In the Kritayuga, there lived a sage named Vyaghrapada. He had 2 sons – Upamanyu and Dhaumya. Once Upamanyu visited another hermitage with his father and happened to taste cow’s milk. After he returned home, he asked his mother for some cow’s milk. Since she could not get any for him, she mixed rice powder in water and gave it to him. Upamanyu refused to take it. His mother told him there was no way to get cow’s milk unless he appeased Shiva.

Upamanyu prayed to Shiva for a thousand years and Shiva appeared before him in the form of Indra. Upamanyu said that he would receive a boon only from Shiva himself. Shiva appeared as himself and made Upamanyu a deva. Upamanyu narrated this when he met Krishna as per Mahabharata Anushasanaparva Chapter 14.

Upamanyu has written ‘Shivabhaktavilasa’, a book that chronicles the lives of Shiva’s devotees and famous sages.

Some experts believe that Ayodhadhaumya’s disciple Upamanyu and this Upamanyu were the same person.