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…
There used to live a poor Bheel named Gurudruha. He was very poor. One day finding no food available in his house, he went to the forest to hunt an animal. Unfortunately he did not find any animal which he could hunt. Being hungry, he sat down on the bank…
Once Parvati asked lord Shiva as to which were the austerities when on being performed by a devotee, helps him to attain both worldly accomplishments as well as liberation. Lord Shiva told her about ten austerities connected with his worship and their methods. He said- “On the eighth day of…
Beneath the earth and water are situated the hells into which, the sinners are thrown. Raurav, Sukar, Rodha, Tal, Vishsan, Mahajwal, Taptakumbh, Lavan, Vilohit, Rudhiramabh, Vaitarni, Krimish, Krimibhojan, Asipatravana, Krishna, Lalabhaksha, Darun, Puyuvah, Pap, Vahnijwal, Adhahshira, Sandansh, Kalsutra, Tamas, Avichi, Swabhojan, Apratishthit and Aprachi are the main hells. These are…
Long long ago there lived a brahmin by the name of Dadhichi. His wife to a low caste, though his son – Sudarshan was very learned. The name of his wife was Tukula. She had her husband under total control and influence. Sudarshan had four sons. One day Dadhichi planned…
Sage Atri and his wife Anusuya were doing penance in the forest called Kamad, situated near the Chitrakut mountain. Once it did not rain for many days. As a result people living in that area faced a severe drought. Anusuya requested her husband to help out the people from their…
After describing about the twelve Jyotirlinga, Suta mentioned about the various Upalingas originating from them. The Upalinga named Someshwar is situated at a place where the earth meets the ocean. This Upalinga is also known as ‘Antakesh’. The Upalinga originating from MallikArjuna is famous by the name of ‘Rudreshwar’. Similarly…
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…
(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,…
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….
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…
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…
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…
Queen Cudala’s accomplishment was placed long ago in the first Dvaparayuga of the seventh manvantara (world cycle). Perhaps that placement in an age of greater spiritual potential was why ksatriyas were able to achieve great powers (siddhis) without mention of a brahmin teacher and a woman could learn faster…
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…
Narada says:”O great sage! I have just heard the tale of sacred Ganges. Now kindly describe about the people who deserve to take donations. Sanatkumar says: O Narada! Brahmin is considered as the excellent among all the four castes. Hence, to make the donation fruitful, one should donate to the…
Bhumi (the earth) was a Puranic addition to the Hindu pantheon. There are a number of versions of her birth, and her children had so many different gods and demons as fathers that another myth had to provide a curse from Parvati to explain this flaw in her character….
Bharadvaja was the son of Maharishi Atri. He lived thousands of years, years that he used for the study of the Vedas. He was a disciple of the great Valmiki. Many Vedic hymns are credited to Bharadvaja’s authorship. When Rama was beginning his exile, he went to Bharadvaja’s asrama…
The Bhairavi is “the horrific one,” a “hot,” as scholars say, or nonorthodox, form of Devi and a counterpart of Bhairava. She was also one of a very ancient group of eight Ambas, or Matrices (mothers), who were non-Vedic and identified with the feminine energies of great gods (Brahmani…
Describing about the Lord Shiva’s incarnation as Durvasa, Suta told the deities:- “once Atri – the manasputra of lord Brahma went to do penance at the bank of the river Nivindhya which flew by the foothills of Trayakshakul mountain as per the instructions of Lord Brahma himself. He commenced doing…
Rudraksha is very dear to lord Shiva and hence all the sins of a man get destroyed if he chants the name of Lord Shiva using a Rudraksha beads. He also attains salvation after his death. It is believed that the origin of Rudraksha is connected with Shiva penance. Once…
GREATNESS OF SHIVALINGA–PILLAR OF FIRE– OMKAR According to Suta, if a person is incapable of following the above mentioned three activities i.e. Shravana, Kirtan and Manan then he should worship the Shivalinga. Even by doing this he can attain liberation from all the bondages of the world. Describing about the…
Yayati’s eldest son Yadu had four sons- Sahastrajit, Kroshtu, Nala and Nahush. Sahastrajit had a son Shatajit who had three sons Haihaya, Hehaya and Venuhaya. Lineage of Haihaya grew as- Dharma, Dharmanetra, Kunti, Sahajit, Mahishman, Bhadrashrenya, Durdabh and Dhanak. Dhanak had four sons- Kritveerya, Kritagni, Kritdharma and Kritauja. Kritveerya had…
Lineage of Vaivasvat Manu finds its origin at Brahma. Brahma was the first to appear from Lord Vishnu who is the primitive cause for the whole creation. From the right hand thumb of Brahma, Daksha Prajapati appeared. Daksha produced Aditi and Aditi produced Vivasvan. Manu was the son of Vivasvan….
Chandra or Soma was th son of the sage Atri. Atri was a very powerful sage. He was always busy meditating. For three thousand years he performed tapasya, with his arms raised up into the air. He stood there, immobile like a tree-trunk. As a result of this wonderful tapasya,…
The sixth Manu was Chakshusha. One of Chakshusha‘s descendants was the great king Pirthu, the son of Vena. Chakshusha had a son named Uru and Uru had a son named Anga. Agna maried Sunitha, and they had a son named Vena. Vena was evil and when he became the king,…
In the month of Chaitra, the Sun rides his chariot as Dhata. During that period, apsara Kratusthala, sage Pulastya, Nag Vasuki, Yaksha Rathmirith, demon Heti and the Gandharva Tumbaru are also present on the chariot as his assistants. In the month of Vaishakh, the Sun rides his chariot as Aryama…
Lomaharshana next told the sages about the various manvantara (eras). Each of Brahma‘s days is referred to as a kalpa (cycle) and that there are fourteen manvantaras in each kalp. Each manvantara is ruled over by a Manu and lasts for a duration of 30,67,20,000 years. The gods, the seven…
The earth is made up of five elements (bhuta). These are earth, wind sky, water and energy. There are seven regions in the underworld (patala). These are known as atala, sutala, vitala, gabhastala, mahatala, shritala and patala. The ground in atala is dark in colour; in sutala it is pale;…
There are roughly seventy-one mahayugas in a manvantara. A mahayuga lasts for twelve thousand years of the gods and consists of four different eras or yugas – satya yuga or krita yuga, treta yuga, dvapara yuga, and kali yuga. Satya yuga lasts for four thousand years of the gods treta…
King Adhisima Krishna (alternatively, Asima Krishna) ruled the earth well. During his reign, several sages organized a yajna (sacrifice) on the banks of the sacred river Drishadvati. The river flowed through the region that was known as Kurukshetra. The sacrifice went on for a very long time and the sage…
SAGES ENQUIRE Viddyeshwar Samhita which is classified into twenty five chapters, has a narration in its first chapter which goes as follows- Once upon a time, the sages were performing a yagya at Prayag kshetra. Sage Suta came to know about this and arrived there. All the sages were very…
CONDUCT OF THE RESPECTIVE CASTES–DHARMA On the request of the sages, Suta described about the virtuous and invirtuous activities of a man according to the respective castes he belongs to. He said: “A brahmin who performs the rituals, as described in the Vedas, only is entitled to be called a…
Vasudev, the son of Shoorsen was married to Devaki, the daughter of Devak. On that occasion of their marriage, Devaki’s cousin Kansa was driving their chariot. At that time, a celestial voice declared that the eighth son of Devaki would kill Kansa. Kansa in the excitement was ready to kill…
Pururava had six sons- Ayu, Amavasu, Vishwavasu, Shrutayu, Shatayu and Ayutayu. Amavasu had a son Bhima and Bhima in turn had a son Kanchan. Jahnu was the son of Kanchan’s son, Suhotra. At the time of Ganga’s descend on earth, when Jahnu saw his hermitage inundated, he drank all her…
At one point, the process of creation got saturated and no increase took place in the number of living beings. Then, with a desire of continuing the creation, Lord created nine sages from His thought. Then he produced nine daughters and handed them over as the wives to those nine…
IMPORTANCE OF RUDRAKSHA Rudraksha is very dear to lord Shiva and hence all the sins of a man get destroyed if he chants the name of Lord Shiva using a Rudraksha beads. He also attains salvation after his death. It is believed that the origin of Rudraksha is connected with…