Markandeya says- ‘River Ganga originates from a place named Dhruvadhar. This particular place is related with Narayana. River Ganga, then falls on the Sumeru Mountain and gets distributed into four main streams. One of these streams flows towards Chaitrartha forest. The name of this particular stream is Sita. The same…
Vaikuntha was the celestial abode of Vishnu. Vaikuntha literally means the “place of no hindrance.” In the Puranas, it was located variously—in heaven (svarga), north of the heavenly mountains (Himalaya), even on Mount Meru (Mahameru), the axis of the earth. Most commonly Vaikuntha was located on the southern slopes of…
A yatra was a pilgrimage, or visit, to a river crossing, or ford (tirtha). Thus the term tirtha-yatra came into usage. Over the centuries it came to mean a visit to any holy place, a pilgrimage to a sacred region (such as the plain where the Mahabharata battle was fought),…
Subrahmanya means literally “favorable to priests,” often used as an invocation to the devas (gods) in Vedic soma sacrifices. Subrahmanya was also the designation for one of three assistants to the Vedic Udgatri priest. However, this beautiful Sanskrit compound was simply appropriated in the Puranas to name Siva’s most frightening…
Satyavati was the mother of the great sage Vyasa. However, her story is quite interesting, as well as complicated because of all the nested elements. She was born of a fish who had been cursed, given to a king but returned because of her smell, named three times, and…
Sarasvati is a goddess of primary importance. She is accepted by Hindus as the goddess of learning, the arts, and scholarship. However, Sarasvati’s nature is far more complex and her mythology more interesting than is widely known. Sarasvati, whose name means “flowing” and “watery,” has been associated with an ancient…
Sukhdev says, “Parikshit, now I narrate about Chandra dynasty. Many great and pious kings like Pururava had occurred in this dynasty. Chandrama was the son of Atri, the son of Brahma. Budh was the son of Chandrama while Pururava was the son of Budh. Ila was the mother of Pururava….
Sukhdev says, ” Once Shraddha Dev Manu sneezed violently. From his nostrils, a son was born. He was named Ikshvaku. Ikshvaku had one hundred sons. Vikukshi, Nimi and Dandak were the eldest three of them. Vikukshi 1.)Vikukshi :- Once, Ikshvaku sent his eldest son Vikukshi to collect tubers for the…
Once Jaimini, a disciple of sage Veda Vyasa expressed his curiosity before Markandeya- ‘O Lord! In the great epic Mahabharata, which was created by Veda Vyasa, description of Dharma, Arth, Kama and Moksha appears to be intertwined at times and at other times, it appears to be separate from one…
There was a time when the mountains could fly. When they came to earth, they caused injury and suffering. Humans prayed to Indra, and he cut off the mountains’ wings. The mythic tradition used Mainaka in a variety of ways without much regard to an actual location. Mainaka was the…
Kunti was the aunt of Shri Krishna, mother of the five Pandavas and a sixth son Karna, and wife of King Pandu. Kunti was a heroine of the Mahabharata. As a child Kunti was given to a royal cousin, King Kuntibhoja, who was childless. She was given responsibility over…
Karttikeya’s name derived from his having been raised by the six Krittikas, the name given to six of the seven wives of the seven maharishis. He was also named Skanda and Subrahmanya. Karttikeya appeared in the epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, as a son fathered by (Siva without being…
In the Mahabharata war Karna had a divine birth. His mother, Kunti, was the daughter of King Shurasena. As a girl Kunti was in charge of arrangement in the palace for religious rituals. During a period of four months when the sage Durvasa performed rituals for the king, Kunti…
The sages requested Lomaharshan to describe about the geographical condition of Kurukshetra. Lomaharshan replied- “There are 7 different forest ranges in Kurukshetra. They are- “Kamyakvan, Aditivan, Vyasavan, Phalkivan, Suryavan, Madhuvan and Sheetvan. Nine rivers flow across Kurukshetra- Saraswati, Vaitarni, Ashga, Mandakini Ganga, Madhustrava, Vasu, Kaushiki, Kaggar and Hiranyavati. Kurukshetra is…
Kapila, the historical founder of the Samkhya school of philosophy (dars’ana), lived long enough before the Epics and Puranas only to have his name be coopted and given a set of myths. In the Puranas Kapila became a master yogi as well as a master magician. He was said to…
Pulastya says- “This way, both Shiva and Sati lived above the clouds till the end of rainy season. When autumn season arrived, both decided on returning to Mandar Mountain. Daksha had organised a grand Yagya in which he had invited all the prominent deities and sages except his own son-in-law,…
There were many sages present at the yagya organised by Agastya. Some of them asked Lord Shiva as to why he had created some scriptures which appeared so confusing to human beings. Lord Shiva revealed to them that he had done so to protect the brahmins from the curse of…
Jahnu gave his kingdom to his son and retired to a quiet spot to do austerities (tapas). However, cosmic events disturbed his meditations. King Bhagiratha had been successful in his austerities to get Siva’s help in bringing the sacred river Ganga to earth. And when it came, it flooded…
Havyaghna had a miraculous birth, being created from the smoke of a sacrificial ritual (yajna) of the sage Bharadvaja. Havyaghna (“leavings of the sacrifice”) began eating the leftovers (havis) of that yajna. Bharadvaja asked the demon why he would do this. Havyaghna explained that he was the Krishna that Brahma…
Giving the reasons that lead to the great battle of Mahabharata, Lord Brahma told sage Vyasa that Sri Krishna had planned this great battle and executed it to perfection to relieve the earth from the burden of tyrants. While giving the names of lineal ascendants of Kauravas and Pandavas, he…
In the Ramayana the tale is told that soon after the Pandava brothers began their forest exile, a rakshasa chief sent his sister, Hidumbhi, to capture them for his dinner. However, Hidumbhi fell in love with Bhima, the strongest and most physical of the brothers. The rakshasa chief came…
Sutji, while giving the names of some prominent places of pilgrimage told the assembled sages– ‘The banks of Ganga are considered to be the holiest among all the places of pilgrimage. The holy Ganga, which originates from the Himalayas in the north, ultimately gets merged with the ocean in the…
Prahlad, being an ardent devotee of Vishnu himself, understood quite well, the desperation with which a devotee seeks his Lord. So he told them– ‘By the grace of Almighty Vishnu, I am revealing to you the name of that sacred place which has remained a secret till now. Kushasthal Puri…
On being asked by Parvati about the emergence of river Saraswati at Prabhas Kshetra, Lord Shiva narrated the following tale to her-‘The holy Sarswati flowing in Prabhas kshetra constitutes of five different streams – Harini, Vajrini, Nyanku, Kapila and Saraswati. Lord Vishnu once instructed Saraswati to carry ‘Badwanal’ (Submarine fire)…
Sutji once narrated the following tale to the assembled sages- In ancient times there lived a mighty king named Trishanku. He belonged to Suryavanshi dynasty. One day, he asked Sage Vashishtha whether there was any such Yagya by performing which, he would be entitled to go to heaven with his…
Markandeya said–‘Manu ruled over Ayodhya during Swayambhuva manvantar. One day, while he was going to sleep, he heard a peculiar sound, as if numerous small bells were ringing. He was perplexed and could not ascertain the cause of that sound so he asked sage Vashishtha about this. Sage Vashishtha made…
Sanatkumar says-‘Once, Parvati requested Lord Shiva to explain why Avantipuri was considered so holy by the devotees. Lord Shiva told her that it was so because there were numerous holy places situated over there. Lord Shiva had told her– ‘There are four holy rivers flowing through the different regions of…
After travelling for sometime, both of them arrived near Sri Shail mountain. Pointing his finger towards the mountain, Agastya told his wife–‘One, who has a good fortune of seeing the peaks of this mountain, never takes a second birth.’ Lopamudra replied in amazement–‘ If the sight of this mountain was…
All the sages were curious to know about the holy places in the vicinity of Rameshwar. Sutji replied–Sri Ram replied went into exile accompanied by Sita, his consort and his younger brother, Lakshman. Ravan, the demon king who ruled over Lanka deceitfully abducted Sita. Subsequently, Sri Ram befriended Sugreev and…
―I will now tell you about Daksha and Sati,‖ Lomaharshana told the sages. Daksha had a daughter named Sati who was married to Shiva. Daksha did not like his son-in-law at all. When he organized a yajna, he did not invite Shiva to attend the ceremony. But Sati went to…
The sages requested Lomaharshana. ―Please tell us the history of the solar line.‖ Lomaharshana complied. Aditi and the sage Kashyapa had borne the sun-god, Vivasvana or Surya, as a son. Surya had three wives, Samjna, Rajni and Prabha. Rajna had a son named Revata and Prabha had a son named…
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…
Once, Sage Shaunak asked Sutji about the means, which enabled human beings to attain salvation in Kali yuga. Sutji recounted a tale — ‘Once, Kartikeya had posed the same question to Lord Shiva. Emphasizing on the importance of pilgrimages, Lord Shiva had told him that in Kali yuga anybody could…
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…
All the sages then requested Sutji to tell about some other places of pilgrimage situated on Venketachal mountain. Sutji replied—There are about one hundred and eight holy places situated on Venketachal mountain. Among all these holy places, six are considered to be capable of bestowing salvation– -Swami pushkarini, Akash ganga,…
A demon named Pralamb had escaped unharmed in the battle fought between the deities and demons. As the deities were busy installing Shivalingas at different places, Pralamb started to torment their families in their absence. The deities got this information from Kumud who appeared at the time when the deities…
Lord Shiva assured the deities, who were also present there that Tarakasur’s days were numbered. The deities’s army then proceeded towards the battlefield. On their way, the deities heard a heavenly voice–‘You can defeat the demons only if you fight under the leadership of Kartikeya.’ Now all the deities requested …
Ganga is the holiest river of India. She is the Mother who washes away all sins and redeems one from the fetters of life. There are many folk songs about the Ganga, which testify just how much the river has been personified, deified, and made an integral part of…
In the Mahabharata, Gandhari had the quite traditional roles of daughter, wife, and mother. Even though her sons, the hundred Kauravas, proved to be on the wrong side of righteousness, she was an example of one who practiced sva- dharma, meeting the requirements of her caste and of the…
There used to be a king named Vaivasvata Manu. He was the son of the sun-god Vivasvana. When it was time for Manu to retire to the forest, he handed over the kingdom to his son Ikshvaku. Manu then went to the foothills of Mount Malaya and started to perform…
Once, emperor Sagar performed an Ashwamedha Yagya. Indra abducted the horse used in this Yagya and kept it in the hermitage of Sage Kapila. All the sixty thousand sons of Sagar went to search the horse and found it in Kapila’s hermitage. Hearing the commotion and noise, sage Kapila who…
During the ancient time there lived a famous sage named Gautami. The name of his wife was Ahilya. Once it did not rain for one hundred years as the result of which the whole area was affected by drought. Sage Gautami did a tremendous penance to please Varuna appeared before…
Describing about Mahabal Shivalinga, Suta said to the sages- “Mahabal Shivalinga is situated at Gokarna area. A devotee who has a darshan of Mahabal Shivalinga on the eighth or fourteenth day of ‘Ardranakshatra falling on Monday, becomes free from all of his sins and attains to the Shivaloka.” Having a…
Once upon a time, there lived a brahmin at a place called ‘Karni’ situated at the bank of river ‘Reva’. When the brahmin became old, he went to Kashi after leaving behind his wife to live with his sons. After sometime the brahmin died. When the brahmins sons came to…
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…
The lunar dynasty was in danger of dying out. Dhritarashthra’s life story is an illustration of just how weak dharma (truth, righteousness, religion) had become on earth. Dhritarashthra was the king under whose rule the great Mahabharata war would be fought. Evil could not be reversed as the great royal…
Devakulya washed the feet of Vishnu, and she was reborn as the river goddess Ganga. This myth had to be reconciled with another origin myth about the Ganga: that the earthly Ganga came by the grace of Siva. The version featuring Devakulya in the Bhagavata Purana emphasized her merit for…
Narada says:”O Muni! What did king Bhagirath do on Himalayas? How did he please Ganges to descend on the earth?” Sanatkumar says: O Narada! Renouncing all his royal comforts, Bhagirath went to the snow- capped, lofty peaks of the Himalayas. There he saw dense forest and herds of deer and…
Sanatkumar says: – “O Narada! Both the queens were passing their time in the hermitage of sage Aurv. When half of the rainy season had passed, the elder queen began to cultivate evil feelings for the younger. She, therefore, made deceitfully the younger queen to consume poison. But the poison…
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…