Shiva was in deep meditation, but he found everybody in distress. So he became compassionate and said, ‘What can I do for you?’ The gods said, ‘The world is burning; please come and save us’. Shiva then went to the ocean and saw how frightened the people were. He said, ‘I shall drink this poison. I may die as a result, but the world will be saved.’ He took the poison in his hand and quietly swallowed it. The poison was very powerful; it stayed stuck to the throat. From that day, Mahadeva had a new name, Nilakantha, ‘the Blue-throated’.