Daksha’s wife was named Asikli and Asikli gave birth to five thousand sons. They were known as the Haryashvas. The Haryashvas were destined to rule over the world. But the sage Narada went to the Haryashvas and said, “How can you rule over the world if you don’t even know…
Markandeya says- ‘Sunanda gave birth to 12 sons. Their names were Pranshu, Praveer, Shoor, Suchakra, Vikrama, Krama, Bala, Balak, Chand, Prachand, Suvikrama and Swarup. After growing up, Pranshu became the king. Pranshu had a son named Prajati. Prajati had five sons among whom Khanitra was one of them. Khanitra became…
Nabhag told his wife- ‘I would never accept the kingdom for the second time, which I had relinquished at the instruction of my father. He then instructed his son to rule over the kingdom he had won. Following his father’s instructions, Bhalandan started ruling over his kingdom. Later on, he…
Markandeya says- ‘Now I am going to tell you about the origin of Bhautya Manavantar. Sage Angira had a disciple named Bhuti. He was short tempered in nature and used to curse anybody at the earliest opportunity. Everybody including the deities like Indra, Vayu, Surya etc. were scared of him….
Markandeya says- ‘O great sage! Now I am going to tell you about the Manavantar of Savarn, which will be the ninth Manavantar. Savarn was the son of Daksha. During this Manavantar, there will be three prominent groups of deities. Each group would comprise of twelve deities. During this Manavantar,…
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…
Kraustuki says- ‘O revered sage! You have already enlightened me by revealing the names of seven different Manus of each Manavantar. You have also told me about the deities, the kings and the sages who existed during each Manavantar. Now, I am curious to know about the seven Manus, the…
Markandeya says- ‘There used to live a king named Swarashtra. The deity Surya had blessed him with a long life. The king had one hundred wives, but they were not as lucky as he was as far as enjoying a long life was concerned. One by one, all of them…
Markandeya says- ‘During this Swarochish Manavantar, Indra was famously known as Vipaschit. The other deities were known as Paravat and Tushit. The names of the Saptarishis who lived during this Manavantar were Urja, Stamb, Pran, Dutt, Ali, Rishabh, Nischar and Arvaveera. Swarochish Manu had seven sons who were very mighty…
Markandeya says- ‘Bhadrashva Varsh is situated towards the east of the great mountain Devakut. Five more mountains are situated within its area- Kauranj, Shwetaparna, Neela, Shaiwal and Parnashalagra. Bhadrashva consists of thousands of Janpadas. Numerous rivers like Sita, Shankhavali, Bhadra and Chakravarta flows there. People living in Bhadrashva Varsh are…
Visvakarman (omnificent) may originally have been an epithet for any powerful god, but it was used in the Rigveda most often for Indra and Surya. There are two Rigvedic hymns to Visvakarman praising him as the all-seeing god, the one who names the gods, and that one beyond the comprehension…
Kraustuki asked Markandeya- ‘O lord! Please describe about Bharatavarsha.’ Markandeya replied- ‘Bharatavarsha is surrounded by oceans on all its three sides. People living towards the east of Bharatavarsha are known as Kirat while people living towards the west are called Yavan. The central part of Bharatavarsha is inhabited by all…
Markandeya says- ‘Swayambhuva Manu had ten sons. He had divided the whole earth into seven continents. In the beginning of Treta Yuga, the sons of Priyavrata had done the same. Prajavati- the daughter of Kardam Prajapati had ten sons and two daughters from Priyavrata. Names of these ten sons were-…
Markandeya says- ‘Nirmashti, the wife of Duhsah was the daughter of Yama. Altogether sixteen children were born to Duhsah and Nirmashti. Out of them eight were sons and the remaining eight were daughters. The name of the sons were- Dantakrishti, Tathokti, Parivarta, Angadhruka, Shakuni, Ganda, Pranrati, Garbhaha and Sasyaha while…
Markandeya says- ‘Brahma on seeing that inspite of all his creations the population was not increasing, he decided to create his Manasputras. These Manasputras were created merely by his wish. Their names were Bhrigu, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Angira, Marichi, Daksha, Atri and Vashishta. After this, he first created the ferocious…
The meaning of upanishad is “to sit near attentively.” They usually consisted of a metaphysical discussion between the sage and a disciple. There are 108 Upanishads traditionally, although only a dozen, the so-called major Upanishads, are in every list. Minor Upanishads are still being written. In the early Vedic period,…
Surya was a primary deity of the Aryans at the time of the earliest hymns of the Rigveda. The solar cult saw the sun as the most obvious symbol of life, consciousness, and divinity. For some time within each of the first three periods of Hindu mythology, Surya was…
Skanda was the six-headed son of Siva, god of war. Skanda can be seen as either sharing his function with Karttikeya, Guha, Kumara, and Subrahmanya or as absorbing them as epithets. Siva’s son had been the son of Agni, god of fire, in earlier mythology. In the Mahabharata there…
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…
After returning to his father’s kingdom, Ritudhwaj narrated the whole incident to his parents of how he regained Madalasa. Then they began to live happily. After many years, King Shatrujit crowned Ritudhwaj as the king. After King Ritudhwaj’s accession to the throne, Madalasa gave birth to her first son. Ritudhwaj…
Samsara has the essential meaning of the cycle of rebirths or simply rebirth. Samsara is one of the key concepts in understanding the reason Hindu mythology can be so complex—figures changing genders from one lifetime to the next, rebirths in lifetimes with different names but carrying from a previous lifetime…
Shakti is a term for the concept of energy (and as such a feminine noun), and it can be said to have been personified as Divine Energy, or the Mother Goddess, the source of energy. The concept is linked to the power of the austerities (tapas), creative and…
There are different versions of the number and names of the Rudras. A popular version was that the Rudras were born to Aditi. That would make them adityas (demigods). In the Puranas there were more than eleven Rudras—and they differed in name and number. The eleven Rudras mentioned in…
The Rigveda precedes all other Hindu scriptures in age and sacredness. The name Rigveda is a compound of rik (verses of “praise”) and veda (book of “knowledge,” or “wisdom”). It comes to us in such a highly crafted language (Samskrita, Sanskrit) that it was believed to have been received by…
Shukdev says, “Ten sons of the King Prachinbarhi were known as Prachetas. They observed severe penance under the sea. When they re-emerged, Chandra (the moon-the ruler of the vegetation) calmed them and presented a beautiful daughter of the apsara Prabhlocha, to them as their wife. From her, Prachetas begot prachetas…
Study of Vamana Purana helps a man to enhance his knowledge and makes him free from all kinds of worldly attachments. It also increases his love and devotion towards the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu. There are ten characteristics evident in all the Puranas- 1) Sarg. 2)Visarg. 3) Sthan. 4)…
There are many versions of the myth of Matsya in the Puranas, with many interesting paradoxes and twists in the story line. Even the names of principle characters change. But the essentials of the myth speak of an avatara of Vishnu coming down to earth at the end of…
Sage Narada requests Pulastya to describe how Gajendra managed to release itself from the jaws of the crocodile. Pulastya says- “There lived a crocodile in a reservoir near Trikut Mountain. One day, a thirsty elephant arrived there to quench its thirst. The wicked crocodile caught hold of the elephant’s leg…
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…
The science of architecture owes its origin to eighteen great sages. Their names are Bhrigu, Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvakarma, Maya, Narada, Nagnajita, Vishalaksha, Puranadara, Brahma, Kartikeya, Nandishvara, Shounaka, Garga, Vasudeva, Aniruddha, Shukra, and Brihaspati The building of a house should never be begun in the month of Chaitra. A person…
Sukeshi was the son of demon King Vidyutkeshi. He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Being pleased by his devotion, Lord Shiva had blessed him with invincibility and gifted him a city, which was situated in the sky. Sukeshi was a virtuous and just king. Once, he had gone…
Fearing Lord Shiva’s wrath, Lord Vishnu went to Hrishikesh and remained aloof for quite some time. Shiva’s anger generated so much heat that it was enough to melt the eight Vasus. As a result, a river named Sita started flowing from there. After being attacked by Lord Shiva, the deities…
All the sages listened with rapt attention to the description Lord Shiva made of the Almighty Narayan. But, they had few more queries in store, so they asked Lord Shiva– “O Lord of Uma! Please tell us about the expanse of the Earth- the situation of mountains and the prominent…
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…
This austerity is related with the worship of lord Surya Narayan who is also known by several other names like Aditya, Bhaskar, Ravi, Bhanu, Diwakar, Prabhakar, etc. A devotee should observe a fast on the seventh day of any month and worship lord Suryanarayan. The fast should be broken on…
This austerity is related with the worship of lord Kartikeya and is observed in the bright half of the Hindu month-pausha. On the sixth day of this month, a devotee is expected to live on nothing else but fruits. Lord Kartikeya is also known by several other names- Shadanan, Senani,…
Lord Brahma then went on to describe the famous tale of Ramayana the mere listening to which absolves a man from all his sins. He began by giving the details of Sri Ram’s lineage and said–‘I (Lord Brahma) manifested from the Lotus originating from the navel of Lord Vishnu. Sage…
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…
One important characteristic of the rituals connected with pinda dan is the offerings made to manes in the form of sesame seeds and water. Another important aspect is that ‘pinda’ is offered on the ‘kusha’ grass which are kept facing south- first in the name of one’s dead father and…
While describing the significance of various consecrations, Lord Vishnu told Shiva that the union of man’s sperm and woman’s ovum results into the birth of a child. This union along with the whole process of foetus getting transformed into a baby is a lengthy affair during which it imbibes numerous…
There was a danava named Maya. Just as Vishvakarma was the architect of the gods, Maya was the architect of the demons. When the demons were defeated by the gods, Maya started to perfrom very difficult tapasya so that the gods might be defeated. Maya‘s meditation inspired two other…
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…
In the beginning, there was nothing in the universe. There was only darkness and the divine essence (brahman). It is impossible to describe the brahman, it has no traits that can be described. When the time came for creation to start, the brahman removed the darkness and divided itself…
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…
Giving elaborate description of inauspicious days on which one should not undertake travels or journeys, Lord Vishnu told Shiva–‘Various Yoginis (goddesses) dwell in different directions on specific days and one should never set out on journeys on those days. A yogini named Brahmani dwells in the East on Pratipada(first) and…
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…
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)…
Dwelling on length about the significance of getting one’s head tonsured at holy places, Lord Shiva told Parvati- ‘A man should get his head tonsured whenever he gets an opportunity to visit a holy place because hair are believed to contain all the sins he has committed. There is a…
Parvati curiously asked Lord Shiva about the reason why Somnath was known by so many different names. Lord Shiva said- ‘Since the time this divine linga first manifested itself very few blessed souls had the knowledge of it’s existence. Brahma has a life span of one kalpa at the end…
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…