Tag: krishna
63) DWARKA
Lord Varaha told Prithvi- “There is a holy place called ‘Panchsar’ in Dwarka. Anybody who stays there for six days and takes holy dips in ‘Panchasar’ enjoys all the pleasures of life. Dwarka is situated at the sea-shore and the crocodiles living there never trouble people taking their bath. These…
62) STOOTSWAMI TIRTH
Lord Varaha then went on to describe the greatness of Stootswami tirth and told Prithvi- “I shall incarnate as Krishna at this place in the era of dwapar. I shall take birth in the house of Vasudeva and Devaki. There is a pond situated at about 5 kosas from Stootswami…
HAVYAGHNA – A rakshasa
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…
THE TALE OF MAHABHARATA
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…
48) PUTRA-PRAPTI VRATA
This austerity commences on the eighth day of the bright half of the Hindu month-bhadrapad. The rituals consist of taking a ‘sankalpa’ on the preceding day (saptami) and worshipping lord Sri Hari on the next day with appropriate rituals. Offerings are made to the sacrificial fire, which usually consist of…
42) KANTI-VRATA
This austerity is related with the worship of Sri Krishna and Balarama. It commences on the second day of the bright half of the Hindu month-kartik and lasts for a year whereby a devotee observes fast on the second day (bright half) of every month that follows. While worshipping Balarama,…
38) DHARNI-VRATA
This particular austerity is observed in the Hindu month of Kartik. The rituals commence by worshipping various organs of lord Narayan amidst the chanting of different mantras which are as follows- om sahastra shirse namah – head 2. om Purushay namah – arms om vishwa rupine namah – throat…
SHRI KRISHNA
Making a revelation to Vyasa that the Almighty God manifests himself whenever the civilization is endangered by the dominance of sinners, Lord Brahma said– ‘In Dwapar yuga, Lord Vishnu incarnated as Sri Krishna to protect Dharma from being subjugated by ‘Adharma’, which had become all pervasive at that time. He…
HARIDHAMA – A sage
HARI – (1) An epithet of Vishnu
HANUMAN – A monkey and a god
17) THE PURANAS
Lomaharshana now gave the sages a list of the eighteen mahapuranas. In the beginning, there was only one Purana. The sage Vedavyasa divided this original Purana into eighteen mahapuranas. The mahapuranas have four lakh shlokas all together and their names are as follows. (i) The Brahma Purana: This was originally…
THE SANCTITY OF DWARKAPURI
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…
DWARKA MAHATMYA: SAGES’ QUERIES TO PRAHLAD
Once, few sages asked Sutji about the means by which Lord Vishnu could be realized in Kali yuga- the era dominated by sin and decaying moral values. Sutji started by describing how Lord Vishnu on seeing the prevalence of sin in Dwapar yuga had to take incarnation as Krishna to…
LORD VISHNU’S INCARNATIONS
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…
KRISHNA TEERTH
Sutji narrated a tale to all the assembled sages–During ancient times, a brahmin named Ramkrishna did an austere penance at Venketachal mountain. He remained immobile during the entire course of his penance resulting into the development of mole hills all over his body. Indra was scarred by Ramkrishna’s penance and…
TIME, CALCULATION, AND YUGAS
Describing about the time (Kala), Vayudeva told the sages that ‘Kala’ or time is the radiance of lord Shiva. Kala or time is also known as ‘Kalatma’. The time flows smoothly without being disturbed. Time is under the control of lord Shiva. Since the time contains the element of Shiva…
GHANTA-KARNA, GHANTAKANTA – Rakshasa (demonic) brothers
Ghanta and Karna were brothers in some sources, but the older rakshasa was called by both names, Ghantakanta, as the myths were about him. Ghanta’s myth was nested within several others and modified in sectarian versions competing over who was the supreme deity, Siva or Vishnu. Ghantakarna came into being…
GANDIVA – The bow of Arjuna
DURYODHANA – The eldest of the Kaurava brothers and an arch villain
Duryodhana’s birth was a miracle from Siva, assisted by a blessing from Vyasa. (See account under Dhritarashthra.) Duryodhana was raised in the palace of King Pandu, who reigned because his blind brother Dhritarashthra was disqualified by his infirmity. When Pandu died, his oldest son Yudhishthira became king. Duryodhana and…
DURVASA – A sage
SRI KRISHNA DOES PENANCE
Sri Krishna then proceeded to do his penance after getting initiated by Upamanyu with the mantra – OM NAMAH SHIVAY. He did a tremendous penance for fifteen months by standing on his toe. In the sixteenth month lord Shiva and Parvati appeared before him after being pleased by his penance….
CONVERSATION BETWEEN KRISHNA and UPAMANYU
Once, Lord Krishna went to Kailash mountain to do penance with the desire of having a son. He found Maharishi Upamanyu engrossed in his meditation. He told Upamanyu about his desire and requested him to describe about the greatness of lord Shiva. Upamanu described about his own experience when he…
SAGE VYASA ADVISES THE PANDAVAS TO WORSHIP SHIVA
After loosing their whole kingdom to Duryodhan in the gamble, Pandavas went to the dwait forest accompanied by Draupadi. They started living in a place which was donated by Velotra Sun. Duryodhan instigated sage Durvasa to torment the Pandavas. Sage Durvasa went to the place where Pandavas were staying, accompanied…
SHIVA’S INCARNATION AS ‘KRISHNA DARSHAN’
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…
DRAUPADI – Wife of the five Pandava brothers
DHRITARASHTHRA – Son of Ambika and the sage Vyasa (credited with receiving the Vedas)
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…
DHARMA – A deva (god)
DEVAKI – Daughter of a Yadu leader and mother of Sri Krishna
CITRASENA – A gandharva (celestial musician)
Citrasena had many roles in the Puranic and Epic literature. While flying overhead in his celestial chariot, Citrasena accidentally spat on the sage Galava, who complained to Krishna, who in turn vowed to kill Citrasena before sunset. The good old sage Narada telepathically learned of all this and told Citrasena….
CITRALEKHA – Daughter of the demon Bana
16) VEDAVYASA
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…
1) LOMAHARSHANA AND THE OTHER SAGES
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…
3) CHAPTER THREE INCARNATION OF LORD KRISHNA
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…