Puranic Stories · Shiva Purana
With Shiva's attendants and army both turned away, Lord Brahma himself stepped forward, hoping his own considerable standing among the gods might succeed where force had failed, seeking a peaceful resolution to the growing standoff at Kailash's gate.
An Attempt at Reason
Brahma approached the boy not with confrontation but with calm negotiation, attempting to reason with him and persuade him to allow passage, trusting that diplomacy where combat had failed might finally open the way.
A Beard Pulled in Defiance
The boy, however, remained entirely unmoved by rank or reputation, meeting even Brahma's careful diplomacy with the same fierce protectiveness he had shown Nandi and the Ganas: in the confrontation that followed, he seized and pulled at Brahma's own beard, refusing to be persuaded by words any more than by force.
What This Failed Negotiation Reveals
That even Brahma's wisdom and standing could not move this young guard shows just how completely he had committed himself to his mother's instruction: a devotion so total that neither strength nor diplomacy alone could yet find a way past it.