Little Upamanyu and the Ocean of Milk

Long, long ago, there lived a rishi named Vyaghrapad. He had two sons, Upamanyu and his younger brother Dhaumya. The family lived in an ashram in the forest, where the only food was roots and fruits.

One day little Upamanyu went with his brother to the ashram of some other rishis. There he saw a cow being milked and tasted the milk. It tasted as sweet as amrit. When he came home, he said to his mother, "Maa, please give me food made with milk too."

There was no milk in the house at all. His mother felt very sad. She boiled a little flour in water to make a whitish drink and said lovingly, "Here, son, drink your milk." But after one sip, Upamanyu said, "Maa, this is not milk."

His mother hugged him and, with tears in her eyes, said, "Son, we are tapasvis who live in the forest. Where would we find cows here? Bhagwan Shiv is our only support. Worship Mahadev with a true heart. Everything comes by his grace."

Upamanyu asked, "Maa, who is Mahadev? Where does he live?" His mother said, "Son, Shiv ji lives in the heart of every living being. He blesses whoever remembers him with true love."

From that day, Upamanyu's mind was fixed on Mahadev alone. He began a hard tapasya. The story says that for a very, very long time he kept his mind on Shiv ji, sometimes standing on one foot, sometimes eating only fruits or leaves, sometimes drinking only water.

One day Indra Dev, king of the devtas, appeared before him, riding the white elephant Airavat. "I am pleased with you," he said. "Ask for any boon." Upamanyu replied respectfully, "Devraj, I do not want any boon from you. I will ask for boons only from Mahadev. If it is his wish, I would happily be even a tiny insect. But without his grace, I do not want even the kingdom of the three worlds."

At that very moment, a miracle happened. The elephant Airavat turned into a beautiful white bull, and on it sat Bhagwan Shiv himself, with Maa Parvati. It was Shiv ji all along, in the form of Indra, testing him.

Upamanyu was filled with joy. Shiv ji said, "Ask, my child. What do you wish for?" Upamanyu said, "Lord, may my devotion to you never grow less, and may my family always have food made with milk."

Shiv ji smiled and said, "Wherever you wish, a whole ocean of milk will be there for you. You will become wise, and I will always be near your ashram."

Upamanyu grew up to be a great rishi. In the Mahabharat, he tells this very story to Shri Krishna himself.