Maitreyi was mentioned in the Vedas and Puranas as one of the wisest and most virtuous of women. Maitreyi was married to the great philosopher-sage Yajnavalkya. She was noted as being especially learned in the scriptures. In one of the Upanishads Maitreyi engaged her husband in one of Hindu…
Sage Pulastya says- “O Narada! Now, I am going to describe about the origin of Marut Ganas of various Manvantaras. Savan was Swayambhu Manu’s son. He had no sons and when he died, the sorrowful queen- Sudeva heard a heavenly voice, which instructed her to give up her life by…
Narada asked Pulastya about the battle which Indra fought with the demon at Malay Mountain. Pulastya replied- “Andhak’s followers- Maya and Tar tried to enter Patal loka after being defeated by the deities. While they were passing close to the Malay Mountain, they decided to live there being enchanted by…
In spite of death and destruction caused to his army, Andhak still wanted to continue fighting against Lord Shiva’s army. He even dismissed the advises of Shukracharya who wanted a momentary retreat and rebuffed him by saying- “All the deities including Maheshwar and Indra cannot save themselves from my wrath….
Andhak went to Shukracharya and narrated the woeful tale of demons’ defeat. He also requested Shukracharya to help the demons win the battle. Shukracharya was dejected but he assured the demons that he would make alive, all the dead demons with the help of SanJivani Vidya and really all the…
In the meantime, both daughters of Yaksha and the demon arrived at Srikanth Mahadeva temple and engaged themselves in the worship of lord Mahadeva. One day, sage Galav arrived at the temple and was astonished to find two young ladies at such a deserted place. While taking bath, he heard…
Mura was the Aurasputra of sage Kashyapa and Danu. When he saw the demons being vanquished by the deities, he went to do penance with the objective of getting boons from Lord Brahma. When Lord Brahma appeared before him, he said- “O lord! Bless me with a boon, which enables…
Shumbh and Nishumbh were sons of Danu. They wanted to avenge Mahishasura’s death and sent many demons like to bring Goddess Chandika after enslaving her. First of all, Sugreev was sent followed by Dhumralochan but both of them were killed by the Goddess. When Shumbh and Nishumbh heard of their…
After reaching Mandar Mountain, Lord Shiva instructed Vishwakarma to construct a home. Vishwakarma constructed a spacious home for Shiva, which was spread in the area of 64 Yojans. The home was decorated with Swastika symbols and its walls were made of gold. One day, Lord Shiva jokingly referred to…
Lord Vishnu, Brahma, the deities and the Ganas were pleased to hear about Shiva’s marriage. Lord Shiva went to his abode- Kailash Mountain to make preparations for the marriage ceremony. Lord Shiva’s marriage procession proceeded towards Himalaya Mountain. His appearance was quite terrifying with a tiger skin around his waist…
After paying a visit to Prithudak Tirtha, Lord Shiva returned to his abode. At that time, he was living at Mandar Mountain. After Lord Shiva’s contemplation, the Saptarishis arrived. After the formal salutations, Lord Shiva told the sages that his wife- Sati has re-incarnated as Uma. “All of you must…
Mena gave birth to three daughters and a son. The eldest daughter- Ragini was red complexioned and had red eyes. Kutila was fair complexioned and had beautiful eyes like that of lotus petals. The youngest daughter- Kali was dark complexioned and had beautiful eyes like the petals of blue lotus….
The sages then asked Lomaharshan about the origin of Sthanu Tirtha and the importance of Sthanu Vata. They also expressed their desire to know about the reservoir named Sanihitya and how Indra had filled it up with mud. Sage Lomaharshan replied- “Once, Sanatkumar upon being asked by Balkhilya and other…
Lomaharshan says- “When Bali saw the demons becoming devoid of radiance and power, he enquired about the reasons from his grandfather, Prahlada. He wondered whether it was a bad omen. Prahlada went into a deep trance and saw the whole earth shaking violently. He also saw high tides rising in…
One day, king Parikshit went on a hunting excursion. Till noon, he could not find a game. He was feeling restless because of hunger, thirst and fatigue. Searching water and shelter the king reached the hermitage of the sage Shamik. Shamik was in deep meditation so he did not welcome…
During his regime, the king Parikshit got untoward reports that Kali Yuga had entered within the limits of his otherwise peaceful kingdom. With a huge army, Parikshit at once setout to the spot where Kali Yuga had arrived. On the way he saw the religion and the earth in the…
Revealing the reasons for Goddess Durga’s re-incarnation, sage Pulastya says- “Goddess Durga is also known as Kaushiki as she had manifested from the cell (Koshika) of Uma’s (Parvati’s) body. After the manifestation, she went to Vindhya Mountain with the objective of killing the demons Shumbh and Nishumbh. She was accompanied…
Narada asked sage Pulastya as to how Goddess Durga kill Mahishasura. Sage Pulastya replied- “After the killing of Chikshur, Mahishasura sent Namar to fight Goddess Durga. Namar proceeded towards the Vindhya Mountain accompanied by a huge battalion. After reaching there, he shot a volley of arrows towards the Vindhya Mountain….
Once Narayan saw all three of them coming and he treated all of them with respect. As he was aware of the reasons for their arrival, he decided to give them a surprise. He made the figure of a beautiful woman on his thigh with a flower. The next moment,…
Sukeshi asked the sages about the sinful deeds, which leads to hell. The sages replied- “People who condemn Veda, deities, Brahmins etc. go to hell. Those who don’t believe in religious texts like Purana etc. or those who cause obstacles in the accomplishment of Yagya or those who prevent a…
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…
Lord Shiva had committed a grave sin of Brahmahatya. All his efforts of separating Brahma’s skull from his left palm went in vain. In the meantime, an entity named Brahmahatya appeared before him and entered into his body. Lord Shankar decided to go to Badrikashrama to atone for his sins….
Once, Lord Shiva while describing about the incident when he had a divine glimpse of Lord Narayan, told Sage Agastya — ‘Purusha’ is none other than Lord Narayan himself and Prakriti is the medium through which he manifests his powers. I have been fortunate to have a divine glimpse…
There were many sages present at the yagya organised by Agastya. Some of them asked Lord Shiva as to why he had created some scriptures which appeared so confusing to human beings. Lord Shiva revealed to them that he had done so to protect the brahmins from the curse of…
Karma Vipak means the fruits one reaps according to his or her Karma. While continuing with the description of various aspects of hell, Nachiketa told the assembled sages–At Yamapuri, Chitragupta goes through the record of all the deeds, committed by a man when he was alive and brings into the…
Once, Janmejay asked Sage Vaishampayan about Yamrajpuri and its location. He also wanted to know as to what should a man do so that he does not have to go there. Sage Vaishampayan narrated the tale of Nachiketa, one of the few blessed persons to have visited Yamarajpuri with his…
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…
Describing the holiness of Kokamukh tirth, lord Varaha narrated a tale to Prithvi-“Once a fisherman was trying to catch a large fish in a lake situated at Kokamukh. Suddenly a hawk which was flying in the sky, descended down and after picking the fish in its beak tried to fly…
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…
Lord Buddha is believed to be the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The austerity begins on the eleventh day of the bright half of the Hindu month-Shravana. On this day lord Vishnu is worshipped with appropriate rituals and by making offerings of various articles like flowers, fruits, incense, etc. The following…
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…
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…
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…
Ghritaci was an apsara, a heavenly nymph. Her beauty was so overwhelming that many great brahmins, whether married rishi (sage) or ascetic, fell victim to her charms. Several, Bharadvaja and Vyasa, saw her and after years of ascetic practice (tapasya) had seminal emissions, followed by miraculous births of sons….
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),…
Once, sage Vyasa went to Brahmaloka to get his doubts cleared on certain spiritual matters from Lord Brahma. While dwelling on a wide range of religious topics such as importance of austerities and various incarnations Lord Vishnu took to protect righteousness, Lord Brahma narrated a tale of a Brahmin woman…
During Satya Yuga, there lived a king named Suprateek. Although he had two queens, yet none of them bore any son to him. One day, Suprateek went to meet sage Durvasa, who had his hermitage at the foothills of Chitrakut mountain and engaged himself in the sevice of Durvasa. The…
Describing the incident which enabled King Priyavrata to attain to heavenly abode Lord Varaha told Prithvi- “Swayambhuva Manu lived during the first kalpa. He had two sons- Priyavrata and Uttanpad. Priyavrata was extremely virtuous by nature. In course of time, he relinquished his throne and after distributing his kingdom among…
Once, Sutji recounted the following tale to the assembled sages, which had been originally told by sage Markandeya to Kraunchki long ago– ‘Once, Sage Ruchi became so disenchanted with the world that he decided to remain a bachelor, a decision which made his ‘Pitras'(ancestors) extremely worried. They tried to change…
Lord Brahma then narrated a tale glorifying the significance of performing ‘Shraddh rituals’ at Gaya– ‘O Vyasa! Once upon a time there lived a trader who was sonless. One day, while he was on his pilgrimage, he met a restless ghost, who requested him to perform the rituals of Pinda…
Lord Vishnu said–‘A woman having a round face, curly hair and lower portion of her navel slightly slanted towards right, is extremely fortunate not only for herself but also for her whole clan. Similarly, a woman with golden complexion and hands as beautiful and soft as red lotus flower is…
Sharmishtha was the daughter of Vrishaparva, the king of the danavas. Sharmishtha and Devayani were great friends, until Indra played some mischief. The two friends had gone to bathe in a pond and had left their clothes on the bank. Indra adopted the form of a breeze and mixed…
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…
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…
Sutji once narrated the following tale to the assembled sages- In ancient times there lived a mighty king named Trishanku. He belonged to Suryavanshi dynasty. One day, he asked Sage Vashishtha whether there was any such Yagya by performing which, he would be entitled to go to heaven with his…
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 told Yudhisthira– ‘Sage Jamdagni was a great devotee of Shiva and he lived in Narmadapur. He spent his day chanting mantras in the praise of Lord Shiva. Once, he performed an austere penance, which lasted for a month. Ultimately, Shiva manifested himself from the Siddheshwar Linga and appeared before…
On being asked by Yudhisthira about the life-style of people in Kali yuga, sage Vyasa replied– ‘There will be a widespread prevalence of sinful deeds and lack of moral values in Kali yuga. People would become untruthful and would become critical of revered sages. Moral values would decline to such…
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…