After creation of the world, the five-headed Brahma was resting and thinking about the next creation when a beautiful woman appeared before him. Even though she was born of him, Brahma became attracted to her and let his passion go. For this sin one of his heads broke off….
Candrangada’s story has another myth nested within it of a curious gender transformation. The Puranic mythmakers did not portray a supreme god or goddess remedying the situation in this case, as they so often did. In fact, neither sages nor the divine mother (Parvati) seemed able to reverse this permanent…
In the Vedic period Candra, the moon, and Soma, the entheogenic plant, were connected by associations (bandhus) in the early hymns. However, Candra was not one of the adityas with Surya (the sun), but was one of the eight Vasus with Vayu (the wind). By the Puranic period Candra’s…
Candika was the furious aspect of the Goddess, having ten, eighteen, or twenty hands, each holding a weapon. Her vehicle was a lion, and she stood with her left foot on the corpse of the demon called Mahisha-asura and held his severed head aloft. From the bloody neck of the…
While hunting in the forest one day Candaka saw a Siva temple in ruins. He reported the dilapidated condition of this temple to Simhaketu, the king of Panchala. After consulting the scriptures, Simhaketu allowed Candaka to install a (Siva linga, the phallic symbol of (Siva, and said Candaka could start…
Canda and his young asura brother Munda allied with the great demons, SSumbha and NisSumbha. The latter two asura brothers had just returned from heaven after receiving a boon from Brahma that they could only be killed at the hands of a woman. After receiving this boon SSumbha and…
