Once
a hunter while chasing a deer wandered into a dense forest and found himself on
the banks of river Kolidum when he heard the growl of a tiger. To protect
himself from the beast he climbed up a tree nearby. The tiger pitched itself on
the ground below the tree fostering no intention to leave. The hunter stayed up
in the tree all night and to keep himself from falling asleep, he gently
plucked one leaf after another from the tree and threw it down. Under the tree
was a Shiva Linga and the tree blessedly turned out to be a bilva tree.
Unknowingly the man had pleased the deity with bilva leaves. At sunrise,
the hunter looked down to find the tiger gone, and in its place stood Lord
Shiva. He prostrated before the Lord and attained salvation from the cycle of
birth and death.
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