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…
In the Epics kings could be as great as gods. One such king was Haritasva, king of Ayodhya. He was greatly accomplished in the arts. He surpassed the sage Narada and the goddess Sarasvati in music. He pleased Brahma with his music and put Vishnu to sleep. Once Siva was…
King Hariscandra of Ayodhya was very famous for his commitment to truth and for keeping his promises. Victim of a great magician’s magical powers, Hariscandra represents all righteous persons who have suffered wrongly. Hariscandra lost his kingdom, his wife, and his only son, for the sake of keeping his word….
In the Padma Purana Harimitra had an asrama (hermitage) on the banks of the river Yamuna. A sinner named Vikundala became associated with Harimitra and followed his practice of a ritual bath in the Yamuna. It just happened that he took a bath twice in the Yamuna during the Hindu…
Haridhama was a great sage devoted to Krishna who wanted nothing more than to be reborn near his lord. Consequently, he was reborn as Rangaveni, a female cowherd (gopika or gopi) in Gokula, the cow-tending colony. Thus, Rangaveni was near Krishna, which was the reward for his chanting the Krishna…
Coming from the same root as the epithet Hara for (Siva (hri, to remove), Hari also means “the remover.” There are many minor figures with this name, as well as a number of groups (some of the demon king Ravana’s attendants, a group of devas, and others). Eventually, however,…
Hara (the remover) was an epithet first associated with Rudra and the Maruts, both gods of storm. It had the connotation of death, the destruction that removes all things. By the Epic period Hara referred to Siva, the destroyer. There was a manifestation of the godhead as Harihara, the right…
Hanuman expanded the notion of the divine, perhaps more than any other being in Hindu mythology. He appeared as an agent governed by dharma like any human, yet while in an animal form he was divine. The myths of his birth from the elements of the gods, usually of Siva…
According to the Bhâgavata Purâna Hamsa was a prajâpati, a progenitor or creator. Hamsa taught yoga to sages like Sanaka and taught the way to liberation for the Sâdhyadevas, a class of divine witnesses of battles and celebrations in late mythology. Hamsa, like Vishnu, was also called the sacrifice…
Some accounts stated that halahala had been churned up from the Milky Ocean and absorbed by the nagas (serpents) and became their venom. Other accounts said that halahala was the poison vomited up by Vasuki, king of the nagas, during the time of the churning of the Milky Ocean. In…
In the Puranas, Gunasharman’s story is nested within an episode about his father Adityasharman. The father used his great spiritual powers (tapas) to create an apsara (heavenly damsel) for himself, whom he named Sulocana. When a son, Gunasharman, was born to them, Adityasharman became a deva (god) and went…
This sage was probably a historical person of the Vedic period. Gotama, son of Rahugana, was not the sage Gautama, husband of Ahalya. There were many references to Gotama in the Rigveda. He wrote hymns contained in the seventy- fourth sukta of the thirteenth anuvaka of the first mandala of…
Ghritaci was an apsara, a heavenly nymph. Her beauty was so overwhelming that many great brahmins, whether married rishi (sage) or ascetic, fell victim to her charms. Several, Bharadvaja and Vyasa, saw her and after years of ascetic practice (tapasya) had seminal emissions, followed by miraculous births of sons….
Ghosha was mentioned in the Rigveda several times. She was born from a fine lineage of sages. Her grandfather was the maharishi Drigata and her father was Kakshivan. As a child she contracted leprosy, and consequently no one would marry her. Consequently, she studied and practiced great austerities and…
In the Ramayana the tale is told that soon after the Pandava brothers began their forest exile, a rakshasa chief sent his sister, Hidumbhi, to capture them for his dinner. However, Hidumbhi fell in love with Bhima, the strongest and most physical of the brothers. The rakshasa chief came…
Ghanta and Karna were brothers in some sources, but the older rakshasa was called by both names, Ghantakanta, as the myths were about him. Ghanta’s myth was nested within several others and modified in sectarian versions competing over who was the supreme deity, Siva or Vishnu. Ghantakarna came into being…
In the Devi Bhagavata the sage Nagabhushana (“one having snakes as his ornament,” a sage whose name was a pun, pointing to the object of the story, Siva) was deep in meditation at his forest hermitage. King Parikshit, grandson of Arjuna, came to him desiring water after a long hunt….
There were references to Gautama’s name in the Rigveda. In a hymn that was later literalized, Indra as a metaphor of the morning carried off night. Indra’s character became that of a seducer of sages’ wives, and Ahalya (“unplowed”), the wife of Gautama, became one of them. The number…
Garuda, or Garutman, as he was known in the Vedas, was appropriated in the devotional myths of the epic and Puranic periods as the servant vehicle of Lord Vishnu. The name Garuda has as its verbal root gri (to speak). In the Vedas Garuda is the metaphor for, or, for…
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…
Ganessa’s mythology came to be nested within that of Ssiva and Parvati. The theriomorphic past, where animals are gods, has been sufficiently sanskritized and brahmanized for Ganessa, with all his associations as Ganapati, leader of the dwarf demons of Ssiva, to become pan-Indian, losing ancient tribal and regional origins….
The distance between gods and heroes in Puranic mythology was not very great. Divine weapons, like the Gandiva, the great bow of Brahma, could be given to mere mortals, since the mortals were so often partial divine incarnations or from mixed marriages between gods and mortal women. Such was…
This class of gods appeared first in the Vedic period. They were sky beings, associated with the preparation of soma. The Atharvaveda said that there were 6,333 gandharvas. They liked mortal women and sported with them, using their powers to shape-shift and fool all but the most disciplined of…
In the Mahabharata, Gandhari had the quite traditional roles of daughter, wife, and mother. Even though her sons, the hundred Kauravas, proved to be on the wrong side of righteousness, she was an example of one who practiced sva- dharma, meeting the requirements of her caste and of the…
This myth was included in the Skanda Purana as an elaboration on the myth of the Churning of the Milky Ocean, in which Vishnu appeared as Mohini and tricked the asuras (demons) out of the nectar of immortality. The moral purpose of this myth is not clear. It does…
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…
In the days when gods and goddesses changed into horses, and their offspring became human kings, Ekavira was born and founded the Hehayadynasty. The myth began in Vaikuntha (Vishnu’s heaven). A friend of Indra, King Revanta, came to the abode of Vishnu and Lakshmi. Lakshmi was infatuated with the handsome…
This is a myth that sets unusual talent against dharma (the moral order), in this case the duty of accepting the restrictions of one’s caste. The master (acarya) Drona was a brahmin who refused to teach one who was not twice-born. Drona taught the Pandavas and the Kauravas to be…
Duryodhana’s birth was a miracle from Siva, assisted by a blessing from Vyasa. (See account under Dhritarashthra.) Duryodhana was raised in the palace of King Pandu, who reigned because his blind brother Dhritarashthra was disqualified by his infirmity. When Pandu died, his oldest son Yudhishthira became king. Duryodhana and…
Durvasa (hard to dwell) was known for his bad temper and his imperious ways. He was also said to be a partial (amsha) incarnation of (Siva. Durvasa has three different birth myths, each accounting for his character. The first began in heaven. Siva had behaved so badly, abusing the…
The myths about Durga (the impassable) are like litmus paper. The paper indicates complete opposites (acid or alkaloid) as well as degrees of either. There are several oppositions: Durga as beautiful, peaceful sister of Vishnu, wife of Siva, or Durga as ferocious, powerful, avenging destroyer. Another opposition is Durga…
Drona had a miraculous birth. His father, the brahmin sage Bharadwaj, saw the naked body of the beautiful apsara, Ghritaci, who lost her clothes as she ran from the mortal. Bharadwaj had a seminal discharge that was saved in a bucket or trough, a drona, thus giving his son…
Draupadi was the princess of Pancala (thus her name Pancali) who held a contest to choose her own husband (svayamvara). Arjuna competed in disguise because he and his brothers had been exiled from their kingdom of Ayodhya. Arjuna, son of Indra and Kunti, won the contest and took her away…
The myths about Dirghatamas’s parentage varied widely; he was described as a son of Kasi-raja (according to the Mahabharata), of Uchathya (in the Rigveda), and of Utathya by Mamata (in the Puranas). But this brahmin came to be seen as having fathered a line of kings, so he inherited much…
Dhruva was the son of the second wife of Manu, the first human. Manu’s first wife and son treated Dhruva and his mother badly, yet they both accepted the abuse with gentleness and humility. When he grew up, even though he was a ksatriya (warrior), Dhruva joined a group of…
The lunar dynasty was in danger of dying out. Dhritarashthra’s life story is an illustration of just how weak dharma (truth, righteousness, religion) had become on earth. Dhritarashthra was the king under whose rule the great Mahabharata war would be fought. Evil could not be reversed as the great royal…
(1) A deva (god) In the Vedas, Dharma was a metaphor, a personification of duty. In later periods, however, Dharma was presented as a minor deva. Dharma was said to be born from the right nipple of Brahma, the creator. In the Mahabharata Dharma was given three sons: Sama,…
After a thousand years of Churning of the Milky Ocean Dhanvantari arose with a water-pot (kamandalu) in one hand and a staff (danda) in the other. He rose above the water and worshipped Vishnu. He delivered the amrita, the drink of immortality, which was supposed to be shared equally by…
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…
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…
Devakulya washed the feet of Vishnu, and she was reborn as the river goddess Ganga. This myth had to be reconciled with another origin myth about the Ganga: that the earthly Ganga came by the grace of Siva. The version featuring Devakulya in the Bhagavata Purana emphasized her merit for…
Devaki was said to be the rebirth of Aditi, the mother of the devas and wife of Kasyapa-prajapati. She was more famous as the mother of Sri Krishna. (Vishnu pulled two hairs from his head, one white, another black, and implanted them in the wombs of Rohini and Devaki….
In Hinduism the divine may be viewed as having form (murti) and attributes (gunas) or being without any form or qualities at all (nirguna). The former perspective was for those with little understanding and in need of every hint possible. Myths about devas added shape and form to the…
Dattatreya had wonderful parents: the sage Atri and his wife Anasuya. Dattatreya was an incarnation of Vishnu according to some Puranas. Why did Lord Vishnu incarnate as Dattatreya? The Brahmanda Purana traced the story back to a hermit named Ani-Mandavya who meditated under a vow of silence. In pursuit of…
To be so great a figure as to have a god born as one’s son, one must have a distinguished lineage, excellent karma (based on what one had done in past lives), and a record of devotion and service to the gods. All of these elements were provided in the…
Damayanti was born from the blessing of her childless parents by the sage Dama. She grew into a beauty whose fame reached the attention of Prince Nala. Damayanti also knew of this handsome prince from those divine messengers, the swans. The two fell in love without even meeting. King…
This is an example of a myth about a priestly curse that explains the bad fortune of a king and a kingdom. Such a myth served as an advertisement of the powers (siddhis) of brahmins and their ability to bless or curse. This late story in the Vamana Purana referred…
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…
Women magicians were not given much of a role in nonsectarian Hindu mythology. The magicians known for their country and mentioned in the Mahabharataas the Kshudrakas were one exception. They came to the aid of Duryodhana and the Kauravas. Bhishma even had the Kshudrakas attack Arjuna. In another incarnation…
Dadhici had been made from the essence of the world by his father, the great ascetic Bhrigu. He too became an ascetic and engaged in severe tapas (austerities). Indra became afraid that his position of Indrahood (as king of the gods) was threatened by a yogi with such power (siddhi)….