[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975) › c9.2326 # Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c9.2326 Purāṇic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Purāṇic Literature c9.2326 - **Language:** English ### [c9.2326](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c9.2326) Tārakāsura, as a child, began practising penance and Brahmā duly appeared before him and granted him the boon that if he were to die, he would die at the hands of a child only seven days old. Haughty over the boon Tārakāsura very soon conquered the three worlds. The devas found no means to suppress the asura. Children would not be born to them and there was a reason for it. Once Śiva and Pārvatī started the marital act and it did not come to a close after a hundred divya - years, with the result that the world shook like anything. Frightened at this the Devas requested Śiva to stop the act and he obliged them. Then he asked them who would bear the semen which had been discharged and they replied, "Let earth itself bear the semen." Accordingly it was discharged on the earth. It filled and over-flowed forests and mountains. What next was the problem. Ultimately the Devas asked Agni (fire) to consume it. When Agni consumed and burnt it down absolutely, the ashes thereof formed into a white hill and it became a forest. - [Previous: c9.2325](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c9.2325) - [Next: c9.2327](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c9.2327) - [Up: c9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c9) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c9.2326](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c9.2326) · Pramāṇa