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The echo of Mahishasura’s death had not yet fallen still when a fire of vengeance began to smolder inside his son, Gajasura. When he heard that the Devi, moved by the gods, had killed his father, he shed no tears and said nothing to anyone. Carried by the will to avenge, he began an austerity so fierce that the flame of his tapas set everything around him alight.
In whatever direction a glance turned, the tongues of that heat were seen spreading. The earth had no rest, and the sky had none either. When the scorching grew impossible to bear, the gods, undone by fear, went to Brahma and poured out their grief.
Brahma’s Boon
Brahma appeared before the austere demon and, according to his prayer, granted the boon: he would die at the hands of no woman and no man who was in the grip of desire; he would be immensely strong, and unconquerable to the whole world. In the shadow of that boon, Gajasura’s pride grew without end.
The moment the boon was his, pride filled him. One by one, he took hold of every direction and of the seats of the Lokapalas, the guardians of the quarters. No corner was left where his terror had not reached.
The Peril of Anandavana Kashi
At last he reached Anandavana Kashi, the capital of Lord Shankara. This demon began to torment the very people of the city that men called the ground of liberation. In the place where Bholenath himself dwelt, his cruelty now held sway. Defeated, the gods stood once more with folded hands, this time before Lord Shankara himself.
Here the boon came undone from within itself. Gajasura could be killed only at the hands of one who stood beyond desire, and Shankara is the very conqueror of desire. Before a god who had mastered Kama, a boon like that could not hold.
On the Point of the Trident
A terrible war broke out. The demon who had spread himself over all the worlds could not stand for long before Mahadeva. Lord Shankara overpowered Gajasura and threaded him upon his trident. Pierced on the point of the spear, he could no longer flee, and he could no longer fight. Yet in that very moment, in the lap of death, something inside him changed.
Still impaled, he began to sing the praise of Lord Shankara. In his hardened heart a spring of devotion broke open. Shankara was pleased with him and told him to ask for the boon he wished.
The Name Krittivasa
Gajasura joined his palms and said: “O Maheshana, sky-clad in form! If you are pleased with me, then wear forever this hide of mine, made pure by the fire of your trident. O all-pervading Lord, I am a treasury of holy fragrances; that is why this hide, lying so long in the flame of the fire of austerity, did not burn. O sky-clad one, had this hide not been holy, how would it have earned the company of your limbs? And grant one boon more: from this day let your name be famed as Krittivasa.”
Shankara, tender to his devotees, said “so be it” with great gladness. The mind of that son of Mahishasura had, through devotion, now grown spotless, and so the Lord spoke again.
“O king of the danavas! This hide of yours will remain forever in my liberating Kashi, together with my linga. That linga will bear the name Krittivaseshwara. It will grant liberation, destroy even the greatest of sins, stand as the crown jewel among all lingas, and bestow moksha, release.” Having spoken thus, Shiva, the lord of the gods, took up that vast hide of Gajasura and wore it upon his limbs.
That day a great festival was held in Kashi. Every inhabitant of the city and all the Pramatha hosts sank into joy, the minds of Brahma and the other gods filled with delight, and all of them bowed to Maheshvara with folded hands and sang his praise. The demon who had been born from the fire of vengeance became, at his end, the cause of one of Shiva’s beloved names, and his hide the ornament of Bholenath’s body.
Source: Shiva Purana (Gita Press, abridged Shiva Purana edition), Rudra Samhita, fifth (Yuddha) Khanda