It goes without saying that Gokama being one of the three recognised famous Kshetras Gokarn, Ramasetu and Kashi, (Banaras) and also one among the ten well-known Bhaskar Kshetras, has come to be considered by Hindus as a famous place of Pilgrimage References to this Kshetra given in different old Puranas…
The devotees of Lord Mahabaleshwar were really fortunate to witness the rare and splendid Ashtabandha Mahotsava of the Lord in the Month of May 1983. The Shastras ordian that these celebrations must as a rule be held once in twelve years ever since Ravan the demon King of Lanka wangled…
The sage Kashyapa had two wives Kadru and Vinata. Kadru had one thousand children who were Nagas servents. Garuda and Aruna were the two sons of Vinata. The two sisters were one day wondering on the mountain Meru when at some deistance they happened to see horse of Indra (Uchaishravas)….
It is mentioned in the Ramayana that Rama came to know from Vasistha that Ravana was a Brahmin. To be relieved from the sin Lord Brahma kept his Kamandal (holy jug) upon the peak of the mountain and who went away the Satyaloka (heaven). It is be famed as HOLY…
Kashi, Pushpagiri, Kanchi, Nivitaha,A Ompuri, Shrishaila Shri Virupaksha, Seth Kedar Gokarn are famous Salvatory Sun lands. These are famous as Sun lands. There are very famous Salvatory Sun Lands. So Gokarn is combined by trigonal vixtrigonal-land purificatary land and the Sunland. Since a long-period trigonal forms of salvatory recombined here. Therefore there…
Rudra learnt from Vayu that his Pranalinga was founded in Gokama. He came there, and marked that the Pranalinga had received a wound from Ravana’s nails. He repeated however that this was due to his mistake of having given over the Pranalinga to Ravana. He bond to the Linga with…
Ravana the king of Lanka, heard the immense power and great ness of this Paneling and wishing to possess it set out for Kailasa. he was performing there severe penance with prayers in Samagana, Narada, who had been to Kailasa from Gokarn, while taking Ishwaras, leave saw Ravana there, and learnt his intention. He at once came to…
The mention of the importance of this welknown ancient holy Kshetra is amply to be found even in the old, old epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. There is besides, a special Purana, called Gokama Puranam, which extols in detail the importance of this holy place. In the beginning of this…
When Nandi informed Shiva about Sati’s death, he became very furious. He angrily pulled out a lock of hair and dashed it against the mountain, which got divided into two parts. From one part manifested the valiant Veerbharda and from the other part Mahakali. Veerbhadra and Mahakali were instructed by…
On Narada’s request Brahma said- “During the period of MahaPralaya (Final annihilation) nothing exist, except Shiva. The power which Shiva manifested from his own self came to be known as Ambika. This Ambika is understood to be the cause of the whole world as well as the Nature. Lord Shiva…
Ikshvaku’s son Nimi once decided to organise a Yagya that was to last for one thousand years. He also wanted the sage Vashishta to guide the Yagya. But Indra had already booked Vashishta for a period of five hundred years. So sage Vashishta expressed his inability to conduct any other…
King Sagar had two queens, Sumati, the daughter of Kashyapa and Keshini, the daughter of Vidarbha’s king. Keshini had a son Asmanjas whereas Sumati had sixty thousand sons. Anshuman was the son of Asmanjas. Asmanjas was very whimsical since his childhood. Even in his youth, he did not change his…
THE WORSHIP OF PARTHIVA LINGA Suta then explains the greatness of worshipping a Parthiva Linga-: “Parthiva Linga is the most supreme among all the Shivalingas. All the aspirtions of he deities as well as men are fulfilled by the worship of Parthiv linga. During the era of Satya, jewel was…
The sages asked Suta as to how should a devotee meditate on Lord Triyambak following the path of Yoga. Suta then retold the tale which Mandishwar had once narrated to Sanatkumar– The first type of Yoga is called Mantra Yoga. In this type of yoga a devotee tries to attain…
Parashar said: “As the time passed, Yaduvanshis grew stronger and more influential. Now no longer did they like the welcoming and treating of the great sages by Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna knew about their disliking, but secretly He was pleased by this change in Yaduvanshi’s behaviour, for He knew that…
The Surya is the source to which all the living beings owe their existence. All the deities derive their effulgence from Surya, who in turn derives its own radiance from Lord Mahadeva.Time is determined with the help of Surya’s movement. One can not even imagine the various units of time,…
Lord Shiva is the source from where all the different worlds originate. People in their ignorance are unware of the fact that the whole universe is nothing but a medium through which Shiva manifests himself. The various worlds like Maha, Jana, Tapa, Satya etc. and all the natural elements like…
Once upon a time, the sages were busy doing their penance to please Lord Mahadeva. Lord Shiva decided to test patience and visited daruk forest in naked position. By the virtue of his divine power, he was successful in corrupting the conduct of the sage’s wives. Those women became so…
On being enquired by Lord Brahma about his various incarnations, Lord Shiva said — “I shall incarnate as Shwet-Mahamuni during first Dwapar Yuga of Vaivaswat manvantar. My abode shell is at Chhogal peak of Himalaya mountain. I shall have four disciples who will be proficient in the Vedas.” “I will…
The Sages requested Suta to elucidate how Lord Brahma emerged from the navel of Vishnu seated on a lotus flower. Suta replied— At the time of deluge Lord Vishnu went in his yoganidra lying on the back of Sheshnag. As the result of his divine play, a huge lotus flower…
In the initial phase of his creation, Lord Brahma created immovable natural things like trees, mountains etc-then birds and animals. In the process of creation, he created various things and human being was his seventh creation. First of all Lord Brahma created his Manasputras- Sanak, Sanandan etc, who had…
PART ONE SUTA NARRATES THE DIVINE TALES OF LINGA PURANA Once, sage, Narada arrived at Naimisharanya where he found many sages engaged in austerities. All the sages were delighted to see him. They eulogized him in reverence and offered him seat. Sage Narada narrated some amazing tales describing about…
Once upon a time king Surath after loosing his kingdom to his enemy fled to the forest. After wandering for some time he reached the hermitage of sage Medha. He started living there, as he had no place to go. The dejected king used to pass his time wondering about…
A disciple of Veda Vyasa named Vaishampayan created twenty-seven branches of Yajurveda and taught them to his disciples. He had a disciple Yagyavalkya who was the son of Brahmarat. At that time, all the sages together constituted a rule that whoever did not join their group within seven days on…
Maitreya says- “O Gurudev! Now I wish to hear the description of all the Manvantaras and the Manus who ruled those Manvantaras.” Parashar says- “First Manu was self-begotten. After him five more Manus occurred namely Swarochish, Uttam, Tamas, Raivat and Chakshush. All these Manus had occurred during the previous ages. The…
Earth’s total height is 70,000 Yojans. In her depth, are situated seven nether worlds with a depth of 10,000 Yojans each respectively. Names of these seven nether worlds are Atal, Vital, Nital, Gamastiman, Mahatal, Sutal and Patal. These nether worlds have beautiful palaces, and have lands which are white, black,…
The sacred thread (upavita) ceremony is very important and must always be performed at eight year of age. Brahma had created the cotton tree so that sacred threads might be made out of cotton. But on occasions it is permissible to make sacred threads out of grass. A guru…
While Lomaharshana was reciting the Kurma Purana to the assembled sages, Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa arrived on the scene. Lomaharshana and the other sages requested Veda Vyasa to instruct them about the path to true knowledge. This is what Veda Vyasa told them. The Paramatman (the divine soul) is…
Most Puranas only mention Vishnu’s incarnations (avataras). The Kurma Purana is one of the great ones which mentions Shiva’s incarnations. In each Kali Yuga, Shiva has had an incarnation. The names of these incarnations are as follows. (1) Shveta. (2) Sutara. (3) Madana. (4) Suhotra. (5) Kankana. (6) Lokakshi. (7)…
In every Dvapara Yuga, a Veda Vyasa is born so as to divide the Vedas and disseminate their knowledge. In the present era, there have been twenty-eight Dwapara Yugas and there have therefore been twenty-eight individuals who have held the title of Veda Vyasa. The Kurma Purana gives their names…
Maitreya says- “Lord! Now I wish to hear various tales from the life of King Bharata. He was born in a pious land and always contemplated on God. Even then why he failed to attain salvation? What did he do in his next birth as a Brahmin?” Parashar says- King…
It is hoped that you have not forgotten that Svayambhuva Manu had a son named Priyavrata. Priyavrata had ten sons. Their names were Agnidhra, Agnivahu, Vapushmana, Dyutimana, Medha, Medhatithi, Bhavya, Savana, Putra and Jyotishmana. Medha, Agnivahu and Putra had no desire to rule. They were not interested in material…
Maitreya says- “O Brahmin! Kindly narrate now about the celestial worlds and the position of stars and planets there.” Parashar says- At a height of 1,00,000 Yojans above the earth is the sphere of the Sun. 1,00,000 Yojans above it is the sphere of the Moon and 1,00,000 Yojans above it…
Plakshdweep- Plakshdweep has an expansion of 2,00,000 Yojans. Its ruler Meghatithi had seven sons- Shanthaya, Shishir, Sukhodaya, Anand, Shiva, Kshemak and Dhruva. Those seven princes later on came to rule Plakshdweep. Hence, Plakshdweep had seven divisions named after these seven princes. Seven mountains mark the boundaries of Plakshdweep. These are …
You probably remember that there are four yugas or eras – Satya Yuga or Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. Lomaharshana next told the sages about the characteristics of these four eras. Kali Yuga is the worst of the four eras. People are sinful and…
Krishna was the eight incarnation of Vishnu and he was born as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva. Initially, Krishna did not have any sons. Desirous of obtaining a son, Krishna went to visit the sage Upamanyu. The sage’s hermitage was beautiful. Wonderous were the trees and flowers and grew…
Daksha was Brahma’s son and had a daughter named Sati. Sati was married to Shiva. Daksha was thus Shiva’s father-in-law. Once Daksha came to visit his son-in-law. But although Shiva worshipped him with all due respect, Daksha felt that he had been slighted. Subsequently, when Sati went to visit…
It is hoped that you have not forgotten that Svayambhuva Manu and his wife Shatarupa had a son named Uttanapada. Uttanapada’s brother was Priyavarta. Dhruva was Uttanapada’s son. Dhruva was so devoted to Vishnu that Vishnu earmarked for him a place in the heaven known as Dhruvaloka. (Dhruva became the…
Shiva was married to Daksha’s daughter Sati. Sati died and was reborn as Parvati, the daughter of Himalaya and his wife Mena (alternatively, Menaka). Parvati was married to Shiva. In fact, Himalaya and Mena prayed so that they might have the goddess as their daughter. Pleased with their prayers,…
Brahma returned to his seat on the lotus flower. Suddenly, two demons named Madhu and Kaitabha appeared. They were exceedingly strong and threatened to destroy everything that Brahma would create. Brahma therefore requested Vishnu to kill these two demons. Vishnu created two beings from his own body and these…
Romaharshana said to the sages who had assembled in naimisharanya, “Many years ago, the great Veda Vyasa had recited the adi Purana to sages. The sages had been delighted to learn the wisdom that was in the great Brahma Purana. Whatever Veda Vyasa had told those sages, I have now…
A Varaha is a boar and the boar incarnation is usually catalogued as the third of Vishnu’s ten incarnations. When the universe was submerged in water after the destruction that came at the end of padma kalpa, Vishnu slept on the waters. Thus he slept for a thousand mahayugas….
The smallest unit of time is a nimesha. Fifteen nimeshas make one kashtha, thirty kashthas are one kala and thirty kalas constitute one muhurta. There are thirty muhurtas in a span of day and night (ahoratra). Thirty such ahoratras make up a month. There are two pakshas (fortnight) in every…
Describing the various types of austerities, Lord Vishnu named a few of them– Yama (Restraining Passion)- This particular austerity comprises of ten virtues- Celibacy, Forgiveness, Meditation, Truthfulness, Honesty, Non-violence, Not stealing, Gentleness and Self control. Niyama (Daily Routine)- This austerity stresses the importance of purity: both of the body as…
There was a city named Bhouvana. In that city there lived a brahmana named Goutama. The brahmana had a vaishya (trader and agriculture caste) friend named Manikundala. Goutama’s mother gave him a lot of ill advice. As a result of this, Goutama told Manikundala, “Let us go to other countries…
(The samudra manthana story is given in great detail in the Ramayana and the Mahabharataa. As for Lakshmi, some of the Puranas state that she was born as the daughter of Khyati and the sage Bhrigu. She was then married to Vishnu. But the demons defeated the gods and Indra….
The lineage of Puru grew as Puru, Janmejaya, Prachinvan, Praveer, Manasyu, Abhayad, Sudayu, Bahugat, Sanyati, Ahamyati, Raudrashva. Raudrashva had ten sons among whom Riteshu was the most prominent. Riteshu had three sons among whom Apratirath was most prominent. Lineage of Apratirath is as follows- Apratirath, Aileen, Dushyant and Bharata. King…
In Satya Yuga there was a king named Indradyumna. He was a very powerful king as Indra himself. He was handsome, honest and truthful, learned in the shastras and the Vedas, and skilled in the use of weapons. His radiance put the sun to shame. Indradyumna was devoted to Vishnu….
There is an ocean to the south of Bharataavarsha. One the shores of this great ocean there is a land named Ondra or Utkala (present Orissa). Utkala is populated by religious people and the brahmanas who live there are learned in the Vedas. They are very good priests, learned in…
Having heard accounts of the solar and lunar dynasties, the sages requested Romaharshana. “Tell us a little about the geography of the world. What does the earth look like? What are its limits?” Romaharshana obligedand said– The earth is divided into seven regions (dvipas). Their names are Jambudvipa, Plakshadvipa, Shalmaladvipa,…