Devalok
Legend · 1 telling · Pan-India

The thief who trimmed the lamp (Gunanidhi)

Gunanidhi, a priest's son, gambles away his family's wealth and is cast out. Starving on Shivaratri, he enters a Shiva temple to steal the offerings and tears his cloth to make a wick so he can see. He is caught and killed, but Shiva's attendants claim him for the lamp and the waking. Reborn as King Dama and then as Kubera, he lives near Shiva.

Who is in it

Places: Kampilya, Kalinga, Alaka, Kailasa · Texts: Shiva Purana

The story, beat by beat

  1. Gunanidhi, son of Yajnadatta of Kampilya, gambles and steals; his father finds his ring on a gambler and disowns him.
  2. Starving, he follows worshippers to a Shiva temple on Shivaratri and waits through the night.
  3. He tears his cloth for a wick so the dim lamp lights the linga, then steals the food.
  4. He is caught and killed; Shiva's attendants take him from Yama's men.
  5. He is reborn as King Dama of Kalinga, who lights lamps in Shiva's temples, and then as Kubera.

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How it is told, place by place

Base telling · Primary text (translation)

Shiva Purana, Rudra Samhita 17 to 18

Pan-India · sa Shaiva 🪔 Maha Shivaratri

Gunanidhi, son of the priest Yajnadatta of Kampilya, gambles away his mother's jewels; his father sees his ring on a gambler and casts him out. Hungry on Shivaratri, he follows people with offerings to a Shiva temple and waits until they sleep. The lamp is too dim, so he makes a wick from his cloth and the shrine lights up. He steals the food, trips on a sleeper, and is killed by the guards. Shiva's attendants take him from Yama's men for the fast, the waking and the lamp. He is reborn as Dama of Kalinga, who lights lamps in Shiva's temples, and then as Kubera of Alaka.

Shiva Purana, Rudra Samhita, Srishti Khanda 17 to 18, the story of Gunanidhi, English translation (Wisdom Library)

Sources: Shiva Purana, Rudra Samhita, Srishti Khanda 17 to 18, the story of Gunanidhi, English translation (Wisdom Library)

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