Congregation of Faithfuls
Shiva had also gathered his own band of unswerving devotees- a prerequisite for every established god. Upamanyu was one such. As a child he had gone to his wealthy uncle's house and tasted milk for the first time. When he returned he cried for milk. His mother powered come rain and missing it with water, gave it to Upamanyu. The child was not fooled and demanded the real thing. His mother could only advise him to worship Shiva, which he did. Shiva, disguised as Indra, came to test him and tried to divert his loyalties by deriding Shiva. Upamanyu was prepared to give up his preance for milk, was eve ready to kill Indra to defend the hour of his beloved god. Shiva was even ready to kill Indra to defend the honour of his beloved god. Shiva was pleased and blesed him with the sight of a thousand milk oceans and other delectable waters besides- seas of curd, ghee, honey, sugracane juice, sweet and salt water- the seven oceans of myth. It was this same Upamanyu who became a great sage, learned in the ways of Shiva. It was advised Krishna to go to Shiva when his wife jambavati wanted a son.

His most beloved devotee was Vishnu himself. In a puranic story, Vishnu worshipped him with a thousand lotuses, one for each of Shiva's thousand names. One day, Shiva removed a lotus. While offereing the flowers, Vishnu missed the thousandth and last lotus. Without a moment's hesitation, he plucked out one of his own lotus eyes to replace it and received his discus, Sudarshana, as a reward

Markandeya, son of Rishi Mrikandu was an exceptional child, destined to die at sixteen. He was a great Shiva devotee. When the messengers of Yama, the god of death, arrived to take him, he clasped the linga he was worshipping and Shiva appeared, defeating Kala, Death as the irrevocable march of Time.

Brahma was no devotee but was forced to acknowledge Shiva's superior powers. They represented antagonistic urges, destruction and creation, but functioned in unison as equally indispensable forces.

The Triad Is Established -Shiva Has To Marry
Brahma and Vishnu, with Shiva as the odd god in, had set up a workable world-system and System and Shiva, as part of the governing triad, would have to conform. He would have to marry. The others had already done so. The perfect yogi and the perfect husband- only he could be both, for he was a god in whom incompatibles came to rest and resolved into positive forces. The early avenging archer was also the healer and renewer. The Cosmic Male had manifested as half-female, Ardhanari; the destroyer had embraced the Preserver in the Harihara form- and now, the unrelenting yogi was about to accommodate the householder. Shiva's marriage took much arranging and considerable manipulation. A whole conglomerate of inimical forces were to impel the god towards his goddess. He was probably legend's most reluctant husband.