma in the world and engaged in great play. Once the lord among sages went to Pushpabhadra to bathe and saw there the extremely beautiful young Padma, born as a portion of Shivaa. Knowing worldly custom, he wanted her, and following that custom went to the residence of her father King Anaranya. Seeing him, the king was afraid and bowed, offered him madhuparka and devotedly worshipped him. The sage accepted it all kindly and asked for the king's daughter. Unable to speak, the king stayed silent. The sage told the king to give him his daughter devotedly, or he would burn everything down together with the king. All the king's people were wrapped in the radiance of Pippalada, Dadhichi's son. Greatly terrified, the king lamented again and again and gave his ornamented daughter Padma, born as Shivaa's portion, to the aged sage. The sage married Padma and, happy, took her to his own hermitage. The supreme sage was old and worn with age. Arriving there, he told the woman he was an ascetic and not lustful. At this Anaranya's daughter served him devotedly in thought, word and deed, like Lakshmi serving Narayana. The supreme sage Pippalada, born as Shiva's portion, in his play became a young man and enjoyed the young woman's company. Ten great-souled sons were born to the great ascetic, equal to their father, increasing Padma's happiness. In his avataras the great lord Shankara engages in such play. Lord Pippalada, supreme among sages, engaged in many pastimes. Seeing that all the people were suffering from Shani, he, full of compassion, happily granted people a boon against it: for humans, this would no longer happen between birth and the age of sixteen, nor to devotees of Shiva; his words were true. If Shani did not heed them and went on tormenting such people, he would certainly reduce him to ashes. Because of this fear Shanaishchara, supreme among planets, does not cause such harm even when adverse. Nandi told Sanatkumara he had thus described Pippalada's human pastimes, which give everything wished for. It is said that three destroy the hardship caused by Shani: Gadhi, Koushika and the great sage Pippalada. Pippalada's story is linked with Padma's. If a person on earth devotedly reads or hears this excellent account, all hardships caused by Shani are destroyed, and he gets all he desires. The supreme sage was blessed, wise, loved by the virtuous, a great devotee of Shiva and the son of Mahesha himself. This unblemished account gives heaven, removes the adverse effects of evil planets, grants everything desired and increases devotion to Shiva.