Markandeya's Eternal Sixteen
A boy embraced a Shiva lingam as his final hour arrived, and time itself was asked to wait.
The sage Mrikandu was granted a choice: a dull son who would live long, or a brilliant son who would die at sixteen. He chose brilliance, and Markandeya was born.
The boy grew luminous with devotion, chanting the Mahamrityunjaya mantra as though breathing it. His parents wept as his sixteenth year approached, and only then did he learn why.
On the appointed day Markandeya went to the temple, wrapped his arms around the Shiva lingam and did not let go. When Yama’s noose came, it fell around the boy and the lingam together.
Shiva burst from the stone. He drove Yama back and declared that this child would remain sixteen forever — deathless, still chanting, still holding on.