Many years ago, in a small village called Udutadi in Shimoga district of Karnataka, there lived a couple of great spiritual devotion. They had a little daughter whom they named Mahadevi. Right from a tender age, this girl displayed an otherworldly absorption in whatever she did.
One day, a wandering mystic stopped at their house. “Shall I give her deeksha?”, he asked her parents. They folded their hands as he whispered in her ear the words that lit the fire of Shiva and Shivatva in her.
She plunged herself in writing poetry and singing songs of play with her Shiva. She made friends with animals, birds, flowers, and nature in a desire to be as close to Lord Shiva himself as humanly possible. While other girls dreamt of marrying handsome men of wealthy means, she just wanted her Chenna Mallikarjuna (the beautiful Lord, pure as Jasmine).
One day, the king of the land, King Koushika’s eyes fell upon this remarkable girl. He was enchanted by her eyes, the way she moved, the smile that seemed always to play upon her mouth. He imagined what it would be like to be her lover, and wanted to possess her and her bright mind. Forced into a corner, she acceded, but only on the following grounds-she would never be stopped from her meditation, philosophical studies, or worship, or forced to do anything she didn’t want to.
Try as he might to win this girl over with his schemes, her mind dwelled constantly on her Chenna Mallikarjuna. Enraged, he made attempts to stop all her worship. He tore up all her poetry, smashed up the small altar at which she would make offerings, vandalized her musical instruments, and burnt the silken cloth that she would lovingly wrap around her idol. “Who do you think you are? You are some girl I picked up off the streets. The clothes on your back, the jewels on your chest, even the food that warms your belly is what I have given you. You will bend to my will, for without me you are nothing! There is not a speck of dust that belongs to you in this world.”
His eyes widened as she continued to remove even her clothing. “You are correct, king. There is nothing here that is mine. Everything on my body is something you have given me.”
“Mahadevi...”
“But luckily, none of these are things which I need. Thank you for opening my eyes.” He watched spellbound as she walked out of the palace, naked as the day she was born.
