Lord Varaha told Prithvi about the greatness of Gokarna tirth- “Long long ago there lived a vaishya named Vasukarn at Mathura. Sushila, his wife was deeply religious but inspite of that she was issueless. One day, she had gone to take her bath in river Saraswati where she found many…
Once, Sage Shaunak asked Sutji about the reasons behind man’s sorrow. Sutji told him that man’s ego and his attachments to this mortal world were the two most important causes for his sorrow and until he gets rid of them he will continue to suffer. Sutji said-‘ The ‘tree of…
While Brahmanical ideology taught that killing a brahmin (brahmahatya) was the worst of sins and required loss of caste, Puranic mythology told of those who had killed a brahmin and escaped becoming outcaste (candala). This alternative view shifted the focus to devotion (bhakti) and its outward signs in gifts of…
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…
Describing the importance of purnima sage Mahatapa said- “Daksha Prajapati had cursed Chandrama, his son-in-law for maltreating his daughters. As the fallout of that curse Chandrama started waning day by day and eventually became invisible on amavasya. All the deities became worried and went to seek lord Vishnu’s help. Lord …
Describing the importance of amavasya, sage Mahatapa told Prajapal- “Once, while lord Brahma was just about to commence the process of creation, suddenly ‘tanmatras’ (subtle forms of matter) revealed themselves from his mind. All of them being extremely virtuous were eager to go up in the sky to do penance…
Sage Mahatapa then went on to describe the incident that led to the manifestation of lord Rudra and the significance of chaturdashi- ‘In the beginning of creation, when lord Brahma failed in his repeated attempts to create, he became frustrated. Frustration turned into fury and from his fury manifested a…
Sage Mahatapa then told king Mahapal about the manifestation of Dharma and the significance of trayodashi- ‘Dharma manifested himself from the right part of almighty God and appeared like a bullock. The almighty God instructed him to protect the mankind from all evils and sins. All the four feet of…
In the Puranas, Gunasharman’s story is nested within an episode about his father Adityasharman. The father used his great spiritual powers (tapas) to create an apsara (heavenly damsel) for himself, whom he named Sulocana. When a son, Gunasharman, was born to them, Adityasharman became a deva (god) and went…
Describing how lord Vishnu manifested, sage Mahatapa told Prajapal – “Narayan- the almighty God incarnated as lord Vishnu to nurture all the living creatures inhabiting the world. Eventually lord Vishnu entrusted the job of world’s welfare to goddess Yoganidra and himself went into his meditative sleep. While he was still…
Continuing with the tales of the manifestation of various deities, sage Mahatapa said- “In the process of doing his creation, lord Brahma bellowed as a result of which Kubera manifested himself. Lord Brahma assigned Kubera the lordship of all the wealth and prosperity. It wasm ‘ekadashi’ when Kubera had manifested…
Having finished the tale of goddess Durga, sage Mahatapa revealed how all the six directions came into existence- “Six divine women manifested themselves from both the ears of lord Brahma during the initial phase of creation. The name of these six divine women were Purva (east), Dakshaina (south), Paschima (west),…
King Prajapal requested sage Mahatapa to narrate about the manifestation of goddess Durga and the significance of her worship on navami. Sage Mahatapa replied- The mighty demon-Vetrasur had driven out deities from the heaven. All the deities went to lord Brahma and sought his help. As lord Brahma was wondering…
Continuing with his narration, sage Mahatapa said – “During ancient times, there lived a mighty demon named ‘Andhakasur’. Andhakasur had become arrogant because of a boon of immortality received from lord Brahma. Being tormented by Andhakasur, all the deities went to seek lord Brahma’s help. Lord Brahma took the deities…
King Prajapal asked Mahatapa- “The thought of divine radiance taking the form of human radiance bewilders me. Please clear my doubts.” Sage Mahatapa replied – “When the almighty God willed to manifest himself in other tangible forms, an effulgence emanated from his being resulting into the creation of ‘Surya’ (The…
Describing Kartikeya’s manifestation and how his worship got associated with the auspicious day of shashthi, sage Mahatapa told king Prajapal- Once a fierce battle was between the deities and demons in which the deities got defeated. The reason behind their defeat was the absence was the absence of an able…
King Prajapal then requested Mahatapa to shed light on the origin of the serpents and the significance of ‘panchami’. Sage Mahatapa replied- The serpents came from the lineage of Kadru-Kashyapa’s wife. Sage Kashyapa had numerous progeny from Kadru-Vasuki, Anant, Kambal, Karkotak, Padma, Mahapadma, Shankh, Kulik, etc. When all these serpents…
King Prajapal then asked sage Mahatapa about the manifestation of lord Ganapati and about the significance of chaturthi in terms of Ganapati’s worship. Mahatapa narrated the following tale- “Once all the deities went to seek Shiva’s help in sorting out a peculiar problem they were faced with- while they experienced…
King Prajapal asked Mahatapa about the reason why goddess Gauri- the epithet of power, had to take incaranation. Sage Mahatapa replied – “Goddess Gauri manifested from lord Narayan and was offered to Rudra as his consort by lord Brahma. Lord Brahma then instructed Brahma to begin creation but Rudra being…
King Prajapal requested Mahatapa to describe how both the Ashwini Kumars manifested themselves. Sage Mahatapa narrated the following tale- ‘Marichi was Lord Brahma’s son while Kashyapa was Marichi’s son. All the twelve Adityas are the sons of sage Kashyapa. One of the Adityas- Martand, was marrird to Vishwakarma’s daughter whose…
During Treta Yuga, there lived a king named Prajapal. Once while he was on his hunting spree, he entered into a dense forest. He was delighted to see a dear who started running for its life after hearing the noise. Prajapal let his horse loose in the direction of the…
Lord Vishnu, in his incarnation of Varaha (a boar), had liberated Prithvi (Mother Earth) from the clutches of Hiranyaksha, the mighty demon who had abducted her to Rasatal. After being rescued, Prithvi heaved a sigh of relief and looked at her saviour, who was smiling. She curiously asked lord Varaha-…
The smallest unit of time is a nimesha; this is the amount of time it takes to blink. Fifteen nimeshas make one kashtha and thirty kashthas are one kala. Thirty kalas one muhurta and there are thirty muhurtas in one divaratra (one day). Fifteen muhurtas constitute the day and fifteen…
Mahishasur – the son of Rambhasur had captured the heaven after defeating the deities. The sorrowful deities came to seek the help of lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu became extremely furious after hearing about the misdeeds of Mahishasur. Radiant lights appeared from the bodies of…
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…
―But what about mritasanyjivani?‖ asked the sages. ―You haven‘t told us how Shukracharya came to acquire this wonderful knowledge.‖ Lomaharshana told them the following story. The gods and the demons fought all the time and the demons were sometimes worsted in these encounters. Shukracharya consoled the demons. ―Do not worry,‖…
In the lunar line there was a king named Nahusha and Nahusha‘s son was Yayati. Yayati had two wives, Sharmishtha and Devayani. Sharmishtha was the daughter of Vrishaparva, the king of the danavas (demons). And Devayani‘s father was Shukracharya, the preceptor of the demons. Devayani gave birth to Yadu and…
―You forgot to tell us how Budha was born,‖ remarked the sages. ―Nor did you tell us anything about Chandra‘s birth.‖ Lomaharshana filled in the blanks. The sage Atri was Brahma‘s son. Atri once performed very difficult tapasya. A tremendous amount of energy was released as a result of…
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 Shiva revealed to goddesses Parvati that Prabhas kshetra boasted of possessing many more Shivalingas apart from the famous Somnath Shivalinga. He also gave names of some of the prominent Shivalingas situated over there and said– ‘To the North-East of Somnath temple is situated a grand temple of Lord Sarveshvar…
Yudhisthira requested Markandeya to describe what a sinner had to go through in Yamaloka and also that what kind of a person should be considered as the most ghastly sinner. Markandeya replied: ‘Donating food to needy people is an extremely virtuous deed and there is no virtuous deed greater than…
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…
Lord Shiva requested Vishnu to shed light on different topics like Sarga (world), Pratisarga, Vansh (dynasties), Manvantar (fourteenth part of Brahma’s day) and Vanshanucharit (genealogy). Lord Vishnu replied–‘O Rudra! Lord Vasudeva in his incarnation of Nara-Narayan performs his responsibilities of the creator, protector as well as the annihilator. Each particle…
Once, Sage Vyasa requested Sanatkumar to reveal why Ujjainipuri was known by various names like Kanakshringa, Kushasthali Avanti and Padmavati. Sanatkumar replied– ‘Once, Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva arrived at Ujjainipuri in search of Lord Vishnu, who had disappeared from his abode. To their pleasant surprise they found Lord Vishnu…
Once, Lord Shiva arrived at Mahakal forest with a skull in his hand. All the trees and vegetation were delighted to find him in their midst. They requested lord Shiva to remain their forever. Lord Shiva told them that it was not possible for him to stay there forever but…
Once, goddess Parvati requested Shiva to describe the significance of Mahakal teerth. Lord Shiva replied- “Once, Sanatkumar- one of the manasputras of Lord Brahma had gone to his father’s abode, situated at a place near Meru mountain. Sage Vyasa arrived there and asked him the same question. Sanatkumar had revealed…
Sage Agastya and his wife Lopamudra circumambulated Sri Shail Mountain and climbed up Lohit mountain where they found Lord Kartikeya. Both of them eulogized Kartikeya by singing Vedic hymns in his praise. Lord Kartikeya was extremely pleased by their devotion and said- ‘O revered sage! You can understand Kashi’s importance…
When Agastya learnt of the problem created by Vindhyachal, he agreed to help the deities despite fully aware of the fact that once he left Kashi it would not be possible for him to see his dearest Kashi once again at least in his present birth. Before leaving for Vindhyachal,…
Once, on being asked by Narada about the proper methods of performing Shodash upachar rituals, Lord Brahma said –‘In normal circumstances, when Lord Vishnu is worshipped by employing the rituals of Shodashopachar it is considered as ‘Tapa’. But, when the same rituals of shodashopachar are employed to worship Lord Vishnu…
Once, Shaunak and few other sages asked Sutji as to how could a man become free from the bondage of the world. They also inquired whether there was an existence of any such holy place capable of liberating a man from heinous of sin. Sutji replied–‘Ramteerth is supreme among all…
―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…
Yoga means such actions, which after pacifying all the human tendencies helps a man to unite with Shiva. Following are the five divisions of yoga- 1) Mantra Yoga, 2) Sparsh Yoga (union of touch), 3) Bhava Yoga (union by devotion), 4) Abhava yoga (Union without being emotionally attached), 5) Mahayoga…
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…
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…
After the rituals of final yagya ended, Narada advised Indradyumna to perform the rituals of ‘Purnahuti’ to mark the end of Yagya ceremony. Narada then went on to say–‘ A tree is considered to be the partial incarnation (Ansha avatar) of Lord Vishnu for each of his hair that falls…
After reaching the temple of Neelkanth-Mahadev, all of them worshipped Mahadev and Durga. They then visited the temple of Lord Nrisimha, situated under a sandalwood tree at the foothills of Neelachal mountain.King Indradyumna was anxiously waiting for the moment he would have a divine glimpse of lord Jagannath. He requested…
Continuing with the tale of Indradyumna, sage Jaimini told all the sages–‘Next morning, Indradyumna and his entourage crossed Mahanadi on boats and reached Ekamrachhetra where they worshipped lord Purushottam. After that they worshipped on their onwards journey and reached Kotishwar Mahalaya where they worshipped lord Tribhuneshwar with appropriate rituals. Lord…
Indradyumna had been waiting for this moment for a long time- the moment when he would get a chance to go on a pilgrimage to Purushottam kshetra. Revealing his great plan to Vidyapati, he said–‘ Now, the time has finally come for me to go on a pilgrimage to Purushottam…
The Sages asked—‘O revered sage! We would like to know more about Purushottam Kshetra, where there is a majestic wooden idol of Lord Vishnu.’ Sage Jaimini replied–The sacrosanct place of Purushottam Kshetra is graced by the presence of Lord Jagannath. During ancient times, Lord Varaha had rescued Prithvi from the…
Daksha married Panchanjani. Daksha and Panchajani had one thousand sons. These were known as the Haryakshas. Daksha asked his sons to create more living beings. But the sage Narada came and told the Haryakshas, ―You can‘t possibly create living beings unless you know where they are going to live. Have…