The Oneness of Vishnu and Shiva

There was once, a story goes, a man called Bell-Ears, a fanatical devotee of the god Shiva. He always went about chanting the name of Shiva. In his ear-lobes he wore little bells, and whenever he heard anyone chanting the name of any other god or goddess, he used to shake the bells violently to drown out the unwelcome sound. Lord Shiva, however, was not pleased with this narrowness. One day when Bell-Ears was worshipping him, Shiva, to teach him a lesson, made himself visible in a strange form: one side of the body was Shiva and the other side Vishnu. It was like saying, "Here I am, you see: I am in all divine forms." That was the idea. But Bell-Ears was such a fanatic that with his finger he closed the nostril on Vishnu's side, to prevent that god from smelling the incense! Some people never learn.