27. Vaiśyanātha incarnation

In Nandigrāma, there was a prostitute known as Mahānandā. She was very beautiful and a worshipper of Śiva. Śiva reached her house to test her, assuming the form of a merchant named Vaiśyanātha. This merchant wore a beautiful bangle around his wrist. On seeing this beautiful bangle, Mahānandā eagerly desired the same. Then the merchant said that she could have the bangle if she wished but asked her about the price she was willing to pay for it. She replied that if she took the bangle from him, she will be his wife for three-four days and nights and will carry out all the duties of a wife. After saying this, that merchant gave her a phallic image also. Suddenly at midnight, where they lived, there arose a fire by the māyā of Śiva, and the phallic image started to burn. On seeing the phallic image burning, the merchant did not want to live. He desired of death without this. Hearing him, Mahānandā said that she will enter into the fire because she is the reason for this accident. As she was going to jump into the fire, Śiva appeared in front of her and prevented her from jumping into the fire. Śiva told her that for testing her devotion, he had assumed the form of a merchant known as Vaiśyanātha.^[1]