Once upon a time there was a devout vaishnavite living in a village. He harboured a strong dislike for shaivites and did not entertain or befriend them.
One day a shaivite traveller, who was passing through the village came to the vaishnavite’s house. The vaishnavite’s wife was kind and asked the traveller to stay at their house. The vaishnavite however, did not want to provide shelter to the guest. But, on his wife’s insistence, the vaishnavite agreed to provide shelter to the shaivite. While serving food, the vaishnavite hurled abuses at his wife. Feeling sad at this situation, the shaivite uttered “Shiva, Shiva” instead of saying “Rama, Rama”. The vaishnavite became furious and said that reciting Shiva’s name was not allowed in his home. He asked the guest to refrain from such chants.
The shaivite requested the vaishnavite to forgive him and asked him to provide shelter for the night. The vaishnavite finally agreed and let him stay.
The shaivite woke up early in the morning and began reciting, “sivaramabrahmam, sivaramabrahmam” as he usually did every morning. Upon listening to this, the vaishnavite as if the heaven were falling down, came to his wife in a hurry and said “Did you listen to what our guest is chanting? Our Lord is getting pressed. He is getting pressed between two. Come, listen to this.”
Getting up from the bed, his wife asked “What happened? Who is pressing whom?” The irritated vaishnavite said, “Oh feather head, listen. Shiva and Brahma, both of them have placed our deity Lord Rama in between them. Come and see”. Then he took her to show what the shaivite was chanting.
The shaivite, unaware of his surroundings was endlessly reciting “sivaramabrahmam”. The vaishnavite unable to control his anger, chased his guest out of the house.