Mother tongue

Published on 26th February, 2017, in Mid-day. The devas were threatened, as usual, by the rise of yet another asura. This time it was Taraka, and he was exceptionally powerful. He had declared that only a six-day-old child could kill him. The devas wondered who could father such a powerful child and they concluded it could only be Shiva, the great ascetic, the one who had withdrawn all his senses, and was completely withdrawn from worldly life. Since Shiva did not engage with anything in this world, all his energy was contained within his body. In Tantrik versions, which are not very coy, specific reference ..