Kraustuki says- ‘O lord! Now tell me about the Auttam Manavantar.’ Markandeya replied- ‘Uttanpada and Suruchi had a son named Uttam. Uttam was married to Bahula. Bahula did not love Uttam and always showed disrespect towards him. One day, while both of them were sitting in the court, watching the…
Yuvanashva was a king who had a hundred wives but no children. In the Vishnu and Bhagavatam Puranas Yuvanashva went into the forest to seek help from ascetics. Yuvanashva found a group of brahmins who promised him sons if he did a special ritual sacrifice, the Indradaivata yaga. It…
The word yoga is frequently used in Indian philosophy. It means “union” and connotes uniting the individual self with the higher Self. The Bhagavad Gita defined yoga as “skillfulness in action” and “steadiness of mind.” Yoga as a system of Indian thought was founded by Patanjali, probably of the second…
See main entry under Kalindi. This is an alternative name for the river Kalindi of Puranic fame. The river goddess of Kalindi was also the wife of Sri Krishna.
Dwelling on length about the appropriate way of performing ‘Upanayan sanskar’ (Sacred thread ceremony) rituals, Lord Vishnu said–‘A Brahmin child should get consecrated with the sacred thread in his eighth year while a Kshatriya child’s consecration should be performed when he has attained the age of eleven. ‘Upanayan sanskar’ of…
Yama came to be the god of death in later mythology, but he had wide range of roles in the earlier mythology. In the Rigveda Yama was one of the first pair. As such he was referred to as the first mortal (later being called the first human). His…
