न कुर्वीत क्रियां काञ्चिदनभ्यर्च्य महेश्वरम्

न कुर्वीत क्रियां काञ्चिदनभ्यर्च्य महेश्वरम्।

ईशानार्चनरतं श्वेतं नाभून्नेतुम् यमः क्षमः॥ ४

क्षेमेन्द्रकविप्रणिते चारुचर्यायाम्॥

na kurvīta kriyāṁ kāñcidanabhyarcya maheśvaram|

īśānārcanarataṁ śvetaṁ nābhūnnetum yamaḥ kṣamaḥ|| 4

kṣemendrakavipraṇite cārucaryāyām||

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Another gem from poet Kshemendra in his short work Charucharya--contraining one hundred verses teaching moral values to students.

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One should not embark on any task without paying respects and floral worship to Lord Maheshvara, the Shankara..

Sage Shveta engaged himself for even in the worship of Ishana the Shankara and when Yama the god of death came to tie him with his ropes as the Sages life on earth was drawing to a close, he could not do that.. He was prevented by the Lord from dragging the sage to the world of death..

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The story of Sage Shveta is given in the Linga Mahapuranam, second Khandam Chapter Eight..

Some sages are assembled with the Grand-sire, Brahmadeva, and in response to their queries , the Lord of Creation Brahma is explaining the greatness of Lord Shiva..

Brahma explains that even if death is ordained by fate, such death cannot overtake a person who is constantly worshiping Lord Shiva.

Brahmadeva tells the story of Sage Shveta..

The Sage Shveta lived in a cave, where he had consecrated and Shivalingam and his sole occupation in life was doing pooja to Shiva and Chanting the lord’s holy name..

The time for death came for the sage too as it happens to all living beings.

The lord of time, the Lord of death, Kaala the Yama, came to the cave and informed sage that it was time for the latters death , and then Yama started tying the sage with his powerful ropes with a view to maim him and drag him to the netherworld..

The sage resisted saying that he was doing pooja to His Lord Manifest in the Shivalingam and that his pooja should not be stopped or interrupted..

He warned Kaala that if he tried to intimidate him, there could be dire consequences.. He pointed out to the Shivalinga and said that the Lord present there was ever eager to protect him..

The Death God laughed at the sage and tried to tighten the ropes, to drag the Sage away..

He further teased the sage by declaring that no God or any other being would come to save him from the strong ropes with which he would tie the poor human being.

When the sage cried out Lord Shankara appeared from the Shivalinga along with Mother Uma the Amabika, Ganesha, and of Course Bhagavan Nandi too.

Seeing the Mahaakaala, Kaalakaala, Lord Shankara, the god of death Yama ran away for his life..

So if we worship Shiva, death can never come anywhere near us..