18) Manu Manvantaras – AGNI PURANA

Manu Manvantaras Each manvantara (era) is rule over by a Manu. The first Manu was Svayambhuva. Shatakratu held the title of Indra during this manvantara. The second Manu was Swarochish. Vipashchita held the title of Indra during this manvantara. Third Manu was Uttama and Sushanti was Indra then. The fourth…

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6) AGNI PURANA Vamana Avatara- Dwarf Incarnation

Vamana Avatar of Vishnu in English Prahlada’s grandson was Bali and Bali became very powerful. When he was the king of the asuras, there was a war between the devas and the asuras. The gods were defeated and were driven off from svarga. As always, the gods fled to Vishnu…

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45) THE INCARNATIONS OF MATSYA AND KURMA

Once, goddess Parvati expressed her desire to know about all the incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Lord Mahadeva replied– Lord Brahma had created numerous Prajapatis like Bhrigu, Marichi, Atri, Daksha, Kardam, Pulastya, Pulaha, Angira and Kratu. Marichi was the father of Kashyapa. Sage Kashyapa had four wives–Aditi, Diti, Kadru and Vinta.Aditi…

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39) UTTAR – KHAND BADRIKASHRAMA

Once, on being asked by the sages about the greatness of Badrikasharama, Suta narrated the same tale, which Lord Shiva had once told sage Narada — Lord Mahadeva had told Narada that altogether there were one lakh and twenty-five thousand mountains   and   Badrikashrama   was   supreme   among   them.   Lord   Mahadeva   said—…

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18) BHUMI KHAND – DIFFERENT TYPES OF SIN AND VIRTUE

 Once, Yayati requested Matali to describe the various sinful and virtuous deeds, which a man normally commits in his life. Matali  replied—‘One  who  criticizes  the  vedas  and  follows  the  religion  of  other’s  after abandoning his own or torments virtuous people is a grave sinner. Similarly, not respecting one’s parents,  not…

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14) BRAHMIN’S LIVELIHOOD

Describing how a brahmin should earn his livelihood, Lord Brahma said to Narada–Alms, which a brahmin gets without making any demand for it, is called Vritta. ‘Unchhavritti’ is even better than Vritti and it means collecting foodgrain which are scattered in places like fields, granary, market-place etc. A brahmin should…

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7) THE ORIGIN OF DEITIES, DEMONS and SERPENTS

 Bhisma requested Sage Pulastya to explain how different entities like the deities, demons and serpents came into being. Pulastya replied—Having failed in his repeated attempts of increasing population by the means of ‘sankalpa’ Daksha Prajapati was left with no option but to take the help of copulative creation. He begot…

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6) SATI GIVES UP HER LIFE

On being enquired by Bhisma about the reason why Sati gave up her life, Sage Pulastya narrated the following tale — Once, Daksha Prajapati had organised a grand yagya in which he had invited everybody except Lord Shiva. This Yagya was presided over by four prominent sages—Vashishtha, Angika, Brihaspati and…

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4) THE FOUR PROMINENT CASTES

On being asked by Bhishma about the origin of the four prominent castes, Sage Pulastya said— Lord Brahma created the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas from his mouth and chest respectively. Similarly,   Vaishyas   and   Shudras   manifested   from   Lord   Brahma’s   thigh   and   feet respectively.Lord Brahma had created his ‘manasputras’ with the objective…

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THE EMERGENCE OF RUDRAVATAR AND CREATION

THE EMERGENCE OF RUDRAVATAR  AND CREATION Brahma said to Narada- “When I accomplished my penance, Lord Shiva manifested in his incarnation of Rudra from in between the eyebrows. Half of his body resembled like that of a  woman (Ardhanarishwar). I requested him help me in my creational activities.  Rudra created…

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16) CHAPTER SIXTEEN THE DESCRIPTION OF UNIVERSAL ORDER

16) CHAPTER SIXTEEN THE DESCRIPTION OF UNIVERSAL ORDER

 When the great sages crowned Prithu as the king of the entire earth, Brahma had also divided the kingdoms.  Thus,  Brahma  appointed  Chandrama  as  the  ruler  of  all  the Nakshatras,  planets, Brahmins, vegetation, Yagya, penance etc. He also appointed Kubera as the ruler of the kings, Varuna as the ruler…

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8) CHAPTER EIGHT TALE OF THE KING VENA AND PRITHU

Parashar says- ” With the help of Dhruva, his wife gave birth to two sons- Sishti and Bhavya. Sishti had five sons- Ripu, Ripunjay, Vipra, Vikal and Vrikteja. Ripu had a brilliant son Chakshush. Chakshush had a son Manu. Manu had sons- Puru, Kuru, Shatadyumna, Tapasvi, Satyavan, Suchi, Agnishtome, Atiratra,…

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14) BRAHMA PURANA – Konaraka

There is an ocean to the south of Bharataavarsha. One the shores of this great ocean there is a land named Ondra or Utkala (present Orissa). Utkala is populated by religious people and the brahmanas who live there are learned in the Vedas. They are very good priests, learned in…

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4) BRAHMA PURANA – Prithu

In Dhruva’s line there was a king named Anga, Anga was religious and followed the righteous path. But unfortunately, Anga’s son Vena inherited none of the  good qualities of his father. Vena’s mother was Sunitha and she happened to be the daughter of Mrityu. Mrityu was notorious for his evil…

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3) BRAHMA PURANA – Daksha’s Offspring

Daksha’s wife was named Asikli and Asikli gave birth to five thousand sons. They were known as the Haryashvas. The Haryashvas were destined to rule over the world. But the sage Narada went to the Haryashvas and said, “How can you rule over the world if you don’t even know…

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DEVASENA – Woman of great beauty and purity

As a daughter of Daksha, a Prajapati, Devasena could be considered a minor god­dess. In heavenly fields one day Devasena and her sister Daityasena were enjoy­ing nature when they caught the lustful eye of the demon Keshi. The demon talked Daityasena into marrying him but could not persuade Devasena to…

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DAKSHA – A prajapati (creator or progenitor)

In the Rigveda (2:27:1) Daksha (ritual skill) was one of the six adityas, deities related so closely to Vedic sacrificial ritual that they may be called personifica­tions of its logic and method. During the Vedic period the six expanded to twelve, with Daksha always among the most important. Ritual skill…

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CANDRA – The moon, a deva

  In the Vedic period Candra, the moon, and Soma, the entheogenic plant, were connected by associations (bandhus) in the early hymns. However, Candra was not one of the adityas with Surya (the sun), but was one of the eight Vasus with Vayu (the wind). By the Puranic period Candra’s…

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33) VISHNU’S INCARNATIONS

Because of Bhrigu‘s curse, Vishnu had to be born several times on earth. These are known as avataras (incarnations). The Vayu Purana now catalogues Vishnu‘s ten incarnations. These are as follows. (1) Matsya or fish. (2) Narasimha or half-man and half-lion (3) Vamana or dwarf. (4) Dattatreya, the sage. (5)…

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2) CHAPTER TWO BIRTH OF SAVARANI MANU AND NEXT MANVANTARAS

Maitreya says- “O sage, kindly narrate about the future Manvantaras that are to come.” Parashar says- Vishwakarma’s daughter Sangya was the wife of Surya. They had three children, Manu, Yama and Yamani. Sangya once felt unable to bear the radiance of Surya. So, appointing Chhaya (her shadow) in the service…

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28) THE LUNAR LINE

Chandra or Soma was th son of the sage Atri. Atri was a very powerful sage. He was always busy meditating. For three thousand years he performed tapasya, with his arms raised up into the air. He stood there, immobile like a tree-trunk. As a result of this wonderful tapasya,…

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20) DAKSHA’S DESCENDANTS

Daksha‘s descendants have already been mentioned in the section on creation. The Vayu Purana now gives an account which is, in certain respects, contradictory to the earlier account. Daksha married Asikli, the daughter of Virana, Daksha and Asikli had a thousand sons named the Haryashva. But the sage Narada persuaded…

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19) THE PRACHETAS

Prithu had a son named Antardhana and Antardhana‘s son was Havirdhana. Havirdhana‘s son was Prachivarhi. Prachinavarhi married Savarna, the daughter of the ocean. Prachinavarhi and Savarna had ten sons known as the Prachetas. The Prachetas were interested in meditating. They performed tapasya for thousands of years under the oceans. They…

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17) MANVANTARAS

Lomaharshana next told the sages about the various manvantara (eras). Each of Brahma‘s days is referred to as a kalpa (cycle) and that there are fourteen manvantaras in each kalp. Each manvantara is ruled over by a Manu and lasts for a duration of 30,67,20,000 years. The gods, the seven…

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14) ASTRONOMY

 The earth is made up of five elements (bhuta). These are earth, wind sky, water and energy. There are seven regions in the underworld (patala). These are known as atala, sutala, vitala, gabhastala, mahatala, shritala and patala. The ground in atala is dark in colour; in sutala it is pale;…

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12) DAKSHA

Daksha‘s daughter, Sati, was married to Shiva. Daksha was thus Shiva‘s father-in-law. But, as a son-in-law. Shiva never showed Daksha adequate respect. Or so Daksha felt. For instance, Shiva never bowed down before Daksha. On one occasion, Daksha invited all his daughters to his house. The only one whom he…

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11) RUDRA

 You will remember that Shiva had granted Brahma the boon that he would be born as Brahma‘s son.  To  ensure  that  this  indeed  happened  Brahma  began  to  perform  very difficult  tapasya (meditation). But despite all this meditation, nothing happened. This failure greatly angered Brahma and he started to cry. As…

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3) CHAPTER THREE INCARNATION OF LORD KRISHNA

Vasudev, the son of Shoorsen was married to Devaki, the daughter of Devak. On that occasion of their marriage, Devaki’s cousin Kansa was driving their chariot. At that time, a celestial voice declared that the eighth son of Devaki would kill Kansa. Kansa in the excitement was ready to kill…

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CHAPTER FIVE CREATION OF RUDRA AND OF LAKSHMI

In the beginning of Kalpa when Brahma was thinking about a son, who would be like him in virtues, a boy with reddish-blue body appeared in his lap. Brahma addressed the boy with names like Rudra, Bhava, Shiv, Ibhan, Pashupati, Bhima, Ugra and Mahadeva. Brahma also fixed Surya, water, earth,…

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4) CHAPTER FOUR BIRTH OF PRAJAPATIS AND THEIR PROGENY

At one point, the process of creation got saturated and no increase took place in the number of living beings. Then, with a desire of continuing the creation, Lord created nine sages from His thought. Then he produced nine daughters and handed them over as the wives to those nine…

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