Shakuntala’s story is one of the favorite love stories of India, told in quite different ways by two great poets—Vyasa and Kalidasa (both c.400-500). (sakuntala was the daughter of a sage and an apsara, and her son became an emperor. Shakuntala’s mother, the famous apsara Menaka, was sent by Indra…
Shakti is a term for the concept of energy (and as such a feminine noun), and it can be said to have been personified as Divine Energy, or the Mother Goddess, the source of energy. The concept is linked to the power of the austerities (tapas), creative and…
The story of Sabari is famous because of her innocent love of Sri Rama. However, this love story is embedded in a rebirth story. (Sabari was Malini in her previous life. She was the daughter of a gandharva king, although she was called an apsara (celestial damsel) by some versions…
Rukmini was the wife of the more mortal version of Krishna. She and Krishna were in love, but her brother Rukmi opposed the marriage. He hated Krishna and arranged a marriage of his sister to King Sisupala. All the kings of the region came to the wedding celebration, including Krishna,…
There are different versions of the number and names of the Rudras. A popular version was that the Rudras were born to Aditi. That would make them adityas (demigods). In the Puranas there were more than eleven Rudras—and they differed in name and number. The eleven Rudras mentioned in…
Rudra was a Vedic god (deva) long before (Siva would have been accepted as Brahmanical, or orthopraxic. However, the name Rudra was eventually appropriated for Siva, as a designation of a manifestation of Siva that was both dangerous and just within the boundaries of respectability. Even before this process was…
