In this village they spent the night in a temple dedicated to Nilakantha Mahadeva._x000d_
The story of Shiva as Nilakantha Mahadeva runs thus. When the gods and demons churned the ocean, many wonderful things issued from out of the seething mass: for instance, a magnificent elephant, a stately chariot, a great horse, a beautiful maiden, a priceless jewel. Both gods and demons seized what they could. Then a poison, Halahala, whose very odour was fatal to life, came out. The gods and demons were faced with the problem of getting rid of it, in order to save their lives. They were directed by Vishnu to appeal to Mahadeva, who had all along remained indifferent to the prizes that the churning had produced, sitting far away in His abode, absorbed in meditation. On hearing their cries for help He arose, and, scooping up the poison in His hands, swallowed all of it. As a result His throat (Kantha) became blue (Nila). For this reason He is called Nilakantha Mahadeva-the Great God with the Blue Throat._x000d_
To this well known story the Swami gave his own interpretation. All beings, he said, who dwell within the folds of earthly consciousness, churn the ocean of Maya, that is, human life, and obtain treasures that are pleasing to the senses; but soon the poison, death, must come to end the show. The monk,however, stands apart. Absorbed in the Self, he desires none of the enticing gifts which Maya offers; but like Mahadeva, he is ready to come to the assistance of those who lust after sense ¬pleasures, when, in the presence of death, they come to him (the monk) to save their souls. Then he destroys their Maya¬ their ignorance-and releases them from the fear of death. He also shows by this that the man of Realization has no fear of death.