Indian mythology · sage · immortality, devotion
The boy sage destined to die at sixteen who clung to Shiva's linga as Yama's noose fell; Shiva slew Death himself to save him, granting him eternal youth. He alone survives the dissolution of the cosmos to see Vishnu as a child on a banyan leaf.
Destined to die at sixteen, the boy sage Markandeya embraces the linga as Yama's noose falls. Shiva bursts from the stone and turns Death back with his trident, granting the boy eternal sixteen; even Yama's ledger has one entry struck through.