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When the tale of the forty-two incarnations had been told to its end, Sanatkumara pressed his palms together and put a question to Nandishwar. “My lord, you were born from a portion of Mahadeva himself, and afterward you came again to Shiva. How did that happen? I long to hear the whole account. Be kind, and tell it.”
Nandishwar, lord of the ganas, answered. “Sanatkumara, you who know all things, I will tell you the very way in which I was born from a portion of Mahadeva and came at last to Shiva. Listen closely.”
Shilada’s vow
There was a righteous sage named Shilada. On the command of his ancestors, he set his heart on a son of a rare kind: one not born from any womb, firm in his vows, and beyond the reach of death. To win such a boon he undertook fierce austerity and pleased Indra, king of the gods. But Indra confessed that he had no power to grant a son like that, and told him to worship Mahadeva instead, the lord of all, in whom such power lived.
So Shilada sat down again to his austerities, this time to please Mahadeva. His penance moved the god, who came to the place in person and roused the sage from his deep absorption with a gentle touch. Shilada praised him with love, and when Lord Shiva made ready to grant a boon, the sage said, “My lord, I want a son who is deathless and born of no womb, a son like you yourself.”
Shiva was pleased, and he said, “Brahmin, rich in penance, in an age long past Brahma and the greatest of the gods worshiped me through austerity so that I might take birth among them. And so, sage, though I am the father of the whole universe, you will become my father, and I will be born again as a son of no womb and carry the name Nandi.” Having said this, the gracious Shankara turned a look of grace upon Shilada and vanished on the spot, Uma with him.
The descent on the sacrificial ground
After Mahadeva departed, Shilada returned to his hermitage and told the whole account to the sages there. Some time passed. One day the great sage, foremost among those who knew the science of sacrifice, was plowing the ground for a yajna. At that very moment, by Shambhu’s command, before the rite had even begun, Nandishwar came forth from his body. The child’s radiance was like the fire that burns at the end of an age; gladness spread through every direction, and on all sides people began to praise Shilada.
Shilada saw that the infant blazed like the sun and fire of the world’s dissolution: he had three eyes, four arms, a crown of matted hair, and weapons that included the trident, altogether the very form of Rudra. At the sight he sank into a great joy, and bowing to the child worthy of worship, he said, “Lord of the gods, you have come forth by the name Nandi and filled me with joy. And so I bow to you, lord of the worlds, who are joy itself.”
A single year of life
As a poor man rejoices when wealth comes to him, so Shilada rejoiced in his son. He paid homage to Mahadeva, gathered the boy up, and returned to his leaf-thatched hut. The moment he reached the hermitage, Nandi set aside that form of Rudra and took on the shape of a human child. His doting father performed all the rites, from the birth ceremony onward, and by the fifth year had the boy taught the complete Vedas with all their branches, along with the other sacred texts.
When the seventh year was complete, two sages named Mitra and Varuna came to the hermitage, at Shiva’s command, to see Nandi. Shilada gave them full and gracious welcome. Once they were seated, they looked at the boy again and again, and said, “Dear Shilada, your son is a scholar who has crossed to the far shore of every meaning in the sacred texts. And yet his life is very short. We have weighed it with care, and his span appears to be no more than a single year.”
At these words Shilada clutched his son to his chest and wept aloud; father and grandfather both fell fainting to the ground. Then Nandi called to mind the lotus feet of Shiva and asked, calmly and even gladly, “Father, what sorrow has come upon you, that your body trembles and you weep?” His father said, “My child, we are stricken to see how short your life will be. Who can turn this aside?” Nandi answered, “Father, I tell you the truth: even if the demons, Yama, Time itself, and every other living being joined together to kill me, my death would not come in my boyhood. Do not grieve. Worship of Mahadeva alone will let me conquer death; penance cannot do it, and neither can learning. There is no other way.” With that he bowed at his father’s feet, walked once around him in reverence, and set out on the road to the forest.
Austerity in the forest, and a boon
In a solitary place in the forest Nandi took his seat and began an austerity that would have taxed even the greatest of sages. Sitting on the holy northern bank of a river, his mind gathered to a single point, he meditated within the lotus of his heart on the tranquil Sadashiva of three eyes, ten arms, and five faces, and began to recite the Rudra mantra. Seeing him lost in that recitation, Chandrashekhara, the moon-crested Mahadeva, was pleased. He came to the place with Uma and said with affection, “Son of Shilada, your penance has been noble. I have come to grant you a boon; ask whatever you desire.”
Nandi threw himself down at Shiva’s feet and began to praise the Lord who destroys old age and sorrow. As he praised him, tears rose in his eyes. Then Shambhu, tender toward his devotees, took Nandi by both hands where he lay at his feet and lifted him up. He passed his hand over the boy’s body, and looking with grace first toward Parvati and then toward Nandi, he said, “Nandi, my child, those two sages were sent by me. Wise one, where is there death for you? You are the very same as I am. You will remain immortal, ageless, free of sorrow, undecaying, and imperishable, the leader of my ganas. You will have strength equal to mine. You will stand at my side, and my love for you will never break. By my grace, birth, old age, and death will have no power to touch you.”
With these words Shambhu lifted the garland of lotuses from his own head and at once placed it around Nandi’s neck. The instant Nandi wore that auspicious garland, he became a being of three eyes and ten arms, and looked like a second Shankara. Then Maheshwara took his hand and asked, “What other fine boon shall I give you now?” He took pure water from his own matted hair into his palm and, saying, “Become a river,” let it fall. That water turned into five beautiful, swift, clear rivers, whose names are Jatodaka, Trisrota, Vrishadhvani, Svarnodaka, and Jambunadi. This confluence of five rivers is supremely auspicious, holy as the very back of Shiva; whoever bathes there and worships Lord Shiva reaches union with Shiva beyond any doubt.
Lord of the ganas
After this, Shambhu said to Parvati, “Undying one, I wish to consecrate Nandi and make him lord of the ganas. What is your thought on this?” Parvati said, “My lord, you may give Nandi the office of lord of the ganas; this son of Shilada is very dear to me as well.” Then Shankara, tender toward his devotees, summoned his ganas of matchless strength and said, “Leaders of the ganas, carry out this one command of mine. This dear son of mine, Nandishwar, is the head of all the leaders of the ganas and the chief of the host. Come together and consecrate him with love to the office of lord over my ganas. From this day Nandishwar is master of you all.”
All the leaders of the ganas said, “So be it,” and set about gathering what was needed. Then the gods and sages together performed Nandi’s consecration.
The marriage and the blessing
After this, Nandi was married to Suyasha, the lovely and divine daughter of the Maruts; at that time many heavenly gifts came to him. Once the marriage was done, Nandi and his wife bowed at the feet of Shambhu, the goddess Shiva, Brahma, and Shri Hari. Then Shiva, lord of the three worlds, spoke to Nandi and his wife. “Good son, you and your beloved Suyasha, hear me. You are most dear to me, and so with love I grant you the boons your heart desires. Nandi, lord of the ganas, together with the goddess Parvati I am forever pleased with you. You will be bound to me in unbreakable love, rich beyond measure in majesty, a great yogi, a mighty archer, unconquerable, immensely strong, and worthy of worship always. Where I dwell, there you will be; where you dwell, there I will be present. The same will hold for your father and your grandfather; they too will be rich in majesty, my devotees, and lords of the ganas. In the end all of you will receive my boon and come to dwell near me.”
Then the blessed goddess Uma, eager to grant a boon, said to Nandi, “My child, ask a boon of me as well; I will fulfill every wish you cherish.” Nandi folded his hands and said, “Goddess, may I always hold the finest devotion at your feet.” The goddess said, “So be it.” Then she said to Suyasha, Nandi’s beloved, “Dear girl, take your chosen boon as well. You will have three eyes, you will be freed from the bondage of birth, you will be blessed with sons and grandsons, and your devotion to me and to your husband will stand unshaken.”
After this, at Shiva’s command, Brahma, Vishnu, and all the hosts of gods lovingly gave their boons to the two of them. Then Lord Shiva took Nandi into his own family and, with Uma, mounted his bull and set out for his abode along with kin and companions. And all the gods gathered there, Vishnu and the rest, went to their own realms, praising Shiva as they went.
Nandishwar said, “Sage, this is the account of my own descent, and I have told it to you in full. This story gives joy without end and deepens devotion to Shiva. Whoever, in a spirit of devotion, hears this tale of Nandi’s birth, consecration, and marriage, or tells it, or reads it, or teaches it to others, will enjoy the pleasures of this world and reach the highest goal at the last.”
Source: Shiva Purana (Gita Press, abridged Shiva Purana edition), Shatarudra Samhita