The Sun travels speedily across the sky like an arrow. He determines the night and the day. With the rising and setting of the Sun, one can have knowledge of the directions. Sun lights up all the places in the entire world except Brahmaloka. Sun’s rays that reach Brahmaloka return…
Parashar says- ” With the help of Dhruva, his wife gave birth to two sons- Sishti and Bhavya. Sishti had five sons- Ripu, Ripunjay, Vipra, Vikal and Vrikteja. Ripu had a brilliant son Chakshush. Chakshush had a son Manu. Manu had sons- Puru, Kuru, Shatadyumna, Tapasvi, Satyavan, Suchi, Agnishtome, Atiratra,…
There used to be a king named Durjaya. He was learned in the shastras and a good king. His wife was a beautiful and good woman. One day, King Durjaya went to the banks of the river Kalindi. There he met the apsara Urvashi and fell in love with her….
At the end of the previous Kalpa, when Brahma awakened from his long slumber, he saw all the worlds devoid of everything. With a desire to save the earth from the depth of unfathomable inundation, He took the appearance of Varaha. Entering the water, He reached Patala loka. Seeing Him,…
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…
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 first created five sons through his mental powers. Their names were Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana, Kratu and Sanatakumara These five sons became sages and did not have any offspring. Brahma therefore had to create some more beings so that the population of the universe might increase. But prior to that,…
Vishnu said that before creation began, there was only water in the universe and Vishnu slept on these waters. When it was time for creation to begin, Brahma emerged from Vishnu’s body. And Shiva emerged from Vishnu’s anger. Lakshmi too was created from Vishnu’s body and took her place by…
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….
Thereafter, the Agni Purana has many chapters on literature and grammar. It describes the different types of chhanda (metres) that are used in poetry. Next it discusses the alphabet. There are sixty-four letters (varna) in the alphabet, of which twenty-one are vowels (svara varna). There are three tones (svara) in…
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 a mountain known as Brahmagiri there used to live a hunter who was very cruel. He not only killed birds and animals, but brahmanas and sages as well. The hunter once went on a hunt. He killed many animals and birds and some he put in his cages. He…
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….
Once Narada arrived in Dwaraka. Vasudev prayed him and requested to provide him with pious company of Bhagavat dharma. Narada said: “O king, once upon a time, nine great sages arrived in the court of the king Janaka. King Janaka had put the same curiosity before them also. I will…
THE ORIGIN OF KAILASH AND VAIKUNTH Brahma revealed to Narada how the process of creation commenced- “After Lord Shiva vanished from our sight, I transformed myself into the appearance of a swan and Vishnu transformed his appearance into that of a boar with the purpose of commencing the process of…
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- ‘When the newly married couple Dama and Sumana returned to the capital, King Narishyant was extremely pleased. King Narishyant after knowing about the brave deeds of his son was very proud of him. As he had become old, he appointed Dama as his successor and he went in…
Markandeya says- ‘After Vaishalini had finished her lines, Aveekshit told her that he was forced to abandon her in the past after getting defeated but once again, he had regained her after defeating the demon. Both of them decided to get married in the forest itself.’ ‘Right then, a…
Markandeya says- ‘Khaninetra was the son of King Vivinsha. He was very brave and valiant. The Gandharvas had proclaimed that no one could match Khaninetra’s benevolence, who had donated the whole earth after accomplishing 10,000 Yagyas. Khaninetra had given so much wealth as donations to the Brahmins that there was…
Markandeya says- ‘King Kshup ruled justly in the same way as his father Khanitra did. Kshup’s wife was Pramatha. They had a son who was handsome and mighty. He had defeated all the kings and annexed their kingdom. He was married to Nandini, the princess of Vidarbha. Nandini gave birth…
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- ‘The king stopped fighting at the request of Narada. Nabhag married the Vaishya girl. After the marriage, the king ordered Nabhag to follow a Vaishya’s occupation. Nabhag got engaged in activities like animal husbandry and agriculture. With the passage of time, a son was born and who was…
Markandeya says- ‘Nabhag was the son of King Dishta. One day, he saw a beautiful woman who was the daughter of a Vaishya. He was very enchanted by her beauty and wanted to marry her. He went to the Vaishya and expressed his desire. The Vaishya was terrified at the…
Kraustuki says- ‘O lord! Enlighten us on the greatness of Bhaskar.’ Markandeya replied- ‘There was a king named Rajyavardhan. His subjects were very happy and satisfied under his rule. They were free from all the diseases. Rajyavardhan ruled for 7,000 long years. His wife was Manini. One day, while Manini…
Markandeya says- ‘Swarochi became very sad after hearing the deer’s utterances. He realised how lowly and mean he had become. He decided to renounce life after abandoning his wives. But this did not happen because as soon as he met them, he forgot everything about renunciation. He continued to live…
Markandeya says- After getting married, Swarochi started living happily along with all his three wives at Malaya Mountain. One day, impressed by the mutual love, Swarochi and his wives had for each other, a female ruddy goose told another one- ‘Very rarely are found such couples who have love for each…
Markandeya says- ‘After getting cured from their respective diseases, both the companions of Manorama expressed their gratitude to Swarochi. Swarochi married both Vibhavari as well as Kalavati. To show her gratitude, Vibhavari taught Swarochi, a special art that helped him to understand the language of all the living creatures. Kalavati…
In due course of time, Varudhini became pregnant. She gave birth to a child who was named Swarochi. The child was extra-ordinary. In a very short time, he became proficient in all the scriptures. One day, young Swarochi saw a terrified girl near the Mandar Mountain. When the girl saw…
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- ‘Now I am going to tell you about Rudrasarga. One of the eight sons of Brahma started wailing after being created from his (Brahma) body. Brahma asked him as to why he was crying. The crying child requested Brahma to give him a name. Brahma named him as…
Kraustuki asked curiously- ‘Tell me how Brahma did his creations?’ Markandeya replied- ‘When Brahma got up from his sleep after the end of dissolution (Pralaya) named Padram, he found a void all around himself. He remembered Narayana who is also known by the name of Nastanu i.e. one who dwells…
Jaimini thanked the birds for enlightening him with self-knowledge. But he was still not satisfied. There were many questions to which he had no answers. He asked the birds- ‘How did this universe come into being? What will happen to it during the time of final annihilation? How did the deities,…
Madalasa says- O son! I am now narrating about the do’s and don’ts to be followed during Shradha. Many kinds of edible items can be offered in the Shradha. These include cereals like barley, wheat, rice, millet, corn, etc., fish, flesh of deer, rabbit, bird, wild boar, goat and Neelgai…
Madalasa says- O son! A Grihastha has three kinds of duties- regular, causal and a combination of both. Rituals, which are connected with oblations and carried out daily, are called regular duties. Rituals and consecrations performed at the birth of a child are called causal duties. Yearly performance of Shradha…
Alarka says- ‘Tell me about the duties of the different classes and stages of life.’ Madalasa says- ‘Donation, study and Yagya, these three are the religion of a Brahmin. Performing Yagya for others, teaching and accepting donation are the three vocations of Brahmin. Donation, study and Yagya are also the…
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…
If the mention of the word Siva (auspicious) in the Vedas is considered to refer to Lord Siva, Siva spans all periods of Hindu mythology. No matter when he enters Hindu mythology, Siva is among the two or three most important gods— either as one of the later Hindu Triad,…
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…
Sati literally meant “good one,” or, since it had a feminine ending, “good woman.” It was extended to mean “pure one,” especially a wife who had purified herself in the funeral pyre of their husband. By the modern era sati (suttee in nineteenth-century literature) came to mean “widow burning”…
In the Bhagavad Gita Sanjaya is one of its four characters—the other being Arjuna, Krishna, and King Dhritarashtra. The idea of boon-granting (vara) had become so common by the time of the late epic literature that a sage like Vyasa Sandstone figure of Camunda, the fierce, protective eight-armed mother, from…
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…
Lord Krishna replied–“I am so delighted that you have asked such important questions for the benefit of mankind. I am revealing to you the secrets, which were hitherto unknown even to the deities and yogis. O Garuda! A man should try to beget a son with the help of means…
Swayambhu Manu had two sons- Priyavrata and Utanpad. Utanpad had two wives- Suruchi and Suniti. Suruchi had a son- Uttam while Suniti had also a son- Dhruva. King Utanpad loved Suruchi more than he loved Suniti. One day the king was sitting on the throne. Prince Uttam was playing in…
Sukhdev says, ” Once Shraddha Dev Manu sneezed violently. From his nostrils, a son was born. He was named Ikshvaku. Ikshvaku had one hundred sons. Vikukshi, Nimi and Dandak were the eldest three of them. Vikukshi 1.)Vikukshi :- Once, Ikshvaku sent his eldest son Vikukshi to collect tubers for the…
After being thrown out from his kingdom by Vishwamitra, Harishchandra reached the holy town of Varanasi, which was an abode of Lord Mahadeva. There Harishchandra saw Vishwamitra standing before him. Vishwamitra said- ‘A month has been completed now. Now, give me my Dakshaina.’ Harishchandra said- ‘There is still half an…
Sage Shami thereafter began to foster the chicks in his hermitage. With time, the chicks grew feathers and began to fly here and there. But every time the birds went out, they returned to the hermitage by evening. The birds also gained Vedic knowledge by hearing the discourses, which sage…
Prahlada preached, “Friends, human incarnation is a rare thing in this world. So taking shelter at the feet of God in this human incarnation is a success for life. Brothers, God is the friend, beloved and the soul of each and every being. Sensual pleasures are easily available in every…
Pious virtues of Prahlada: – The youngest son of the demon king Hiranykashipu, Prahlada was very virtuous. He used to serve the sages with love. He treated all the beings equally and did never differentiate them as separate from him. He had a respect for the elders. Despite having knowledge,…
Renuka’s story has many troubling elements. She was a princess (and thus a ksatriya) married to the brahmin Jamdagni. She gave birth to an avatara (incarnation) of Vishnu, Parasu-Rama, whom her husband commanded to kill her. She was brought back to life. In one version she was raped by King…
Parvati, goddess of the mountain, Himalaya, primary wife of Siva, mother of at least two of Siva’s sons, is by far the most complicated of Hindu goddesses. She is given differing and often contradictory natures by the three main perspectives of later mythology—Saktas (those who worship the divine mother), Saivas…