Suta says- “The glorious description of devotion for Lord Vishnu caused extreme joy for Narada.” Narada says: “O great sage Sanat! Now kindly tell me about such a place of pilgrimage which is even holier than the holiest places of pilgrimage.” Sanatkumar says: O Narada! Confluence of Ganga and…
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!…
Lord Shiva was so infatuated by the appearance of lord Vishnu in his form of Mohini roopa that his semen was released on the ground. This semen was established by the Saptarishis in the womb of Anjani, with the permission of lord Shiva himself. In this way was born the…
Sanatkumar says: O sage! Faith has the greatest significance. Achievement of everything and appeasement of Lord Vishnu depend upon the faith. Nothing is attainable without faith. Such as a human being faces inertia in the absence of life and is rendered motionless. Similarly, faith is like a spiritual light without…
Shaunak says: “Suta, how did Sanatkumar unfold the mystic character of the religion to Narada? When and where they had the meeting to hold this pious discussion? Kindly tell us in detail Suta says: “The great sage Sanatkumar, who was free from illusions, was the creation of Brahma’s imagination. He…
Once upon a time, about twenty-six thousand sages assembled in the holy ambience of Naimisharanya. All of them had renounced their desires and homely comforts and were worshipping Lord Vishnu for the benefit of the entire humanity. During their stay in Naimisharanya, those sages called a huge assembly to discuss…
One thousand years after this incident, Ribhu once again decided to see his disciple Nidagh. So he once again arrived in Veernagar. At that time, king of that town was leading a procession of his army. So there was a great crowd on the main road of the town. Nidagh…
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…
Parashar says- During the time when Prachetas were engaged in penance, the earth was unprotected. Hence, huge trees came to cover her everywhere on land. Their foliage was so dense they that cut off entire sky and the sun could not reach the surface of the earth. After their emergence…
Describing about the ten incarnations and their corresponding power (Shakti), Suta said- The first incarnation of lord Shiva was as Mahakal and his Shakti was called Mahakali. Lord Shiva took his second incarnation as Tar and his Shakti was called ‘Tara’. The third incarnation of Lord Shiva was as Bhuvaneshwar…
In due course of time, Shuchismati became pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful child. The whole family celebrated the birth of the child. The whole family celebrated the birth of the child. The name giving ceremony of that child was attended by all the deities and sages including lord…
While describing about the incarnation of Nandikeshwar Suta says- Sage Shilad did a tremendous penance to please lord Shiva with an aspiration to have a son. Lord Shiva appeared before him and asked him to demand any boon he wished. Sage Shilad expressed his desire of having a son who…
When lord Shiva went away. Sandhya got up and went to the place where Medhatithi was performing his yagya. She made a mental resolution to have that brahmin as her husband, who in reality was Vashishtha and then entered into the sacrificial fire. The fire of the yagya burnt her…
During the ‘Varaha’ Kalpa of the Seventh ‘Manvantar’ lord Vishnu illuminated all the three world by his divine presence. This seventh Manvantara consisted of four yugas which repeated themselves in a cyclic way for twelve times. The first dwapar of this seventh manvantar saw the manifestation of lord Shiva for…
Once upon a time Lord Brahma, not seeing an expansion in his creation became very worried. A heavenly voice instructed him to commence creation with the help of copulative activities. But since all the incarnation of Shiva had been males till then, therefore lord Brahma was finding it impossible. Lord…
Goddess Durga had killed the demon Mahishasur, who used to torment the deities. Gajasur was the son of Mahishasur. To avenge his father’s death, Gajasur did a tremendous penance to please lord Brahma. Lord Brahma appeared before him and asked him to demand any boon. Gajasur said- “O Lord! Even…
Once, Andhak brothers jokingly told him that, since his real parents were somebody else (Shiva and Parvati) therefore he was not fit to rule them. Though they had told this in good humour, yet Andhak was very much saddened by their remark. He relinquished his throne and went to a…
After being instructed by goddess Parvati, Lord Vishnu had gone to Tulsi in the guise of her husband- Shankhachuda, so that the breach of Tulsi chastity could help lord Shiva to kill Shankhachuda, who derived his power from Tulsi’s chastity and virtuosity. Initially Tulsi could not recognize lord Vishnu. She…
Lord Shiva was now fully convinced about the inevitability of the battle. He first sent all his ganas under the leadership of Kartekiye and Ganesha. Later on Bhadrakali proceeded towards the battlefield with a huge army as per the own wish of lord Shiva himself. At last lord Shiva proceeded…
Rahu went back to Jalandhar and narrated the whole story to him. Jalandhar then attacked Kailash mountain with his huge army. A fierce battle was fought between the Shiva-ganas and the demons. When Jalandhar realized that lord Shiva had begun to dominate the battle he created beautiful ‘Apsaras’ and ‘Gandharvas’…
The deities were very encouraged by the presence of Kartikeya amidst themselves. They were beaming with confidence and enthusiasm. The deities assembled at the seashore. Tarakasur arrived there with his huge army. The battle began. Tarakasur appeared to be invincible. His blow was so severe that Indra fell down unconscious….
Narada was curious to know about Tarakasur. He asked Brahma to narrate his tale. Brahma said- “Kashyapa-the son of Marichi, had thirteen wives Diti was the eldest among them. She was the mother of Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha. Both her sons were killed by lord Vishnu in his incarnations of Nrisimha…
Sati requested lord Shiva to enlighten her mind by giving discourses. Shiva revealed to her the importance of devotion in the Kali Yuga. He said that the value of knowledge (jnana) and asceticism (vairagya) would diminish to the extent of extinction in the era of Kali and only devotion would…
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 should finish his daily routing…
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 Lord Shiva did penance. After…
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…
Bhasma are of two types:-1) Maha Bhasma and 2) Swalpa Bhasma. ‘Shrota’ (listener), ‘Smart; (rites according to the smritis) and Laukik (worldly) are considered to be the Maha Bhasma. There are many types of Swalpa Bhasma. ‘Shrota’ and ‘Smart’ are meant only for the brahmins. For the rest of the…
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…
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…
THE IMPORTANCE OF BHASMA (ASH) IN SHIVA’S WORSHIP Bhasma are of two types:-1) Maha Bhasma and 2) Swalpa Bhasma. ‘Shrota’ (listener), ‘Smart; (rites according to the smritis) and Laukik (worldly) are considered to be the Maha Bhasma. There are many types of Swalpa Bhasma. ‘Shrota’ and ‘Smart’ are meant only…
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….
The sages requested Suta to elaborate upon the rituals of Vajravahanika Vidya or Vajreshwari Vidya. Suta replied— Anybody who is desirous of vanquishing his enemy must perform the rituals of Vajreshwari Vidya. The devotee should worship Vajra (a spear) and make offerings in the sacrificial fire holding it (Vajra) in…
Lord Shiva manifests himself in the form of Sun. The Sun radiates twelve different types of rays which have specific impacts and influences on the world. The first ray is called Amrit and the deities derive their power from it. The second ray is called Chandra and it helps in…
The deities were curious to know the story behind ‘Tandav’- the famous dance of Lord Shiva. So, they asked Suta how it started and what made Shiva to perform Tandav. Suta replied— There lived a demon named Daruk. He had acquired divine powers by the virtue of his austere penance….
The Sages requested Suta to reveal how Lord Shiva had killed the notorious demon– Jalandhar. Suta narrated the following tale— There was a demon named Jalandhar. He had manifested from the ocean. He had acquired divine power by the virtue of his austere penance. Jalandhar had defeated the deities and…
There ruled a king named Kshoopa whose friend was Sage Dadhichi. Once they got into argument over the superiority of their respective castes. King Kshoopa was of the opinion that a Kshetriya was superior to Brahmin. Very soon, the dispute took an ugly turn and a duel broke out between…
Once, during thirtieth kalpa named Rakta, Lord Brahma was meditating on Paramaeshthi Shiva. Suddenly a divine child appeared before him who was of red complexion and who had put on red apparels. He was none other than Lord Vamdev. Lord Brahma immediately realized the divinity of that child and was…
Shiva is both invisible as well as the root cause of all the delusions of the world. This is why Shiva is also known as Alinga (unknowable). Linga is nothing but the non-manifested (Auyakta) form of Shiva. This implies that the visible world is the medium through which Shiva manifests…
At the beginning of creation, Rigveda contained all the four Vedas with hundred thousand mantras. That Rigveda helped a lot in the propagation of ten kinds of Yagyas. Then during the twenty-eighth Dwapar, my son, Krishnadwaipayan effected the division of Rigveda in four Vedas. At the same time, he also…
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…
The gods and the demons did not like each other and fought several wars with each other. There were twelve such terrible wars. On one particular occasion, the demons were defeated by the gods. Extremely disheartened, they went to visit their preceptor, Shukracharya. (son of sage Bhrigu.) The demons told…
There used to be a king named Kritavirya and Kritavirya‘s son was known as Kartavirya Arjuna. Arjuna performed tapasya for thousands and thousands of years. Through this meditation, he pleased the sage Dattatreya and obtained four wonderful boons from the sage. The first boon gave Arjuna a thousand arms. The…
In the lunar line, there was a king named Nahusha. He had six sons and the youngest was named Yayati. After Nahusha, Yayati became king. Yayati had two wives. Shukracharya was the preceptor of the gods and Yayati married Devayani, Shukracharya‘s daughter. The king of the danavas was Vrishaparva and…
Pururava was a good king who performed many yajnas. He ruled the earth well. Urvashi was a beautiful apsara. Pururava met Urvashi and fell in love with her. ―Please marry me,‖ he requested. ―I will,‖ replied Urvashi, ―But there is a condition. I love these two sheep and they will…
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,…
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…
In the solar line there was a king named Vrihadashva. He had twenty-one thousand sons. The eldest son was known as Kuvalashva. When Vrihadashva aged, he decided to retire to the forest with his wife. As for the kingdom, he resolved that he would hand it over to Kuvalashva. But…