The story of Kakshivan is quite fragmentary, with some pieces quite ancient mixed with pieces from later mythology. Kakshivan was born according to a custom by which a priest would be requested to give the king a child by his childless queen. King Kalinga was without an heir. He…
King Kakshasena, praised as an examplar in the Mahabharata, was the son of King Parikshit and grandson of King Avikshit. Kakshasena achieved an honored place in Hindu mythology because of his generous support of the priesthood. The lists of such donors included great kings of the epic period: Shibi, Pratardana,…
There are two versions of the origin of Kaitabha and his brother Madhu. The version in the Puranas said that Madhu and his brother Kaitabha were born from the earwax of Vishnu. Vishnu was ending his cosmic sleep reclined upon the serpent Sasha (also called Ananta) floating on the…
The Mahabharata describes the location of Kailasa. Kailasa is situated on the southern side of Mahameru (Maha-Meru), the great mountain. It is said that there are two celestial abodes on Mount Kailasa, one of Siva and Parvati and the other of Kubera, god of wealth.
Kaikeyi was one of the three (some versions say five) wives of King Dasaratha. She had been a princess of the kingdom of Kekaya, seven day’s journey from Ayodhya. When Dasaratha was summoned to svarga (heaven) to help the devas (gods) in a war with the asuras (demons), Kaikeyi…
The asuras (demons) had become invincible in war because their priest, the brahmin (Sukra, knew the art of bringing the dead back to life (mritasanjivini). No sooner would the devas (gods) kill the asuras than Sukra would perform the mritasanjivini and they were alive again. The devas dispatched their…
