Mahabharat Agni kand The Pandavas were merely a pretext. Krishna used the Pandavas to rid the world of evil men. You have already learnt that one of Yayati’s sons was Puru. In Puru’s line were born Bharata and Kuru. One of Kuru’s descendants was the king Shantanu. Shantanu married Ganga…
Describing Lord Vishnu’s incarnation as Parshurama, Lord Mahadeva told Parvati–Sage Jamadagni came from the lineage of Bhrigu. He had pleased Indra by his tremendous penance and received Surabhi cow in return. In course of time he married the daughter of king Renuk whose name was Renuka. A child was born…
Parvati was listening to the divine tales of Sri Krishna with rapt attention. Lord Mahadeva told Parvati– ‘Paundrak was the king of Kashi. He did an austere penance for twelve years to please me. When I appeared before him, he requested me to make his appearance look like Sri Krishna….
The Bhagavad Gita (Song of the Lord) is one of the most loved scriptures of India. It is pan-Indian, even though its central character, Arjuna, discovered that the driver of his war chariot, Krishna, was the supreme lord of the universe, Lord Vishnu. If this claim were taken literally and…
Asvatthama became the commander-in-chief of the Kauravas when their great army had been reduced to three—plus the dying Duryodhana. Those three entered the camp of the Pandavas and slaughtered many heroes and their children. Five young sons of the Pandavas were beheaded and taken back to Duryodhana. Draupadi, wife of…
Arjuna’s story was one of the best known in Hindu mythology, yet it is fully intelligible only if one is familiar with the many other stories related to it. It is nested in or overlaps with the story of the great Bharata war, the story of Krishna, the…
The Tirumala-Tirupati region is situated in what was familiarly known as Tondamandalam for a long time and as the Carnatic in later times. The early history of this region is lost in obscurity and only a few glimpses can be obtained. Tamilaham or the Tamil country stretched over a wide…
The Eastern Ghats run close to the coast up to the river Krishna ai id then take an inward bend. They then break off into three ranges, one running along the coast up to Ponneri, another running into the Kumool and Anantapur districts and the third or central range starting…
Yadu had five sons among whom Sahastrajeet was the eldest. Shatarjay was the oson of Sahastrajeet and himself had three sons–Haihya, Haya and Venu. Dharma was Haihya’s son. Dharmanetra was the son of Dharma and himself had two sons–Kirti and Sanjay.Sanjay’s son was Mahishman and Bhadrashrenya was Mahishman’s son. Durdam…
Budha was the son of the moon-god Chandra. Budha married Ila and they had a son named Pururava. Pururava married the apsara Urvashi and they had six sons. One of these sons was Ayu and amongst Ayu’s descendants was a king named Yayati. Yayati had two wives. The…
The lineage of Puru grew as Puru, Janmejaya, Prachinvan, Praveer, Manasyu, Abhayad, Sudayu, Bahugat, Sanyati, Ahamyati, Raudrashva. Raudrashva had ten sons among whom Riteshu was the most prominent. Riteshu had three sons among whom Apratirath was most prominent. Lineage of Apratirath is as follows- Apratirath, Aileen, Dushyant and Bharata. King…
In the lunar dynasty, there was born a powerful king named Nahusha. He married Viraja and they had six sons named Yati, Yajati, Samyati, Ayati, Yati, and Suyati. Yati became a hermit. So although Yayati was not the eldest, he was crowned king after Nahusha. Yayati had two wives. The…
King Parikshit asked: “Gurudev, how did my grandfather Arjuna and grandmother Subhadra got married? I want to hear this tale. Kindly narrate it to me.” Shukdev said: Parikshit once travelling on a pilgrimage tour, Arjuna reached in Prabhas region. There he learned that Balarama was desirous of marrying his sister…
Jarasandha killed by Bhima During Yudhisthira’s Rajsuy Yagya, all the Pandavas set out in all the directions to conquer the kings and expand the boundaries of their kingdom. Warriors like Bheem, Arjuna defeated great kings all around and extended the boundaries of Yudhisthira’s empire. But to defeat Jarasandh, – Bhima,…
Marriage of Lord Krishna to Kalindi 1.) Once Lord Krishna visited Indraprastha to see Pandavas there. There riding a chariot with Arjuna, He came to the forests. On the bank of river Yamuna a pretty woman was observing penance. By the instinct of God, Arjuna drew near her and asked…
The grandfather of this kalpa, Kasyapa-prajapati, founded the kingdom of serpents with his wife Kadru. Takshaka was one of her seven greatest children, the septa-nagas. Takshaka and her most righteous children were cursed to be reborn on earth and to be burned alive as their punishment for not obeying their…
In the Bhagavad Gita Sanjaya is one of its four characters—the other being Arjuna, Krishna, and King Dhritarashtra. The idea of boon-granting (vara) had become so common by the time of the late epic literature that a sage like Vyasa Sandstone figure of Camunda, the fierce, protective eight-armed mother, from…
Sumati says- O father! After the demise of Kartaveerya, his ministers and priests decided to crown his son Arjuna as their new king. But Arjuna refused saying that he would not become the king unless and until he had attained the status of a Yogi. Sage Garg then advised Arjuna…
The uprooted Arjuna trees fell with thundering sound. All the people shivered with fear and felt as if lightning had struck somewhere. All the elders including Nand met together and discussed the matter. Unanimously they concluded that, of late disturbance had increased in Gokul and the circumstances were no longer…
Sukhdev says, “Parikshit, now I narrate about Chandra dynasty. Many great and pious kings like Pururava had occurred in this dynasty. Chandrama was the son of Atri, the son of Brahma. Budh was the son of Chandrama while Pururava was the son of Budh. Ila was the mother of Pururava….
The birds say- ‘Frightened by the severe penance of Trishira, Indra killed him to protect his authority and power. But the sin of killing a Brahmin took away Indra’s radiance. Trishira was the son of Twashta. Twashta became furious at his son’s death. He plucked one strand of hair from…
Markandeya says – ‘In the lineage of the avian King Garuda, there were two brothers- Kank and Kandhar. One day, Kank visited Kailash Parbat where a demon Vidrayudrup, who was a slave of Kubera, was enjoying privacy with his wife and drinking wine. Seeing Kank, the demon showed his displeasure…
Renuka’s story has many troubling elements. She was a princess (and thus a ksatriya) married to the brahmin Jamdagni. She gave birth to an avatara (incarnation) of Vishnu, Parasu-Rama, whom her husband commanded to kill her. She was brought back to life. In one version she was raped by King…
Parikshit had a miraculous birth. At the very end of the war told of in the Mahabharata, one of the last surviving Kauravas launched the magical weapon of Brahma (a Brahmashira) to exterminate all of the Pandavas, but Arjuna had an equal weapon that he launched to defeat it. However,…
The story of “Ax Rama” (the literal meaning of Parasu-Rama) contains a chilling warning to the kings and rulers of India. Brahmins could revolt against them if their rule was unjust or cruel. The story proving the need for an incarnation of Vishnu began with the curse of a sage….
Three sons were born to Pandu and his wife Kunti, and two sons were born by his second wife Madri. They were in the order of birth: Dharmaputra (Yud- hishthira), Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva.
Describing about the twelve Jyotirlingas, Suta told the sages:- “There are twelve Jyotirlingas which are as Follows : 1) Somnath in Saurashtra, 2) MallikArjuna in Sri Shail, 3) Mahakal in Ujjain, 4) Amareshwar in Omkar, 5) Kedar in the Himalaya, 6)Bhimashankar at the bank of Bhima river. 7) Vishwanath in…
Nara was one of the four sons of the god (deva) Dharma. Dharma-deva had been born from the breast of Brahma. Dharma-deva married the ten daughters of Dak- sha. His four sons were Nara, Narayana, Hari, and Krishna. Nara and Narayana became great ascetics, practicing severe penances. They stayed in…
Nakula and his brother Sahadeva were born to King Pandu and his wife Madri. However, their birth was not normal—a curse prevented Pandu from touching his wives on pain of death, and a magical incantation had allowed their mother to have twins by the Asvins (the twin divine physicians)….
This story has interesting implications about karma and rebirth. A brahmin woman was mentioned in the Skanda Purana for her bad character and equally bad deeds. Consequently, she was reborn as a dog. But during that lifetime she was able to observe a vow of purification (Sukladvadashi vrata) and was…
The Mahabharata is an epic of enormous proportions—a hundred thousand verses, making it arguably the largest such poem in existence. It has traditionally been said to have been dictated by the sage Vyasa to his divine scribe, Ganesa, who wrote it all down using his single tusk as the…
Kunti was the aunt of Shri Krishna, mother of the five Pandavas and a sixth son Karna, and wife of King Pandu. Kunti was a heroine of the Mahabharata. As a child Kunti was given to a royal cousin, King Kuntibhoja, who was childless. She was given responsibility over…
The Krishna myth cycle has been integrated in such a way that most Hindus do not know its real complexity. Some of its elements are very ancient, showing that many myths have come together to form modern versions. First, there was the Krishna myth of a divine king, possibly…
In the Mahabharata war Karna had a divine birth. His mother, Kunti, was the daughter of King Shurasena. As a girl Kunti was in charge of arrangement in the palace for religious rituals. During a period of four months when the sage Durvasa performed rituals for the king, Kunti…
Kalindi was the daughter of Surya, the sun god. She was blessed to become a sacred river, also known as the Yamuna. It flowed from the Kalinda mountain and entered the Ganga at Prayaga, a very sacred confluence. At the birth of Krishna, his father Vasudeva had to switch the…
Jamadagni was born by a miraculous birth in which his caste was determined not be birth but by a magical portion of rice pudding. His father, the sage Ricika, a wonderous and powerful magician (siddha) gave his two wives different portions to determine the qualities of his future…
Giving the reasons that lead to the great battle of Mahabharata, Lord Brahma told sage Vyasa that Sri Krishna had planned this great battle and executed it to perfection to relieve the earth from the burden of tyrants. While giving the names of lineal ascendants of Kauravas and Pandavas, he…
Hanuman expanded the notion of the divine, perhaps more than any other being in Hindu mythology. He appeared as an agent governed by dharma like any human, yet while in an animal form he was divine. The myths of his birth from the elements of the gods, usually of Siva…
Ghritaci was an apsara, a heavenly nymph. Her beauty was so overwhelming that many great brahmins, whether married rishi (sage) or ascetic, fell victim to her charms. Several, Bharadvaja and Vyasa, saw her and after years of ascetic practice (tapasya) had seminal emissions, followed by miraculous births of sons….
In the Ramayana the tale is told that soon after the Pandava brothers began their forest exile, a rakshasa chief sent his sister, Hidumbhi, to capture them for his dinner. However, Hidumbhi fell in love with Bhima, the strongest and most physical of the brothers. The rakshasa chief came…
Arjuna did a tremendous penance by standing only on one leg and concentrating his gaze upon the blazing sun. The deities became very impressed by Arjuna’s penance. They went to lord Shiva and requested him to bless Arjuna. Lord Shiva accepted their request. Duryodhan had sent a demon named Mooka…
In the Devi Bhagavata the sage Nagabhushana (“one having snakes as his ornament,” a sage whose name was a pun, pointing to the object of the story, Siva) was deep in meditation at his forest hermitage. King Parikshit, grandson of Arjuna, came to him desiring water after a long hunt….
The distance between gods and heroes in Puranic mythology was not very great. Divine weapons, like the Gandiva, the great bow of Brahma, could be given to mere mortals, since the mortals were so often partial divine incarnations or from mixed marriages between gods and mortal women. Such was…
This is a myth that sets unusual talent against dharma (the moral order), in this case the duty of accepting the restrictions of one’s caste. The master (acarya) Drona was a brahmin who refused to teach one who was not twice-born. Drona taught the Pandavas and the Kauravas to be…
Duryodhana’s birth was a miracle from Siva, assisted by a blessing from Vyasa. (See account under Dhritarashthra.) Duryodhana was raised in the palace of King Pandu, who reigned because his blind brother Dhritarashthra was disqualified by his infirmity. When Pandu died, his oldest son Yudhishthira became king. Duryodhana and…
Once, under the influence of Sage Narada, Kartikeya had gone to the Kraunch Mountain to do penance. Shiva and Parvati could not bear the pain of his separation for long. Both of them went to the Kraunch mountain to see him. When Kartikeya saw them coming he moved to some…
After describing about the twelve Jyotirlinga, Suta mentioned about the various Upalingas originating from them. The Upalinga named Someshwar is situated at a place where the earth meets the ocean. This Upalinga is also known as ‘Antakesh’. The Upalinga originating from MallikArjuna is famous by the name of ‘Rudreshwar’. Similarly…
After loosing their whole kingdom to Duryodhan in the gamble, Pandavas went to the dwait forest accompanied by Draupadi. They started living in a place which was donated by Velotra Sun. Duryodhan instigated sage Durvasa to torment the Pandavas. Sage Durvasa went to the place where Pandavas were staying, accompanied…
Draupadi was the princess of Pancala (thus her name Pancali) who held a contest to choose her own husband (svayamvara). Arjuna competed in disguise because he and his brothers had been exiled from their kingdom of Ayodhya. Arjuna, son of Indra and Kunti, won the contest and took her away…
Dhruva was the son of the second wife of Manu, the first human. Manu’s first wife and son treated Dhruva and his mother badly, yet they both accepted the abuse with gentleness and humility. When he grew up, even though he was a ksatriya (warrior), Dhruva joined a group of…