- Bhringi
According to
Hindu mythology , Parangi (the wanderer) was an ancient sage (rishi ), and a great devotee ofShiva ,the Hindu God of destruction and rejuvenation. The legend states that he had Two legs. According to mythology, all the rishis once paid homage to both Shiva andParvati , the second consort of Shiva, but Parangi would not worship Parvati and dedicated himself solely to Shiva. Enraged, Parvati reduced Parangi to a skeleton. In this form he was not able to stand and so Shiva provided him with a third leg. Bhringi remained undaunted, and continued to worship only Shiva. To force him to worship Parvati as well, Shiva transformed himself into hisandrogynous form ofArdhnarishvar , in which state he was combined with his consort Parvati. Parangi remained undeterred. Transformed himself in a bee, he bored his way through the male part of androgynous Shiva and continued his worship. He generally appears beside Shiva during his cosmic dance ofthaandava .References
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Dictionary of Lord and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dallapiccola & Ramakrishnan
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