Vishwamitra then instructed Trishanku to make preparation for the Yagya. After everything was ready, Vishwamitra initiated Trishanku into the rituals of Yagya. Trishanku made offerings in the sacrificial fire at the instruction of Vishwamitra. The deities readily accepted all the offerings that were made to them. This way, the yagya…
Lord Shiva requested Vishnu to shed light on different topics like Sarga (world), Pratisarga, Vansh (dynasties), Manvantar (fourteenth part of Brahma’s day) and Vanshanucharit (genealogy). Lord Vishnu replied–‘O Rudra! Lord Vasudeva in his incarnation of Nara-Narayan performs his responsibilities of the creator, protector as well as the annihilator. Each particle…
Once, Sage Vyasa narrated the following tale to all the assembled sages– ‘Once, while wandering about, sage Narada arrived at Vindhyachal mountain. He was received with great honour and respect by Vindhyachal mountain. But, when the time arrived for Narada to take his leave, he took a deep sigh, which…
Once, on being asked by Narada about the proper methods of performing Shodash upachar rituals, Lord Brahma said –‘In normal circumstances, when Lord Vishnu is worshipped by employing the rituals of Shodashopachar it is considered as ‘Tapa’. But, when the same rituals of shodashopachar are employed to worship Lord Vishnu…
On being asked by Yudhisthira about the life-style of people in Kali yuga, sage Vyasa replied– ‘There will be a widespread prevalence of sinful deeds and lack of moral values in Kali yuga. People would become untruthful and would become critical of revered sages. Moral values would decline to such…
Sutji once reached Naimisharanya in course of his pilgrimage. There he found numerous sages engaged in austerities and penance. All of them were delighted to find Sutji in their midst and considered it as a God sent opportunity to get their doubts related with religious topics cleared. Sage Shaunak was…
Yoga means such actions, which after pacifying all the human tendencies helps a man to unite with Shiva. Following are the five divisions of yoga- 1) Mantra Yoga, 2) Sparsh Yoga (union of touch), 3) Bhava Yoga (union by devotion), 4) Abhava yoga (Union without being emotionally attached), 5) Mahayoga…
Continuing with the description of the significance of various months, Sutji said– ‘Once, while Lord Vishnu was engrossed in his ‘yoganidra’ at Shwetdweepa, Lord Brahma arrived there and requested him to describe the importance of Margashirsh. Lord Vishnu had told him that a devotee aspiring for unification with him, must…
Continuing with the tale of Indradyumna, sage Jaimini told all the sages–‘Next morning, Indradyumna and his entourage crossed Mahanadi on boats and reached Ekamrachhetra where they worshipped lord Purushottam. After that they worshipped on their onwards journey and reached Kotishwar Mahalaya where they worshipped lord Tribhuneshwar with appropriate rituals. Lord…
Dwelling in length upon the majesty of Purushottam kshetra, goddess Lakshmi said– Purushottam kshetra resembles a conch in shape and is graced by the presence of lord Shiva. Towards its north is situated a temple of lord Neelkanth. A famous Shivalinga named Kapal mochan is also situated in the vicinity….
Lord Brahma soon after reaching Purushottam kshetra sat down and started meditating. He was so engrossed in his meditation that he remained in that state for a very long time. This resulted into total chaos as Yamaraj found that his power of causing death had no effect on people living…
Describing how Vayudeva had once assured Anjana that he would take birth as her son, Sutji told the sages—Anjana, being issue less even after a long married life, decided to do penance in order to beget a son. Sage Matang advised her to go to Akashganga teerth where her wishes…
Describing about the various types of Yoga, Suta told the sages that there were three types of Yoga – Gyan Yoga, Kriya Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. “Each of them is capable of giving salvation to a man. When the mind or intellect unites with the soul it is called Gyan…
There is an amazing tale related with the birth of Kalbhiti. During ancient times there lived a sonless brahmin named Manti in Kashi. He did an austere penance to get a son. At last, lord Shiva became pleased by his devotion and appeared. Lord Shiva said–‘You will be blessed with…
Sage Lomesh eulogizes the virtues of Shivaratri in the following words–‘The fourteenth day of the dark half of a month is dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva and is famously known as ‘Shivaratri’. It destroys all the sins committed by a man. Sage Lomesh then narrated a tale, which…
Sage Lomesh narrated the tale, which described how Indra lost heaven after he showed disrespect to Brihaspati– Once, Indra was enjoying the songs sung by Gandharvas when sage Vashishtha arrived. But, Indra was so engrossed in music, that he forgot to welcome his distinguished guest. Sage Vashishtha was enraged by…
Narrating about the life of Sage Veda Vyasa, Suta said to the sages- “Once while sage Parashar was on his pilgrimage, he arrived at the bank of Yamuna. Satyavati, who emitted the smell of fish, helped him cross the river. Sage Parashar was very pleased with her. He transformed the…
Truth or Satya is the best among all the types of austerity. A truthful man is the supreme devotee and a great accomplisher. Austerity helps a man to attain all the worldly pleasures of life and ultimately salvation. Austerities have been classified into three types on the basis of three…
Each living being has to taste the fruits of his ‘Karmas’, when his soul reaches the abode of Yama after his death. The soul of a virtuous man enters the hell from the Northern side, where as that of sinful man enters from the southern side. Yamanagri – The abode…
Describing about the sins, Suta told the sages that altogether there were twelve types of sins committed by a man by his actions, thought speech. Out of them having a desire for another person’s wife, being desirous of another’s wealth, having evil designs against other people and drifting towards sinful…
There used to live a brahmin by the name of Sudharma, who belonged to the lineage of sage Bhardwaj. He was a great devotee of lord Shiva. Sudeha was his wife. Sudharma had no son. Sudeha desires for a son. She expressed her desire to Sudharma but he did not…
There used to live a brahmin at Avantikapuri. He was a great devotee of lord Shiva and used to worship daily. This brahmin had four sons whose names were Devapriya, Medhapriya, Sukrit and Dharmabahu. By the blessings of lord Shiva the brahmin enjoyed a very happy and contented life. After…
King Nabhag was born in the nineth geneology of Shradhadeva who himself was a descendant of Ikshavaku. Nabhag was the grandfather of Ambareesh. During his childhood Nabhag left his home for ‘gurukula to get education. In his absence his brothers got the wealth of the kingdom distributed among themselves. When…
Narada says: “O Sanatkumar! A king Sumit had performed this flagging fast for the first time. Kindly narrate to me the tale of his life.” Sanatkumar says: During Satya Yuga, a Somavanshi king Sumit was ruling the entire earth. He was very religious in nature and a great devotee of…
Dharmaraj says: “O king! Those who commit severe sin on earth are bound to suffer equally severe torturing in hell. I am now describing about such sins and the tortures vouchsafed for them in the hells. Tapan, Balukakumbh, Maharaurav, Raurav, Kumbhipak, Pramardan, Lalabhaksha, Vasakup and Vaitarni are some of the…
Dharmaraj says: “O king! I am now going to narrate about the religion. Listen to it faithfully. If a person touches or gets touched by an impure or irreligious thing, he should observe fast for three days and six nights for expiation. He should take bath thrice a day. If…
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…
Narada says: “O great brother! Why did sage Vashishta curse Saudas and how did he recover from this curse by the virtue of the Ganges waters?” Sanatkumar says: “O Narada! Saudas was a virtuous king. He ruled over his subjects religiously. He was very fond of hunting. So, one day,…
Narada says: “O great sage! Why did Lord Vishnu appear as the son of Mrikandu? What did He do as his son? The Puranas say that during the Pralaya, Markandeya had witnessed the direct appearance of Lord Vishnu’s illusion. Kindly narrate these things in detail.” Sanatkumar says: “Listen O Devarshi!…
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…
The earth has seven great islands- Jambu, Plaksha, Shalmali, Kusha, Kronch, Shakh and Pushkar. These are surrounded by oceans having saline water, sugarcane juice, wine, ghee, curd, milk and sweet water respectively. Jambudweep is situated at the center. Situated at the center of Jambudweep is golden Sumeru Mountain (Himalayas), which…
Because of Bhrigu‘s curse, Vishnu had to be born several times on earth. These are known as avataras (incarnations). The Vayu Purana now catalogues Vishnu‘s ten incarnations. These are as follows. (1) Matsya or fish. (2) Narasimha or half-man and half-lion (3) Vamana or dwarf. (4) Dattatreya, the sage. (5)…
Maitreya says- “O sage, kindly narrate about the future Manvantaras that are to come.” Parashar says- Vishwakarma’s daughter Sangya was the wife of Surya. They had three children, Manu, Yama and Yamani. Sangya once felt unable to bear the radiance of Surya. So, appointing Chhaya (her shadow) in the service…
From Trishanku was descended a king named Vahu. Vahu was so addicted to material pursuits that he paid no attention to ruling his kingdom properly. Vahu‘s enemies seized the opportunity to defeat him and deprive him of his kingdom . Vahu and his wife fled to the forest. Chief among…
Further down the line, there was a king named Trayaruna. His son was Satyavrata. Satyavrata was exceedingly strong. But such was his desire for riches, that he committed many sins. His father Trayaruna therefore decided to banish him. Trayaruna‘s chief priest was Vashishtha and the sage also supported the king‘s…
The sun-god Surya was born as the son of Kashyapa and Aditi. Surya was born as an egg (anda). For days on end, nothing happened to the egg and the shell did not crack. Vishvakarma was the architect of the gods. When Vishvakarma found that nothing was happening to the…
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…
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…
Dreams and omens help people to predict the future. A person who cannot see the Pole Star (Dhruva) or the Milky Way (Chhayapatha) will die within the space of a year. If the sun seems to be faded to you, you will not live for more than eleven months. A…
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…
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…
The eighth day and the fourteenth day of both the fortnights of each Hindu month are considered to be the most auspicious for the worship of lord Shiva. Similarly the solstice day (Sankranti), when the sun is positioned north of equator and eclipse day are considered to be very auspicious….
There was a king named Satyarath who ruled over Vidarbha. Once he was attacked by a neighbouring king. Satyarath was killed in that battle. His wife somehow managed to save her life by hiding in a forest. The queen was pregnant at that time. At the shore of a pond…