Bhṛṅgī
Bhṛṅgī is one of the most devoted gaṇas (attendants) of Bhagavān Śiva. He is known for devotion to Śiva alone. He refused to walk round Devī Pārvatī together with Śiva. The Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa tells his story in Chapters 41–44, in the setting of the war with Andhaka. Pārvatī took offence that he would not include her in his reverence. She took back from him the material substance she had given to his body, so that he was left without flesh and blood. Bhagavān Śiva gave him a third leg to stand on. Since then Bhṛṅgī has a thin, skeleton-like body and three legs.
Devotion to Śiva alone
The mark of Bhṛṅgī is his one-pointed devotion to Śiva alone. It was so complete that he would not honour Pārvatī as an equal object of reverence. When he had to do pradakṣiṇā (walking round) of Śiva and Pārvatī together, he turned himself into an insect. The name bhṛṅga means a bumblebee or beetle. As an insect he bored through the narrow space between the two, so that he could circle Śiva only.
This is told in the Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 43.
The response of Pārvatī
Pārvatī was deeply offended that Bhṛṅgī would not include her in his devotion. She took back from him all that she had given to his being: his māṃsa (flesh) and rakta (blood). In the traditional understanding of how a body is formed, these are the part given by the mother. Without them Bhṛṅgī was left as a skeleton, with only bones and skin. Bones and skin are the part given by the father, who here is Śiva.
Without flesh he could not stand on two legs, and Bhṛṅgī fell down. Bhagavān Śiva was moved with pity for his devoted gaṇa. He gave him a third leg, a staff-leg, to hold him up. With three legs Bhṛṅgī could stand and move.
This is told in the Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 43.
Appearance
Bhṛṅgī has a skeleton-like body, three legs and a withered form. In temple sculpture he is one of the gaṇas beside Śiva. He is easy to know by his thin, three-legged form. He is often shown with a joyful face, for he is worn down in body but triumphant in his devotion.
This is from the Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 43.
The dice-game quarrel (Kedāra Khaṇḍa)
The Kedāra Khaṇḍa gives a particular setting for the śāpa (curse) on Bhṛṅgī. It is the dice-game quarrel between Śiva and Pārvatī on Kailāsa. Pārvatī won the game of dice, but Śiva would not admit it, and a dispute began. Bhṛṅgī took the side of Śiva. He argued that Śiva is the supreme master who cannot be defeated, and that Pārvatī was wrong to claim victory. He went further. He spoke in a patronising way of the burning of Manmatha and of the tapas (austerity) of Pārvatī. He hinted that she owed her place only to the grace of Śiva and should be more humble.
Pārvatī was furious. She cursed him herself, saying: “Mūḍha! You who have separated Śiva and Pārvatī in your devotion, become nirmāṃsa (without flesh)!” He was at once reduced to a skeleton. Bhagavān Śiva gave him the third leg to make up for it.
In this account the cause is the same as in the Vāmana Purāṇa. Bhṛṅgī shut Pārvatī out of his devotion and treated Śiva as separate from Śakti. The Kedāra Khaṇḍa sets it in the household dispute after the dice game.
Sources
- Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 41–44
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 34