The Trembling of the Earth

The gods, demons, kings, and sages had assembled at Mount Kailash for the wedding of Shiva and Parvati.

Suddenly, the earth began to tremble and shake vigorously. Everyone got alarmed and thought that the end was near. Shiva said, "All of you have assembled on Kailash, which is in the north. Because all the weight is at one place, the earth has become heavy on one side. To solve this problem, somebody needs to go to the south and balance the earth with his weight. Only Agastya's tapasya has such weight." He asked Agastya to save the world. Agastya wanted to attend the wedding like the others. Shiva understood his dilemma and said, "Do your duty and whenever you think of me and Parvati, we will appear before you."

Agastya was happy; he went to the south and sat on the top of a mountain to perform his tapasya. The earth was stable again and the wedding went on smoothly.