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…
According to Suta, all the Puranas are nothing but the mediums through which Sri Hari manifests himself—Brahma Purana is said to be the forhead of Sri Hari, Padma Purana is said to be the ‘heart’ of Sri Hari, Vishnu Purana is said to be the ‘right arm’ of Sri Hari. Shiva…
Bhisma requested Sage Pulastya to describe how all the Marudganas came into existence. Pulastya replied— All the sons and grandsons of Diti had perished in the battle fought between the deities and demons. Diti—the mother of daityas (demons) wanted to take revenge, so she started doing a penance at the…
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…
The Sages asked Suta how Shakti had been devoured by a demon named Rudhir. Sutiji replied— Once, Sage Vashishtha was presiding over a grand Yagya being organized by a king named Kalmashpad. Vashishtha had a rivalry with Vishwamitra. On seeing Vashishtha busy in that Yagya, Vishwamitra instigated Rudhir– a demon,…
Sage Parashar, the exponent of Vishnu Purana had narrated this treatise to Maitreya. Sage Suta inherited it from Maitreya. The text presented here is narrated by Suta. Suta says- One day, Maitreya greeted sage Parashar and said- “Gurudev, you have studied all the scriptures. I wish to hear the tale…
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…
Hiranyakashipu pleased Brahma through his prayers. As a result of the boon that he received from Brahma, he became invisible and started to oppress the world. He drove the gods out of heaven. The gods and the sages went to Brahma to persuade him to do something about Hiranyakashipu. “I…
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…
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…
Brahma returned to his seat on the lotus flower. Suddenly, two demons named Madhu and Kaitabha appeared. They were exceedingly strong and threatened to destroy everything that Brahma would create. Brahma therefore requested Vishnu to kill these two demons. Vishnu created two beings from his own body and these…
The gods and the sages told Vishnu, “We are getting a bit confused. You have told us that Brahma emerged from Vishnu’s body. And yet you have also told us how Brahma was born inside a golden egg. Which of these is the correct account? Then again, you have told…
Purana means “ancient” and thus this body of literature claimed to be authoritative, especially for the kali yuga (the present age). Scholars date their composition in three periods (300-500; 500-1000; 1000-1800). Puranas deal with both philosophical and existential issues, mostly presented through a poetic narrative. The five topics covered in…
Lakshmi’s multiple importance in Hindu mythology cannot be captured in a few paragraphs. Three perspectives will demonstrate the breadth of her roles and the changes in the ways in which she was perceived. Linguistically and historically, Lakshmi in the Rigveda was a word of feminine gender that quantified good fortune…
Kandu appeared in the Vishnu Purana as the archetype of sages who lose their focus. He was called chief of the devajnas (ones who know the divine). His powerful austerities (tapas) caused Indra to worry that Kandu would become more powerful than himself, the king of the gods. So Indra…
Lomaharshana now gave the sages a list of the eighteen mahapuranas. In the beginning, there was only one Purana. The sage Vedavyasa divided this original Purana into eighteen mahapuranas. The mahapuranas have four lakh shlokas all together and their names are as follows. (i) The Brahma Purana: This was originally…
Once, while describing the origin of Puranas, Sutji told the sages who had assembled at Naimisharanya–‘Lord Shiva had first revealed the contents of Skanda Purana to Parvati at Kailash Mountain. Lord Brahma and few other deities were also present there at the time when Shiva was narrating the tale. Subsequently,…
Narrating about the life of Sage Veda Vyasa, Suta said to the sages- “Once while sage Parashar was on his pilgrimage, he arrived at the bank of Yamuna. Satyavati, who emitted the smell of fish, helped him cross the river. Sage Parashar was very pleased with her. He transformed the…
The earth has seven great islands- Jambu, Plaksha, Shalmali, Kusha, Kronch, Shakh and Pushkar. These are surrounded by oceans having saline water, sugarcane juice, wine, ghee, curd, milk and sweet water respectively. Jambudweep is situated at the center. Situated at the center of Jambudweep is golden Sumeru Mountain (Himalayas), which…
Sage Jaimini, a disciple of Veda Vyasa, effected branches of Samaveda. Sage Jaimini had a son, Sumantu. Sumantu in turn had a son, Sukarma. Both of them studied a branch of Samaveda each. Sukarma divided his branch of Samaveda into sub-branches and taught them to his two disciples- Kaushalya Hiranyanabh…