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…
Hari Vamsa Puranam in English As you have already been told, Brahma emerged from Vishnu’s navel. Brahma’s son was Atri, Atri’s son Soma, Soma’s son Pururava, Pururavas son Ayu, Ayu’s son Nahusha and Nahushja’s son Yayati. Yayati had two wives, Devayani and Sharmistha. Devayani had two sons, Yadu and Turvasu….
Lord Rama Story in English Brahma came out of Vishnu’s navel. Brahma’s son was Marichi’s son Kashyapa, Kashyapa son Surya, Surya’s son Vaivasvata Manu, Manu’s son Ikshvaku, Ikskhvakku’s son Kakutstha, Kakutstha’s son Raghu, Raghu’s son Aja, Aja’s son Dasharatha, Dasaratha’s sons were Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Since Rama was…
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….
Lord Mahadeva continued with the divine tales of Sri Krishna–O Parvati! Sri Krishna had a son from Rukmini whose name was ‘Aniruddha’. Aniruddha was very brave and had killed a demon named Shambasur. There is an interesting tale how Aniruddha married Usha. Once, Usha–the daughter of Banasur, saw a very…
Continuing with the divine tales of Sri Krishna, Lord Mahadeva told Parvati–Sri Krishna had 16 thousand queens among whom Satyabhama, Kalindi, Mitravinda, etc. were prominent. King Sattajit had a priceless diamond named–Syamantak, which he had presented to his younger brother–Prasena. Sri Krishna was fascinated by that diamond and demanded it…
Lord Mahadeva told Parvati— When Jarasandh learnt about Kalyavan’s death, he attacked Balarama to avenge his friend’s death. But, very soon he realized that it was beyond his capacity to defeat Balarama, so he retreated alongwith his army. Sri Krishna and Balarama returned to Dwarka.In course of time, Balarama married…
Jarasandh was the father-in-law of Kansa. When he learnt about Kansa’ death he surrounded Mathura with a huge army. Sri Krishna was well aware of Jarasandh’s might and bravery. He was also convinced that it would not be easy to defeat Jarasandh. So, he remembered Daruk–his eternal charioteer and sought…
Continuing with the divine tales of Sri Krishna, Lord Mahadeva told Parvati–When Kansa failed in his repeated attempts to kill Sri Krishna, he instructed ‘Akrura’ to invite both Krishna and Balarama to Mathura on the pretext of attending a ceremony called Dhanush-yagya. Kansa had planned to kill Sri Krishna by…
Parvati requested Lord Mahadeva to narrate the divine tales of Vasudeva Krishna. Lord Mahadeva replied–Vasudev was the descendant of yadu. His father was Devameedha. He was married to Devaki–the daughter of Ugrasena.Ugrasena also had a mighty son named Kansa. Kansa was extremely affectionate towards his sister Devaki. After her marriage,…
Once, while describing about the importance of Rudraksha to the sages, Vyasa said— One who wears a Rudraksha rosary is supreme among all human beings. The mere sight of such a holy man absolves people of their sin. A Rudraksha bead bears features of a Linga and yoni on its…
This is in the northern side of Mahanadi in a distance of 4 km. near the village Kampala kalpa. The lord Vishnu meditated Nandeewara and was blessed. So it is named as ‘Vishnu Nandi”. The water from this place wets many hectares of the fertile land. Sri Chittibotla Eswara Sharma…
This is the earliest Of the three shrines found inside the compound at tiruchanur.The entrance of the compound, surmounted by a big gopura, faces this shrine and not the other two as is the case with the parthasarathi shrine and the Govindaraja shrine situated in the same compound at tirupati…
Tiruchanur, popularly known as Chirtanur, is a village situated three miles to the south of Tirupati. This village was known as liruchchogiitur and Tiruchchukanur in earlier times and one late inscription calls it Srisukagrama. Tiruchchoginur is now represented by the small hamlet of JogiMallavaram, situated about a furlong to the…
This is the earliest of the temples now found atTirupati. The Govindaraja shrine was built adjacent to this shrine with a wall inside separating them. The innermost gopura was built in the 13th century before this shrine and two more gopuras were added in line with this in subsequent times….
As stated before, the two shrines of Krishna or Parthasarathi and Govindaraja are enclosed by four walls and appear like a single shrine. This enclosure contains, in the case of each shrine, a pillared varandah running on the south, west and north and a Mukhamantapa in the east. Within this…
This is a rectangular structure facing the east and consisting of a pillared hall, a pavilion of black granite stone and a shrine. It has a low Adhishtana consisting of upana, kampa, kampa, adhahpadma, kantha, tripatta, kampa, gala, kapota, alingapattika and antarita. The mantapa above contains three kinds of pillars-…
This contains, in its southern part, a small open mantapa, the temple kitchen, a mantapa converted into rooms, the Kalyaruimantapa and the yagasala. There is a narrow open pillared mantapa on the west. There is a long pillared mantapa in the north, now walled and converted into rooms, and a…
There are two shrines and not one, as usual, in the centre of the innermost enclosure. These two shrines are enclosed by an outer wall. The shrine to the south is that of Krishna, popularly known as Parthasarathi, while the shrine to the north is that of Govindaraja. The Krishna…
alsIbis image is also found located before Sri Venkatesvara in his sanctum. The Puranas explain the presence of Krishna here. Sri Venkatesvara is regarded as an incarnation of Krishna. Ibis gOd is represented to have described himself to Padmavati, when the two met in a garden before their marriage, as…
The Puranas state unequivocally that the image of Sri Venka- tesvara is self-manifest and not prepared by any mortal. It is said to have lain in an anthill under a tamarind tree on the bank of the Svamipushkarini on Tirumala. We are also told that the image is of Vishnu…
The Vamanapurana mentions a story according to which Brahma set up an image of this god on the bank of the Svamipushkarini. In course of time the temple was destroyed. Subsequently, a Nishada started cultivating the syamalca crop in the neighbourhood. He used to give part of it to a…
It is very difficult to determine the date of this temple. There is no direct evidence to help us in this con- nection and any attempt must therefore be based upon inference. Inscriptions found in the temple only refer to its renovation and rebuilding and the addition of later structures…
In the southern part of the courtyard is the Kalyana-mantapa, 80 feet X 36 feet. It is reached by a short flight of steps in the east. There are two rows of nine pillars each in the north and one row of nine pillars in the south. The pillars in…
Passing through the entrance of this gopura, one enters the outer courtyard of the temple. Immediately adjacent to and touching the gopura is a small mantapa with two wings, one on each side, and a path-way in the centre. Each wing has two rows of four pillars each. The pillars…
This story is found in the Brahmanda-purana and runs ;is follows:- Once there was a Vaikhanasa brahman, named Gopinatha, in the Chola country. He was a great devotee of Krishna. He requested the Lord to grant him salvation. Krishna asked him to go to Seshadri and worship Srinivasa there and…
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…
This myth is nested within the great myth cycles of Lord Vishnu and Shri Krishna. Bala-Rama was involved in many episodes as an adoring, supportive older brother of Krishna. It was a role deserving of a divine lineage, demonstrating the kind of person who deserved to be near so great…
The term avatara is usually associated with divine incarnations, especially the ten incarnations of Vishnu. But there were lists with as many as twenty-six incarnations. The ten avatars, dashavatara (dasha, “ten,” and avatara, “incarnations”), were Matsya the fish, Kurma the turtle, Varaha the boar, Narasimha the lion-man, Vamana the brahmacari…
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…
Arishtha was the servant of Kamsa and was sent to Gokula in the form of an ox to kill Sri Krishna. The ox terrified the cowherds (gopis) as it tore up the hills and mountains around Vrindavan. The youth Krishna faced and killed the ox, throwing it an incredible…
The arayanna were described as having a heavenly abode on Manasasaras, one of the Himalayas. Ara denoted royalty. The swans did not like rain, so they came to earth when it rained in their heavenly abode and returned as soon as rain began on earth. Their parentage was traced to…
Aliya Ramaraya, who usurped the throne of Vijayanagara i r.img Sadasiva into prison, played high politics with the contemporary Sultans of the Deccan and exasperated them with his .a lop.nnce and illtreatment. The Sultans combined their armies and m\ adcd the Vijayanagara empire. Ramaraya opposed them between two villages, named…
WORSHIPPING THE IDOL OF SHIVA It has been mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of Viddyeshwar Samhita that all the desires of a man are completely fulfilled, if he worship even in earthen idol of Shiva. For making an idol of Shiva, clay should be acquired from the base of river,…
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…
Once sage Narada decided to make a dana’ as the same was discussed in Brahmasabha. So he searched for a suitable land for the purpose but no where he got the land. As a result, he was in great grief and disappointed a lot. Somehow he learnt through sage Braghu….
India is a holu place where there are follow-ers of different religions. Still there is unity amongthem. Our Culture is rich one. One can very wellunderstand the attitude of Indians through thesereligions. Even foreigners are also amazed to lookat this fantastic culture. Karnataka is 8th largest state in the nation….
Usha the daughter of Banasura stole away Anurudha the Grand son of Shree Krishna. Not being able to know Anirudha’s where abouts, Krishna was very sad. Then Narada came to him and advised him to go to Gokama and pleased shiva by penance after taking bath in the Kotiteertha. He…
Lord Brahma told Narada that the deities decided to send Kamadeva to influence lord Shiva so that the marriage between him and Parvati is felicitated. Indra called Kamadeva and told him that the demon king Tarakasur could be killed only by such a person who was the son of Shiva…
Parashar said: “As the time passed, Yaduvanshis grew stronger and more influential. Now no longer did they like the welcoming and treating of the great sages by Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna knew about their disliking, but secretly He was pleased by this change in Yaduvanshi’s behaviour, for He knew that…
Ahuka came from the lineage of Yadu. He had two sons– Devak and Ugrasen. The eldest son, Devak had eleven children–four sons and seven daughters. The names of his sons were– Devavan, Upadeva, Sudeva and Devarakshit. All his seven daughters, which also included Devaki were married to Vasudeva. Ahuk’s youngest…
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…
On being asked about the incarnation of Sage Vyasa during various eras and Manvantars, Suta replied- O Brahmin! Now I am going to mention the names of all the incarnations of Vyasa who existed during Vaivasvat manvantar of Varaha kalpa. The names are as follows- Ritu, Satya, Bhargava, Angira, Savita,…
PART ONE SUTA NARRATES THE DIVINE TALES OF LINGA PURANA Once, sage, Narada arrived at Naimisharanya where he found many sages engaged in austerities. All the sages were delighted to see him. They eulogized him in reverence and offered him seat. Sage Narada narrated some amazing tales describing about…
While Lomaharshana was reciting the Kurma Purana to the assembled sages, Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa arrived on the scene. Lomaharshana and the other sages requested Veda Vyasa to instruct them about the path to true knowledge. This is what Veda Vyasa told them. The Paramatman (the divine soul) is…
In every Dvapara Yuga, a Veda Vyasa is born so as to divide the Vedas and disseminate their knowledge. In the present era, there have been twenty-eight Dwapara Yugas and there have therefore been twenty-eight individuals who have held the title of Veda Vyasa. The Kurma Purana gives their names…
Krishna was the eight incarnation of Vishnu and he was born as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva. Initially, Krishna did not have any sons. Desirous of obtaining a son, Krishna went to visit the sage Upamanyu. The sage’s hermitage was beautiful. Wonderous were the trees and flowers and grew…
Bali had a hundred sons, the eldest among whom was Vana. Vana was devoted to Shiva. He was also extremely powerful. He defeated Indra and conquered the three worlds. Indra and the other gods went to Shiva. “Your devotee, Vana is oppressing us,” they told Shiva. “Please take care…
To remind the Lord about the moment of His departure, Brahma arrived in Dwaraka accompanied by all the gods. He prayed to Him: “O Lord, you have completed your duty of what we had once requested you. Now, You please return to your abode. Lord said: “On the seventh day…