Originally posted by: ananyacool
Discussion about why Vishnu as Mohini consummating with Shiva was going on...
The reason was that a boon given to "Mahishi", cousin of Mahishasur ,who was slayed by Durga.
So the story is related to Durga killing Mahishasura, after his death ,his cousin Mahishi in a fit of rage to avenge her cousin's killing does a severe penance and asks for the boon of immortality from Brahma but since this wasn't possible Brahma tells her to ask for another boon which was 'near to immortality' Mahishi slyly asks that a son from Vishnu and Shiva's union should slay her; Brahma chuckles and says 'so be it' n vanishes. Mahishi is so thrilled thinking she's almost immortal now because both Vishnu n Shiva being male ,how could they reproduce a son??
As usual she becoms a tyrant ,troubling the three worlds...
All the worried Devtas approach Vishnu n Shiv for help, it is then Vishnu takes the form of Mohini 'enchantress' and consummate with Shiva, thus a son is born to them ,who has the powers of Shiva n Vishnu
The baby is left in the forest and a King called 'Pandalam' who is childless, adopts the baby calling him Manikandan , because of a gem adorning his neck.
Manikandan is very reared very lovingly by the king n queen ,untill the queen has her own son. She starts hating Manikandan and wants him out of the way so that her real son can become the crown prince so she sends Manikandan to the forest pretending to have a stomach ache n that it can be cured only by drinking milk of a tigress.
Manikandan sets out to forest n it is here he encounters Mahishi n kills her, I think.
Thanks a lot for the information Ananya.
I knew Manikandan was born to kill Mahishi but never knew about the curse.
Here's the story I have read.
Since Manikandan was the son of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu, he was considered an avtaar of both the Gods.
There was a king named Rajashekara, who had not children. He was the king of Pantala. Once, while passing by the banks of Pampa, he found a beautiful baby boy. As the king was looking at the baby, a sage told him to take him up and raise him as his own son. The sage also said that when the boy becomes 12 years old, the king will come to know who he really is. Accordingly, the king and his queen raised to boy as their own son. Their mininster was not happy as he was planning to become the king after the present one. But his plans were foiled due to that little boy.
The king sent the boy to Gurukul for his education. His teacher knew who he was. When Manikanda asked what will be the Gurudakshina, his teacher said, "I know that Shiva and Vishnu reside in you. I have a son who is not able to speak. It is enough if you can make him speak."
Manikanda placed the Vilva and Tulsi leaves in a cup of milk. He put some sacred ash into the cup after chanting a mantra. He made the boy (his Guru's son) drink it. The boy was able to speak after drinking it. The first words he uttered was " Ayya! Appa! Ayyappa!" Hence, Manikandan was also known as Ayyappa after this incident.
The king planned to crown Manikandan as the king.
After some years, a son was born to the queen whom they named Rajarajan. The king and the queen brought up both the boys with equal love. The minister who was waiting for an opportunity to get rid of Manikandan, started poisoning the queen's mind. He made her think that her own son must be the king and not Manikandan who was an orphan in the woods.
She feigned illness according to the minister's plans. The king was very much worried about his wife's illness. No one could find out the reason for the queen's ailment. The minister brought a fake medicant who said that the illness can only be cured with a medicine that is prepared with tiger's milk.
It was announced all over the land that whoever gets the tiger milk will be rewarded. No one came forward. But Manikandan volunteered and the king agreed very hesitantly. The queen to pretended that she was unwilling to send him.
Manikandan went to the forest and was reminded by the Devas about the purpose of his incarnation. They also pleaded him to save them from Mahishi. After a fierce and long battle, Ayyappa killed Mahishi. The Devas in gratitude promised to help him in his mission. Indra became the male tiger and the others became tigresses and accompanied him to Pantala. Manikanda came back into the city riding the male tiger (Indra).
It was then that the king realised the true identity of the boy he had brought up as his son. He bowed down to him. The queen too apologised for tring to harm him. The king requested Ayyappa to grant permission to bulid a temple as a memory of Manikandan's stay with them.
As instructed by the sage Aghastya, Rajashekara built a temple with 18 steps on the Shabhari Hill and Sage Parasuram installed the image of Ayyappa in the temple.
This is all I know. But it got me thinking as to wheether Shabhari Hill was named after Shabhari as Ram and Lakshman met her near the river Pamba (or Pampa). Did she live there before all this happened? What was the time frame for all these events? The Shabhari Hill (Sabari Malai) is in present day Kerala.
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