The Story of Andhika

Once upon a time, in a timeless time, long ago- Parvati was in a playful mood and gently covered Shiva’s two eyes with her hands. In that moment, the entire universe plunged into darkness. Chaos prevailed everywhere. In order to save the world from this predicament, Shiva suddenly willed an eye in the center of his forehead. Fire emerged from his third eye and light was restored in the world. However, the heat radiating from Shiva caused Parvati to perspire, and a toxic black ooze fell to the floor. Andhika, the blind son, was born to them. His vehicle is the crow, the darkness messenger. The crow becomes his eyes, as there is always one in the tree and two on the ground. Andhika becomes Raksasapati or lord of the protected demons.

To dive deeper-

Why are the demons “protected”? Because they are mothered and She protects all beings. The toxicity that is Andhika, born from a playful "mistake" that causes both Shiva and Parvati to release their darkest proclivity. Because we ALL have one. (I had to ask my teacher for help on this one- Thank you, Douglas.)

The Sanskrit word trilocana means one who has three eyes. Shiva’s eyes represent the sun, the moon, and the fire-the three sources of light, life, and heat. Andhika also has “three eyes”. The three crows represent the three stages of consciousness or life- waking, dreaming, and dreamlessness.