Shukdev said: “O Parikshit, as the time passed, Yaduvanshis grew stronger and more influencial. Now no longer did they like the welcoming and treating of the great sages like Kanu, Dhrvasa, Maitreya, Dhannmy etc. by the Lord. Lord Krishna knew about their disliking, but secretly He was pleased by this…
How do Vedas then depict Brahma? King Parikshit asked: “Brahmin, Brahma is beyond the limit of do’s and why’s. He is free from the virtues like Sat, Raja and Tama. He cannot be seen by mind. On the other hand Guna (Virtues) is the subject of all the Shrutis (Vedas)….
King Parikshit asked: “Gurudev, how did my grandfather Arjuna and grandmother Subhadra got married? I want to hear this tale. Kindly narrate it to me.” Shukdev said: Parikshit once travelling on a pilgrimage tour, Arjuna reached in Prabhas region. There he learned that Balarama was desirous of marrying his sister…
Dantavakra Vadh by Krishna After the killing of Shishupal, Shalv etc. Dantvaktra arrived in the battlefield carrying a mace. When Lord saw him coming, He too jumped down from the chariot and baulked his movement with a mace. Dantavakra tried to humiliate God with his abuses and hit him on…
Shishupala Vadha Story by Lord Krishna King Yudhisthira had invited great vedic Brahmins and Acharyas on the occasion. Those great Sages included Ved Vyasa, Bhardwaj, Sumantu, Gautam, Asit, Vashishtha, Chyvan, Kanv, Maitreya, Kavash, Chit, Vishvamitra, Vamdev, Sumati, Jemini, Kratu, Pail, Parashurama, Shukracharya, Asuri, Vitihotra, Madhuchhanda, Veersen and Akritvarn etc. Persons…
Jarasandha killed by Bhima During Yudhisthira’s Rajsuy Yagya, all the Pandavas set out in all the directions to conquer the kings and expand the boundaries of their kingdom. Warriors like Bheem, Arjuna defeated great kings all around and extended the boundaries of Yudhisthira’s empire. But to defeat Jarasandh, – Bhima,…
Sukhdev says: “Parikshit, once Lord Krishna was holding His court when an emissary arrived in the court. The kings who were held captive forcibly by Jarasandh had sent him. The emissary related the miseries of those kings to Lord Krishna. Through the emissary, the kings had requested: “O Lord of…
PAUNDRAK VADH Once Balarama and Krishna had gone to Braj to see Nand Baba there. Meanwhile the king Paundrak of Karush sent an envoy to lord Krishna with a message that said: ‘I am Lord Vasudev.’ Pandrak’s envoy arrived in the court and read out the message: “To bestow my…
Usha Aniruddha Story The son of the demon king Bali, Banasur was a great devotee of Lord Lord Shiva. Banasur ruled over the kingdom Sonitpur. By the grace of Lord Lord Shiva, he had received thousand arms. Even all the gods including Indra used to serve him. Thus blinded by…
Capital of the demon Bhaumasura Sukhdev said: Parikshit, Pragjyotishpur was the capital of the demon Bhaumasur. He was very strong and powerful. He had snatched the canopy of Varuna, ear-rings of Aditi the mother of the gods, and Mani Parvat of the gods on Meru. Apart from these, he had…
Marriage of Lord Krishna to Kalindi 1.) Once Lord Krishna visited Indraprastha to see Pandavas there. There riding a chariot with Arjuna, He came to the forests. On the bank of river Yamuna a pretty woman was observing penance. By the instinct of God, Arjuna drew near her and asked…
Syamantak Mani ki Katha Satrajit gem presented by Suryadev A person named Satrajit was a great devotee of Lord Suryanarayana. Pleased by his devotion, Suryadev presented him a gem called Syamantak. The gem had a radiance equal to the sun. Bearing that gem, Satrajit arrived in Lord’s court. By the…
As far as the light of Sun and Moon reaches the earth, it is called ‘Bhoo loka’. Surya loka is situated one lakh yojan above the Bhooloka. The Chandra loka is situated one lakh yojan above Surya loka. All the constellations as well as the planets are spread in the…
Kubja krishna Story after arrival in Mathura After the departure of Akrura, Nand Baba too set out for Mathura along with the Gopas. On the way itself, they caught up with Krishna and Balarama. All of them then reached Mathura together. There they stayed in a garden. After sometime, with…
Vyasa is more properly referred to as Veda Vyasa since the name was a common one, meaning “arranger,” or editor. Veda Vyasa was said to have edited the four Vedas and authored the Puranas and the Mahabharata. Accomplishing all that would require a human who lived several thousand years,…
Vrindavana was both the mythical land of Krishna’s youth and an actual geographic area between modern Delhi and Agra. Vrindavana’s meaning of “sacred basil grove” referred to the ancient forest that once graced that region. The modern town lies on the western bank of the Yamuna River….
Gopis search Lord Krishna After the disappearance of God, Gopis were perplexed. Their hearts burned with desire. They had dedicated their entire selves in the feet of Lord. They were entirely merged in the love of Krishna. Thus driven by passion, Gopis began to search Lord Krishna. They asked trees,…
Usha was a daitya (demon) princess, daughter of Bana and granddaughter of Bali, both great asura (demon) rulers. Usha dreamed of the man she would wish to marry. Citralekha, a woman with this special siddhi (power), drew a picture of Aniruddha, grandson of Krishna, according to Usha’s dream. Then, Citralekha…
The unmarried girls of Vrindavana felt as if their lives were dedicated to Lord Krishna. Each of them wished heartly to have lord Krishna as her husband. So in order to get their desire fulfilled, all of the spinster girls of Vraj began to take bath in Yamuna early in…
Sisupala was the third rebirth of Jaya for his failure to carry out his duty (dharma) as a doorkeeper (dwarapalaka) of Lord Vishnu at Vaikuntha. He was cursed because of that failure, and he played a role in three incarnations of Vishnu. His twin brother Vijaya shared in the original…
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…
In the Bhagavad Gita Sanjaya is one of its four characters—the other being Arjuna, Krishna, and King Dhritarashtra. The idea of boon-granting (vara) had become so common by the time of the late epic literature that a sage like Vyasa Sandstone figure of Camunda, the fierce, protective eight-armed mother, from…
Rukmini was the wife of the more mortal version of Krishna. She and Krishna were in love, but her brother Rukmi opposed the marriage. He hated Krishna and arranged a marriage of his sister to King Sisupala. All the kings of the region came to the wedding celebration, including Krishna,…
The uprooted Arjuna trees fell with thundering sound. All the people shivered with fear and felt as if lightning had struck somewhere. All the elders including Nand met together and discussed the matter. Unanimously they concluded that, of late disturbance had increased in Gokul and the circumstances were no longer…
Sukhdev says: ‘Parikshit, after many days, entrusting other Gopal’s with the onus of guarding Gokul, Nand went to Mathura to pay annual taxes in Kansa’s court. Vasudev too learned about his arrival and went to see him. Nand felt overjoyed to see Vasudev and embraced him affectionately. Vasudev asked Nand:…
Lord Krishna replied–“I am so delighted that you have asked such important questions for the benefit of mankind. I am revealing to you the secrets, which were hitherto unknown even to the deities and yogis. O Garuda! A man should try to beget a son with the help of means…
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….
At that moment the ever-wandering, indifferent-natured sage Shukadeva also arrived there. He was self indulgent and free from the bondages of ashramas (phases of life). He was then only sixteen years old but appeared quite radiant and graceful. Shukadeva was an honorable figure even for the sages who had gathered…
Pious virtues of Prahlada: – The youngest son of the demon king Hiranykashipu, Prahlada was very virtuous. He used to serve the sages with love. He treated all the beings equally and did never differentiate them as separate from him. He had a respect for the elders. Despite having knowledge,…
During the Rajsuya Yagya in Yudhisthira’s court, Lord Krishna had beheaded Shishupal with His wheel. Everyone, including Yudhisthira saw Shishupal’s soul annihilating in Lord Krishna. Surprised Yudhisthira had asked Narada then, ” O Devarshi, isn’t it surprising that Shishupal who was so jealous of Lord Krishna, got merged in Him?…
The consort of Sr Krishna Radha is one of the most popular figures in Hindu mythology and is even understood by some to be a manifestation of the Supreme. Radha has many personas and a complex mythology. Radha is the young, innocent maiden coming into the forest at night in…
Parvati, goddess of the mountain, Himalaya, primary wife of Siva, mother of at least two of Siva’s sons, is by far the most complicated of Hindu goddesses. She is given differing and often contradictory natures by the three main perspectives of later mythology—Saktas (those who worship the divine mother), Saivas…
Parikshit had a miraculous birth. At the very end of the war told of in the Mahabharata, one of the last surviving Kauravas launched the magical weapon of Brahma (a Brahmashira) to exterminate all of the Pandavas, but Arjuna had an equal weapon that he launched to defeat it. However,…
Narayana was one of the four sons of the god (deva) Dharma. Dharma-deva had been born from the breast of Brahma. Dharma-deva married the ten daughters of Daksha. His four sons were Nara, Narayana, Hari, and Krishna. Nara and Narayana became great Rishis (sages) practicing severe penances. They stayed in…
Nara was one of the four sons of the god (deva) Dharma. Dharma-deva had been born from the breast of Brahma. Dharma-deva married the ten daughters of Dak- sha. His four sons were Nara, Narayana, Hari, and Krishna. Nara and Narayana became great ascetics, practicing severe penances. They stayed in…
Lakshmi’s multiple importance in Hindu mythology cannot be captured in a few paragraphs. Three perspectives will demonstrate the breadth of her roles and the changes in the ways in which she was perceived. Linguistically and historically, Lakshmi in the Rigveda was a word of feminine gender that quantified good fortune…
Kumbhakarna appeared in the Ramayana in a line of rebirths that started in Brahma’s court in heaven (svarga). In that lifetime he had been Vijaya, one of a pair of twin doorkeepers who were cursed for not properly performing their duties. He was reborn as Hiranyakasiipu and killed by…
Kucela was a fellow student with Krishna of the sage Sandipani. They were close friends as students, but lost contact in the following years. Kucela could not provide for his large family, and all were on the verge of starvation. One day his wife sent Kucela to visit Krishna…
The Krishna myth cycle has been integrated in such a way that most Hindus do not know its real complexity. Some of its elements are very ancient, showing that many myths have come together to form modern versions. First, there was the Krishna myth of a divine king, possibly…
Travelling through various pilgrimage places, Vidura reached Prabhas region where he got the news of total destruction of the Kaurvas. The news deeply moved him. In search of solace, he continued to wander from one place of pilgrimage to another place. During his wandering, when he reached the banks of…
The myth of Kamsa is told in a series of nested myths that are an excellent study of karma as a process over many lifetimes. But its primary location is within the Krishna myth cycle, where Kamsa plays a role in Krishna’s nativity and his first great battle with…
In the Krishna myth cycle Kaliya was a great serpent, born of the progenitor Kasyapa by his wife Kadru, mother of the serpent kingdom. Kaliya lived in the Kalindi River (also called the Yamuna) and was well known because of his association with Krishna. Kaliya had a thousand hoods…
Kalindi was the daughter of Surya, the sun god. She was blessed to become a sacred river, also known as the Yamuna. It flowed from the Kalinda mountain and entered the Ganga at Prayaga, a very sacred confluence. At the birth of Krishna, his father Vasudeva had to switch the…
Sage Pulastya says- “Dharma, the possessor of divine body and who manifested from the heart of Lord Brahma married Murti, the daughter of Daksha. Four sons were born to them- Hari, Krishna, Nara and Narayan. Hari and Krishna engaged themselves in the practice of Yoga whil Nar and Narayan went…
Kalanemi was a rakshasa (night-wandering demon) who was dispatched by the asura (demon) king Ravana to prevent Hanuman, the monkey god and loyal servant of Rama, from reaching the magic Drona mountain. Hanuman needed healing herbs for the wounded Lakshmana during the Rama-Ravana war. Kalanemi appeared as a brahmin in…
Jarasandha, mighty king of Magadha, was born by double magic, first from a brahmin and second from a giant demoness (rakshasi). His parents had been childless. They enlisted the sage Kakshivan (some texts say Candakaushika) to help. As the sage meditated, a mango fell in his lap. He gave…
According to one version in the Bhagavata Purana Jara was hunting and shot an arrow through a bush at the sound of an animal. But the blind shot hit (Sri Krishna in the foot, that only area of his body not protected by the magical potion from the sage Durvasa….
Continuing with his narration, Lord Krishna said–“O Garuda! Death comes at the predetermined time, which remains fixed and unaltered under all circumstances. A man’s sense organs become weak and his body feeble, which gets inflicted with numerous diseases in his old age. At the time of his death, man experiences…
Sutji once reached the forest of ‘Naimisharanya’ in course of his journey. Naimisharanya was a holy place where sages and hermits went to do penance. After reaching there Sutji met many prominent sages who were pleased at his arrival. They took it as a God sent opportunity to get their…
There is a lot of confusion as to whether Jambhavan was a monkey (kapi) or a bear (riksha). Valmiki’s Ramayana presented some stories of Jambhavan as a bear and other stories of him as a monkey. In one version Brahma sent the celestial damsels (apsaras) to be reborn around…