The Demon Who Burned Himself

The sages told the Pandavas of Bhasmasura, the demon who won a deadly power and was destroyed by it through his own hand - a tale of how a fearful gift, given to one without the wisdom to hold it, becomes the ruin of its owner.

There was a demon who set himself to win power by penance, and he chose to worship Shiva, the great god who is famous for being easily pleased and quick to grant boons. The demon went into the wilderness and performed austerities of fearful severity for a very long time, mortifying his body and fixing his whole will upon compelling the god's favor. And in time Shiva, pleased by the demon's long and intense devotion, appeared before him to grant him a boon - for so generous is Shiva that he gives freely to those who worship him, sometimes without weighing carefully what is asked, or who is asking.