2bee:
"Sadhguru: There are many stories in the Yogic lore describing Shiva’s indiscriminate compassion and child-like response to one’s longing. Once, there was an asura whose name was Gajendra. Gajendra did many austerities and he earned a boon from Shiva that whenever he called him, Shiva was there with him. Seeing that Gajendra was calling Shiva for every little thing in his life, Narada, the ever-mischievous sage of the three worlds, played some mischief with Gajendra.
He told Gajendra, “Why are you calling Shiva off and on? He is responding to every call of yours. Why don’t you ask him just to enter you and stay there all the time so that he will always be yours?” Gajendra thought that was a good idea and accordingly he worshipped Shiva. When Shiva appeared to him, he said “You must stay within me. You should not go anywhere.” Shiva in his child-like response entered Gajendra in the form of a linga and stayed there.
Then as time passed, the whole cosmos was missing Shiva. No one knew where he was. All the devas and ganas started searching for Shiva. Then after much searching, when no one could espy as to where he was, they went to Vishnu to find the solution. Vishnu looked at the situation and said, “He is in Gajendra.” Then the devas asked him how they could get Shiva out of Gajendra because Gajendra had become immortal carrying Shiva within himself.
As usual, Vishnu came up with the right kind of trick. The devas dressed up as Shiva devotees and came about to Gajendra’s kingdom and started singing Shiva’s praises with great devotion. Gajendra, being a great devotee of Shiva, invited these people to come and sing and dance in his court. This group of devas dressed as the devotees of Shiva came and with great emotion, with great devotion, they sang and worshipped and danced for Shiva. Shiva, who was sitting inside Gajendra could not hold himself back, he had to respond. So he tore Gajendra into pieces and came out of him!"
2bee:
shivo'ham