On one occasion, the gods of India gathered to make sacrifices, but one god was left out, Shiva.
Encouraged by his wife, Shiva became furious for being uninvited.
He descended upon the other gods in a terrifying roar.
Shiva’s rage focused into a single drop of sweat on his forehead, which fell to the earth and exploded into fire.
A hairy monster with red eyes jumped from the flames and spread misery through the world. This monster was disease personified.
The god Brahma promised Shiva that he would be included at all future sacrifices and begged him to stop the monster.
But instead of completely destroying disease, Shiva broke it into smaller ailments, headaches, hiccups, blindness, colds, and fevers.
These ailments still plague people today.
