The next several days on Earth passed uneventfully. Sathi threw herself into preparing for the Spring Festival, especially now that her father had set out for his Yagna. He promised to return as soon as the Grand Council was complete. Till then, Chandra had been appointed to take care of his kingdom in his absence. Shiva, in the meanwhile, meditated… as usual. Narada had given up on attempting to convince him to go to Sathi. Nandi wistfully walked about Kailash, wishing Lord Shiva would reconsider. All seemed to be well for the time being.

Pathala Lok was a different situation altogether. Here, the demons were in a frenzy. Their king, Sukracharya, was worried for he had just received news that King Daksh was calling a Great Council. Along with sending an invitation to Sukracharya, he had also sent one to Lord Shiva, and there was the rub.

Lord Shiva had gained his name as "Bhole Naath" ('Innocent Lord') mainly for his dealings with the demons. It was common knowledge that demons personified all that was bad in the world. They reveled in arrogance, and greed. Survival was not the purpose of their lives. Power was. No amount of power would ever be enough for them, and that was their greatest strength as well as their greatest flaw. What god would then respond to their calls? What god would grant them any boon or save them from any harm? Who could demons turn to in their times of need?

The Divine Three were bound by a sense of duty to every living creature in the world. As Lord Bramha had been cursed to fall from divinity, none could pray to him. Then there was Lord Vishnu, a master manipulator, who would certainly come running when an honest devotee called his name. However, if that devotee's intentions were at all impure, Vishnu would find every trick and loophole in the book to avoid granting them their wish. To him, the world was divided into shades of gray. A person's future acts held as much weight in his book as his past acts. As the Maintainer, he could not allow one man or woman's bad intentions to cause harm to the innocent, no matter how devoted that man or woman may be to him.

On the other hand was Lord Shiva who looked at the world in black and white. Intentions mattered less to him than actions. If someone were to pray to him with utmost devotion, he did not think twice to grant them their wish. Why should any one man or woman be denied their right to be rewarded for their hard work, whatever their intentions be-good or bad? Gods, men, and demons all had the ability to dedicate themselves to prayer and call upon the gods. Any one of them could earn the favor of their gods through devotion, and if they prove themselves worthy of his favor, how would it be fair of him to deny them of it?

It was for this same reason that Lord Shiva had appeared to the demon, Tharakasur, one day. After hundreds of years of continuous prayer, foregoing food, water, and sleep, Tharakasur had won Lord Shiva over and he was now here to grant the demon whatever boon he asked for. Tharakasur rushed to him, so happy to see his god that his eyes brimmed with tears. He was overjoyed when Shiva granted him one boon. He wished for ambrosia, he told Lord Shiva: the gift of eternal life.

But Shiva shook his head and reminded him that all that is born must also die. There was nothing that he himself could give to Tharakasur to grant him immortality. Ask for something else, he said.

Tharakasur thought long and hard. "Then grant me this wish, my lord," he said, "Let it be that when I die, my death will be at the hands of your son."

Lord Shiva nodded and granted him the wish, then disappeared once more. The moment he had gone, Tharakasur sneered. "You are quite the innocent one, aren't you, my lord?" He chuckled to himself. "You've granted me my immortality without even realizing it. You-a vagabond and a sworn bachelor for all of eternity? How will you ever sire a son? And if you never sire a son, how will I ever die?" And with the arrogance of his newly-granted boon, Tharakasur set out to gather his powers and conquer Pathala Lok.

He had quickly become an impending doom over Sukracharya's reign and had only seized his mad battle for the Demon Throne when Sukracharya promised to hand it over himself. He no longer wished to be the king, he admitted. He wished to dedicate his life to meditation and gaining magical powers. He would gladly return to Pathal Lok to be Tharakasur's guru, or teacher, instead. Tharakasur agreed, knowing Sukracharya's experience would be invaluable in his rule, and prepared to take his place as king of the demons. In fact, Daksh's Great Council was to be Sukracharya's final act as king of the demons.

The trouble was that Lord Shiva had also been invited along with several other gods. If he accepted, it could only mean that he was joining them, that he would soon be bound to the rest of them by whatever common cause this council would present, and that would be the beginning of the end to the demons. The moment Lord Shiva abandoned his stand to treat the demons the same as the rest of creation would be the moment of the downfall of Pathala Lok. Sukracharya turned to Tharakasur, conflicted. There was some plot brewing, he told him. This was all some terrible conspiracy, and the demons would not stand by and watch it unfold. The council had to be stopped!

Somewhere in the deepest depths of Pathal Lok, fire burst from the belly of a volcano, giving life to the dark rock it coursed over. The rock shifted and shuddered, then slowly took form into the horrible figure of a demon born from the powers of Sukracharya himself.