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 sun-god, Vivasvana, was the son of Kashyapa and Aditi. He had four wives, Samjna, Rajni, Prabha and Chhaya. Samjna’s son was Vaivasvata Manu. Rajni’s children were Yama, yamuna and Revanta. Savarni, Shani, Tapati and Vishti were Chhaya’s children and Prabha’s son was Prabhata. (The names do not…
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…
There was a sage named Atri. Atri performed very difficult tapasya. So difficult was the tapasya that Atri’s energy was thrown up into the sky. The sky could not bear this energy and hurled it down onto the earth. This energy then gave birth to Soma or Chandra, the moon…
Kurukshetra simply means “the field of the Kurus.” The Kurus or Kauravas decended from Kuru, a king of the Lunar Dynasty. About eighty-five miles north-northeast of Delhi, Kurukshetra has been an important pilgrimage site (tirtha) for at least twenty centuries. References in the Mahabharata to a firealtar (vedi) of Brahma…
Devayani’s father, Sukra, was the greatest master of magic of his age, but he served the asuras (demons). The devas (gods) sent Kaca to learn how Sukra made the asuras invincible, and Kaca discovered that whenever the gods killed demons, Sukra restored them to life. Kaca caused Devayani to…