“We are one big family”

So it was that Rudra began to spend His days in happiness and in joy, in fun and games with His forest family, and mornings of deep reposes of meditation in the heavenly mountains.

He had virtually all the self-containment that anybody could ask for. It was as if He had made the beasts and birds His family.

Over time, some more beings, who were different from humans, and from the other beasts as well, started joining in, creating an even more extended family. The word had spread that Rudra never asked anyone their antecedents, never questioned their strange appearance; it was enough for Him that someone wanted to be part of His family.

“We are one big family,” He would tell His friends.