10) Mahabharat agni kand as in AGNI PURANA

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…

Continue reading

9) AGNI PURANA – Hari Vamsa Puranam in English

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….

Continue reading

58) THE DECLINE OF YADU DYNASTY

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….

Continue reading

BHAGAVAD GITA SUMMARY, BHAGAVADGITA – A scripture

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…

Continue reading

AMRITA – Immortal; immortality; a drink or food

In the Vedas, amrita was a characteristic or quality of a suitable offering in the fire sacrifices to the gods. Soma (the divine plant) had more amrita than other offerings. Later amrita (or amritam) was a substance produced by the Churning of the Milky Ocean (kshirabdhi-mathanam). There were different versions…

Continue reading

AGNI -A deva (god), god of fire, Agni puran

  At his earliest appearance in the Rigveda, Agni was a complex deity. He was the fire of the sacred sacrifices that were the heart of Vedic religion as well as the central rituals of a semi nomadic warrior culture. Agni was addressed as the deva who ruled earth, a…

Continue reading

ADITI -A devi (goddess), Mother of The Gods, Aditi devi story

    There are few interesting myths to tell about Aditi, but her status and roles change so remarkably that she illustrates the fluidity of Hindu myths. Her name literally means eternity (free, boundless, infinity), so philosophically she is a per­sonification of time. Aditi slowly evolved as the prototype of…

Continue reading

4) CHAPTER FOUR DESCRIPTION OF SURYAVANSH

King Sagar had two queens, Sumati, the daughter of Kashyapa and Keshini, the daughter of Vidarbha’s  king.  Keshini  had  a  son  Asmanjas  whereas  Sumati  had  sixty  thousand  sons. Anshuman was the son of Asmanjas. Asmanjas was very whimsical since his childhood. Even in his youth, he did not change his…

Continue reading

22) Krishna’s Tapasya

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…

Continue reading

12) Daksha’s Story

Daksha was Brahma’s son and had a daughter named Sati. Sati was married to Shiva. Daksha was thus Shiva’s father-in-law.   Once Daksha came to visit his son-in-law. But although Shiva worshipped him with all due respect, Daksha felt that he had been slighted. Subsequently, when Sati went to visit…

Continue reading

11) The Line of Uttanapada

It is hoped that you have not forgotten that Svayambhuva Manu and his wife Shatarupa had a son named Uttanapada. Uttanapada’s brother was Priyavarta. Dhruva was Uttanapada’s son. Dhruva was so devoted to Vishnu that Vishnu earmarked for him a place in the heaven known as Dhruvaloka. (Dhruva became the…

Continue reading

1) KURMA PURANA

(The samudra manthana story is given in great detail in the Ramayana and the Mahabharataa. As for Lakshmi, some of the Puranas state that she was born as the daughter of Khyati and the sage Bhrigu. She was then married to Vishnu. But the demons defeated the gods and Indra….

Continue reading

2) CHAPTER TWO DESCRIPTION OF KURU VANSH

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…

Continue reading

10) BRAHMA PURANA – Sagara

Trishanku’s son was Harishchandra and from Harishchandra was descended a king named Bahu. Bahu devoted too much time to pleasurable pursuits. The upshot of this was that the defence of the kingdom was not properly taken care of.  Enemy  kings seized this opportunity to attack Bahu’s kingdom. They drove Bahu…

Continue reading

TAPA – A god with five fathers

Tapa was a deva (god) who was born of the tapas (austerities) of five sages: Kasyapa, Vasishtha, Pranaka, Cyavana, and Trivarcas. Hence, he was also known by the name Panca-janya (one born of five). He can be said to be the per­sonification of tapas. However, the Mahabharata added that Tapa…

Continue reading

TIRTHA-YATRA – A practice

A yatra was a pilgrimage, or visit, to a river crossing, or ford (tirtha). Thus the term tirtha-yatra came into usage. Over the centuries it came to mean a visit to any holy place, a pilgrimage to a sacred region (such as the plain where the Mahabharata battle was fought),…

Continue reading

SISUPALA, Shishupal and Rukmini, Shishupal Brother

Sisupala was the third rebirth of Jaya for his failure to carry out his duty (dharma) as a doorkeeper (dwarapalaka) of Lord Vishnu at Vaikuntha. He was cursed because of that failure, and he played a role in three incarnations of Vishnu. His twin brother Vijaya shared in the original…

Continue reading

SARASWATI Mata mantra, Saraswati wife of Brahma- A goddess

Sarasvati is a goddess of primary importance. She is accepted by Hindus as the goddess of learning, the arts, and scholarship. However, Sarasvati’s nature is far more complex and her mythology more interesting than is widely known. Sarasvati, whose name means “flowing” and “watery,” has been associated with an ancient…

Continue reading

SAPTA-MATRIS, SAPTA-MATRIKAS – Seven mothers

The collective name of the seven divine mothers—seven (saptan) mothers (matris or matrikas)—has been associated with Siva both in mythology and iconography. The Brahmanical view in the Mahabharata depicted them as destructive female energies responsible for ill fortune and disease and especially attracted to harming children. The mothers were assimilated…

Continue reading

Tale of Lord Krishna’s life in Bhagavata Purana

Hearing the tales of Royal dynasties from Sukhdev, king Parikshit requested “Guruvar, you have just narrated the surprising tale of Suryavanshi and Chandravanshi (dynasties). Now I wish to hear the tales of Lord Krishna’s life in detail. It was because of God’s grace that my ancestors could successfully win the…

Continue reading

CHANDRA DYNASTY

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….

Continue reading

EXPIATION OF BALARAMA

Sri Krishna’s brother Balarama had remained impartial in the battle of Mahabharata. Instead of championing the cause either for the Pandavas or for the Kauravas, he had preferred to go on a pilgrimage. His wife Revati also accompanied him on this pilgrimage. Once while travelling, Balarama drank toddy and entered…

Continue reading

DIVINE PLAYS OF GOD

Sage Jaimini reached Vindhyachal and arrived before the birds as per Markandeya’s instructions. He said- ‘O birds! I am Jaimini, the disciple of Veda Vyasa. I have come here with a desire to have your glimpse.’ The birds welcomed him saying- ‘It is our great fortune that you have arrived…

Continue reading

BIRDS MIGRATE TO VINDHYACHAL

Sage Shami thereafter began to foster the chicks in his hermitage. With time, the chicks grew feathers and began to fly here and there. But every time the birds went out, they returned to the hermitage by evening. The birds also gained Vedic knowledge by hearing the discourses, which sage…

Continue reading

MARKANDEYA PURANA

Once Jaimini, a disciple of sage Veda Vyasa expressed his curiosity before Markandeya- ‘O Lord! In the great epic Mahabharata, which was created by Veda Vyasa, description of Dharma, Arth, Kama and Moksha appears to be intertwined at times and at other times, it appears to be separate from one…

Continue reading

PARIKSHIT – A 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,…

Continue reading

NARAKA, NARAKASURA – An asura (demon)

Hiranyaksha in the form of a boar had abducted the earth, Bhumi, and taken her to Patala, one of the netherworlds. On the way his tusks touched Bhumi, and she became pregnant with Naraka. Vishnu came in the form of a boar, Varaha, and killed Hiranyaksha. Vishnu rescued Bhumi and…

Continue reading

NARA – A sage

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…

Continue reading

MARICI – A Marut; a Prajapati; a maharishi

  Brahma created Marici, whose life remains clouded in some mystery. His great­ness cannot be doubted, but some say that he was a Marut (one of a group of gods associated with Indra, thus gods of storms and battle). Others that he was a Prajapati (progenitor or grandfather), or even…

Continue reading

LIKHITA – A sage

In the Mahabharata Likhita and Sanlcha were brothers, with their asramas (her­mitages) next to each other on the banks of the Bahuda River. One day Likhita was hungry and went over to his brother’s asrama and began eating his vegeta­bles. Jsankha discovered the theft and took Likhita before the king….

Continue reading

KANVA – A sage of Puranic fame

In the Rigveda Kanva was part of Kasiyapa’s family. His father was Medhatithi. Kanva became a teacher with many disciples at his ashrama (hermitage) on the Malini River in the Himalayas. He was credited with writing as many as fifty chapters of the first section (mandala) and the entire tenth…

Continue reading

KAMA, KAMADEVA – The god (deva) of love

There are two versions of Kama’s birth. According to the Mahabharata, Kama is the son of Dharma, who was born from the right breast of Brahma. Dharma had three sons: Kama, Sama, and Harsha. All were very handsome like their father. According to Kalika Purana, Kama was born from the…

Continue reading

VEDA VYASA THE PARTIAL INCARNATION- BHAGAVAT PURANA

Veda Vyasa in Mahabharata Veda Vyasa had appeared in Dwapar Yuga. He was the son of Maharshi Parashar and Satyawati then known as Matsyagandha. Vyasa was a partial incarnation of the God. Veda Vyasa effected a division of Vedas, created Puranas conceptualized history (Mahabharataa-which was actually jotted down by none…

Continue reading

KA – A letter

Ka is the first consonant in the Sanskrit alphabet, although, since Sanskrit is a syllabic language, one should say that it is the first consonantal-syllabic. Ka is also the ordinary word for who. It was used in an agnostic hymn of the Rigveda that asked “who” created all this, and…

Continue reading

JARASANDHA – An evil king

  Jarasandha, mighty king of Magadha, was born by double magic, first from a brahmin and second from a giant demoness (rakshasi). His parents had been childless. They enlisted the sage Kakshivan (some texts say Candakaushika) to help. As the sage meditated, a mango fell in his lap. He gave…

Continue reading

JAJALI – A hermit mentioned in the Mahabharata

  This myth presents two competing spiritual paths: one of austerities (tapas) and another of spirituality located in a householder’s life. Jajali had developed into a great ascetic. One day as he was doing a standing meditation, a pair of birds built their nest in his matted hair. So began…

Continue reading

HARIVAMSA – An appendix to the Mahabharata

This appendix to the Mahabharata is said to be authored by Vyasa, as indicated in the Adi Parva (2.83-84) of the Mahabharata. The Harivamsa consists of glo­rifications of Vishnu and has about ten thousand verses. It is a rich source for the myths about the childhood of Krishna, as well…

Continue reading

THE TALE OF MAHABHARATA

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…

Continue reading

DWARKA MAHATMYA: SAGES’ QUERIES TO PRAHLAD

Once, few sages asked Sutji about the means by which Lord Vishnu could be realized in Kali yuga- the era dominated by sin and decaying moral values. Sutji started by describing how Lord Vishnu on seeing the prevalence of sin in Dwapar yuga had to take incarnation as Krishna to…

Continue reading

GANGA – A river goddess

  Ganga is the holiest river of India. She is the Mother who washes away all sins and redeems one from the fetters of life. There are many folk songs about the Ganga, which testify just how much the river has been personified, deified, and made an integral part of…

Continue reading

GANAPATI – A title or concept

  Most Hindus see Ganapati as an alternative name for Ganessa, the elephant­headed son of Siva. Ganapati, literally “father of the ganas (groups),” was a title or concept that first appeared in the Rigveda. During the Vedic period ganas were the metrical groups, each of which had three syllables. The…

Continue reading