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,…
―Who are the ancestors?‖ asked the sages. Lomaharshana recounted the following story. When Brahma first started to created, the gods were born. These gods not only did not worship Brahma, they started to create themselves. Brahma therefore cursed them that they would become ignorant. The gods did not relish this…
King Prithu had two sons- Antardhan and Vadi who were very religious minded themselves. Antardhan’s wife Shikhandi gave birth to Ivirdhan. Prachin Barhi was the son of Ivirdhan and his wife, Ghishna. Shukra, Gaya, Krishna, Vrij and Ajin were their other sons. Prachin Barhi was a great fosterer of his…
Daksha‘s descendants have already been mentioned in the section on creation. The Vayu Purana now gives an account which is, in certain respects, contradictory to the earlier account. Daksha married Asikli, the daughter of Virana, Daksha and Asikli had a thousand sons named the Haryashva. But the sage Narada persuaded…
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,…
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 sages requested Lomaharshana, ―Please tell us how the sacred Vedas came to be divided.‖ Lomaharshana recounted the following story. When dvapara yuga arrived, Brahma noticed that people were becoming evil and were no longer paying sufficient attention to the Vedas. They were gradually deviating from the righteous path. Brahama…
Many years ago, in satya yuga, the sage Vashishtha met Kartikeya, the son of Shiva and Parvati. Having worshipped Kartikeya, the sage said, ―Please tell me how Shiva‘s throat came to be blue.‖ ―I do know the answer and I will satisfy your curiosity,‖ replied Kartikeya. ―I was once on…
Daksha‘s daughter, Sati, was married to Shiva. Daksha was thus Shiva‘s father-in-law. But, as a son-in-law. Shiva never showed Daksha adequate respect. Or so Daksha felt. For instance, Shiva never bowed down before Daksha. On one occasion, Daksha invited all his daughters to his house. The only one whom he…
You will remember that Shiva had granted Brahma the boon that he would be born as Brahma‘s son. To ensure that this indeed happened Brahma began to perform very difficult tapasya (meditation). But despite all this meditation, nothing happened. This failure greatly angered Brahma and he started to cry. As…
After Shiva had left, two brothers named Mahdu and Kaitabha appeared. They were demons. One of the demons wished to eat honey (madhu) as soon as he was born and thus came to be known as Madhu. The other demon looked like an insect (kita) and thus came to be…
At the end of the last kalpa, there was a minor destruction and the world was flooded with water. Vishnu alone slept on this water, balanced on the hood of the great snake, Ananta. While Vishnu was thus sleeping, a lotus sprouted from his navel. It was a huge lotus…
There was a sage named Savarni. He told the wind-gold Vayu, ―We know that the present kalpa is called varaha kalpa. But how long is a kalpa? And what are the various other kalpas? Please tell us the answers to these questions.‖ Vayu said the following. There are 4,320,000,000 years…
Shiva taught the world the technique of yoga. Yoga literally means union and is a form of meditation that teaches about the union between the individual human soul (atman) and the divine soul (paramatman). It is this knowledge that is strived for by those who meditate. And one who does…
SIVA ENDS BRAHMA – VISHNU DISPUTE AND SHABDA BRAHMA “I asked him as to who he was. Vishnu replied that he was the fulfiller of all of his desires. But I replied to him that I only was the creator, nurturer and the supreme soul of this world. Vishnu became…
VICTORY OF NARADA OVER ‘KAMA’ Once upon a time a Narada was performing a penance in the cave of Himalaya mountain. Indra becoming fearful sent Kamadev to obstruct his penance. But Kamadeva was unsuccessful in his attempt as the place where Narada was doing penance was the same place where…
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…
At the end of the last kalpa, there was a destruction and the universe was flooded with water. Vishnu slept on the water as long as Brahma‘s night lasted. Since nara means water and anyana means resting-place. Vishnu is accordingly known as Narayana. When Brahma‘s day dawned, he wished to…
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…
THE METHODS OF WORSHIPPING SHIVA On the request of the sages, Suta retold the preaching which had been narrated by Brahma to Narada. Describing the method of Shiva worship he says- “A devotee should get up early in the morning and contemplate on Shiva, who gives benediction. After that, he…
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…
King ambarish story – Sukhdev says, ” Parikshit, Sharyati was the king Nabhag. His son was Nabhag. He was a great devotee of his parents. As a result of his service for his parents, Nabhag was very much comfortable. He had a son Ambarish who was a great devotee of…
Shukdev says, “Parikshit, when the servers of Lord Vishnu failed the attempt of Yamadutas, they returned to Yamaloka and complained Yama about the event.” “O Yamadev, we had so far known that you are the sole authority of punishing the people as per their deeds. No body had dared so…
Anybody who studies the sacred texts of ‘Brahma-Gita’ is certain to attain salvation for it brilliantly propounds the theory of divinity of man by proclaiming that in each individual dwells Brahman-the supreme Almighty. Eulogizing the glory of ‘Brahma Gita’ Lord Vishnu said– ‘Brahma-Gita declares that in each individual dwells Brahman…
Sage Narada once asked Lord Shiva about the means by which a man could become free from the delusions of the world. Lord Shiva revealed to him the contents of ‘Kulamrit stotra’, eulogizing the majesty of Lord Vishnu. By chanting this stotra, Narada successfully attained to that supreme status, which…
Before setting out for Gaya to offer Pinda dan, a man should appropriately perform ‘Shraddh rituals’ in the village or town he lives. Each step taken towards Gaya acts as a stepping stone to the heaven for the ancestors. Getting one’s head tonsured or observing fast is prohibited in some…
While worshipping Lord Vishnu, first of all a devotee should worship the ‘Asan’ of the deity by chanting– Om Vasudeva Asanay Namah. He should then make salutations to Lord Vishnu by chanting the following mantras– Om Vasudevay Murtaye Namah, Om Aim Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevay Namah, Om Am Om Namo…
The sages thanked Vayudeva for giving the knowledge of Jnana Yoga. The next day, they took bath in river Saraswati and performed their worship and rituals. After that they proceeded towards Kashi. At Kashi after taking their bath in river Ganga they had a darshan of lord Vishwanath. They saw…
Sage Jaimini, a disciple of Veda Vyasa, effected branches of Samaveda. Sage Jaimini had a son, Sumantu. Sumantu in turn had a son, Sukarma. Both of them studied a branch of Samaveda each. Sukarma divided his branch of Samaveda into sub-branches and taught them to his two disciples- Kaushalya Hiranyanabh…
In the beginning of Kalpa when Brahma was thinking about a son, who would be like him in virtues, a boy with reddish-blue body appeared in his lap. Brahma addressed the boy with names like Rudra, Bhava, Shiv, Ibhan, Pashupati, Bhima, Ugra and Mahadeva. Brahma also fixed Surya, water, earth,…
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…