The sage Goutama had a son named Vriddhagoutama. Vriddhagoutama was also a sage. But he was very ugly. Besides, he had no nose; had never had one since he had been born. He was so ashamed of this deformity that he could not bear to join the other children of…
In the Ikshvaku dynasty there ruled a king named Harishchandra. Harishchandra had no son. One day two sages named Narada and Parvata came to visit Harishchandra and told him that he would go to hell if he did not have a son. “How can I obtain a son?” asked Harishchandra….
Many years ago, there was a terrible drought. There was no food to be had. The sage Vishvamitra had come to the banks of the river Goutami Ganga with his disciples. Vishvamitra’s wife, children and disciples were all hungry. The sage therefore sent his disciples out to look for food….
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…
Part of the water of the Ganga that got stuck in Shiva’s hair was brought down to earth by Bhagiratha. The remaining part was brought down by the sage Goutama. Parvati was married to Shiva, but Shiva seemed to be fonder of Ganga than of Parvati. Parvati resolved that a way…
There was a king of the daityas named Bali. He was powerful and invincible. He was also righteous and truthful. The gods cold not bear to see Bali’s prosperity and began to plot how Bali might be foiled. So well did Bali rule that disease, drought and evil disappeared throughout…
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….
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,…
Trishanku’s son was Harishchandra and from Harishchandra was descended a king named Bahu. Bahu devoted too much time to pleasurable pursuits. The upshot of this was that the defence of the kingdom was not properly taken care of. Enemy kings seized this opportunity to attack Bahu’s kingdom. They drove Bahu…
Markandeya says- ‘King Khaninetra went at the bank of the river Gomti and started doing a severe penance to please Indra. After being pleased by his devotion and eulogy, Indra appeared before him. He said to Khaninetra- ‘O king! I am very much pleased by your devotion. Demand anything you…
The most valiant demon Durgam had acquired all the four Vedas from lord Brahma after pleasing him. Lord Brahma had also given a boon of invincibility to him. Durgam became very arrogant and started tormenting the whole world. As the consequence it did not rain for one hundred years and…
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…
See main entry under Kalindi. This is an alternative name for the river Kalindi of Puranic fame. The river goddess of Kalindi was also the wife of Sri Krishna.
Vyasa is more properly referred to as Veda Vyasa since the name was a common one, meaning “arranger,” or editor. Veda Vyasa was said to have edited the four Vedas and authored the Puranas and the Mahabharata. Accomplishing all that would require a human who lived several thousand years,…
Kraustuki asked Markandeya- ‘O great sage! Now tell me something about Swarochish Manavantar?’ Markandeya replied- ‘Once upon a time, there lived a Brahmin at the bank of river Varuna. One day, a guest arrived at his place. The Brahmin treated his guest with due respect. After formal introduction, the Brahmin…
Markandeya says- ‘The people residing in KimPurusha Varsh enjoy a long life. They live for 10,000 years. They are never bothered by any kind of disease or sorrow. Just behind Kimpurusha Varsh is situated Hari Varsh. The residents of Hari Varsh enjoy an eternally youthful life because of the sugarcane…
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- ‘River Ganga originates from a place named Dhruvadhar. This particular place is related with Narayana. River Ganga, then falls on the Sumeru Mountain and gets distributed into four main streams. One of these streams flows towards Chaitrartha forest. The name of this particular stream is Sita. The same…
Markandeya says that the total area of Jambudweep comprises of one lakh Yojan while the area of Plakshdweep is twice the area of Jambudweep i.e. two lakh Yojans. Similarly, Shalmali is twice the area of Plaksh while Kusha is twice the area of Shalmali. The area of Kraunchdweep is twice…
A yatra was a pilgrimage, or visit, to a river crossing, or ford (tirtha). Thus the term tirtha-yatra came into usage. Over the centuries it came to mean a visit to any holy place, a pilgrimage to a sacred region (such as the plain where the Mahabharata battle was fought),…
The story of Taladhwaja was retold to solve a variety of problems—above all, how a sage could remain an ascetic when he had changed genders to marry a king. The solution in the Devi Purana was a kind of popular use of Advaita philosophy in a myth: using a popular…
The concept of purification (suddhi) is linked to pollution (mala) and the ways it is removed: ritually, physically, or even by divine grace. Central to the Vedic sacrifices was the notion that blood sacrifices would atone for wrong-doing and remove a form of purification called agnisuddhi. Siva was not invited…
Sita was born from the earth when it was ploughed. Thus the earth, Bhu Devi, was her mother. Sita was brought up by King Janaka as his daughter. According to many Puranas, Sita was the incarnation of Lakshmi, wife of Vishnu. Rama wed Sita after winning the marriage contest—lifting and…
Satyavati was the mother of the great sage Vyasa. However, her story is quite interesting, as well as complicated because of all the nested elements. She was born of a fish who had been cursed, given to a king but returned because of her smell, named three times, and…
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…
The newly-wed couple had hardly spent few months together when King Shatrujit once again instructed Ritudhwaj to travel across the entire earth and see whether the Brahmins were performing their religious duties without any obstacles. Ritudhwaj obeyed the dictates of his father. He used to scale vast distances for the…
Shakuntala’s story is one of the favorite love stories of India, told in quite different ways by two great poets—Vyasa and Kalidasa (both c.400-500). (sakuntala was the daughter of a sage and an apsara, and her son became an emperor. Shakuntala’s mother, the famous apsara Menaka, was sent by Indra…
The uprooted Arjuna trees fell with thundering sound. All the people shivered with fear and felt as if lightning had struck somewhere. All the elders including Nand met together and discussed the matter. Unanimously they concluded that, of late disturbance had increased in Gokul and the circumstances were no longer…
Describing the proper way of performing Shraddh rituals, sage Yagyavalkya told the assembled sages–‘A performer of Shraddh rituals should invite able Brahmins and offer them seats of Kusha grass. First of all an invocation is made to ‘Vishvedeva’ by chanting a mantra in his praise, an action which is followed…
Vamadeva requested Kartikeya to enlighten his mind with that knowledge, without which a Sanyasi can never attain liberation. Kartikeya then told him about the methods how a Sanyasi should get initiation from his guru. A disciple should worship his guru in any of the following months – Shravana, Ashwin, Kartik,…
The Rama myth cycle is especially complex because there are so many literary and oral versions, each language of India having its own variations, as well as expressions in art, dance, drama, and film or video. Since Rama was an incarnation of Vishnu, his story is nested within the Vishnu…
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…
Describing about the twelve Jyotirlingas, Suta told the sages:- “There are twelve Jyotirlingas which are as Follows : 1) Somnath in Saurashtra, 2) MallikArjuna in Sri Shail, 3) Mahakal in Ujjain, 4) Amareshwar in Omkar, 5) Kedar in the Himalaya, 6)Bhimashankar at the bank of Bhima river. 7) Vishwanath in…
INDRA DOES PENANCE TO ATONE FOR HIS SINS Pulastya says after being defeated by the demons Indra went to Brahma loka and narrated his woeful tale to him. Sage Kashyapa- his father was also present there. Lord Brahma told Indra that he was reaping the fruits of his evil deeds….
Pulastya says- “After satisfying Bharadwaj’s curiosity about his different abodes, Lord Vamana left for Kurukshetra where Bali was busy performing his Yagya. As soon as Lord Vamana reached Kurukshetra, the whole earth started shaking violently and high tides rose in the ocean. Being frightened of Lord Vishnu, Agni did not…
Pulastya says- “Prahlada went to the sacred place called Rishikanya and took a holy dip in the Irawati River. After that, he worshipped Lord Janardan in the temple situated nearby and then proceeded on his journey towards Kurukshetra. After reaching there, he worshipped Lord Kurudhwaj and paid a visit Lord…
Pulastya says- “During his pilgrimage, Prahlada visited many sacred places like Manas Tirtha, Kaushiki, Devahnad and Hastinapur etc. At last he reached the bank of river Yamuna where he worshipped Lord Trivikrama (Vamana).” Narada was surprised at the mention of Vamana’s name and asked Pulastya- “Lord Vishnu is still to…
Lakshmana was the younger half-brother of Rama by the third and youngest wife of King Dasiaratha of Ayodhya. But his affection for Rama was understood to have been the result of his previous lifetime—as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu’s serpent, the one who floated as his bed on the…
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…
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…
In the Mahabharata war Karna had a divine birth. His mother, Kunti, was the daughter of King Shurasena. As a girl Kunti was in charge of arrangement in the palace for religious rituals. During a period of four months when the sage Durvasa performed rituals for the king, Kunti…
Continuing with his story, King Danda says- “Chitrangada stayed for a long period at Saptagodavar. She used to spend time by engaging in the worship of Lord Hatkeshwar waiting for the day she would meet her husband. Vishwakarma had become a monkey due to the curse of that sage and…
Narada asks sage Pulastya- “What did the demon Andhak do after entering Patal loka and how was Lord Shiva’s life at Mandar Mountain?” Pulastya says- “Andhak was infatuated by Girija’s divine beauty and his lust only became stronger as the days passed by. Although Prahlada tried very hard to convince…
Lord Shiva was so deeply attached to Uma that for 1000 years, he was possessed by only her thoughts. He forgot about his duties and as a result, there was anarchy all over the world. His obsession with Uma had also decreased his radiance. He decided to do penance with…
Swallowing of Lord Shiva’s sperm had subdued Agni’s radiance. The deities advised him to take Lord Brahma’s help. While he was on his way to Brahma loka, he came across a river named Kutila and requested her to hold Shiva’s sperm. She agreed and requested him to release it in…
After creating all the movable and immovable living things, Lord Brahma created a beautiful lady. He was so infatuated by her beauty that he expressed his desire to procreate with her help. As a result of this grave sin committed by Lord Brahma, one of his four heads got detached…
The sages asked Lomaharshan about the origin of Kamyakvan Tirtha. Lomaharshan replied- “Once upon a time, the sages of Naimisharanya came to Kurukshetra to take bath in river Saraswati. But, since they were large in number, the banks of river Saraswati could not accommodate all of them. In their helplessness,…
The sages asked Lomaharshan about the origin of Vashishthapava Tirtha and about the reason why sage Vashishtha was carried along by the powerful current of Saraswati river. Lomaharshan said- “There was great rivalry between sage Vashishtha and sage Vishwamitra. In course of time, it turned into a bitter enemity. Vashishtha…
The sages requested Lomaharshan to reveal about river Saraswati’s origin, which flowed in Kurukshetra. Lomaharshan said- “Saraswati originates from Pakad tree (Indian fig tree). She enters Dwaitvan after passing through numerous mountains. While describing about her majesty, sage Markandeya felt that Saraswati was the source from, which everything originated-…
Travelling through various pilgrimage places, Vidura reached Prabhas region where he got the news of total destruction of the Kaurvas. The news deeply moved him. In search of solace, he continued to wander from one place of pilgrimage to another place. During his wandering, when he reached the banks of…