1. Brahma Purana

2. Padma Purana

3. Vishnu Purana

4. Shiva Purana

5. Vamana Purana

6. Markandeya Purana

7. Varaha Purana

8. Agni Purana

9. Kurma Purana

10. Bhagavad Maha Purana

11. Linga Purana

12. Narada Purana

13. Skanda Purana

14. Garuda Purana

15. Matsya Purana

16. Vayu Purana

17. Bhavishya Purana

18. Brahmanda Purana(incomplete)

1. BRAHMA PURANA

Preliminaries

There was a forest known as Naimisharanya. The sages (maharshis) arranged for a sacrifice

(yajna) in this forest and the ceremony went on for twelve years. Naimisharanya forest was a

wonderful place to arrange sacrifices in. The climate was pleasant. There were trees full of

climate was pleasant. There were trees full of flowers and fruit. There was no shortage of food in

the forest, and animals, birds and sages lived thee happily.

Many sages came to attend the sacrifice that had been arranged in Naimisharanya. With them

was Romaharshana (alternatively Lomaharshana), Veda Vyasa's disciple. Veda Vyasa had

instructed this disciple of his in the knowledge of the Puranas. The assembled sages worshipped

the learned Romaharshana and said, "Please tell us the stories of the Puranas. Who created the

universe, who is its preserver and who will destroy it? Please instruct us in all these mysteries".

Romaharshana replied, "Many years ago, Daksha and the other sages had asked Brahma these

very questions. I have learnt about Brahma's replies from my guru) teacher) Veda Vyasa. I will

relate to you what I know".

In the beginning, there was water everywhere and the Brahman slept on this water in the form of

Vishnu. Since water is called nara and since ayana means a bed, Vishnu is known as Narayana.

In the water there emerged a golden egg. Brahma was born inside this egg. Since he created

himself, he is called Svayambhu, born (bhu) by himself (svayam). For one whole year, Brahma

lived inside the egg. He then split the egg into two and created heaven and the earth from the two

parts of the egg. Skies, directions, time, language and senses were created in both heaven and

earth. From the powers of his mind, Brahma gave birth to seven great sages. Their names were

Marichi, Atri, Angira, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vashishtha. Brahma also created the god

Rudra and the sage Sanatkumara.

More Creation

To continue with the process of creation, Brahma gave birth to a man and a woman from his own

body. The man was named Svayambhuva Manu and the woman was named Shatarupa. Humans

are descended from Manu. That is the reason they are known as manava. Manu and Shatarupa

had three sons named Vira, Priyavrata and Uttanapada.

Uttanapada's son was the great Dhruva. Dhruva performed very difficult meditation (tapasya) for

three thousand divine years. Brahma was so pleased at this that he granted Dhruva an eternal

place in the sky, near the constellation that is known as saptarshi or the seven sages. This is the

constellation Ursa Majoris and Dhruva is the pole Star.

In Dhruva's line there was a king named Prachinavarhi. Prachinavarhi had ten sons, known as the

Prachetas. These Prachetas were supposed to look after the world and rule over it, but they were

not interested in such mundane matters. They went off instead to perform tapasya under the

ocean. The tapasya went on for ten thousand years. The upshot was that the earth had no ruler

and began to suffer. People started to die and thick forests sprouted everywhere. So thick were

the forests that even the winds could not blow.

News of this catastrophe reached the Prachetas. They were furious with the trees and created

wind (vayu) and fire (agni) from their mouths. The wind dried up the trees and the fire burnt

them, so that, very soon, there were very few trees left on earth.

Everyone was alarmed at the effects of the Prachetas anger. The moon–god Soma (or Chandra)

came to the Prachetas with a beautiful woman and said, "Prachetas, please control your anger.

You need someone to rule over the world so that you can concentrate on your tapasya. This

woman is named Marisha. Her son will rule over the world".

The Prachetas agreed to this proposal and Daksha was born. The word praja means subject and

the word pati means master. Since Daksha ruled over the world and its subjects, Daksha came to

be known as Prajapati.

The sages interrupted Romaharshana. They said, "Sage, we are completely confused. We have

heard that Daksha was born from Brahma's toe. And yet you have told us that Daksha was the

son of the Prachetas. How is this possible?"

Romaharshana replied, "There is no reason for bewilderment. Many Dakshas have been born to

rule over the world. One was born from Brahma's toe, yet another was the son of the Prachetas."

Daksha's Offspring

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 what

the world looks like? Are you familiar with its geography and its limits? First find out about

these things, before you contemplate ruling over the world."

The Haryashvas went off to explore the world and never returned.

Daksha and Asikli then had another thousand sons who were named the Shavalashvas. Narada

told them what he had told the Haryashvas and the Shavalashvas also went off to explore the

world and never returned.

Daksha and Asikli were distressed that their children should disappear in this manner. Daksha

blamed Narada for the instigation and proposed to kill him. But Brahma intervened and

persuaded Daksha to control his anger. This Daksha agreed to do, provided that his conditions

were met. "Brahma must marry my daughter Priya," he said. "And Narada must be born as

Priya's son."

These conditions were accepted. In fact, Daksha and Asikli had sixty daughters. (Elsewhere, the

Brahma Purana mentions fifty daughters.) Ten of these daughters were married to the god

Dharma and thirteen to the sage Kashyapa. Twenty–seven daughters were married to Soma or

Chandra. The remaining daughters were married to the sages Arishtanemi, Vahuputra, Angirasa

and Krishashva.

The ten daughters who were married to the god Dharma were named Arundhati, Vasu, Yami,

Lamba, Bhanu, Marutvati, Sankalpa, Muhurta. Sadhya and Vishva. Arundhati's children were the

objects (vishaya) of the world. Vasu's children were the eight gods known as the Vasus. Their

names were Apa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhara, Salila, Anala, Pratyusha and Prabhasa. Anala's son was

Kumara. Because Kumara was brought up by goddesses known as the Krittikas, he came to be

called Kartikeya. Prabhasa's son was Vishvakarma. Vishvakarma was skilled in architecture and

the making of jewelry. He became the architect of the gods.

Sadhya's children were the gods known as Sadhyadevas and Vishva's children were the gods

known as Vishvadervas. The twenty–seven daughters of Daksha who were married to Soma are

known as the nakshatras (stars).

As you have already been told, Kashyapa married thirteen of Daksha's daughters. Their names

were Aditi, Diti, Danu, Arishta, Surasa, Khasa, Surabhi, Vinata. Tamra, Krodhavasha, Ila, Kadru

and Muni.

Aditi's sons were the twelve gods known as the adityas. Their names were Vishnu, Shakra.

Aryama, Dhata, Vidhata, Tvashta, Pusha, Vivasvana, Savita, MitraVaruna, Amsha and Bhaga.

Diti's sons were the daityas (demons). They were named Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, and

amongst their descendants were several other powerful daityas liked Bali and Banasura. Diti also

had a daughter named Simhika who was married to a danava (demon) named Viprachitti. Their

offspring's were terrible demons like Vatapi, Namuchi, Ilvala, Maricha and the nivatakavachas.

The hundred sons of Danu came to be known as danavas. The danavas were thus cousins to the

daityas and also to the adityas. In the danava line were born demons like the poulamas and

kalakeyas.

Arishta's sons were the gandharvas (singers of heaven). Surasa gave birth to the snakes (sarpa).

Khasa's children were the yakshas (demi–gods who were the companions of Kubera, the god of

wealth) and the rakshasas (demons). Surabhi's descendants were cows and buffaloes.

Vinata had two sons named Aruna and Garuda. Garuda became the king of the birds. Tamra has

six daughters. From these daughters were born owls, eagles, vultures, crows, water–fowl, horses,

camels and donkeys.

Krodhavasha had fourteen thousand children known as nagas (snakes). Ila gave birth to trees,

creepers, shrubs and bushes. Kadru's sons were also known as nagas or snakes. Among the more

important of Kadru's sons were Ananta, Vasuki, Takshaka and Nahusha.

Muni gave birth to the apsaras (dancers of heaven). Diti's children (daityas) and Auditi's children

(adityas) continually fought amongst themselves. On one particular occasion, the gods succeed in

killing many of the demons. Thirsting for revenge, Diti began to pray to her husband, Kashyapa

that she might given birth to a son who would kill Indra, the king of the gods.

Kashyapa found it difficult to refuse his wife outright. "All right", he said. "You have to bear the

son in your womb for a hundred years. And throughout this period, you will have indeed kill

Indira. But if you do not observe these instructions to the letter, your desire will not be satisfied."

Diti resolved to do as her husband had bidden her. But Indra had got to know about Diti's resolve

and was waiting for an opportunity to save himself. There was an occasion when, tired after her

prayers. Diti went to sleep without first washing her feet. This was an unclean act and it gave

Indra the required opportunity. He adopted a miniscule form and entered Diti's womb. With his

weapon vajra, he sliced up the baby inside the womb into seven parts. The baby naturally began

to cry at the pain.

Indra kept on saying, "ma ruda," that is, "don't cry." But the bay, or rather its seven parts, would

not listen. Indra thereupon sliced up each of the seven parts into seven more sections, so that

there were forty–nine sections in all. When these forty–nine sections were born, they came to

known as the Maruts, from the words that Indra had addressed them. Since Diti had not been

able to adhere to the conditions her husband had set, the Maruts did not kill Indra. They instead

became Indra's followers or companions, and were treated as gods.

Prithu

In Dhruva's line there was a king named Anga, Anga was religious and followed the righteous

path. But unfortunately, Anga's son Vena inherited none of the good qualities of his father.

Vena's mother was Sunitha and she happened to be the daughter of Mrityu. Mrityu was notorious

for his evil ways and deeds. Vena spent a lot of time with his maternal grandfather and picked up

these evil characteristics.

Vena gave up the religion that was laid down in the Vedas and stopped all yajnas. He instructed

his subjects that he alone was to be worshiped.

The sages led by Marichi came to Vena to try and persuade him to mend his ways. But Vena was

in no mood to listen. He insisted that there was no one equal to him in the whole universe.

The sages realized that Vena was a lost cause. They physically caught hold of Vena and began to

knead his right thigh. From this kneading thee emerged a horrible looking creature. It was a

dwarf and its complexion, was extremely dark. The sage Atri was so aghast at the dwarf's

appearance that he blurted out, "nishida", which means "sit". From this, the dwarf came to be

known as nishada. The race of nishadas became hunters and fishermen, and lived in the Vindhya

mountains. From them were also descended uncivilized races like Tusharas and Tunduras.

The evil that was in Vena's body and mind came out with the emergence of the nishada.

When the sages began to knead Vena's right arm, Prithu emerged. He shone like a flaming fire

and his energy lit up the four directions. He held a bow in his hand and he was clad in beautiful

armour. As soon as Prithu was born, Vena died.

All the rivers and the oceans arrived with their waters and their jewels to anoint Prithu as the

king. The gods and the sages also came for the coronation. Brahma himself crowned Prithu the

king of the earth. He also took the opportunity to apportion out the lordships of other parts of the

universe. Soma was appointed lord over creepers, herbs, starts (nakshatras), planets (grahas),

sacrifices, meditation (tapasya) and over the first of the four classes (brahmanas). Varuna

became lord of the oceans, Kubera of all the kings, Vishnu of the adityas, Agni of vasus, Daksha

of all Prahlada of daityas and danavas, Yama of the pritris (ancestors), Shiva of yakshas,

rakshasas and pishachas (ghosts), and Himalaya of the mountains.

The ocean (samudra) was made the lord of all rivers. Chitraratha of gandharvas, Vasuki of nagas,

Takshaka of sarpas, Garuda of birds, the tiger of deer, Airavata of elephants, Ucchaihshrava of

horses, the bull of cows and the ashvattha tree (a banyan) of all trees. Brahma also appointed

four overlords (dikapalas) for the four directions. To the east there was Sudhanva, to the south

Shankhapada, to the west Ketumana and to the north Hiranyaroma.

Prithu was a king who ruled the earth well. During his reign, the earth was laden with foodgrains.

The cows were full of milk and the subjects were happy. To glorify King Prithu, the sages

performed a sacrifice and from this sacrifice there emerged two races known as the sutas and the

magadhas should sing praises in honor of Prithu.

"But what praise will we sing?" asked the sutas and the magadhas. "Prithu is still young. He has

not done much that can be praised".

"That may be true," replied the sages. "But he will do wonderous deeds in the future. Sing

praises of those wonderful deeds. We will tell you about them."

Having learnt of these future deeds from the sages, the sutas and the magadhas began to compose

songs and chant praises in honor of Prithu. These stories were related throughout the earth. Some

of Prithu's subjects heard these stories and came to see Prithu. "King," they said. "We have heard

of your great deeds. But we find it difficult to make a living. Please indicate to us our habitations

on earth. And tell us where we may be able to get the food we need for subsistence."

King Prithu picked up his bow and arrow. He decided to kill the earth, since the earth was not

yielding foodgrains to his subjects. The earth adopted the form of a cow and began to flee. But

wherever the earth went, Prithu followed with his bow and arrow. He followed the earth to the

heaven and to the underworld.

Finally, in desperation, the earth started to pray to Prithu. "King," she said, "please control your

anger. I am a woman. Killing me will only mean a sin for you. Besides, what purpose will killing

me serve? Your subjects will then be without a place to live in. There must be some other way of

ensuring that your subjects can make a living.

The earth then herself offered a solution and King Prithu did her bidding. With his bow, he

leveled out the earth. The plains could now be used for villages and cities and for agriculture and

animal husbandry. The plains could now be used for villages and cities and for agriculture and

animal husbandry. The mountains were gathered together in select places, instead of being

littered over whole earth. Earlier, Prithu's subjects had lived off fruits and roots. Now Prithu

milked the earth (in her form of a cow) and obtained the seeds of foodgrains on which people

could live. Because of Prithu's deeds, the earth came to be known as prithivi.

Manvantaras

A manvantara is an era. There are four smaller eras (yugas) and their names are Satya or Krita

Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. Each cycle of Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga,

Dvapara Yuga and Kali Yuga is called a mahayuga. A mahayuga comprises of 12,000 years of

the gods, or equivalently, 4320,000 years for human. 71 mahayugas constitute a manvantara and

14 manvantaras constitute a cycle (kalpa). One kalpa is one of Brahma's days and the universe is

destroyed at the end of a Kalpa.

Each manvantara is ruled over by a Manu. In the present kalpa, six manvantaras have already

passed and the names of the six Manus who ruled were Svayambhuva, Svarochisha, Uttama,

Tamasa, Raivata and Chakshusha. The name of the seventh Manu, who rules over the seventh

manvantara of the present kalpa, is Vaivasvata.

The titles of the seven great sages (saptarshi) as well as the tile of Indra change from manvantara

to manvantara. The gods also change.

In the present vaivasvata manvantara, the seven great sages are Atri, Vashishtha, Kashyapa,

Goutama, Bharadvaja, Vishvamitra and Jamadagni. The gods now are the sadhyas, the rudras,

the vishwadevas, the vasus, the maruts, the adityas and the two ashvinis.

There will be seven Manus in the future before the universe is destroyed. Five of these Manus

will be known as Savarni Manus. The remaining two will be called Bhoutya and Rouchya.

The Sun and the Solar Dynasty

You have probably forgotten by now that Kashyapa and Aditi had a son named Vivasvana. This

was the sun god, also known as Surya or Martanda.

Surya was married to Samjna, Vishvakarma's daughter. They had two sons. The fist son was

Vaivasvata Manu and the second son was Yama or Shradhadeva, the god of death. Yama had a

twin sister named Yamuna. The sun's energy was so strong that Samjna could not bear to look at

her husband. Through her powers, she created an image from her own body that looked exactly

like her. This image was called Chhaya (shadow).

Samjna told Chhaya, "I cannot bear the energy of my husband, I am going off to my father's

house. Stay here, pretend to be Samjna and look after my children. Under no circumstances tell

anyone, certainly not my husband, that your are not Samjna."

"I will do as you have asked me to," replied Chhaya. "But the moment someone curses me or

pulls me by the hair, I shall be forced to reveal the truth."

Samjna went to her father Vishvakarma kept asking her to return to her husband. But this Samjna

refused to do. Instead, she went to the land known as Uttara Kuru and started to live there as a

mare.

Meanwhile, Surya, who had not realized that Samjna had been replaced by Chhaya, had two sons

through Chhaya. They were named Savarni Manu and Shani (Saturn). As soon as her own

children were born, Chhaya no longer displayed as much of love for Samjna's children as she

used to do. Vaivasvata Manu was a quiet sort of person and he ignored the implied neglect. But

Yama was not the tolerant. Besides, he was also younger. He raised his leg to kick Chhaya. At

this, Chhaya cursed Yama that his legs would fall off.

Yama went and complained to Surya. " I have not really kicked her," he said. "I only threatened

to. And does a mother ever curse her children?"

"I can't undo the curse, " replied Surya. "At best, I can reduce its severity. Your legs will not

actually fall off. Some of the flesh from your legs will fall off onto the earth and create worms.

Thereby, you will be freed of your curse."

But nevertheless, Surya felt that there was some truth in Yama's asking whether a mother would

ever curse her children. He taxed Chhaya with the truth, but Chhaya would not reveal anything

Surya then grasped her by the hair and threatened to curse her. Since her conditions were now

violated, Chhaya blurted out the truth.

In an extremely angry mood, Surya dashed off to Vishvakarma's house. Vishvakarma tried to

cool him down. "it is all because of your exercises energy that this has happened, exclaimed

Vishvakarma. "If you permit, I will shave off some of the extra energy. Then Samjna will be able

to look at you."

Surya agreed to this proposition. With the shaved off energy, Vishvakarma manufactured

Vishnu's chakra (a weapon like a bladed discus).

Surya found out that Samjna was in Uttara Kuru in the form of a mare. He joined her there in the

form of a horse. As horse, they had two sons named Nasatya and Dasra. Since ashva means

horse, the sons were also known as the two Ashvinish and became the physicians of the gods.

Surya and Samjna then gave up their equine forms and lived happily ever after.

Vaivasvata Manu's Children

Vaivasvata Manu has no children and he arranged for a sacrifice so that he might have a son.

Nine sons were born as a result of this sacrifice. Their names were Ikshvaku, Nabhaga, Dhrishta,

Sharyati, Narishyanta, Pramashu, Rishta, Karusha and Prishadhra. Manu also made an offering

to the two gods Mitra and Varuna. As a result of this offering, a daughter named Ila was born.

Budha was the son of Chandra, and Budha and Ila had a son named Pururva. Subsequently,

thanks to a boon conferred on her by Mitra and Varuna. Ila became a man named Sudyumna.

Sudyumna's sons were Utkala, Gaya and Vinatashva. Utkala ruled in Orissa, Gaya in the region

that is also called Gaya, and Vinatashva in the west.

Sudyumna was not entitled to rule since he had earlier been a woman. He lived in the city known

as Pratishthana. Pururava inherited this later on.

When Vaivasvata Manu died, his ten sons divided up the earth amongst themselves, Ikshvaku

ruled in the central regions. He had a hundred sons, the eldest of whom was named Vikukshi.

Vikukshi came to be known as Shashada. Thereby hangs a tale.

Ikshvaku wanted to organize a sacrifice and he sent his son Vikukshi to the forest to fetch some

meat for the sacrifice. While hunting for game, Vikukshi felt very hungry and ate up some of the

meat. This was a sacrilege and the sage Vashishtha advised Ikshvaku to banish Vikukshi from

his kingdom. Because the meat that he had eaten had been the meat of a rabbit (shashaka),

Vikukshi came to be known as Shashada.

But after Ikshvaku died, Vikukshi returned to his father's kingdom and began to rule there. This

was the kingdom of Ayodhya. One of Vikukshi's sons was Kakutshta, and Rama of Ramayana

fame was born in this line.

Kubalashva

Kubalashva was one of the kings descended from Kakutstha. Kubalashva's father was named

Vrihadashva. After Vrihadashva had ruled for many years, he desired to retire to the forest. He

therefore prepared to hand over the kingdom to his son Kubalashva. But learning of King

Vrihadashva's resolve, a sage named Utanka came to meet the king.

"Don't go to the forest right now", Utanka told the king. My hermitage (ashrama) is on the shores

of the ocean and is surrounded by sand in all directions. A strong rakshasa named Dhundhu lives

under the sand. He is so strong that even the gods have been unable to kill him. Once every year,

Dhundhu exhales his breath and this raises a tremendous cloud of sand and dust. For an entire

week the sun remains shrouded in dust and for the whole week, there are earthquakes as a result

of Dhundhu's exhalation. This is disturbing my mediation (tapasya) and you can't very well go

away to the forest without first doing something about Dhundhu. Only you are capable of killing

him. I have accumulated a lot of power as a result of my tapasya and I will give this to you if you

kill Dhundhu."

Vrihadashva told Utanka that there was no need for Vrihadashva himself to kill Dhundhu. He

would go to the forest as he had decided. His son Kubalashva was perfectly capable of killing

Dhundhu and would accompany Utanka.

Kubalashva and his hundred sons went to the shores of the ocean where all the sand was.

Kubalashva asked his sons to start digging so that they might find Dhundhu. Dhundhu attacked

Kubalashva's sons and killed all of them but three. The three who escaped were named

Dridashva, Chandrashva and Kapilashva. But Dhundhu himself was killed by Kubalashva. As a

result of this great feat, Kubalashva came to be known as Dhundhumara. The sage Utanka

blessed Kubalashva and by the sage's blessings, Kubalashva's dead sons went straight to heaven.

Trishanku

From Dridashva was descended a king named Trayaruni. Trayaruni was a righteous king and

followed all the religious dictates. But Trayarun's son Satyavrata was quite the opposite and

refused to follow the righteous path. King Trayaruni's chief priest was the great sage Vashishtha.

Vashishtha advised the king that his evil son should be banished from the kingdom. Trayaruni

accepted the sage's advice. Consequently, Satyavrata started to live with outcasts (chandalas)

outside the kingdom.

After some time, Trayaruni relinquished his kingship and went away to the forest. The kingdom

had no king and degenerated into anarchy. The absence of a king is also frowned upon by the

gods and for twelve years there was a terrible drought.

Vishvamitra was another great sage. While all this was going on, Vishvamitra was not present in

the kingdom. He had gone away to perform tapasya on the shores of the ocean, having left his

wife and children in a hermitage (ashrama) that was in the kingdom. But because there was such

a long spell of drought, there was also famine in the kingdom. People started to starve.

Vishvamitra's wife decided to sell her son so that she might have some food to eat. She tied a

rope round the son's neck and took him to the market–place. There, she sold him in exchange for

a thousand cows. Since a rope had been tied around the son's neck (gala), he came to be known

as Galava.

But Satyavrata discovered what terrible straits Vishvamitra's family was in. He freed Galava and

started to take care of Vishvamitra's wife and children.

Satyavrata had not been terribly fond of Vashishtha. He blamed the sage for his banishment.

When thee was famine everywhere, Satyavrata stole Vashishtha's cow. He killed the cow and

served the meat to Vishvamitra's sons, apart from eating it himself.

Vashishtha was in a terrible rage when he got to know about this incident. He cursed Satyavrata.

"You have committed three sins (shanku)," Vashishtha told Satyavrata. "Firstly, you have

angered your father Trayaruni. Secondly, you have stolen and killed a cow. Thirdly, you have

eaten beef, a forbidden meat. Because of these three sins, you will henceforth be known as

Trishanku and be eternally cursed." (The word tri means three.)

Satyavrata had however taken care of Vishvamitra's family when the sage was away on his

meditation. After Vishvamitra returned, he was very happy to learn about what Trishanku had

done and offered to grant him a boon. Trishanku desired the boon that he might be allowed to go

to heaven in his own physical body. Thanks to Vishvamitra's immense powers, even this

virtually impossible task was accomplished. Trishanku became king in Trayaruni's kingdom and

Vishvamitra acted as his chief priest.

Sagara

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 out and Bahu went off to the forest with his wife Yadavi,

The enemy kings who dislodged Bahu were led by the Haihaya and Talajangha kings. They were

aided by the Shakas, Yavanas, Paradas, Kambojas and Pahlavas.

King Bahu died in the forest. His wife Yadavi desired to die on her husband's funeral pyre. But

since Yadavi was pregnant at the time, the sage Ourva persuaded her that such an act would be a

sin. He brought Yadavi to his own hermitage and began to take care of her.

Bahu had also a second wife and she had once tried to poison Yadavi. The poison (gara) had

however done Yadavi no harm and emerged when the baby was born. Since the baby was born

together with poison, he came to known as Sagara.

The sage Ourva took care of Sagara's education. He imparted to Sagara the knowledge of all the

shastras and also the usage of weapons. Amongst other things, Sagara acquired the skill of using

a divine weapon known as agneyastra.

When he grew up, Sagara attacked the Haihaya kings and defeated them through the use of

agneyastra. He then defeated the Shakas, Yavanas, Paradas, Kambojas and Pahlavas and was

about to kill them all. But these enemy kings fled to the sage Vashishtha for refuge and

Vashishtha persuaded Sagara not to kill his enemies. Instead, the heads of the Shakas were half

shaven off. The Yavanas and Kambojas had their heads completely shaven. The Pahlavas were

instructed that they would have to keep beards. These enemy kings also lost all right to follow

the religion laid down in the Vedas. Amongst the other kings who Sagara defeated were the

Konasarpas, the Mahishakas, the Darvas, the Cholas and the Keralas.

King Sagara had two wives. The first was named Keshini and she was the daughter of the king of

Vidarbha. The Brahma Purana does not tell us the name of the second wife but from the

Mahabharataa we know that it was Sumati. Keshini and Sumati had no sons. They therefore

began to pray to Ourva so that they might have sons.

Ourva was pleased at these prayers and said, " Both of you will have sons. But one of you will

have a single son and the other will have sixty thousand sons. Tell me, who wants what."

Keshini asked for a single son and Sumati asked for sixty thousand sons. In due course, Keshini

gave birth to a son named Panchajana. Sumati gave birth to a gourd. Inside the gourd there was a

lump of meat. The gourd was placed inside a pot full of clarified butter (ghrita). And from the

lump of meat were born sixty thousand sons.

King Sagara proceeded to conquer the entire earth. As a recognition of this conquest, he initiated

an ashvamedha yajna (horse sacrifice). In this ceremony, the sacrificial horse is left free to

wander all over the earth. The sixty thousand sons accompanied the horse as its guards. The

horse eventually reached the shores of the ocean that lies towards the south–east. While Sagara's

sons were resting, the horse was stolen. The sons started to look for the horse and began to dig

up the sands in their search. In this process, they came upon the sage Kapila. Kapila had been

meditating and his meditation was disturbed by the terrible din that Sagara's sons made. He

gazed at them in fury and all but four of the sons were burnt to ashes. The four sons who were

saved were named Varhiketu, Suketu, Dharmaketu and Panchajana.

The Brahma Purana is slightly confused here. Was Panchajana Keshini's son or Sumati's son?

There is some inconsistency with the account given in the Mahabharataa. In the Mahabharataa, it

is Keshini who gave birth to sixty thousand sons and it is Sumati who had a single son named

Asamanja. Also in the Mahabharataa, all sixty thousand sons were burnt to ashes.

The Brahma Purana also tells us that the sacrificial horse was obtained by Sagara from the ocean.

This is the reason why the ocean is referred to as sagara.

To come back to the account given in the Brahma Purana. Panchajana's son was Amshumana

and Amshumana's son was Dilipa. Dilipa had a son named Bhagiratha. Bhagiratha brought down

the river Ganga from heaven to earth and thus redeemed his ancestors who had been burnt to

ashes by Kapila. It was because of this that the river Ganga came to be known as Bhagirathi.

From Bhagiratha was descended Raghu. Raghu's son was Aja, Aja's son Dasharatha and

Dasharatha's son Rama.

The Moon and the Lunar Dynasty

There was a sage named Atri. Atri performed very difficult tapasya. So difficult was the tapasya

that Atri's energy was thrown up into the sky. The sky could not bear this energy and hurled it

down onto the earth. This energy then gave birth to Soma or Chandra, the moon god. Brahma

took Chandra up into his chariot and drove the chariot around the earth twenty–one times. From

whatever energy was left after Chandra has been created, the herbs were born.

Chandra also performed very difficult tapasya. One padma year consists of 10,000,000,000,000

normal years. For one hundred such padma years, Chandra mediated. After the meditation was

over, Brahma appointed Chandra lord over seeds, herbs, brahmanas and the oceans. Chandra also

performed a rajasuya yajna (royal sacrifice) as a celebration of his lordship. This gave him a lot

pomp, glory, wealth and respect.

But all this merely served to turn Chandra's head. The guru (teacher) of the gods was the sage

Brihaspati. Brihaspati had a wife named Tara and Chandra abducted Tara. Despite the gods and

the sages asking Chandra to return Tara, the moon god would not listen. A terrible war then

raged over Tara, the gods fighting for Chandra. Shukracharya, the guru of the demons, fought on

Chandra's side and Shiva fought on Brihaspati's side. This war (Samgram) came to be known as

tarakamaya samgram, since it was fought over Tara.

Finally Brahma intervened and a truce was called. But Chandra and Tara had by then had a son,

and Brihaspati refused to accept this son as his own. This son was Budha. As you already known,

Budha married Ila and they had a son named Pururava.

The Brahma Purana now describes several kings belonging to the lunar dynasty.

Yayati

In the lunar dynasty, there was born a powerful king named Nahusha. He married Viraja and

they had six sons named Yati, Yajati, Samyati, Ayati, Yati, and Suyati. Yati became a hermit. So

although Yayati was not the eldest, he was crowned king after Nahusha.

Yayati had two wives. The first was Devayani, daughter of Shukracharya. And the second was

Sharmishtha, daughter of Vrishaparva, the king of the danavas. Devayani had two sons named

Yadu and Turvasu and Sharmishtha had three sons named Druhya, Anu and Puru. Yayati

conquered the whole earth and ruled over it. When he became old, he divided the earth amongst

his five sons. Yadu was given the lands to the east, Puru the lands in the center, Turvasu the

lands to the south and south–east, Druhya those to the north and Anu those to the west.

Yayati gave up his weapons and decided to travel throughout the world. He called Yadu to him

and said, "I wish to explore the world and my old age is a hindrance. Please accept my old age

and give me your youth in return."

Yadu refused. "I will not," he said. "One cannot eat well when one is old, nor can one pleasure

the comforts of the world. Old age is not pleasant. Ask one of my brothers instead." Yadu's

refusal angered Yayati. He cursed Yadu that he or his descendants would never be kings. Yayati

next requested Druhya, Turvasu and Anu, but they too refused and were similarly cursed by their

father. But Puru agreed to his father's request and gladly accepted the old age. He was blessed by

his father.

After many years had passed, Yayati got tired of the world and returned Puru's youth to him. He

accepted back his old age and retired to the forest to mediate.

From Puru was descended King Bharataa after whom the land came to be known as

Bharataavarsha. Also in this line was King Kuru, after whom all the descendants came to be

known as Kauravas. The sacred place named Kurukshetra owes its name to King Kuru.

From Turvasu were descended the kings of Pandya, Kerala, Kola and Chola. From Druhya were

descended the kings of Gandhara. The horses of the Gandhara kingdom are famous.

Yadu had five sons, Sahasrada, Payoda, Kroshtu, Nila and Anjika. Sahasrada's descendants were

the Haihayas, amongst whom the most famous was Kartyavirya Arjuna. Arjuna pleased the sage

Dattatreya and became invincible. He also had a thousand arms. Arjuna's greatest deeds were his

defeat and imprisonment of Ravana, king of Lanks. Kroshtu's descendants were Vrishni and

Andhaka and in the Vrishni line was born Krishna.

Geography

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, Kushadvipa, Krounchadvipa, Shakadvipa and

Pushkaradvipa. These regions are surrounded by seven oceans and their names are Lavana,

Ikshu, Sura, Sarpi, Dadhi, Dugdha and Jala.

Jambudvipa is in the center and right in the middle of Jambudvipa is Mount Sumeru. To the

south of Sumeru are the mountains Himavana, Hemakuta and Nishadha and to the north of

Sumeru are the mountains Nila, Shveta and Sringi. Jambudvipa itself is divided into several

regions (varshas). For example, Sumeru is in the middle of Ilavritavarsha. Braratavarsha is to the

south of Sumeru. To the east of Sumeru is Bhadrashvarsha and to the west is Ketumalavarsha.

Harivarsha lies to the south and Ramyakavarsha to the north. Still further north is

Hiranmayavarsha and beyond that, Uttara Kuruvarsha.

Brahma's city is on the peak of Sumeru. It is there that the river Ganga descends from heaven

and gets divided into four tributaries. Sita flows eastwards, Chakshu westwards, Bhadra

Northwards and Alakananda southwards into Bharataavarsha.

There are seven major mountain range sin Bharataavarsha and their names are Mahendra, Malya,

Sahya, Shuktimana, Riksha, Vindhya and Pariyatra. Bharataavarsha itself is divided into nine

regions (dvipas). The names of eight of these regions are Indradvipa, Soumya, Gandharva and

Varuna. The ninth region is completely surrounded by the ocean in all directions. To the east of

Bharataavarsha live the Kiratas and to the west the Yavanas.

Below the earth lie the seven regions of the underworld (Patala). Their names are Atala, Vitala,

Nitala, Sutala, Talatala, Rasatala and Patala. The daityas, danavas and the snakes (sarpa) live

there. The underworld is a wonderful place, more beautiful than heaven itself. The sage Narada

once went on a trip to the underworld and was bowled over by its beauty. It is full of palaces and

jewels. The sun rises there, but does not radiate too much of heat. The moon also rises, but its

beams are not at all chilly. The forests are populated by beautiful trees and the ponds are thick

with lotus flowers, the songs of cuckoo birds are heard everywhere. Below the underworld sleeps

a great snake, known as Shesha or Ananta. It has a thousand hoods, all covered with jewels. In

fact, this snake is really Vishnu in one of this various forms.

Also part of the world are hells (naraka), presided over by Yama, the god of death. Those are full

of weapons, fire and poisons and sinners are sent there to be punished. Sins that are punished by

dispatch to one of the several hells are lying, murder, killing cows, destroying cities, drinking,

killing brahmanas, theft, selling wines or hair, criticizing the Vedas, insulting elders, making

weapons, selling salt, destroying forests needlessly, killing sheep or deer, cheating and studying

under one's own son. Each sinner receives a punishment that is in proportion to the severity of

his sin. Of course, if one performs penance (prayashchitta) for one's sins, one need not go to

naraka. The best form of penance is praying to Krishna.

The earth (Prithivi or bhuloka) extends upto those arts of the sky that can be lit up by the rays of

the sun and the moon. The expanse from there to the solar circle is known as bhuvarloka and

holy sages live there. Above the solar circle is the lunar circle and beyond it, in succession, come

the regions of Mercury (Budha), Venus (Shukra), Mars (Mangala), Jupiter (Brihaspati), Saturn

(Shani), the Great Bear constellation (saptarshi) and the Pole Star (Dhruva). The region from the

solar circle to Dhruvaloka is known as heaven (Svarloka or svarga). Beyond Dhruvaloka is

Maharloka and further away, Janaloka are Tapaloka and Satyaloka. At the end of a kalpa, all the

three lokas (regions) of bhuloka, bhuvarloka and svarloka are destroyed. But the four lokas of

Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapaloka and Satyaloka are not destroyed.

Konaraka

There is an ocean to the south of Bharataavarsha. One the shores of this great ocean there is a

land named Ondra or Utkala (present Orissa). Utkala is populated by religious people and the

brahmanas who live there are learned in the Vedas. They are very good priests, learned in the

Puranas and the shastras and skilled in the art of sacrifices. In the land of Utkala, there is an

image of the sun (Surya) known as Konaditya. The word aditya also means the sun, as does the

word arka. Thus, Konaditya is the same as Konarka, a corruption of the latter word being

Konaraka. The image of Konaditys is so wonderful that even if one gazes at the image, all one's

sins are forgiven.

All around the temple there is sand. But nevertheless, many trees grow around the temple. The

best time to worship the sun there is at the time of sunrise. One has to face the east and draw a

lotus flower on the ground with red sandalwood. The lotus flower must have exactly eight petals.

A copper vessel has to be placed at the center of the flower and filled with paddy, sesamum

water, red sandalwood, red flowers and sacred grass. One prays to Surya to descend on the lotus

flower that has thus been drawn. If one worships Konaditya according to these prescribed rites,

the sins of seven preceding generations are forgiven.

The twelve adityas are nothing but different forms of Surya. Their names are Indra. Dhata,

Parjanya, Tvashta, Pusha Aryama, Bhaga Vivasvana, Vishnu, Amshumana, Varuna, and Mitra.

As Indra, Surya destroys the enemies of the gods. As Dhata, he creates living beings. As

Parjanya, he showers down rain. As Tvashta, he lives in the trees and herbs. As Pusha, he makes

foodgrains grow. As Aryama, he is in the wind. As Bhaga, he is in the body of all living beings.

As Vivasvana, he is in fire and helps to cook food. As Vishnu, he destroys the enemies of the

gods. As Amshumana, he is again in the wind. As Varuna, Surya is in the waters and as Mitra, he

is in the moon and in the oceans.

In each month of the year, it is a different aditya who shines. Indra shines in the month of

Ashvina, Dhata in Kartika, Parjanya in Shravana, Tvashta in Falguna, Pusha in Pousha, Aryama

in Vaishakha, Bhaga in Magha, Vivasvana in Jyaishtha, Vishnu in Chaitra, Amshumana in

Ashada, Varuna, in Bhadra and Mitra in Agrahayana. Vishnu has twelve hundred rays, Aryama

one thousand and three hundred. Vivasvana seventy–two, Amshumana fifteen, Parjanya seventy–

two, Varuna one thousand and three hundred, Tvashta one thousand and one hundred, Indra two

thousand and two hundred, Dhata eleven hundred, Mitra one thousand and Pusha nine hundred.

Apart from the names of the twelve adityas, Surya has twelve other names as well. These are

Aditya, Savita, Surya, Mihira, Arka, Prabhakara, Martanda, Bhaskara, Bhanu, Chitrabhanu,

Divakara and Ravi.

Brahma once recounted to the sages the one hundred and eight sacred names of Surya. The

Brahma Purana lists these names and we reproduce them in nine groups of twelve names each.

(1) Surya, Archana, Bhagavana, Tvashta, Pusha, Arka, Savita, Ravi, Gabhastimana, Aja, Kala,

Mrityu.

(2) Dhata, Prabhakara, Prithivi, Jala, Teja, Akasha, Vayu, Parayana, Soma, Brihaspati, Shukra,

Budha.

(3) Angaraka, Indra, Vivasvana, Diptamshu, Shuchi, Shouri, Shanaishvara, Brahma, Vishnu,

Rudra, Skanda, Vaishravana.

(4) Yama, Vaidyutam, Jathara, Agni, Aindhana, Tejohpati, Dharmadhvaja, Vedakarta, Vedanga,

Vedavahana, Krita, Treta.

(5) Dvapara, Kali, Sarvasurashraya, Kala, Kashtha, Muhurta, Kshapa, Yama, Kshana,

Samvatsara, Ashvattha, Kalachakra.

(6) Vibhavasu, Shashvata, Purusha, Yogi, Vyaktavyakta, Sanatana, Kaladhyaksha,

Prajadhyaksha, Vishvakarama, Tamonuda, Varuna, Sagara.

(7) Amsha, Jimuta, Jivana, Ariha, Bhutashraya, Bhutapati, Sarvalokanamaskrita, Shrashta,

Samvartaka, Vahni, Sarvadi, Alolupa.

(8) Ananta, Kapila, Bhanu, Kamada, Sarvotamukha, Jaya, Vishala, Varada, Sarvabhutasevita,

Mana, Suparna, Bhutadi.

(9) Shighraga, Pranadharana, Dhanvantari, Dhumakety, Adideva, Aditinandana, Dvadashatma,

Ravi, Daksha, Pita, Mata, Pitamaha.

Indradyumna and Purushaottama Kshetra

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.

He once decided that he would worship Vishnu. A tirtha is a sacred place of pilgrimage.

Indradyumna scanned all the existing tirthas and cities. But none of them satisfied him. None of

them, he felt, was appropriate as a place for worshipping Vishnu.

Indradyumna's own capital was the city of Avanti, in the kingdom of Malva. Avanti was a

beautiful and wealthy city, surrounded on all sides by moats and other fortifications. Traders

from many countries came there with all sorts or commodities for trading. The roads of the city

were lined with shopes. The houses were painted white. The king's stables were full of horses

and elephants. All citizens of Avanti were pleasant of appearance and happy. Sacrifices were

held fairly often. Many were the temples, groves and ponds in Avanti. Any tree that grew on

earth could be found there.

There was a temple to Shiva in the city. This was known as the temple of Mahakala. The image

there was so sacred that worshipping Shiva in the temple of Mahakala was tantamount to

performing one thousand ashvamedha yajnas.

The river Shipra flowed past Avanti. On the banks of the river there was a temple of Vishnu

known as Govindasvami. Another temple to Vishnu was named Vikramasvami. But

Indradyumna was not satisfied with these temples. He wanted to build another temple to Vishnu.

He left Avanti to look for a proper place. His soldiers and subjects accompanied their king, so

that it looked as if the entire city of Avanti was on the march. After traveling for many days, they

arrived on the shores of the southern ocean, the ocean that is known as lavana samudra.

There were so many waves in the ocean that the ocean itself seemed to be dancing. Marine

animals lived in the ocean and the waters were also the source of all sorts of jewels.

Indradyumna began to live on the shores of the ocean. He discovered a place near the ocean that

was thick with flower and fruit trees. Many types of birds gathered there to eat the fruit. This was

the place known as Purushaottama kshetra (place), the city of Puri of modern times.

Purshottama kshetra was a very important tirtha. But all knowledge of this tirtha had been hidden

until Indradyumna arrived on the scene. There was a reason for this. Many years ago, there used

to be an image of Vishnu there, where people used to pray. So sacred was the image that all the

sins of the worshippers were immediately forgiven. The result was that Yama could not punish

any of the sinners. They simply prayed to Vishnu's image and escaped. Yama therefore prayed to

Vishnu for a solution. Vishnu hid the image under the sand so that no one knew that it existed.

Indradyumna liked Purushaottama Kshetra. The river Mahanadi or Chitropala flowed not very

far away. The people who lived around the place were religious. He decided that this was the

right place for building a temple to Vishnu. On an auspicious day, the foundation stone was laid.

Indradyumna then got in touch with the kings of Kalkinga, Utakala and Koshala. He requested

their help in fetching stones for the building of the temple. The kings sent their architects to the

Vindhya mountains. The stones were gathered from these mountains and brought to

Purushaottama Kshetra in boats and chariots. Messengers were also sent to several other kings

for aid. They came with their armies and with a lot of wealth.

Indradyumna told the assembled kings, "I wish to accomplish two difficult tasks. The first is to

perform an ashvamedha yajna here. And the second is to build a temple to Vishnu. Both of these

are difficult jobs, particularly the second. But if you help me, I am confident that both jobs can

be done."

The kings agreed to help. They offered jewels, wealth, gold, clothes, food grains and other

objects. The place where the yajna was to be held was made entirely out of gold. In fact, all the

objects used in the yajna were made out of gold. Brahmanas from all over Jambudvipa came to

witness the sacrifice. They were donated elephants, horses and cows as alms. Never has there

been any other sacrifice to rival the one that Indradyumna performed. After the sacrifice was

over and the temple built, there remained the more important question of the image. How was

this to be made? Indradyumna began to pray to Vishnu for guidance.

Vishnu appeared before Indradyumna in a dream and said, "Why are you so miserable? When

the sun rises, go to the shores of the ocean. There you will find a tree. Half of the tree is in the

water and the remaining half in the sand. Chop down this tree. It s wood will give you the

material for the image.

In the morning, Indradyumna went to the seashore and found the tree. It was just as Vishnu had

described it to be. With an axe, he chopped down the tree. As he was about to slice the trunk in

two, two brahmanas appeared before him. Although Indradyumna did not know it, these two

brahmanas were Vishnu and Vishvakarma in disguise.

"King. What have you done?" exclaimed the brahmanas. "You have cut down the only tree that

was on the shores of the ocean."

"Forgive me," replied Indradyumna. "I wished to make an image of Vishnu. Vishnu has

instructed me in a dream that this is the tree from which the image should be made."

"That is an excellent idea," said the brahmana who was Vishnu in disguise. "There is nothing so

holy as praying to Vishnu. Meet my companion. He is as skilled as the great Vishvakarma

himself. If you want, he will build the image for you."

King Indradyumna agreed. And instructed by Vishnu, Vishvakarma started to build the image.

Or, to be more accurate, there were three different images. The first one was that of Baladeva or

Balarama. This was completely white in colour, except for the eyes, which were red. The image

was dressed in blue and a snake held its hood over Balarama's head. A club and a mace were in

Balarama's hands. The second image was Krishna's. This was blue in colour, with eyes like lotus

flowers. The image was dressed in yellow and had a chakra in its hand. The third image was that

of Krishna's sister Subhadra. This image was golden in colour and was dressed in wonderful

clothes.

When Indradyumna discovered that the images were made in a matter of minutes, he was

thunderstruck. He realised that the two brahmanas cold not be mere mortals. He fell at their feet

and said, "Please tell me who you are. You cannot be humans."

Vishnu and Vishvakarma then revealed their true selves and Indradyumna was thrilled. Vishnu

blessed the king and told him that he would rule for ten thousand and nine hundred years. And

even after Indradyumna died, a place would be reserved for him in heaven. On an auspicious

day, the three images were instated in the temple.

Markandeya

Many years ago, a great destruction (Pralaya) took place. The earth was shrouded in darkness

and nothing could be seen. There was neither sun nor moon. Lightning and thunder crushed

mountains and trees. There were showers of meteors. Lakes and rivers dried up. The entire earth

burnt with fire and the flames of the fire reached down to the underworld. All living beings

perished in this fire, including the gods and the demons.

There was a sage named Markandeya. While all this was going on, Markandeya was busy

meditating. Such was the power of Markandeya's tapasya that the fire dared not touch him. But it

is also true that Markandeya was scared of the fire that raged all around him. He suffered from

hunger and thirst and forgot all about his tapasya. His lips and throat dried up from fear.

Markandeya discovered that there was a banyan tree that was untouched by all these ravages. He

retired to the shade of the banyan tree and started to pray to Vishnu.

Clouds gathered in the sky. They were thick and dark clouds and they spread all over the earth. It

started to rain and it poured and poured. Water was everywhere and the earth was flooded. The

water put out the fire. It rained continuously for twelve years. The oceans flooded the shores and

the mountains were pulverised. Vishnu slept on the water.

Markandeya did not know what to do. There was water everywhere and he floated on it. But he

continued to pray to Vishnu.

Vishnu spoke to Markandeya. "Do not be frightened, Markandeya," he said. "You are devoted to

me and I shall protect you."

Markandeya did not realise that it was Vishnu who was speaking. "Who dares to address me

thus?" he demanded. "Am I a child that I should be so addressed? I am the great Markandeya,

blessed by Brahma himself."

But try as he might, Markandeya cold not see anyone anywhere. Where had the voice come from

then? Had it all been an illusion? Not knowing what to do, he started to pray again to Vishnu.

Suddenly he saw the banyan tree floating on the water. A golden bed was spread on the branches

of the tree and on the bed there slept a small boy. Markandeya was exceedingly surprised to see

the small boy floating in the middle of this deluge. He was so confused by his illusions that he

did not realise that this boy was none other than Vishnu.

The boy spoke to Markandeya. "You are tired," said the boy. "You are looking for a refuge.

Enter my body and rest for some time."

Markandeya was so confused that, before he could react, he entered the boy's body through the

mouth. Inside the boy's stomach Markandeya discovered all the worlds, the seven regions and

the seven oceans. The mountains and the kingdoms were all there. So were all living beings.

Markandeya did not know what to make of all this. He started to pray to Vishnu. No sooner than

he had started, he came out of the boy's mouth. Vishnu now appeared before him and blessed

him. The sage spent a thousand years with Vishnu. Vishnu then asked, "I wish to grant you a

boon. What is your desire?"

"I want to build a temple to Shiva in Purushaottama Kshetra," replied Markandeya. "This will

prove to everyone that Vishnu and Shiva are really one and the same."

Vishnu granted the boon and Markandeya built a temple to Shiva known as Bhuvaneshvara

(Lord of the World).

King Shveta

In Satya Yuga there used to be a king named Shveta. He was such a good king that during his

reign people lived for ten thousand years. No one dies as a child. Longevity was high and there

was no infant mortality.

But there was a sage named Kapalagoutama. Unfortunately, the sage's son died as an infant. The

sage brought the dead body to Shveta and the king resolved that if he could not bring the sage's

son back to life within a week, he would immolate himself in a fire. Having thus taken an oath,

king Shveta worshipped Shiva with one thousand and one hundred blue lotus flowers. Shiva

appeared before the king and granted the boon that the infant son might be brought back to life.

King Shveta ruled for a thousand years. He also built a temple to Vishnu in Purushaottama

kshetra. The temple that had been built by Indradyumna was known as the temple of Jagannatha.

Shveta's temple was not very far from this and was known as the temple of Shvetamadhava. The

image in this temple was as white as the moon.

Bali

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 the

three worlds.

In desperation, the gods approached Vishnu. "Please do something about Bali", they requested.

"You always help us out when we are in trouble".

"There is no difference between Bali and the gods so far as I am concerned," replied Vishnu

"Bali is devoted to me. I cannot therefore fight with him. But I will think of a way so that his

kingdom might be taken away from him and given to you."

Vishnu decided to be born as Aditi's son. The son was a dwarf. This was the Vamana avatara

(dwarf incarnation) of Vishnu.

Bali proposed to organise a horse sacrifice. Many sages came to the sacrifice and Shukracharya

was the chief priest. The dwarf also arrived to witness the yajna.

Shukracharya realised that the dwarf was none other than Vishnu. He told Bali, "I suspect that

this dwarf is Vishnu in disguise. He must have come here to ask you for something. Please do

not grant him anything without first consulting me."

"Certainly not," replied Bali. "It is good fortune indeed that the great Vishnu has come to my

house. What is there to consult about? I shall grant Vishnu whatever he wants."

Bali went to the dwarf to ascertain what the dwarf wanted. Vishnu expressed the wish that he

might be given as much of land as might be covered in three of the dwarf's steps. This boon Bali

readily granted. But no sooner than the boon had been granted, the dwarf adopted a gigantic

form. He placed one foot on Bali's yajna and the second on Brahmaloka.

"Where will I place my third step?" demanded Vishnu. There is no more space left in the entire

universe. Find me a place for my third step."

Bali smiled and said, "Place it on my back."

Vishnu was charmed at Bali's generosity. He granted Bali the boon that Bali would hold the title

of Indra in a future manvantara. He then appointed Bali king of the underworld. But Indra's

kingdom of heaven, which Bali had conquered, was returned to Indra.

Brahma had all this while been in Brahmaloka. When Vishnu placed his second foot on

Brahmaloka, Brahma felt that he should welcome his water–pot (kamandalu) to wash the foot.

The water spilled over from the foot and fell on the mountains. There the water divided into four.

Vishnu accepted the flow that went northwards. The flow that went westwards returned to

Brahma's kamandalu. The flow that went eastwards was gathered up by the gods and the sages.

But the flow that went southwards got entangled in Shiva's matted hair. This water was the river

Ganga.

Goutama

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 had to be found to remove Ganga from Shiva's hair. She tried persuasion, but

Shiva refused to listen.

At this time, there was a terrible drought on earth which went on for fourteen years. The only

place that was not affected by the drought was the sage Gouthama's hermitage. Other people also

gathered in the hermitage to save themselves from the drought and Goutama welcomed them all.

Ganesha thought that he might be able to devise a way to free his mother of the Ganga problem.

He went and began to live in Gouthama's hermitage.

Ganesha cultivated the acquaintance of the other sages and become quite friendly with them.

One of Parvati's companions was Jaya. Ganesha told Jaya that she was to adopt the form of a

cow and eat up the grain in Goutama's fields. And the moment she was struck, she was to lie

down on the ground and pretend to be dead.

Goutama noticed that a cow was eating up his grain. He tried to drive away the cow by striking it

with a blade of grass. As soon as he did this, the cow uttered a Srill bellow and fell down on the

ground. Ganesha and the other sages came running to see what had happened. They discovered

that, to all intents and purposes, a cow had been struck down dead by sage Goutama. They

therefore refused to stay in an ashrama where such a sin had been committed.

Goutama tried to restrain them. "Please do not go away and forsake me," he said. "Tell me how I

may performed penance."

"You will have to bring down Ganga from Shiva's hair," replied Ganesh. "When that water

touches the dead body of the cow, your sin will be forgiven."

"You will have to bring down Ganga from Shiva's hair," replied Ganesha. "When that water

touches the dead body of the cow, your sin will be forgiven."

Ganesha was so friendly with the other sages that they all accepted his solution. Goutama also

agreed to do the needful. Accordingly, Goutama went to Mount Kailasa and began to pray to

Shiva. Shiva was pleased at Goutama's tapasya and offered to grant a boon. Goutama naturally

wanted the boon that Ganga might be brought down to earth. Shiva agreed. It was thus that

Ganga was brought down to earth by the sage Goutama. Ganga has four tributaries in heaven,

seven on earth and four in the underworld. Since it was Goutama who brought Ganga down to

earth, the river is also known as Goutami Ganga.

The Doves

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 had penetrated so far inside the forest that he was far from home. It became night and also

started to rain. Hungry and thirsty, the hunter lost his way. He climbed up a tree and decided to

spend the night there. But his mind kept going back to his wife and children at home.

For many years a dove and its family had lived happily on that tree. Both the male and female

had gone out to look for food. But although the make dove had returned to the nest, the female

dove had not. In fact, the female had been captured by the hunter and was now inside a cage. The

male did not know this. He mourned for his wife.

These words of mourning were heard by the female dove inside the cage and she made her

presence felt. The male dove came down and discovered his wife inside the cage. "The hunter is

sleeping now, " he said. "Now is the time for me to free you."

"No," replied the female dove. "You know how it is with living beings. One living being lives on

another. I can find not fault with the hunter, he is merely collecting his food. He is like a guest to

us. And it is our duty to offer up our bodies for the sake of a guest."

"You are quite right," said the male dove. "I lost my sense of propriety. We have to serve our

guest. But how do we serve our guest? We have nothing that we can call our own."

"At the moment the hunter is suffering most from the cold," replied the female dove. "We have

to light a fire to warm him up. Go and find a fire and bring plenty of dead leaves and branches so

that the fire may burn."

The male dove found a flaming branch. He also brought many dry leaves and branches so that

the fire could burn. The rain had stopped and the fire warmed up the hunter.

"Now," said the female dove, "free me so that I may immolate myself in the fire. My roasted

flesh will serve as food for the hunter."

"Never," replied the male dove. "It is my right to serve the guest first".

Saying this, the male dove hurled himself into the fire. The hunter had heard the entire

conversation and marveled that two doves could be so altruistic. The female dove now requested

the hunter to free her from the cage. And as soon as he did this, the female dove also hurled

herself into the fire.

This selfless deed of the two doves was so wonderful that a space vehicle (Vimana) came down

to take the two doves straight to heaven. The cruel hunter was also impressed and repented his

past misdeeds. He told the doves, "You are indeed blessed. Before you go to heaven, please tell

me how I may perform penance for my sins."

"Go to Goutami Ganga and bathe there for fifteen days," replied the doves. "Your sins will also

be forgiven."

The hunter did as he had been asked to. The place where the doves immolated themselves

became a holy tirtha known as kapotatirtha, since the word kapota means dove.

Garuda and Maninaga

You have already been told about the great snake (naga) Ananta. Ananta had a son named

Maninaga. Garuda was the enemy of the snakes and the snakes were all afraid of Garuda.

Maninaga began to pray to Shiva. Having pleased Shiva, he obtained the boon that Garuda

would be able to do him no harm. Armed with this boon, Maninaga started to wander around

freely and did not run away even when faced with Garuda. Garuda found this to be exceedingly

strange. Although he could not kill Maninaga, he captured him and kept him imprisoned in his

own house.

Shiva had a companion named Nandi. Nandi told Shiva, "Lord, what has happened to Maninaga?

We have not seen him for some time. I hope that Garuda has not done him some harm."

Shiva of curse knew what had happened. He advised Nandi to pray to Vishnu. Nandi was to

please Vishnu and then ask for the boon that Maninaga might be freed from Garuda's

imprisonment. Nandi did this and Vishnu asked Garuda to release Maninaga.

"Lord," Garuda told Vishnu, "this is very unfair. Other masters treat their servants really well.

They give their servants gifts. See how Shiva has sent Nandi himself to rescue Shiva's devotee

Maninaga. You never give me any gifts. Moreover, when I obtain something on my own, you

ask me to relinquish it. Is this proper on your part? It is on me that you ride when you go out to

fight the demons. They get defeated because of my prowess. And yet it tickles your ego no end

to think that you have defeated them yourself."

Vishnu smiled and replied, "Garuda, you are quite right. You have become thin and learn from

bearing my weight. It is quite true that I can defeat the demons only because of your prowess.

You have a lot of strength. Why don't you bear the weight of my little finger and demonstrate

your strength?"

Vishnu placed his little finger on Garuda's head. So heavy was the finger that Garuda was

crushed against the ground.

"Please forgive me, said" Garuda. "I have been very stupid. I am an ignorant ass and you are the

lord of everything. I have been completely flattened by the weight of your little finger. Please tell

me how I may regain my old self."

Vishnu asked Nandi to take Garuda to Shiva. Shiva would find a way of restoring Garuda's old

appearance. Maninaga was released and Nandi took Garuda to Shiva. Shiva asked Garuda to

bathe in Goutami Ganga. This would make his appearance normal again.

Garuda did this. Not only was his old appearance restored, he became stronger and swifter than

he used to be. The place where Garuda bathed is a tirtha known as Garudatirtha.

Vishvamitra and Indra

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. They searched everywhere, but could find no food. The only object that they could find

was the body of a dead dog. They brought this to Vishvamitra.

"We have no choice," Vishvamitra told his disciples. "Clean the meat carefully with water. Then

offer it to the gods, the sages and the ancestors. This is what we have to live on."

Offering the meat of a dog to the gods was unheard of. Indra adopted the form of a hawk and

stole the vessel in which the meat was kept. But Vishvamitra got to know about this and got

ready to curse Indra. Indra was naturally scared of Vishvamitra's curse. He changed the dog–meat

into amrita (a heavenly drink) and brought the vessel back.

"I don't want amrita," Vishvamitra told Indra. "Bring the dog–meat back. I don't want to have

amrita when the whole world is starving for food. There is no food available and I do not see any

sin in eating dog–meat. Nor should there be a sin in offering it to the gods."

Indra was the god of rains. He realised that the only way to persuade Vishvamitra against eating

the dog–meat was to make it rain so that there would be an end to the drought. Instructed by

Indra, the clouds poured down rain. Vishvamitra and his disciples now consented to partake of

the amrita.

The place where all this happened has come to be known as Vishvamitratirtha.

Shveta

There used to be a brahmana named Shveta. He was a friend of the sage Goutama and had a

hermitage on the banks of the Goutami Ganga. Shveta was also devoted to Shiva. In due course,

Shiveta died and Yama's messengers arrived to take Shveta to Yama. But they could not even

enter Shiveta's house.

Finding that Yama's messengers ere not returning, Yama's companion Chitraka told Yama,

"What do you think has happened? Why aren't the messengers returning?

Yama now sent his companion Mrityu (literally death) to find out what was going on. Mrityu

went to Shveta's house and found Yama's messengers standing outside the house. They explained

that they were unable to enter the house because Shiva himself was guarding Shveta's body. One

of Shiva's companions asked Mrityu. "What are you doing here? What do you want?"

"I have come to take Shveta to Yama," replied Mrityu. "His time on earth is up."

Mrityu flung a noose to grasp Shveta's body. But Shiva's companion struck Mrityu with a rod

and killed him. When the news of this was taken to Yama, he was furious. With all his

companions he attacked Shveta's house. Nandi, Ganesha, Kartikeya and several of Shiva's

companions came to fight on Shiva's side, and a battle royal raged. All the gods arrived to

mediate and end the strife. Things had a got a bit out of hand and Yama himself had been killed

by Kartikeya.

The problem seemed to defy solution. Yama was, after all, performing his duty. But Shiva

insisted that his devotees would never be taken to Yama, but would instead go straight to heaven.

Shiva's condition was finally agreed to. Nandi brought water from the Goutami Ganga and

sprinkled it on Yama and the others who had died in the fighting. They were all immediately

brought back to life.

Kubera

Kubera was the eldest son of the sage Vishrava. Vishrava had two wives. The fist wife give birth

to Kubera. The second wife was a rakshasa (demon) woman and gave birth to Ravana,

Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana. Kubera used to rule in Lanka and his relations with his cousins

were extremely good. But Ravana's mother did not like idea of her sons mixing so much with

Kubera.

She called her sons and said, "What are you up to? Why do you cause me so much of pain? You

are demons and Kubera is a god. Is it proper that you should be so friendly with him? The

relation between gods and demons is one of enmity. Consider Kubera's pomp and glory. Have

you got anything like that to show for yourselves? Do something so as to improve your own

statures." Thus instructed by their mother, Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana went off to the

forest to perform tapasya. They pleased Brahma with their prayers and desired the boon that they

might win over the kingdom of Lanka. Ravana also obtained the boon that he would become

very strong.

Thus fortified with the boons, the demons attacked Kubera and defeated him. They drove Kubera

out of Lanka. Kubera possessed a beautiful Vimana named pushpaka. This was also appropriated

by Ravana. Ravana also made it known that whoever gave Kubera refuge would be killed by

him. This meant that no one dared give refuge to Kubera.

Kubera sought the advice of his grandfather Pulastya. Pulastya told him to go to the banks of the

Goutami Ganga and pray to Shiva there. Shiva appeared before Kubera and blessed him with the

boon that Kubera would become the god of all wealth.

Harishchandra

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.

"Go to the banks of the Goutami Ganga," advised the sages. "Pray to the god Varuna there. We

are sure that Varuna will grant you a son."

Harishchandra pleased Varuna with his prayers and asked for a son.

"You will have a son," said Varuna. "But there is a condition attached. You will have to

subsequently organise a yajna in my honor and you will have to sacrifice your son at this yajna.

Tell me if this condition is acceptable to you."

"Yes indeed," replied Harishchandra.

In due course, Harishchandra had a son who was named Rohita.

Varuna came to Harishchandra and asked, "What about the yajna in my honor?"

"My son is still too young," replied Harishchandra. "Let him at least attain ten days of age. Till

then, the baby is in any case impure and is not fit to be sacrificed."

After ten days Varuna came again and asked, "What about the yajna in my honor?

"Please let him grow his teeth," replied Harishchandra. "Animals are sacrificed at yajnas. And no

one becomes an animal until he actually has teeth."

Varuna waited till the teeth grew and returned when Rohita was seven years of age. "What about

the yajna in my honor?" he asked.

"These are only milk teeth," replied Harishchandra. "These do not characterise an animal. Please

wait until his proper teeth have grown."

Varuna returned when the proper teeth grew and asked, "What about the yajna in my honor?"

"He is the son of kshatriya (the second of the four classes, a warrior class)," replied

Harishchandra. "But his training in the art of fighting has not even begun. He cannot be called a

kshatriya until he knows how to fight. Till that day he is an incomplete man. Do you really want

such an incomplete man as a sacrifice?"

After some years had passed, Rohita became skilled in the art of fighting and was appointed the

heir–apparent (yuvaraja) to the kingdom. He was then sixteen years of age.

Varuna appeared again and asked, "What about the yajna in my honor?"

This time the entire conversation took place in front of the prince and Rohita intervened before

Harishchandra could say anything. "Father," he said, "I have already resolved to perform a yajna

in Vishnu's honor. Grant me the permission to complete that first. After that, do what you will."

Rohita went off to the forest. Meanwhile, Varuna had had enough and he afflicted Harishchandra

with a painful stomach ailment. News of his father's illness was taken to Rohita in the forest. In

the forest, Rohita met a sage named Ajigarta. The sage was very poor and, together with his wife

and three sons, was starving.

"Will you sell one of your three sons to me?" asked Rohita. "The boy is needed for a sacrifice."

"I shall not sell my eldest son," said the sage. "My wife will not permit the youngest one to be

sold. You can have the one in the middle. His name is Shunahshepa. The price will be one

thousand cows, one thousand golden coins, one thousand pieces of clothing and a lot of wealth."

Rohita paid the price and brought Shunahshepa home to Harishchandra.

"We can't do this," said Harishchandra. "It is the duty of kings to protect the brahmanas. How

can we sacrifice the son of a brahmana? It is better to die instead. Go and return Shunahshepa to

his father."

Just then a divine voice was heard from heaven. The voice said, "There is no need for anyone to

die. Take Shunahshepa to the banks of the Goutami Ganga and perform the yajna to Varuna

there. Goutami Ganga is such a sacred river that no human sacrifices are needed if a yajna is

performed there.

This is what Harishchandra did not Varuna was satisfied. As for Shunahshepa, he was adopted

by the sage Vishvamitra as a son.

Vriddhagoutama

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 the sages in

studying the Vedas and Shastras under a teacher. But Vriddhagoutama knew some incantations

(mantras) which he always chanted. He also worshipped the god Agni.

When he grew a bit older, Vriddhagoutama went out to tour the world. He traveled to many

places and met many people. Since he was deformed, he never got married. Who would want to

marry a person so ugly as he?

In the course of his travels, Vriddhagoutama arrived at a mountain named Shitagiri. He

discovered a beautiful cave in the mountain and thought that this might be a good place to live

in. So he entered the cave and was very surprised to find an old woman inside. The old woman

had obviously been living inside the cave for many years. Her body was thin and wasted from

the rigours of severe tapasya.

Vriddhagoutama was about to touch the feet of such a venerable old woman, but the woman

restrained him. "Please don't touch my feet," said the woman. "You are my guru. Does a guru

ever bow before his disciple?"

Vriddagoutama was surprised at these words. This was the first time in his life that he had met

the old woman. "How can I be your guru?", he asked. "You are much older than me. Besides, I

have never learnt anything and you are clearly a respected ascetic. Your words are a complete

mystery to me."

"Let me tell you my story," said the old woman. "Otherwise, you will not understand."

There used to be a handsome and brave prince named Ritadhvaja. He was the son of King

Arshtishena. Ritadhvaja went on a hunt to the forest and arrived at that very cave. There he

happened to meet an apsara named Sushyama. The two fell in love with each other and got

married. But eventually, Ritadhvaja had to return home and Sushyama gave birth to a daughter

there. Sushyama left her daughter in the cave itself with the instruction that she was not to leave

the cave. The first man to enter the cave would become her husband. It was this daughter who

had now become the old woman. Ritadhvaja had reigned for eighty thousand years. After that,

ritadhvaja's son had reigned for ten thousand years. All this while, Sushyama's daughter had

lived in the cave, that is, for ninety thousand years all together.

"Now you see that you are to be my husband," said the old woman. "Is a husband not a guru?"

"What you say is quite impossible," replied Vriddhagoutama. "You are much older than me. I am

only a thousand years old and you more than ninety thousand. How can we marry? I am like a

child next to you."

"If you do not marry me, I will kill myself," said the old woman.

"But I am ugly," protested Vriddhagoutama. "I will promise you this much. If I every become

handsome and learned, I will indeed marry you."

"I have pleased the goddess Sarasvati, who presides over all learning, through my tapasya," said

the old woman. "She will make you learned. I have also pleased the god Varuna and he will

make you handsome."

Vriddhagoutama became handsome and learned and married the old woman. They lived happily

in the cave.

One day, various sages came to visit the couple. Amongst them there were sages like Vashishtha

and Vamadeva. But there were also young sages who ere not all that sensible. The younger sages

started to laugh at the sight of the young and handsome Vriddhagoutama and his aged wife.

"Who is this man?" they asked the old woman. "Is he your son or your grandson?"

The sages went away, but the couple felt ashamed. They asked the sage Agastya what they might

do. Agastya told them to go and bathe in the river Goutami Ganga. The river is so sacred that all

one's heart's desires are thereby granted. The couple did this and prayed to Vishnu and Shiva.

Wonder of wonders, the old woman became young and pretty. The place on the banks of the

river where these wonderful things happened is a tirtha named Vriddhasangama.

Pippalada

Many years ago, there used to be a sage named Dadhici. His wife was Lopamudra. Dadhichi's

hermitage was right next to the holy river Ganga. Lopamudra's sister Gabhastini also used to live

in the hermitage. Such was the sage Dadhichi's powers that daityas and danavas dared not set

foot inside the hermitage.

The gods once fought with the demons and managed to defeat them. After the war was over, they

came to pay their respects to Dadhichi. Dadhichi welcomed his guests and wanted to know how

they were faring.

"Thanks to your blessings, we are fine," replied the gods. "We have just defeated the demons in a

war. In fact, we have a slight problem. We no longer need our weapons now that the demons

have run away. We don't know of a safe place where we can store all these weapons. We were

wondering if we might keep the weapons in your ashrama. This is one of the safest places that

can be found."

Dadhichi consented to this proposal. The gods left their weapons in the hermitage and went back

to heaven.

When Lopamudra heard what Dadhichi had done, she was not at all pleased. "You have done

something that is mot improper," she told her husband. "one should never accept responsibility

for someone else's property, especially if one is an ascetic and has not material possessions of

one's own. Moreover, you have agreed to store the weapons of the gods. Dose this not mean that

those who are the god's enemies will look upon you too as an enemy? And what are you going to

do if something should happen to the weapons? Will the gods not blame you then?"

"Your points are well taken," said Dadhichi. "But I had not thought of them and I have given the

gods my word. I can't very well go back on my word now."

A hundred years passed. The gods did not return to collect their weapons. The weapons began to

lose their luster, Dadhichi did not know how the energy of the weapons might be preserved. He

washed them with holy water and the energy of the weapons got dissolve in the water. Dadhichi

then drank up the water. As for the weapons themselves, they faded away once their energy was

gone.

Finally the gods came to claim their weapons. "Can we have our weapons back? They asked.

"Our enemies have become powerful again. We need our weapons."

"That may be," said Dadhichi. "But the weapons are no longer there. I have swallowed up their

energy. Let me tell you what can be done. I will use the powers of meditation (yoga) to give up

my life. Then excellent weapons can be made out of my bones.

The gods were reluctant, but thee was no other solution. Dadhichi died and the gods requested

Vishvakarma to make weapons for them out of Dadhichi's bones. Vishvakarma complied and the

weapon name vajra that he made was truly remarkable.

Lopamudra was away when this incident took place. She returned and found that her husband

had died. She was afflicted with sorrow and wished to immolate herself in a fire. But she

happened to be pregnant at the time, so that this could not immediately be done. Once the baby

was born, she killed herself after having handed over the baby to a pippala (fig) tree for rearing.

Since the pippala tree brought up the boy, he came to be known as Pippalada. Chandra was the

lord over all trees. The trees asked Chandra for some amrita for Pippalada and Chandra obliged.

The amrita gave Pippalada a lot of strength.

When Pippalada grew up, he wanted to know who his parents were and the trees told him the

story. Pippalada blamed the gods for his parents death and decided to seek revenge. The trees

brought Pippalada to Chandra.

"You are still too young," said Chandra. "First you must become learned and well–versed in the

use of weapons. Go to the forest of dandakaranya. The river Goutami Ganga flows through that

forest. Pray to Shiva there and I am sure that your wishes will be fulfilled."

Pippalada pleased Shiva through his prayers.

"What boon do you desire?" asked Shiva.

I want the boon that I may be able to destroy the gods," replied Pippalada.

"I have a third eye in the middle of my forehead," said Shiva. "The day you can see my third eye,

your wish will be granted."

"I have a third eye in the middle of my forehead," said Shiva. "the day you can see my third eye,

your wish will be granted."

Try as he might, Pippalada could not see Shiva's third eye. Pippalada therefore performed even

more difficult tapasya for even more years. Eventually he managed to see Shiva's third eye. From

Shiva's third eye was born a demon that looked like a mare.

"What is your desire?" asked the demon of Pippalada.

"Kill my enemies, the gods," was the reply.

The demon immediately attacked Pippalada.

"What are you doing?" asked Pippalada. "Why are you trying to kill me? I asked you to kill the

gods."

"But your body has bee created by the gods," replied the demon. "I will therefore kill you also."

Pippalada ran to Shiva for deliverance. Shiva earmarked a region inside the forest for Pippalada.

There the demon was not permitted to enter. Pippalada lived there, protected from the ravages of

the demon. Meanwhile, the gods requested Shiva to save them as well. Shiva persuaded

Pippalada to control his anger. He convinced Pippalada that nothing was to be gained by killing

the gods. That would not bring his parents back.

Pippalada agreed. But he wished to see his parents once. Accordingly, Vimana descended from

heaven on which Dadhichi and Lopamudra were seated. They blessed Pippalada and asked him

to marry and have children.

As for the demon, it became a river and merged with the holy Ganga.

Nageshvara

There was a city named Pratishthana. A king named Shurasena ruled in that city. Shurasena did

not have any sons. After a lot of effort, a son was born to him. But the son happened to be a

snake. The king and the queen were mortified at this turn of events. But they brought up their son

in great secrecy. Not even the king's ministers and priests knew that the prince was a snake.

When the prince grew slightly, he began to talk like a human, even though he was a snake. King

Shurasena arranged for the prince's education. After the snake had become learned in the

knowledge of the Vedas, he told his father, "Father, it is time for me to get married. If I do not

have a son, I am certain to go to naraka."

King Shurasena was very surprised to hear this. "How is that possible?" he asked. "Which

princess will consent to marry a snake?"

"I don't know," replied the prince. "But I do know that I have to get married. Other wise, I will

commit suicide. There are many forms of marriage that are permissible. Perhaps a princess can

be kidnapped and married to me."

Shurasena called his ministers and told them, "My son Nageshvara has now come of age. He has

also been made the heir–apparent to the kingdom. There is no one equal to him in bravery on

earth, in heaven or in the underworld. I am getting old. Please arrange for Nageshvara to get

married. I shall then relinquish my kingdom and retire to the forest."

The king did not of course tell his ministers that Nageshvara was a snake.

Shurasena had an aged minister. This minister reported that there was a king named Vijaya who

ruled in the eastern part of the country. King Vijaya had eight sons and one daughter. The

daughter's name was Bhogavati and she was very beautiful. She would be the right match for

Nageshvara.

The aged minister was sent as a messenger to Vijaya and the king agreed to the match. There

was a custom amongst kshatriyas that the bride did not always have to be married to the

bridegroom in person. She could also be married to the bridegroom's sword or some other

weapon. The minister explained to King Vijaya that there were some private reasons which made

it impossible for Nageshvara to come in person for the marriage. Bhogavati should be married

off to Nageshvara's sword. Vijaya consented to this and the marriage ceremony was performed.

The entire retinue then returned to the city of Pratishthana.

But what was to be done now that the marriage was over? Nageshvara's mother sent a made to

Bhogavati. The maid was to tell Bhogavati that her husband was actually a snake and then

observe her reaction.

The maid told Bhogavati, "Your husband is a god, but he has the form of a snake."

"That is my good fortune," replied Bhoavati. "Normally, women are married to men. I must have

performed many good deeds in my earlier life to have been married to a god."

Bhogavati was then brought to Nageshvara and at the sight of Bhogavati, Nageshvara

remembered his earlier life. He used to be a snake (naga) in his earlier life and was a companion

of Shiva's. His wife in the earlier life was Bhogavati.

There had bee an occasion when Shiva had laughed at a joke of parvati's and Nageshvara had

also laughed. This had annoyed Shiva and he had cursed Nageshvara that he would be born on

earth as the son of a human, but in the form of a snake. When he went and bathed in Goutami

Ganga, the period of the curse would be over. When Nageshvara recounted these incidents to

Bhogavati, she also remembered her earlier life. The two went and bathed in the scared river and

Nageshvara obtained a handsome and divine form. Nageshavara ruled after Shurasena's death.

And when Nageshvara and Bhogavati died, they went back to Kailasa to live with Shiva.

On the banks of the Goutami Ganga, Nageshvara and Bhogavati built a temple to Shiva. This is a

famous tirtha known as Nagatirtha.

Brahma's Head

Years ago, there was a war between the gods and the demons and the gods lost. The gods came

to Brahma for advice and Brahma asked them to pray to Shiva.

When Shiva appeared before them, the gods said, "The demons have defeated us. Please kill

them and save us."

Shiva went to fight with the demons. He drove the demons off from Mount Sumeru and out of

heaven. He pursued them to the ends of the earth. All this exertion made Shiva sweat. And

wherever the drops of sweat fell down on the ground, terrible ogresses named matris were

created. The matris also started to kill the demons and pursued them down to the underworld.

While the matris were killing the demons in the underworld, Brahma and the other dos waited on

the banks of the river Goutami Ganga. This place came to be known as Pratishthana.

When the matris had killed all the demons, they returned to earth and began to live on the banks

of the Goutami Ganga. This tirtha has come to be known as matritirtha.

Brahma used to have five heads. The fifth head was in the shape of a donkey's head. When the

demons were running away to the underworld, this donkey's head addressed the demons and

said, "why are you running away? Come back and fight with the gods. I shall aid you in your

fight."

The gods were alarmed at this paradoxical situation. Brahma was helping them in their flight

with the demons and Brahma's fifth head was trying to help the demons. They went to Vishnu

and said, "Please cut off Brahma's fifth head. It is causing too much of confusion."

"I can do what you want," replied Vishnu, "but there is a problem. When the cut–off head falls on

earth, it will destroy the earth. I think you should pray to Shiva to find a way out."

The gods prayed to Shiva and Shiva agreed to cut off the head. But what was to be done with the

severed head? The earth refused to bear it and so did the ocean. Finally it was decided that Shiva

himself would bear the head.

The place where Shiva cut off Brahma's fifth head is known as rudratirtha. Ever since that day,

Brahma has had four heads and is known as Chaturmukha (chatur connotes four and mukha

connotes face). There is a temple to Brahma on the banks of the Goutami Ganga. This is a holy

place known as brahmatirtha. A killer of brahmanas is pardoned his sin if he visits this temple.

The Owl and the Dove

A dove used to live on the banks of the Goutami Ganga. The dove's name was Anuhrada and its

wife's name was Heti. Anuhrada was Yama's grandson.

Not very far away, there lived an owl named Uluka. The owl's wife was called Uluki. The owls

were descended from the god Agni.

The doves and the owls were enemies. They fought amongst themselves continually. The doves

had received all sorts of weapons from Yama and the owls had received all sorts of weapons

from Agni. These divine weapons threatened to burn up everything. But Yama and Agni

intervened. They persuaded the owls and the doves to forget their enmity and live together as

friends. The place where the doves lived came to be known as a tirtha named yamyatirtha. And

the place where the owls lived came to be known as Agnitirtha.

The Hunter

There was a sage named Veda. He used to pray to Shiva every day. The prayers lasted till the

afternoon and after the prayers were over, Veda used to go to the nearby villages to beg alms.

A hunter named Bhilla used to come to the forest every afternoon to hunt. After the hunt was

over, he used to come to Shiva's linga (image) and offer to Shiva whatever it was that he had

hunted. In the process of doing this, he often moved Veda's offerings out of the way. Strange

though it might seem, Shiva was stirred by Bhilla's offerings and eagerly used to wait for it every

day. Bhilla and Veda never met. But Veda noticed that every day his offerings lay scattered and

a little bit of meat lay by the side. Since this always happened when Veda had gone out to beg

for alms, Veda did not know who was responsible. One day, he decided to wait in hiding so as to

catch the culprit red–handed.

While Veda waited, Bhilla arrived and offered what he had brought to Shiva. Veda was amazed

to discover that Shiva himself appeared before Bhilla and asked, "Why are you late today? I have

been waiting for you. Did you get very tired?"

Bhilla went away after making his offerings. But Veda came up to Shiva and said, "What is all

this? This is a cruel and evil hunter, and yet, you appear before him. I have been performing

tapasya for so many years and you never appear before me. I am disgusted at this partiality. I will

break your linga with this stone."

"Do it if you must," replied Shiva. "But please wait till tomorrow."

Next day, when Veda came to present his offerings, he found traces of blood on top of the linga.

He carefully washed away the traces of blood and completed his prayers.

After some time, Bhilla also came to present his offerings and discovered traces of blood on top

of the linga. He thought that he was in some way responsible for this and blamed himself for

some unknown transgression. He picked up a sharp arrow and began to pierce his body

repeatedly with this arrow as punishment.

Shiva appeared before both of them and said, "Now you see the difference between Veda and

Bhilla. Veda has given me his offerings, but Bhilla has given me his whole soul. That is the

difference between ritual and true devotion."

The place where Bhilla used to pray to Shiva is a famous tirtha known as bhillatirtha.

Goutama and Manikundala

There was a city named Bhouvana. In that city there lived a brahmana named Goutama. The

brahmana had a vaishya (trader and agriculture caste) friend named Manikundala.

Goutama's mother gave him a lot of ill advice. As a result of this, Goutama told Manikundala,

"Let us go to other countries to trade and make profits."

"But my father has a lot of wealth," replied Manikundala. "What is the need to obtain more

wealth?"

"You don't have the proper perspective," said Goutama. "A successful person is one who does

not thrive on what is left to him by his father. He makes his own fortune."

Manikundala was convinced by Gountama's logic. He did not realise that his so–called friend was

out to defraud him.

The two friends set out on their journey, Manikundala providing all the capital.

In the course of their travels Goutama remarked, "Have you noticed how those who follow the

path of dharma (righteousness) always suffer? They are neither wealthy nor happy. There seems

to be no point in being righteous."

"Please don't say that," protested manikundala. "Happiness lies in following the path of dharma.

Poverty and misery are inevitable, they are of no account at all."

The two friends argued over this, but could not decide who was right. They resolved to have a

bet. They would ask the opinions of others. And whoever lost the bet would surrender all his

wealth to the winner. They asked many people for their opinions. Naturally most people said that

it was the evil who thrived and prospered. And it was the righteous who suffered. The upshot of

this was that Manikundala surrendered all his wealth to Goutama. But Manikundala continued to

praise dharma.

"You are an utter ass," said Goutama. "Haven't you lost all your wealth to me? Yet you continue

to praise dharma."

"The wealth is of no account at all," replied Manikundala. "Dharma is on my side and your

apparent victory is only an illusion. Dharma will triumph in the end."

The two friends decided to have another bet. This time it was agreed that whoever lost the bet

would have his two arms chopped off. They again asked several people and most people said that

is was adharma (evil) which triumphed. So Manikundala lost his two arms.

"How does it feel now?" asked Goutama.

"The same as ever," replied Manikundala. "What is important is dharma. And dharma is on my

side."

Goutama lost his temper at this. He threatened to cut off Manikundala's head if Manikundala

persisted in his praise of dharma. But Manikundala was unperturbed. The friends decided to have

another bet. This time it was agreed that whoever lost would forfeit his life. Manikundala lost yet

again. And Goutama gouged out Manikundala's eyes and left him for dead.

Manikundala lay on the banks of the Goutami Ganga and pondered about the fate that had

befallen him. It became night.

There was an image of Vishnu on the banks of the river and the rakshasa Vibhishana used to

come there every night to pray to Vishnu. Vibhishana's son discovered Manikundala lying there

and found out from him the entire story. He recounted the story to his father.

"Many years ago, I had joined Rama in his fight with Ravana," Vibhishana told his son.

"Ragvana's son Meghanada shot a venomous arrow at Rama's brother Lakshmana. Lakshmana

fell unconscious. The monkey Hanuman then went to the Himalayas and brought a mountain

named Grandhamadana to Lanka. On that mountain there was a wonderful herb named

vishalyakarani which cures all illnesses. When Hanuman returned the mountain to the

Himalayas, a bit of the vishalyakarani fell down at this spot. Near Vishnu's image. Let us try and

find it. We should be able to cure Manikundala."

Father and son hunted for the herb. The vishalyakarani had become a huge tree. They lopped off

a branch and placed it on Manikundala's chest. Manikundala immediately regained his eyes and

arms. After curing Manikundala, Vibhishana and his retinue returned to Lanka.

Manikundala began to travel. He eventually came to a city named Mahapura where a king named

Maharaja ruled. Maharaja had no sons, only a daughter. The daughter was blind. Maharaja had

announced that whoever cured his daughter would become his son–in–law and rule after him.

Manikundala cured the princess with his knowledge of the vishalyakarani. He then married the

princess and became king of Mahapura after Maharaja.

Many years later, Goutama was brought before Manikundala by the soldiers. He had been

arrested on the charge of committing a crime. Goutama had lost all his wealth by then and was

no more than a beggar. Manikundala pardoned his friend and shared with him whatever he had.

Such are the virtues of following the path of dharma. There are many tirthas along the banks of

the Goutami Ganga where these wonderful incidents took place.

Kandu

There was a sage named Kandu. He had a hermitage on the banks of the Goutami Ganga. The

ashrama was a beautiful place and Kandu performed very difficult tapasya there. In the summer

Kandu meditated in the hot sun, in the monsoon he meditated on the wet ground, and in the

winter he meditated dressed in wet clothing.

Indra got sacred as a result of all this tapasya. He thought that the sage Kandu might want to

become Indra the king of the gods. He therefore called an apsara named disturb Kandu's

tapasya."

Pramalocha went to the hermitage and began to sing there in a beautiful voice. This disturbed

Kandu and he discovered a beautiful woman wandering around in his ashrama.

"Who are you?" Kandu asked the woman.

"I have come here to pluck flowers," replied Pramalocha. "I am your servant. I will do whatever

you wish me to."

Kandu had fallen in love with Pramalocha and he married her. He forgot all about his tapasya

and Indra heaved a sigh of relief. Years passed. Pramalocha wished to return to heaven, but

Kandu would not let her.

After years and years had passed, Kandu came out of his hut, looking rather distracted. It was

then evening and Kandu was obviously going somewhere.

"Where are you going?" Pramalocha asked.

"What a stupid question!" exclaimed Kandu. "Can't you see that it is now evening? I have got to

go and observe the evening rites. The day has passed."

"What day?", asked Pramalocha. "Several days have passed and several evenings have come and

gone."

"No, you came here this morning," said Kandu. "I brought you to my hut and it is now evening, I

don't understand what you are trying to say. Explain yourself."

"It is true that I came here in the morning," answered Pramalocha. "But that was a morning

which dawned many years ago. Hundreds of years have passed since that day."

"How many years?" asked Kandu. "When did you come here?'

"Sixteen hundred years, six months and three days ago," replied Pramalocha.

"Are you sure?" asked Kandu. "It seems like a single day to me."

"I am sure," said Pramalocha. "I dare not lie to you."

"You have dislodged me from my tapasya," responded Kandu. "But I will not curse you, since

you have been my wife. Go back to heaven. I have to atone for my sins."

The sage Kandu went to Purshottama kshetra and performed penance for his sins. He was

blessed by Vishnu.

Kandu and Pramalocha had a daughter named Marisha.

The Brahma Purana also describes several other tirthas. Most of these are on the banks of the

river Goutami Ganga. This is now identified as the river Godavari.

After describing these several tirthas, the text describes incidents in Krishna's life. These we will

skip, since they are described in much greater detail in the other Puranas.

VarnA Ashrama

There are four varnas (classes). Their names are brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra.

The duties of a brahmana are to donate alms, perform tapasya, worship the gods, perform yajnas

and study the Vedas. To earn a living, brahmanas are authorized to teach and act as priests at

sacrifices. The duties of kshatriya are to beat arms and protect the earth, donate alms and perform

sacrifices. A kshatriya is also permitted to study the shastras. The duties of a vaishya are

agriculture, animal husbandry and trade. That apart, vaishyas should donate alms, perform

sacrifices and study the shastras. The duties of a shudra are to serve brahmanas. Shudras can also

be shopkeepers and artisans.

In times of emergency, a brahmana is allowed to adopt the livelihoods of kshatriyas or vaishyas

to earn a living. In similar fashion, a kshatriya is permitted to adopt the livelihoods of vaishyas or

shudras and a vaishya is permitted to adopt the livelihoods of shudras.

There are four ashramas (stages of life) as well. The first of these is known as brahmacharya

(celibate studenthood). During this period, the individual spends his days with his guru and

studies the Vedas well. He has to serve his guru in proper fashion and live on alms. The next

ashrama is that of Grihastha (householder stage). The individual now gets married and has

children. He serves the gods, the sages, the ancestors and guests. It is householders who provide

alms for sages and hermits. That is the reason why the householder stage is so very important.

The third ashrama is known as vanaprastha (forest–dwelling stage). The individual now retires to

the forest and withdraws his mind from the earthly life. He can leave his wife in the care of his

sons or take her with him. He lives on roots, fruits and leaves and makes a bed for himself under

the trees. He is not permitted to shave or cut his hair and his clothes have to be made out of bark

or skins. The final ashrama is that of sannyasa (hermithood). A hermit gives up all association

with the world and lives alone. He grows completely detached. He lives alone. He gets his food

through begging. He is not permitted to spend more than one night in a village, or more than five

nights at a time in a city.

The Chandala and the Brahmarakshasa

A chandala is an outcast. On the outskirts of the city named Avanti lived a chandala. There was a

temple of Vishnu in Avanti and the chandala was devoted to Vishnu. He was also a good singer.

Ekadashi tithi is the eleventh lunar day. Every month, on ekadashi tithi, the chandala would fast

during the day. At night he would go to Vishnu's temple and sing praises of Vishnu. He never

failed to observe this ritual.

The river Kshipra (Shipra) flowed by the city of Avanti. On one particular night, on ekadashi

tithi, the chandala went to the banks of the river to collect some flowers for worshipping Vishnu.

On the banks of the river there was a tree and on that tree there lived a brahmarakshasa (demon).

As soon as the demon saw the chandala, it wished to devour him.

"Please not tonight," said the chandala. "I have to worship Vishnu throughout the night. Let me

go now."

"Not on you life," replied the demon. "I have not eaten for ten days and I am famished. I can't let

you go."

"Please, " said the chandala, "let me go. I promise that I will come back once the prayers are

over. You will then be free to do with me as you will."

The demon let the chandala go. The chandala went to the temple. He worshipped Vishnu and

spent the night in singing Vishnu's praises. Next day, he returned to the demon.

"I am indeed surprised," said the demon. "You are very truthful. You can't be a chandala. You

must be a brahmana. Answer my questions. What did you do all night?"

"I stood outside Vishnu's temple and sang his praise," replied the chandala.

"For how long have you been doing this?" asked the demon.

"For twenty years," was the chandala's reply.

"You have acquired a lot of punya (store of merit) through this," said the demon. "Please grant

me one night's punya, I am sinner."

"No," replied the chandala. "I will not part with my punya. I have given you my body, eat me if

you will. But the punya is mine own."

"Very well then,' said the demon. "Give me two hours' worth of punya. I am a sinner."

"I have told you I will not give you any of my punya," replied the chandala. "But what is your

sin?"

The brahmarakshasa related his story. His name was Somasharma and he was the son of

Devasharma. Devasharma was a righteous brahmana. But Somasharma fell into evil ways. A

brahmana is not authorised to act as a priest in a sacrifice before he has had his sacred–thread

ceremony (upanayana). But Somasharma became a priest at a yajna even though his upanayana

had not been held. As a result of this sin, when he died, he became a demon. The chandala was

stirred to pity at this sad story and parted with some of his punya. The demon was delighted and

expressed his gratitude. He went to a tirtha and performed penance. Thus it was that the demon

was freed.

What about the chandala? He returned home and then left for a tour of all the sacred places of

pilgrimage. At one such tirtha. He remembered the story of his earlier life.

He used to be a hermit well–versed in the Vedas and the shastras. He used to beg alms for a

living. Once he had obtained some alms. But some thieves were then in the process of stealing

cows, and the hooves of the cows raised a cloud of dust. The dust fell onto the food and the

hermit threw away the alms in disgust. Since he had thrown away alms, he was born as a

chandala. After performing penance for this sin, the chandala was pardoned.

Yoga

The word yoga means union. Yoga is thus a form of meditation that unites the human soul

(atman) with the divine soul (Paramatman), or equivalently, with the divine essence (Brahman).

A practitioner of yoga has to study the Puranas, the Vedas and history He has to exercise

restraint regarding the sort of food he eats. The best forms of food are yoghurt fruits, roots and

milk. Yoga should be practiced in a place that is pleasant. It should not be too hot or too cold

there. Nor should there be any noise to distract the practitioner.

Yoga has to be performed in a proper posture (asana). The practitioner concentrates the entire

focus of his mind on the tip of his nose. He contemplates the form of brahmana. This can only be

successful if one is detached and controls one's senses completely.

If yoga is performed properly, there comes the knowledge that the same Paramatman is in all

living beings. To think that living beings are distinct from one another is only to fall prey to one's

illusions. All the elements have the same Paramatman in them.

Epilogue

Romaharshana said to the sages who had assembled in naimisharanya, "Many years ago, the

great Veda Vyasa had recited the adi Purana to sages. The sages had been delighted to learn the

wisdom that was in the great Brahma Purana. Whatever Veda Vyasa had told those sages, I have

now recited before you. Everyone should listen to a recital of this Purana, be he a householder or

a hermit."

A brahmana who listens to a recital of the Brahma Purana becomes learned, a kshatriya becomes

victorious, a vaishya becomes rich and a shudra achieves happiness. One who listens to the

recital faithfully attains all his wishes. The fruits of listening to such a recital are superior to

visiting the most holy of tirthas or performing the most difficult of yajnas.

Romaharshana blessed the sages and returned to his own hermitage, with the express injunction

that the secrets of the Purana should never be divulged to atheists who did not believe in God.

Home

2. PADMA PURANA

SRISHTI–KHAND

Having revealed the contents of all the Puranas to his son Ugrashrava, Sage Lomaharshan

instructed him to go to 'Naimisharanya' and spread it among the sages doing penance over there.

There is an interesting tale how this sacrosanct forest of Naimish derived its name ––

Once, the sages sought Lord Vishnu's help in finding a suitable place, where they could perform

their religious activities unhindered. Lord Vishnu released his chakra and instructed them to

follow it. 'This chakra had many circumferences (Nemi) and all of you can commence your

penance at the place where one of them gets detached from the chakra' –––said Lord Vishnu.

The Sages followed the chakra as per the instruction of Lord Vishnu. Once of the circumferences

of chakra got detached and fell at a place called Gangavarta. In course of time this particular

place was famous as 'Naimish' because the term 'Nemi' in Sanskrit means circumference. When

Ugrashrava who was popularly known as 'Suta' reached 'Naimisharnya' all the sages received

him with enlighten all the sages on the divine tales of Padma Purana.

Suta replied––– Padma Purana consists of five sections and fifty–five thousand shlokas. The

names of these sections are Srishti–Khand, Bhumi–Khand, Swarg Khand, Patal Khand and

Uttam–Khand. The tales of Padma Purana praise the glory of Lord Vishnu. These tales were

narrated to Lord Brahma by Lord Vishnu himself, who in turn propagated them in this world

through various sages.

THE BEGINNING OF CREATION

The Sages requested Suta to narrate about the incident when sage Pulastya had met Bhishma.

Suta replied––– Bhishma was doing penance at a place called Gangadwar. Being pleased by his

austere penance, Lord Brahma instructed Pulastya to go to Gangadwar and bless Bhishma.

After reaching there, Pulastya told Bhishma that Lord Brahma was pleased by his penance. 'Ask

any boon you wish for' said Pulastya. Bhishma thanked his good fortune of getting a chance to

meet Sage Pulastya. He requested Pulastya to reveal how Lord Brahma had created the world.

Pulastya replied––– During the initial phase of his creation, Lord Brahma created the Mahattatva

first of all. After that he created the three types of Ego from the Mahattatva–––Satva, Rajas and

Tamas. These three types of Ego are the origins of all the five sense–organs, organs of action and

all the five basic elements––space, water, fire, air and earth.

An enormous egg came into existence with the permutation and combination of these five basic

elements. Within this egg exists the whole universe including the mountains, islands, oceans,

planets, deities, demons and the human beings. The layers of water, fire, air, space and darkness

envelop this enormous egg. These elements are once again covered by the 'Mahattatva', which in

turn is enveloped by the 'Prakriti' (nature). Lord Vishnu himself does creation in the form of Lord

Brahma and also takes various incarnations to protect the mankind. At the end of the Kalpa, it is

only He, who annihilates in the form of Rudra. After the end of Kalpa, he takes rest on the back

of Sheshnag for the full period of deluge.

BRAHMA'S LIFESPAN AND CHRONOLOGICAL

ORDER OF THE 'ERAS'

Pulastya says–––Lord Brahma, the embodiment of Lord Vishnu has a lifespan of one hundred

years. His lifespan is also called 'Par', and half of its period is known as 'Parardha'. One 'Kashtha'

consists of 15 Nimesha while a Kala consists of 30 'Kashthas'. A muhurta consists of 30 Kalas.

The periods of 30 muhurtas are equal to one day and Night of the human beings. A month of this

world is equivalent to 30 days and nights. Six months make an 'Ayan' and a year consists of two

'Ayans'. These two 'Ayans' are also known by two other names–––Dakshainayan and Uttarayan.

Dakshainayan is the night of the deities where as Uttarayan is their day.

Four yugas are equivalent to twelve thousand years of the deities, which occur in a cyclic order––

–Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapar Yuga and Kali Yuga. The periods of these yugas are as

follows–––

Satya Yuga– 4000 years. Treta Yuga – 3000 years. Dwapar Yuga– 2000 years. Kali Yuga– 1000

years. Total – 10,000 years.

Each yuga is followed by the hibernation periods of Sandhya and Sandhyansh, which are as

follows—Sandhya, Sandhyansh

Satya Yuga 400, 400. Treta Yuga 300, 300. Dwapar Yuga 200, 200. Kali Yuga 100, 100. Total

1000 years 1000 years.

Four yuga are collectively known as 'Chaturyuga'. A Brahma's day consists of one–thousand such

'Chaturyugas'. Altogether, fourteen Manu appear during this whole period of 1000 Chaturgas or

in other words a day of Lord Brahma. Each 'Manvantar' is named after a Manu and is equivalent

to little more than 71 Chaturyugas. It also has its own Indra, Saptarishis and other deities. This

way, a manvantar is also equivalent to 8,52,000 years of the deities or divine years. Going by the

standard of the years of this world a manvantar is equivalent to 30,67,20,000 years. On the basis

of the years of this world, a Brahma's day is equivalent to 30,67,20,000 x 14 = 4,29,40,80,000

years. This is the period after which a Brahma's day is over and a deluge takes place when all the

three worlds becomes devoid of life due to unbearable heat. Lord Brahma then takes rest for the

same period (4,29,40,80,000 years) which is his night.

After the night is over, Lord Brahma again commences his creation. So, this process continues

for the whole period of Brahma's life span, i.e. 100 years." Bhisma requested Sage Pulastya to

describe how Lord Brahma created life in the beginning of the present Kalpa.

Pulastya replied––– At the end of the previous kalpa when Lord Brahma awakened from his sleep,

he found the whole earth submerged in water. He meditated on Lord Vishnu, who took the

incarnation of Varaha and retrieved the earth and established it in its original position. Lord

Brahma then created all the four worlds––Bhurloka, Bhuvarloka, Swargloka and Maharloka and

divided the earth into seven islands.

First of all, Lord Brahma created the 'Mahattatva'. After that he created the 'Tanmatras', Indriyas

(sense–organs), the immovable things like mountains, rivers, animals, deities, demons, human

beings etc.

THE FOUR PROMINENT CASTES

On being asked by Bhishma about the origin of the four prominent castes, Sage Pulastya said–––

Lord Brahma created the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas from his mouth and chest respectively.

Similarly, Vaishyas and Shudras manifested from Lord Brahma's thigh and feet

respectively.Lord Brahma had created his 'manasputras' with the objective of increasing the

population and their names were Bhrigu, Pulah, Kratu, Angira, Marichi, Daksha, Atri and

Vashishtha. But all of them were free from worldly desires and extremely virtuous. Seeing his

effort go in vain, Lord Brahma became furious, as a result of which Rudra manifested from his

forehead. Half of Rudra's body resembled like a male while the remaining half appeared like a

female. Lord Brahma instructed Rudra to detach the female form from his body and commence

copulative creation. Following his advice, Rudra detached the female part of his body and

created eleven male entities. Similarly he created various female entities from the female part of

his body.

This way, the first human pair– Manu and Shatarupa came into existence. In course of time four

children were born to them–––Priyavrata, Uttanpad, Prasuti and Akuti. Prasuti was married to

Daksha Prajpati, while Akuti became the wife of Ruchi Prajapati. Prasuti gave birth to 24

daughters–– Shradha, Lakshmi, Dhriti, Pushti, Tushti, Medha, Kriya, Buddhi, Lajja, Vapu,

Shanti, Keerti, Khyati, Sati, Sambhuti, Smriti, Preeti, Kshama, Santati, Ansuya, Urja, Swaha and

Swadha. Out of them, the former thirteen were the wives of Dharma and the rest were married to

various sages like Bhrigu, Shiva, Marichi, Angira, myself (Pulastya), Pulaha, Kratu, Atri,

Vashishtha, Agni, etc. Shradha gave birth to 'Kam', Lakshmi to 'Darpa, Dhriti to Niyam, Tushti

to Santosh, Pushti to Lobha, Medha to Shrut, Kriya to Dand, Nay and Vinay, Buddhi to Bodh,

Lajja to Vinay, Vapu to Vyavasay, Shanti to Kshama, Siddhi to Sukh and Keerti gave birth to

Yash. All of them were the sons of Dharma.

Kam had a son named Harsh from his wife Nandi, Bhrigu's wife Khyati gave birth to a daughter

named Lakshmi––the consort of Lord Vishnu. Lord Rudra accepted Sati––the daughter of Daksha

Prajapati as his wife. Hinsa was the wife of Adharm and gave birth to Anrit and Nikriti. Anrit

had two sons–––Maya and Narak, while Nikriti had two daughters––Maya and Vedana. Maya

married Maya while Vedana became the wife of Narak. Maya had a son named Mrityu––the lord

of death and Vedana gave birth to Dukh. Five children were born to Mrityu––Vyadhi, Jara, Shok,

Trishna and Krodha. All of them were celibates and had no progeny.

THE MANIFESTATION OF GODDESS LAKSHMI

Bhisma expressed his desire to know about the manifestation of goddess Lakshmi.

Pulastya replied–– Once, after being defeated by the demons, the deities went to Lord Vishnu and

sought his help. Lord Vishnu instructed them to collect all the medicinal herbs, and put them in

the Ksheersagar, so that after the churning of the ocean ambrosia could be retrieved.Lord Vishnu

also advised them to use the Mandar mountain as a Churner and the serpent––Sheshnag as a rope

for churning the ocean.The deities then reached an agreement with the demons according to

which both the groups were supposed to unitedly churn the ocean. The great Mandar mountain

was uprooted and placed on the back of the tortoise––the embodiment of Lord Vishnu. Sheshnag

coiled around that mountain and both the ends were held by the demons and the deities

respectively. The deities intelligently chose the tail–end, while the demons in their foolishness

chose the mouth–end. The venom spilled by Sheshnag destroyed the power and strength off the

demons. When the process of Churning began, the first thing to emerge from the sea–bed was

Kamdhenu––the holy cow. The deities claimed the ownership of this divine cow. Subsequently,

Varuni (intoxicating drink) emerged from the sea–bed, which was claimed by the ignorant

demons. During the process of ocean–churning, various kinds of things emerged out from the

ocean––Parijat, sixty crore apsaras, the moon and Kalkut (poison), which were distributed among

the demons and the deities. Lord Mahadeva drank the Kalkut when he saw that there was no

taker for it.

The churning of ocean also resulted into the manifestation of ambrosia–pot, Uchchaishrava

(horse) and Airavat (elephant). Ultimately, goddess Lakshmi manifested herself, seated on a

lotus. The deities eulogised her by chanting the mantras of Sri Sukta. The deities were desirous

of having goddess Lakshmi on their side, so were the demons, but Lord Brahma instructed

Vishnu to accept her as his consort. The demons became furious and snatched the ambrosia–pot

from the hands of Sage Dhanvantari. Lord Vishnu then disguised himself as the most enchanting

woman and fooled the demons into giving back the ambrosia–pot. Lord Vishnu gave the pot to

the deities who became immortal after drinking ambrosia. A tremendous battle was fought

between the demons and the deities. But, the demons were defeated in this battle and fled to the

netherworld to protect their lives. The deities eulogised Lord Vishnu and returned to heaven.

SATI GIVES UP HER LIFE

On being enquired by Bhisma about the reason why Sati gave up her life, Sage Pulastya narrated

the following tale –––

Once, Daksha Prajapati had organised a grand yagya in which he had invited everybody except

Lord Shiva. This Yagya was presided over by four prominent sages–––Vashishtha, Angika,

Brihaspati and Narada. Sati went to attend the yagya despite Lord Shiva's reluctance to send her.

After reaching there she asked Daksha about the reason why he had not invited Lord Shiva.

Daksha said–––"Your husband is unworthy of being in the company of other deities, because of

his abhorrent appearance. He smears ashes on his body and wanders through the cremation

grounds. In the name of clothes, your husband puts on tiger's skin. A garland of skulls keep on

hanging down his neck. All species of serpents coil around his body. Do you think he is eligible

to sit in the company of the deities? Your husband had brought great shame on me and this is the

reason why I did not invite him."

Sati could no more listen to her husband's criticism and gave up her life by jumping into the

oblation–fire.When the news of Sati's death reached Lord Shiva, he became extremely furious

and sent his ganas to avenge her death. The Ganas went and created havoc at the oblation–

site.After the death of Sati, Lord Shiva became a recluse and lost all interest in his life. His mind

was preoccupied by nothing else but the thoughts of her beloved.One day, Sage Narada informed

Lord Shiva about Sati's rebirth as the daughter of Himvan and Mena. Lord Shiva became

extremely pleased by this good news. Eventually, he reunited with her eternal consort Parvati.

THE ORIGIN OF DEITIES, DEMONS and SERPENTS

Bhisma requested Sage Pulastya to explain how different entities like the deities, demons and

serpents came into being.

Pulastya replied–––Having failed in his repeated attempts of increasing population by the means

of 'sankalpa' Daksha Prajapati was left with no option but to take the help of copulative creation.

He begot sixty daughters from his wife named Virini. In course of time ten of them were married

to Dharma whose names were–––Arundhati, Vasu, Jami, Lamba, Bhanu, Marutvati, Sankalpa,

Muhurta, Sadhya and Vishwa.Vishwa gave birth to Vishwadeva, while Sadhya was the mother

of Sadhya. Marutvati gave birth to Marutvan. Vasu had eight sons who became famous as the

Vasus–––yourself (Bhisma), Dhruva, Soma, Dhar, Anil, Anal, Pratyush and Prabhas. Bhanu had a

son by the same name i.e. Bhanu. Mahurta begot deities, who were the lords of auspicious

moments. Lamba gave birth to Ghosh while Jami had a daughter named Nagvithi. Arundhati

became the mother of all the creatures of this world. As far as the offspring of eight Vasus are

concerned, 'you' (Bhisma) have four sons––Shant, Vaitand, Samb and Munibabhru. Dhruva had a

son named Kal. While Soma was the father of Varcha. Dhar had two sons––Dravin and

Havyavah. Anil had three sons––– Pran, Raman and Shishir. Anal also had three sons–––Shakh,

Upshakh and Naigameya. Pratyush had a son named Deval, who later on became a famous sage.

Prabhas was the father of Prajapati Vishwakarma––the architect of the deities.

The names of the eleven Rudras are–––Ajaikpad, Ahirbudhnya, Virupaksh, Raivat, Har,

Bahuroop, Trayambak, Savitra, Jayant, Pinaki and Aparajit. All of them are said to be the lords

of the Ganas and have all together 84 crore progenies known as the Rudraganas.

Sage Kashyapa had thirteen wives–––Aditi, Diti, Danu, Arishta, Sursa, Surabhi, Vinta, Tamra,

Krodhvasha, Ira, Kadru, Khasa and Muni. Kashyapa had two sons from Diti–––Hiranyakashipu

and Hiranyaksha. Hiranyakashipu had four sons–––Prahlada, Anuhlad, Sanhlad and Hlad.

Prahlada also had four sons–––One of them was Virochan. Virochan was the father of Bali.

Banasur, who had one thousand arms, was the eldest son of Bali.Hiranyaksha had four sons, who

themselves had 27 crore sons and grandsons in all. Kashyapa had begotten one hundred sons

from Danu, among whom Viprachitti was the most powerful.Viprachitti had fourteen sons from

Sinhika–––Sainhikeya (Rahu), Kansa, Shankh, Nala, Vatapi, Ilwal, Namuchi, Khasrima, Anjan,

Narak, Kalnabh, Parmanu, Kalpavirya and Dhanuvanshavivardhan.

Kashyapa also had six daughters from Tamra––Shuki, Shyeni, Bhasi, Gridhi, Sugridhi and

Shuchi. All six of them gave birth to various species of birds. Shuki was the mother of Parrots

and Owls. Shyeni gave birth to hawks while Bhasi was the mother of ospreys (a large fish eating

birds.) Gridhi gave birth to Vultures and Sugridhi was the mother of pigeons. Shuchi was the

mother of cranes, Swans and other similar aquatic birds. Vinita was the mother of Garuda and

Arun–––Supreme among birds. Arun was the father of Sampati and Jatayu. Sursa was the mother

of the serpents and had given birth to one thousand snakes. Similarly, Kadru gave birth to one

thousand cobras.Surabhi, one of the thirteen wives of Kashyapa had given birth to cows,

buffaloes as well as beautiful women. Muni was the mother of the celestial damsels ––apsaras.

Arishta gave birth to Kinnars and Gandharvas. Ira was the mother of various vegetation like

grass, trees, creepers and bushes. Khasa gave birth to crore of Rakshashas (monsters) and

Yakshas.Kashyapa had also begotten forty–nine Marudganas from Diti.

THE ORIGIN OF MARUDGANAS

Bhisma requested Sage Pulastya to describe how all the Marudganas came into existence.

Pulastya replied––– All the sons and grandsons of Diti had perished in the battle fought between

the deities and demons. Diti–––the mother of daityas (demons) wanted to take revenge, so she

started doing a penance at the bank of river Saraswati, which lasted for 100 years.Being pleased

by her austere penance Sage Kashyapa arrived and expressed his desire to bless her with a boon.

Diti wanted a mighty son who could kill Indra. Sage Kashyapa then implanted his sperms in

Diti's womb and instructed her to remain there (where she had been doing penance) for 100

years. He also instructed her on various do's and don'ts which a pregnant woman is expected to

observe. Diti agreed to follow his instructions.Mean while, Indra got wind of her pregnancy and

became scared. He wanted to destroy the foetus at any cost, so he arrived at the place where Diti

was staying. He had disguised himself to avoid being recognized by Diti. He engaged himself in

her servitude, waiting for an opportune moment to destroy the foetus.

This way, ninety–nine years had passed and only three days were remaining after which Diti was

expected to give birth to a son. As the inevitable day approached nearer, Indra started becoming

restless. One day, Diti was very tired and fell down asleep. Her hair was untied and her head had

stooped down while she was sleeping, just opposite to the instructions Kashyapa had given to

her. Finding the moment opportune, Indra entered into Diti's womb and cut the foetus into seven

pieces with his Vajra. The seven fragments of foetus instantaneously got transformed into seven

infants and started wailing. Indra became furious and once again he attacked them with his vajra

and severed them into seven pieces each. But to Indra's sheer amazement, there were 49 infants,

all wailing loudly. He tried to stop them from crying by shouting 'Marud' (don't cry), but to no

avail.

Indra realized that the infants had attained immortality on account of the 'Pournamasi Vrata',

which Diti had devoutly observed during the course of her penance. Indra named the infants as

Marudganas and blessed them. He then begged for Diti's forgiveness and took her along with the

Marudganas to heaven. The Marudganas, despite being born in the clans of demons, never

associated with them and hence were revered even by the deities.Bhisma expressed his curiosity

to know about the detailed description of all the fourteen manvantars. Pulastya said––The first

manvantar was called Swayambhuva, named after Swayambhuva– Manu. Yamya was the

prominent deity of this manvantar. Marichi and other six prominent sages were the Saptarishis of

this manvantar. Swayambhuva Manu had ten sons–––Aghnigha, Agnibahu, Vibhu, Savan,

Jyotishman, Dyutiman, Havya, Medha, Medhatithi and Vasu.

The second manvantar was named after Swarochish Manu. Swarochish Manu had four sons––

Nabh, Nabhasya, Prasriti and Bhavan. Tushit was the prominent deity of this second manvantar.

Dattatreya, Atri, Chyavan, Stanba, Pran, Kashyapa and Brihaspati were the saptarishis of this

manvantar.

The third manvantar was called Autam and derived its name from Autami Manu, who had ten

sons––Isha, Urj, Tanuj, Shuchi, Shukra, Madhu, Madhav, Nabhasya, Nabh and Saha,

Bhanusangyak was the prominent deity of this manvantar. Sage Urj and other six sages were the

saptarishis then.

The fourth manvantar was called Tamas––named after Tamas Manu, who also had ten sons like

his predecessor. The names of his sons were––Akalmash, Tapodhanva, Tapomool, Tapodhan,

Taporashi, Tapasya, Sutapasya, Parantap, Tapobhagi and Tapoyogi. Kavi, Prithu, Agni, Akapi,

Kapi, Janya and Dhama were the Saptarishis of this manvantar, while Sadhyagana was the

prominent deity.

The fifth manvantar was called Raivat––named after Raivat Manu, who had ten sons as well––

Varuna, Tatvadarshi, chitiman, Havyap, Kavi, Mukt, Nirutsuk, Satva, Vimoh and Prakashak,

Bhutraja and Prakriti were the two prominent deities of this manvantar and the names of the

saptarishis were––Devabahu, Subahu, Parjanya, Somap, Muni, Hiranyaroma and Saptashva.

Next arrived the sixth manvantar–––Chakshush. This Manvantar derived its name from

Chakshush Manu, who had ten sons and among whom Ruru was the most prominent one. Lekh,

Ribhu, Prithagbhoot, Varimool and Divau were the prominent deities of this manvantar. The

names of Saptarishis were––Bhrigu, Sudhama, Viraj, Vishnu, Narada, Vivaswan and Abhimani.

The present manvantar, which is the seventh in order, is called Vaivaswat. The Saptarishis of this

manvantar are–––Atri, Vashishtha, Kashyapa, Gautam yogi, Bhardwaj, Vishwamitra and

Jamdagni.

The eighth manvantar will be called Savarnya and will be named after Savarni Manu, Savarni

Manu will have ten sons–––Dhriti, Variyan, Yavasu, Suvarna, Dhrishti, Charishnu, Adya, Sumati,

Vasu and Shukra. The Saptarishis of this manvantar will be––Ashwatthama, RishyaSringa,

Kaushikya, Galav, Shatanand, Kashyap and Parashurama.

The ninth manvantar will be named after Ruchi––Manu and will be called Rauchya manvantar.

Ruchi Manu will have a son named Rauchya.

The tenth manvantar will be called Bhautya and will derive its name from Bhautya Manu––son of

Bhuti.

The eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth manvantars will be named after Merusavarni,

Ribhu, Veetdhama and Vishkvasen Manus respectively. All these fourteen Manus successively

rule this world for the total period of 1000 Chaturyugas. At the end of Kalpa each of them unite

with Lord Brahma.

KING PRITHU AND THE SURYA DYNASTY

Bhisma enquired Sage Pulastya about the mighty King Prithu upon whom the earth was named

as Prithvi.

Sage Pulastya replied–––Anga–Prajapati was the descendant of Swayambhuva Manu and Sunitha

was his wife. In course of time, Sunitha gave birth to a son, who was named Vena. After growing

up, Vena turned out to be an extremely irreligious person and used to spend his time committing

all sorts of immoral deeds. The sages tried to bring him to the virtuous path but to no avail. They

became furious and cursed Vena as the result of which he died. The sages then churned his dead

body, which resulted into the manifestation of a mean caste called Mlechchha. They kept on

churning his body and in the process, an extremely virtuous entity manifested from the right

hand of Vena. He held various weapons like mace, bow and arrows in his hands. He was none

other than Prithu, the embodiment of Lord Vishnu.

After being crowned as a king, Prithu was saddened to see the prevalence of immorality

throughout the length and breadth of earth. The lack of virtuosity and religiousness among the

inhabitants of earth made him extremely furious. He decided to destroy the earth. The earth

became scared and fled in the guise of a cow. Prithu chased her wherever she went. At last, the

cow halted at a place as she had got tired. To save her life, the cow agreed to fulfill all the desires

of Prithu. Prithu then milked the cow, which later on got transformed into cereals. Similarly all

the deities, ancestors and other human–beings milked the cow and received numerous invaluable

things.

Prithu was a just king. Peace and prosperity prevailed during his reign. People were religious and

free from any kind of sorrow. The earth is named after him as Prithvi.Sage Pulastya then went on

to give a detailed description of Surya dynasty–––Vivaswan (Surya) had three queens–––Sangya,

Ragyi and Prabha. Ragyi had a son named Raivat while Somgya was the mother of Vaivaswat––

Manu, Yama and Yamuna. Once, Sangya being unable to bear the extreme radiance of Surya

created a superficial entity from her body and instructed her to act as Surya's wife in her absence.

The name of this superficial woman was chhaya, who had two sons and two daughters from

Surya. The names of her sons were Savarna––Manu and Shanaishchar, while the names of her

daughters were Tapti and Vishti.

Shanaishchar became immortal as a planet while Yamuna and Tapti became rivers. Vaivaswat

Manu had ten sons among whom 'Ila' was the eldest. After appointing Ila as his successor,

Vaivaswat, manu went to do penance.Once, Ila transformed into a woman after tresspassing a

forest where Lord Shiva and Parvati were enjoying privacy. It was Lord Shiva's curse that any

male who ventured in to that forbidden forest would become a woman. Later on, Buddh became

enchanted by Ila's beauty and married her.

Meanwhile, when Ila did not return to his kingdom, his brother Ikshvaku went in search of him.

Ikshvaku reached the outskirts of the same forest but did not enter it. He managed to please

Shiva by his devotion. When Lord Shiva appeared, Ikshvaku requested him to make Ila a man

once again. Shiva told him that it was impossible but assured him by saying "If you perform an

Ashwamedha Yagya and donate all the virtue thus acquired to me, then your brother will be able

to live as a man for one month. But, after one month he will again become a woman. Thus, his

form will keep on changing every alternate months."

Meanwhile Ila gave birth to four sons among whom Utkal, Gaya and Haritashwa were

prominent. This way, Ila became the source from which the lineage of chandra sprouted.

Ikshvaku ruled over Madhya–desh. He had one hundred sons, all of whom ruled the territories

situated north of Meru Mountain. Ikshvaku also had one hundred and fourteen more sons, who

ruled over the areas situated south of Meru. Kakusttha was Ikshvaku's grand–son. Kakusttha had

a son named Suyodhan. Some other prominent kings coming from this lineage were––Prithu,

Vrihadashwa, Kuwalashva, Purukutsu, Dharmasetu, Muchukund, Tridhanva, Traidharun,

Satyavrat and Satyarath.

The most truthful king Harishchandra was Satyarath's son and Rohit was his son. Famous kings

like Raghu, Dilip Aja, Dirghabahu and Prajapati Dasharath were the descendants of Ikshvaku.

Dasharath had four sons among whom Sri Rama was the eldest and who had killed the demon

king Ravana. Rama had two sons––Lav and Kush.

BASHKALI––THE DEMON KING

Bhisma requested Sage Pulastya to reveal Why Lord Vishnu had to take incarnation as Vamana.

Sage Pulastya replied––– Once, during Satya Yuga, the demons had defeated the deities and

driven them out from their abode––heaven. The mighty demon, Bashkali was their leader. He had

become immortal an account of a boon received from Lord Brahma. Indra went to Lord Brahma

and narrated the aweful tale of the deities. Lord Brahma assured him that Lord Vishnu would

certainly help in this matter. Lord Brahma contemplated on Lord Vishnu who appeared in a very

short time.

When Lord Vishnu came to know about the deities's pitiable condition, he promised them that

very soon Bashkali's wings would be clipped.

Lord Vishnu said–––"Very soon, I will take incarnation as Vamana. Indra will have to come along

with me and demand a piece of land measured by my three steps. I shall then reveal my giant

form and send him to the Patal loka after making him bereft of his kingdom. In course of time

Lord Vishnu manifested as Vamana from Aditi's womb. His manifestation was simultaneously

marked by various auspicious signs––the air became full of fragrance, the deities started

rejoicing, the trees started shedding flowers on their own and all the desires of living beings were

fulfilled.

Lord Vamana then went to Bashkali's palace accompanied by Indra. Both of them marvelled at

the grandness of Bashkali's city, which was surrounded by a high boundary–wall.Bashkali was a

very virtuous and benevolent king. He was truthful and well versed in all the scripture. His

subject lived in prosperity and enjoyed a long life. When the demons saw Indra coming with a

dwarf they informed Bashkali. Bashkali instructed the demons to bring both the guests with due

respect.

Bashkali treated his guests with all honor and asked Indra about the reason for his sudden arrival.

Indra praised Bashkali's benevolence and said–––"The short brahmin accompanying me is

desirous of a piece of land measured by his three steps." Bashkali was amused at this ridiculous

demand and requested Vamana to ask for anything he wished. But, Vamana wanted nothing

more than a small piece of land measured by his three steps.

Shukracharya (Bashkali's guru) smelled something fishy and warned him, but he was not to

listen. Bashkali then requested Vamana to go ahead and measure the land by his three

steps.Suddenly, Lord Vamana transformed his physique into a giant size. His first step reached

the Surya–loka and his second step touched the Dhruva–loka. He hit the top of the universe with

his third step as a result of which water poured down. The water got collected and came to be

known as Vaishnavi river. But, the land had still not been measured and hence Lord Vamana

reminded Bashkali of his vow and ultimately the helpless Bashkali surrendered to the will of

Lord Vamana and sought his refuge. Lord Vamana blessed him and sent him to Patalloka.

SRI RAMA KILLS SHAMBUK

After killing the demons king Ravana, Sri Rama returned to Ayodhya. Many sages had arrived

there to bless him on the occasion of his crowning ceremony. Sage Vashishtha was one of

them.As Sri Rama was conversing with the sages a brahmin arrived there with the corpse of his

son and wailed–––"O son! Your death is certainly due to some flaw of Sri Rama. Now, your

mother and I have decided to give up our lives as there is no point in living."

Sri Rama's heart was filled with grief and he asked Sage Vashishtha as to how the brahmin could

be helped. Sage Vashishtha revealed to Sri Rama that the brahmin's son had died a premature

death because of Shambuk. Vashishtha said––"Shambuk is a Shudra by birth, but he is doing an

austere penance. Shudras are not entitled to do penance in all the three yugas, except the Kali

Yuga. So, only his death can bring back the brahmin's son alive."

Sri Rama instructed both his younger brothers––Lakshman and Bharata, to look after the state's

affairs in his absence and went in search of Shambuk boarded on his Pushpak Vimana. Sri Rama

saw a man doing penance at the shore of a reservoir. He landed his Pushpak Vimana and went

near that man. He introduced himself and enquired about the man's identity. Sri Rama asked––

Why are you doing such an austere penance. Who are you?

Without moving the man replied that he was a shudra named Shambuk. He said––– I am desirous

of attaining to devaloka and hence I am doing this penance. Sri Rama took out his sword and

severed Shambuk's head. All the deities hailed Sri Rama and the brahmin's child became alive

once again.

MANIFESTATION OF GANESH AND KARTIKEYA

Once, before taking her bath, goddess Parvati anointed unguent on her body and while removing

it created a human form from the accumulated dross. The head of this human form resembled an

elephant. Parvati then playfully immersed the human–form into river Ganga. But, to her sheer

amazement the human form became alive and of enormous size. She accepted him as her son and

he was none other than elephant–headed deity Ganesh.

Once, Lord Shiva became so deeply fascinated by her consort. Parvati hat he did not come out

from his palace for 1000 years. The deities became worried and sent Agni to find out the reason.

Agni disguised himself as a parrot and entered the palace where Shiva was enjoying privacy with

Parvati.

Meanwhile, Parvati went at the bank of a reservoir to quench her thirst. After reaching there she

saw six divine women (matrikas) carrying water in the leaves of lotus flowers. As Parvati was

thirsty, she requested them to give some water. The matrikas agreed on the condition that a son

born to her (Parvati) should also have to be accepted as their son. Parvati gave her conscent. The

matrikas gave Parvati water to drink.

Hardly had Parvati finished drinking water than a divine child emerged out from her womb. The

child possessed various weapons like, trident, shakti and a noose in his hands. He was none other

than Kartikeya.The deities appointed Kartikeya as the commander of their army. During that

time, a mighty demon named Tarakasur used to torment the deities. Kartikeya killed that demon

on the request of deities.

AN IDEAL BRAHMIN AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF

GAYATRI MANTRA

Describing about the qualities of an ideal brahmin, Sage Pulastya said––– Once, Narada had asked

Lord Brahma as to who was worthy of receiving Vishnu's blessings. Lord Brahma had told

Narada that Lord Vishnu showered his blessings on those who engaged themselves in the service

of brahmins. A brahmin should be virtuous and well versed in all the scriptures. A brahmin who

does not observe the rituals as mentioned in the Vedas, brings disgrace to his ancestors. An ideal

brahmin is respectful towards his parents, teachers and treats his guests with due honor. He never

aspires for women other than his wife and chants the sacred Gayatri mantra everyday.

Goddess Gayatri is said to have manifested in the lineage of Sankhyayan. She is of fair

complexion and fire is the symbolical expression of her mouth. Lord Brahma dwells on her

forehead, Lord Vishnu in her heart and Lord Rudra has his abode in her braided hair. The

Gayatri mantra consists of 24 letters and each of them is related with a specific deity. There is a

mention of Gayatri mantra, which consists of 18 letters. It begins with the word 'agni' and ends

with 'swaha'. The mantra is as follows–––

OM AGNERVAKPUNSI YAJURDEDIN JUSHTA SOMAM PIBA SWAHA.

A person, who chants the mantra for 100 times, becomes liberated from gravest of sin. The

various deities related with the twenty–four letters of Gayatri Mantra are as follows––

1st letter ––– Agni 2nd letter ––– Vayu 3rd letter ––– Surya 4th letter ––– Akash

5th letter ––– Yamraj 6th letter ––– Varuna 7th letter ––– Brihaspati 8th letter ––– Parjanya

9th letter ––– Indra 10th letter ––– Gandharva 11th letter ––– Poosha 12th letter ––– Mitra

13th letter ––– Twashta 14th letter ––– Vasu 15th letter ––– Marudganas 16th letter ––– Soma

17th letter ––Angira 18th letter ––Vishwadeva 19th letter ––Ashwins 20th letter ––Prajapati

21st letter –––All deities 22nd letter ––– Rudra 23rd letter ––– Brahma 24th letter ––– Vishnu

A devotee should then perform the ritual of 'nyas' by mentally establishing different words of the

Gayatri mantra in the various parts of his body as given below ––

OM BHUH –––in the heart, OM BHUVAH ––– in the head, OM SWAH –––in the top–knot, OM

TATSAVITURVARENYAM––in the whole body, OM BHARGODEVASYA DHIMAHI –––in

both eyes, OM DHIYO YO NAH PRACHODAYAT –––in both hands.

Regular chanting of Gayatri mantra bestowes similar virtues attained by the study of all the four

vedas. A brahmin who does not know Gayatri mantra is considered to be worse than a shudra.

Anybody who chants Gayatri mantra attains salvation.

BRAHMIN'S LIVELIHOOD

Describing how a brahmin should earn his livelihood, Lord Brahma said to Narada––Alms, which

a brahmin gets without making any demand for it, is called Vritta. 'Unchhavritti' is even better

than Vritti and it means collecting foodgrain which are scattered in places like fields, granary,

market–place etc. A brahmin should accept the Dakshaina that his host gives him after the

completion of yagya ceremony. He should engage himself in educational activities. He can also

earn his livelihood by engaging himself in other auspicious activities.

If the circumstances do not permit a brahmin to earn his livelihood by any of the above

mentioned means, then he may opt for the occupation of a kshatriya. In such a case, he should

endeavor to have mastery both over the vedas as well as different weaponary. Battle should be

his last option. When the very existence of religiousness is at stake, he should wage a war against

irreligious people and to protect the religion.

In an emergency situation, a brahmin can also choose the occupation of a Vaishya and earn his

livelihood by doing business or agriculture. But, while earning his livelihood by doing

agriculture, he should in no circumstances abandon his own duties (duties of a brahmin). He

should be honest while doing business and never try to exploit the customers.

NAROTTAM–––THE BRAHMIN

Describing about the importance of five virtuous deeds, Pulastya said to Bhisma–––"The five

supreme virtuous deeds are––obedience to parents, faithfulness towards husband, equanimity, not

having enmity towards friends and devotion towards Lord Vishnu. By pleasing his father, one

pleases all the deities. Mother is superior even to all the places of pilgrimage combined together.

Pulastya then narrated the same tale to Bhisma, which lord Brahma had once told some

prominent sages –––

Once, there lived a famous Brahmin called Narottam. He had acquired divine powers on account

of his austere penance but unfortunately he never treated his parents with respect. After taking

his daily bath, Narottam hanged his wet clothes in the open sky without any support and they

used to dry without falling down on the earth. This special power had made him very

arrogant.One day, a crane flying in the sky passed dung on his face, which made him very

furious. Narottam cursed the crane as the result of which it was burnt to death. His special power

vanished due to the sin acquired by killing an innocent bird. Now, no longer his clothes remained

in suspended position in the sky.

Narottam became very sad. Suddenly he heard a heavenly voice instructing him to see a

'chandala' named Mook. "His discourses would be beneficial for you."– Said the heavenly voice.

Narottam went in search of Mook––the chandal and found him in the servitude of his parents.

Mook was a great devotee of his parents and his total devotion towards his parents had blessed

him with an extraordinary power–his house used to hang in the air without any support. Narottam

was deeply amazed at this wonderful sight. He wanted to know how Mook had acquired such

divine powers. But, Mook requested him to wait, which made Narottam very angry. Mook then

told Narottam–––"I can talk to you only after attending to my parents. I am not that crane which

was charred to death by your curse. If you don't have time then go and meet that 'faithful–wife.

She will answer your questions."

Narottam did not know where that faithful wife lived, so he stood there wondering what to do

next. Suddenly Lord Vishnu emerged from Mook's house disguised as a brahmin. He took

Narottam to the 'faithful–wife's house. All along the way Lord Vishnu preached Narottam on the

qualities of a chaste woman. As both of them were about to reach that chaste woman's house,

lord Vishnu disappeared, leaving Narottam all alone.

Narottam requested the woman to enlighten him on the finer points of virtuosity. But, the woman

was busy attending her husband and requested him to wait. Narottam threatened to curse her, to

which the woman replied–––I am not that crane whom you had cursed. If you are in a hurry then

you can go and meet 'Dharm––Tuladhar'. He is an honest businessman and is capable of

answering your queries."

Lord Vishnu once again appeared from that woman's house disguised as a brahmin. Narottam

asked him as to how were both Mook and faithful wife aware of the incident in which the crane

was charred to death. Lord Vishnu told him that both of them had acquired this special power by

the virtue of their respective religiousness.

Lord Vishnu and Narottam proceeded towards the place where Dharmtuladhar did his business

transactions. As they were about to reach the place, Lord Vishnu disappeared once again, leaving

Narottam all alone.Narottam saw Dharmtuladhar busy in his dealings with total honesty. He

requested him to reveal as to what made the wet clothes to hang in the air without any support.

Dharmtuladhar requested him to wait but Narottam was in a hurry to get answer to his questions.

Dharmtuladhar told Narottam––Please wait for sometime, as I am busy doing my business

transactions. If you don't have time then you can go and meet Adrohak, who is fully capable of

giving answer to your questions. Lord Vishnu once again accompanied him disguised as a

brahmin.

When both of them were about to reach the place where Adrohak used to live, lord Vishnu

disappeared and Narottam was left all by himself, once again. Narottam requested Adrohak to

preach on the essence of religiousness. Adrohak was a man of impeccable conduct and had full

control over the sensual urges. He advised Narottam to meet the supreme devotee of Lord

Vishnu, who lived nearby. Adrohak said–– You would get answers to all your questions. He will

reveal to you the reason that made wet clothes to hang in air without any support. Narottam then

proceeded towards the place where the supreme devotee of Lord Vishnu lived. Lord Vishnu once

again accompanied him in the guise of a brahmin. After reaching there, Narottam expressed his

desire of seeing Lord Vishnu. The supreme devotee took him to a temple situated inside the

house–premise.

Narottam was amazed to see the same brahmin, who had been accompanying him all along the

way, siting on a lotus flower. He realized that the brahmin was lord Vishnu himself. Lord Vishnu

blessed him and said–––Be respectful towards your parents, if you want to attain to my abode. I

dwell in the houses of people who are virtuous, truthful, possessed equanimity and who have full

control over their passion. This is why you found me present at the homes of chandal, Tuladhar

and Adrohak. Narottam realized his mistake and decided to be in the servitude of his parents for

the rest of his life.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF RUDRAKSHA, AMLA AND

TULSI

Once, while describing about the importance of Rudraksha to the sages, Vyasa said––– One who

wears a Rudraksha rosary is supreme among all human beings. The mere sight of such a holy

man absolves people of their sin. A Rudraksha bead bears features of a Linga and yoni on its

surface. One should not wear a rudraksha on which above mentioned features are absent.

Similarly two joint beads should never be worn. All the mantras become doubly powerful when

chanted with the help of rudraksha–rosary.During Satya Yuga, there lived a mighty demon

named Tripurasur. He had conquered the deities and was capable of moving in the space. The

deities sought help of Lord Shiva, who killed Tripurasur by the sight of his third–eye. In the

process, few drops of sweat, emanating from Shiva's body fell down on the earth. These sweat

drops got transformed into a large Rudraksha–tree.

Amla is a very nutritious fruit and great religious significance has been attached to it. Amla fruit

is very dear to Lord Vishnu and its use on the auspicious day of Ekadashi brings unmatched

virtue. A person who regularly eats amla enjoys a long life.The following tale adequately

describes the religious importance of amla ––

Once upon a time, a chandala went into the forest for hunting. He hunted many deer and birds.

Feeling hungry, he saw an amla tree and climbed up the tree. This way he satiated his hunger by

eating sweet amla fruits. Unfortumately while he was climbing down the tree, he fell down and

died.When the attendants of Yamaraj arrived to take back his soul, they could not do so even

after repeated attempts. The attendants of Yamaraj became very surprised and went to the sages

for clarification. The sages revealed to the attendants that they could not go near the chandala's

dead body, because he had eaten amla just before his death. Such is the glory of amla!

Once Kartikeya asked Lord Shiva about the holiest tree, which was capable of giving salvation.

Lord Shiva replied–––The Tulsi plant is supreme among all the vegetations. She is very dear to

lord Vishnu and fulfills all the desires of a man. Lord Krishna dwells near the place where there

is a Tulsi plant. Spirits and ghosts never dare to venture near the Tulsi plant. If a man attaches a

Tulsi leaf to his Shikha at the time of his death, he is liberated from all his sins. One who

worships Lord Vishnu by offering Tulsi–leaves attains salvation.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SURYA'S WORSHIP

Once, while describing about the importance of Surya's worship to Vaishampayan, Sage Vyasa

narrated the following tale –––

There lived a king named Bhadreshwar. He ruled over Madhyadesh. Once his left hand was

infected with leprosy. Bhadreshwar, fearing the prospect of dreadful leprosy spreading to his

whole body, decided to end his life. He expressed his desire to the head–priest. The head–priest

cautioned Bhadreshwar that if he went ahead with his decision, then the whole kingdom would

be destroyed. He said ––– 'You will be cured of leprosy, if you worship Lord Surya.'

The head–priest then told the king about the appropriate rituals of Surya––worship. King

Bhadreshwar began his austerities and worshipped Lord Surya by chanting mantras and offering

articles like Naivedya, fruits, Ardhya, Akshat etc to the deity. King Bhadreshwar was cured of

his leprosy within a year by the virtue of his deep devotion towards Lord Surya.

BHUMI KHAND

DIFFERENT TYPES OF SIN AND VIRTUE

Once, Yayati requested Matali to describe the various sinful and virtuous deeds, which a man

normally commits in his life.

Matali replied–––'One who criticizes the vedas and follows the religion of other's after

abandoning his own or torments virtuous people is a grave sinner. Similarly, not respecting one's

parents, not giving 'Dakshaina' to a brahmin after the completion of a shradha ceremony,

studying the scriptures in an impure physical state are some other sinful deeds.

'One who obstructs a hungry man from having his food or thirsty person from quenching his

thirst commits a sin similar to that of killing a brahmin.

Matali described some other types of sins –––

Back biting, seeing faults with others and demeaning their efforts, acquiring other's land by

unfair means, killing innocent animals, having illicit relationship with women other than one's

wife, telling lies, showing disrespect to the guests etc, are considered to be sinful deeds.

Describing about the various types of virtuous deeds, Matali said –––

Non–violence, forgiveness, truthfulness, devotion towards god, benevolence, abstinence, oblation

and meditation are some of the virtuous deeds. Donating food–grains, domesticated animals like

horse, cow etc., giving water to a thirsty person are some other types of virtuous deeds. A person

who donates wooden sandals a needy brahmin attains to the heaven. Worshipping Lord Shiva or

Lord Vishnu enables a man to attain to the Shivaloka or Vishnuloka respectively.

KING YAYATI PROPAGATES VAISHNAVA––DHARMA

King Yayati was the son of Nahush and a descendant of Soma––dynasty. He was a great devotee

of Lord Vishnu and had contributed a lot in the propagation of Vaishnava––dharma. Yayati had

sent many emissaries in all directions to propagate Vaishnava––dharma. During Yayati's reign his

subject were prosperous and were free from any kind of sorrow. Peace prevailed everywhere and

people did not experience any natural calamity like draught or famine.

King Yayati enjoyed an unbelievably long life of one lakh years. He was blessed with eternal

youth and his appearance was enough to give an inferiority complex to a young man. All this, he

had attained by the virtue of his supreme devotion towards Lord Vishnu. Indra was very scared

of Yayati's increasing popularity and feared that if his virtuosity remained intact, he would very

soon become the ruler of heaven. Indra instructed Kamadeva and Rati to find some means so that

king Yayati could be enticed by human weaknesses like lust and infatuation.

Kamadeva, accompanied by other Gandharvas went to Yayati's palace and sought his permission

to stage a play. Yayati gave his permission and the play commenced. Rati appeared on the stage

as a beautiful woman and was successful in corrupting the thoughts of Yayati. Yayati became so

enchanted by Rati's beauty that he lost his senses and fell down unconscious. Finding the time

opportune 'Vriddhavastha' (deity of old age) and 'Kamadeva' entered Yayati's body. This way the

deities were successful in their designs and now the signs of old–age started to become evident in

Yayati.

YAYATI MARRIES ASHRUBINDUMATI

Once, king Yayati went into a forest for hunting. He saw a stag, which had four horns and chased

it. The deer led him deep into the forest and then disappeared. Yayati was tired and thirsty. He

saw a lake and decided to quench his thirst. First of all he took his bath and then drank sweet

water from the lake. As Yayati was relaxing at the bank of that lake, he heard a sweet voice

singing a song. Yayati proceeded towards the direction from which the sound was coming. He

saw a beautiful woman singing a song. Her companion accompanied the beautiful woman.

Yayati became enchanted by the divine beauty of that woman and wanted to marry her. The

beautiful woman's companion told Yayati that her friend could marry him only after he shed the

signs of his old age.

The beautiful woman was Ashrubindumati––the daughter of Rati. Vishala–her companion was the

daughter of Varuna. Yayati returned to his palace and requested his two sons––Taru and Yadu to

exchange their youth in lieu of his old age, but both of them refused to oblige him. Yayati cursed

both of them.

Yayati had a son–––Puru from his wife named Sharmishtha. When he made the same request to

Puru, he agreed without any hesitation. Yayati became pleased with Puru and appointed him as

his successor.

Now, Yayati became young once again and went to meet Ashrubindumati. But,

Ashrubindumati's friend Vishala was still not convinced and expressed apprehension that her

friend would never play second fiddle to his two wives––Sharmishtha and Devayani.King Yayati,

being blinded by his lust, assured Vishala that Ashrubindumati would enjoy the supreme

authority and she had nothing to fear. He said––"I promise that you will be my only wife and I

will have nothing to do with my wives."

This way Yayati married Ashrubindumati and enjoyed a blissful married life for twenty–thousand

years. Once, Ashrubindumati expressed her desire of visiting all the divine places––Indraloka,

Brahmaloka, Shivaloka and Vishnuloka. Yayati took back his old age from Puru and returned his

youth. He appointed Puru as his successor and instructed his subject to live peacefully. But, the

people wanted to be with Yayati, so all of them accompanied him to the heaven. Yayati visited

all the divine places and ultimately attained to Vishnuloka.

KUNJAL––THE ENLIGHTENED PARROT

Once, while describing about the importance of a teacher, Lord Vishnu had narrated the

following tale to king Vena––– Sage Chyavan came from the lineage of Bhargav. Once, he

arrived at Omkareshwar with the objective of acquiring knowledge. Since he was tired, he

decided to take rest under the shade of a Banyan tree. A parrot named Kunjal lived on that tree.

The parrot had four young ones––Ujjawal, Samujjwal, Vijjwal and Kapinjal. Kunjal was a very

learned parrot and had mastery over all the scriptures. Once, Ujjawal requested Kunjal to give

discourse on various aspects of religiousness. Kunjal said–––The whole world is full of sorrow. A

man can be liberated from his sorrow by the means of salvation because salvation is free from

sorrow. Salvation can be attained with the help of abstinence, self–control and having deep

devotion in lord Vishnu. The soul being enlightened is also called 'Paramatma'. But, covered by

the darkness of ignorance it becomes difficult for the soul to attain salvation. A devotee can

meditate on both the forms of Lord Vishnu––Sakar (with form) and Nirakar (formless). But,

meditating on the Sakar form is easy for anybody. On the other hand only an enlightened soul

can meditate on the 'nirakar' form of Lord Vishnu. There are various austerities related with Lord

Vishnu and which if observed by a devotee, pleases him––Jaya, Vijaya, Jayanti, Vanjuli,

Tilgandha, Trihsprisha, Akshanda and Manoraksha. All these austerities are similar to different

types of Ekadashi or Dwadashi Vrata. Similarly, two other austerities namely Ashunyashayan

and Janmashtami are capable of freeing a man from all his sin. A devotee who chants Shatnam

stotra attains salvation.

KUNJAL PREACHES VIJJWAL

Describing the virtue of benevolence to Vijjwal. Kunjal––the learned parrot narrated the

following tale –––

Once, there lived a king named Subahu who ruled over chola desha. A learned brahmin named

Jaimini used to counsel him on religious and spiritual matters. One day, while Jaimini was giving

a discourse on the virtue of benevolence, Subahu requested him to describe about those deeds

that enables a man either to attain to the heaven or to hell.

Jaimini replied––– One who earns his livelihood by improper means definitely goes to hell.

Similarly, atheists, licentious people, proudy, backbiters and ungrateful people go to hell too.

One who gobbles up other's wealth by illegal means or shows disrespect to his guest goes to hell.

One who is a habitual liar or one who kills innocent animals or one who has abandoned the

religious path is certain to go to hell.One who is truthful and engages himself in various virtuous

deeds like penance, meditation, study of the scriptures, goes to the heaven. One who is respectful

towards his elders and leads a virtuous life goes to the heaven. In the same manner, he who is

benevolent and free from vices like jealousy hatred etc. goes to the heaven. Similarly, one who

leads his life as per the instructions given in the scriptures or has full control over his sensual

desires goes to the heaven.

King Subahu was so impressed by Jaimini's preaching that he decided to spend rest of his life in

the service of lord Madhusudan. He performed countless oblations as long as he was alive and

attained to Vishnuloka after his death.

KUNJAL NARRATES ABOUT HIS PREVIOUS BIRTH

Sage Chyavan, who had been listening to the narration of Kunjal, was amazed by his profound

knowledge. He asked Kunjal–––O great soul! Who are you? From where did you acquire such

divine knowledge.'

Kunjal, who remembered everything about his previous birth said––

In my previous birth, I was the youngest son of a brahmin named Vidyadhar. My name was

Dharma Sharma. Seeing my dislike for study, my father became worried about my future. I used

to waste my time loitering here and there. People used to make fun of my stupidity, which made

me extremely sad. I decided to acquire knowledge but did not find anybody willing to teach me.

In due course of time I became old but was still an idiot. One day, I was sitting in a temple

cursing my fate. Suddenly, a sage arrived there and asked me as to what made me so sad. I

narrated my woeful tale. The sage felt pity on my condition and blessed me with divine

knowledge that made me capable of having advance knowledge of all the future incidents of the

world. Sage Chyavan was curious to know about the reason that made Dharma Sharma to be

born as a parrot.

Kunjal replied––– O Brahmin! A man is influenced by the company he keeps. The reason why I

took birth as a parrot is related with an incident, which occurred in my previous birth. Once, a

wicked fowler sold a parrot to a brahmin who in turn presented it to me. With the passage of time

I became very attached with the parrot and gradually deviated from my virtuous path. As a result

all my divine knowledge vanished and I became an idiot once again.

One day, a cat arrived and killed that parrot in my absence. I became very sad and used to spend

my time crying over the dead parrot. Ultimately I died but even at the time of death, my mind

was preoccupied with the thoughts of my beloved parrot. As a result, I was born as a parrot but

fortunately I remembered my previous birth even while I was still in my mother's womb. I was

full of remorse and used to curse myself for having wasted my life. Sage Chyavan was amazed

by the narration of Kunjal––the learned parrot.

SWARGA––KHANDA

SOME PROMINENT HOLY PLACES OF BHARATAVARSHA

Once, sages requested Suta to describe about the most prominent places of pilgrimage situated in

Bharatavarsha. Suta commenced his narration by describing the origin of creation and then switched over

to the geographical characteristics of Bharatavarsha. Suta said–––'There are seven prominent mountain

ranges in Bharatavarsha––Mahendra, Malay, Sahya, Shaktiman, Rikshavan, Vindhya and Pariyatra. Some

prominent rivers supplying potable water to the inhabitants of Bharatavarsha are–––Ganga, Sindhu,

Saraswati, Godwari, Narmada, Shatadru, Yamuna, Vipasha, Mahanadi, Vidisham, Varuna etc. The

names of the main Janapadas situated in the northern part of Bharatavarsha are Kuru, Panchal, Shalva,

Matreya, Jangal, Shoorsen, Pulind, Baudh, Chedi, Matsya, Bhoj, Sindhu, Utkal, Koshal, Madra, Kalinga,

Kashi, Malav, Magadh, Videh, Anga, Banga, Surashtra, Kekay, Kashmir and Gandhar. Similarly,

Janpadas like Dravid, Keral. Prachya, Karnatak, Kuntal, Chol, Sauhrid, Kona, Korak, Kalad, Mushal and

Sutap are situated in the southern part of Bharatavarsha.

Suta then described about the greatness of Pushkar tirth by recounting an incident related with

the Pandavas–––

"One day, Sage Narada visited the Pandavas who were living in exile. The Pandavas had visited

many places during the course of their exile period and wanted to know about the fruits they had

acquired due to their pilgrimage.

"Sage Narada then recounted an incident when king Dilip had once posed the same question to

Sage Vashishtha. Sage Vashishtha while describing about the greatness of Pushkar said–––

Pushkar tirth is the holiest place where lord Brahma has his abode. Deities consider themselves

fortunate to be at Pushkar. A person who takes a holy dip at Pushkar and worships lord Brahma

acquires virtues equivalent to the accomplishment of the Ashwamedha Yagya."

Sage Vashishtha continued with the description of some other prominent places of pilgrimage

like Jambumarg, Narmada Amarkantak etc.

JAMBUMARG, RIVER NARMADA AMARKANTAK

Continuing with his narration, Sage Vashishtha said––– A man desirous of going on a pilgrimage

should first of all visit Jambumarg, because it is revered even by the deities and the sages. By

visiting this holy place a man acquires virtue equivalent to the accomplishment of an

Ashwamedha Yagya and attains to Vishnuloka. A man should then visit Tundulik Ashrama,

Agastya Ashrama and Kanya Ashrama, which are situated near Jambumarg. Taking a dip in the

holy water of Kotitirth, situated near Mahakal temple is believed to bestow undiminished virtue.

Bhadravat is a famous place of pilgrimage related with Lord Shiva and paying a visit here gives

virtue equivalent to donation of 1000 cows.

A man who takes holy dip in river Narmada and performs 'tarpan' in the name of manes acquires

fruits similar to the accomplishment of Agnishtom yagya. Narmada is the holiest of all the rivers.

A man becomes liberated from his sins by taking bath for three weeks in river Saraswati.

Similarly it takes one week of regular bath in river yamuna for a man to become absolved of all

his sins. The mere touch of Ganga water liberates a man from all his sins, but mere sight of river

Narmada is enough to liberate a man from all his sins.

Kotirudras are believed to dwell in the vicinity of Amarkantak mountain. All together sixty

crores and sixty thousand places of pilgrimage are situated all around this holy mountain.

Anybody present in the vicinity of this mountain must refrain from any kind of sinful deeds.

Visiting Amarkantak mountain during solar and lunar eclipses is considered to be extremely

auspicious. Similarly the confluence site of Narmada and Kaveri is considered to be sacrosanct.

Anybody who takes a holy dip in the confluence of Narmada and Kaveri becomes liberated from

his sins.

'DHARMA TIRTH' AND YAMUNA–SNAN

Sage Narada continued with the description of various holy places and said––– "A pilgrim must

visit Dharma Tirth, which is named after the lord of death––Dharma. Once upon a time

Dharmaraj had performed an austere penance at that place this is the reason why it became

famous as Dharma Tirth. By visiting Dharma Tirth, a man liberated all his ancestors up to

seventh generation. After that a pilgrim should go to Kalap–forest, Saugandhik–forest, Suvarna–

Dhumavanti respectively. All the above mentioned holy places are capable of giving salvation."

Describing about the virtues of taking a holy dip in river Kalini (Yamuna) sage Narada said ––

A person who takes a holy dip in Yamuna becomes liberated from all his sorrows. The virtue

acquired by taking a bath in Yamuna is greater than paying visits to various holy places like

Pushkar, Kurukshetra, Brahmavarta and Kashi.Taking a dip in Yamuna also helps in the

fulfillment of all the desires of a man. Although, different rituals have been attributed to various

yugas like Satya Yuga––penance, Treta Yuga––knowledge, Dwapar Yuga––yagya and Kali Yuga––

donation, yet virtue of taking a holy dip in Yamuna transcends even time."

"Although the whole stretch of river Yamuna is believed to be holy, yet Yamuna flowing near

Mathura holds special importance because of her deep association with lord Krishna."Narada

narrated a tale to prove the significance of taking a bath in Yamuna.

"During Satya Yuga there lived a Vaishya named Hemakundal. He had earned lot of wealth by

dint of hard work. Although he was very rich yet happiness deluded him, as he had no progeny.

He was worried as to who would inherit his property after his death.

"In course of time, Hemakundal attained old age and after realizing about the impermanence of

the world indulged himself in virtuous deeds. He was blessed with two sons––Srikundal and

Vikundal. When both his sons grew up, Hemakundal went into the forest to do penance."

"Sri Kundal and Hemakundal squandered the whole wealth which their father had earned so

painstakingly. Both of them were of loose moral character and had illicit relationship with many

prostitutes. In a very short time they became poor and both of them starved to death. When the

yamdoots reached yamloka after taking their souls, Yamraj ordered––'Put Sri Kundal in Raurav

hell but send Vikundal to the heaven.' While Vikundal was being taken to the heaven he asked

one of the yamdoots––'The sins committed by my brother and me were almost identitical then

why is my brother being sent to hell while I am being sent to heaven.'

The yamdoot replied–You are being metted out this special treatment on account of your virtues

acquired by bathing twice in river Yamuna.There was a brahmin friend of your's named

Swamitra.You had accompanied him to Mathura and twice taken bath in the holy Yamuna. By

the virtue of the first bath you became liberated from all your sins, while the second bath helped

you in attaining to the heaven. Vikundal requested the yamdoot to allow his brother to

accompany him to heaven. Yamdoot replied that his brother could accompany him to the heaven

provided he donated all his virtues to him.

Vikundal agreed to donate his virtues to his elder brother for the sake of his liberation. This way,

both Srikundal and Vikundal attained to the heaven.

KASHIPURI, KAPARDISHWAR AND GAYA

On being asked by Yudhisthira about the grandeur of holy places like Kashipuri, Kapardishwar

and Gaya. Narada said –––

Just as Lord Mahadeva is supreme among all the deities, in the same manner Kashipuri holds a

significant status among all the places of pilgrimage. Hence an individual should make it a point

to visit Kashi once in his life time. The famous Shivalinga Kopardishwar is installed at Kashi

and is said to fulfill all the desires of a man. Performance of various rituals at Kashi liberates a

man from all his sins–all his flaws are eliminated automatically just by residing in Kashi.

A devotee who regularly practices meditation in the temple of Lord Kapordishwar attains

Yogasiddhi within six months. Worshipping Lord Kapardishwar after taking a holy dip in

Pishach–mochan kunda liberates a man from gravest of sin like Brahmahatya, etc. Gaya is

considered to be a sacrosanct place of pilgrimage and various rituals for the pacification of the

souls of dead ancestors are performed here. Anybody who offers Pindadan and tarpan at Gaya

not only liberates his ancestors but also himself. There is a very famous Banyan tree named

Akshayvat at Gaya. Gaya is situated at the bank of river Falgu.

PURANAS––THE EMBODIMENT OF SRI HARI

According to Suta, all the Puranas are nothing but the mediums through which Sri Hari manifests

himself–––Brahma Purana is said to be the forhead of Sri Hari, Padma Purana is said to be the

'heart' of Sri Hari, Vishnu Purana is said to be the 'right arm' of Sri Hari. Shiva Purana is said to

be the 'left arm' of Sri Hari. Srimad Bhagawat is said to be his 'thigh', Narada Purana is said to be

his 'navel', Markendeya Purana is said to be his 'right–foot'. Agni Purana is said to be his 'left

foot', Bhavish Purana is said to be his 'right–knee', Brahma Vaivrata Purana is said to be his 'left–

knee'. Linga Purana is said to be his 'right ankle', Varaha Purana is said to be his 'left ankle',

Skanda Purana is said to be the hair on the body of 'Sri Hari. Vamana Purana is said to be his

skin. Kurma Purana is said to be his back. Matsya Purana is said to be his stomach. Garuda

Purana is said to be his bone–marrow. Brahmanda Purana is said to be his bone.

So, all the Puranas being manifestation of different parts of Sri Hari's body are very sacred and

capable of bestowing salvation.

PATAL –KHAND

SHESHNAG NARRATES TALES OF SRI RAMA'S RETURN FROM LANKA

Once, Sages requested Suta to describe about Sri Rama's return from Lanka. Suta narrated the

same tale, which Sheshnag had once told Vatsyayan. Sheshnag said––After the killing of demon

king Ravana, Sri Rama appointed Vibhishan as the king of Lanka. He then decided to return to

Ayodhya on Pushpak–Vimana, which Vibhishan had presented to him. He along with Sita,

Lakshman, Sugreev and Hanuman boarded the aircraft and flew towards Ayodhya.The earth

looked beautiful from such a high altitude and Sri Rama was continuously describing about the

importance of various places over which the aircraft flew. As the aircraft was about to enter the

airspace of Ayodhya, Sri Rama recognized Bharata, who was living at Nandigram at that time.

Bharata had vowed not to enter Ayodhya till the return of Sri Rama, hence he stayed at

Nandigram situated at the outskirts of Ayodhya awaiting Sri Rama's return. He led an austere life

as the result of which he had become weak and feeble.

On seeing Bharata, Sri Rama instructed Hanuman to inform him about his (Rama's) arrival.

Hanuman went to the hermitage of Bharata and informed him about Sri Rama's arrival. Bharata's

joy knew no bound and he expressed his desire to reward Hanuman for bringing such auspicious

news. Bharata then accompanied Hanuman and went to meet Sri Rama. Sri Rama's heart was

filled with grief when he saw Bharata, who looked like a hermit in his 'Valkal' and 'Kaupin'. On

the other hand Bharata cursed himself for being the cause of Sri Rama's miseries. Bharata asked

for Sri Rama's forgiveness and said–––'O Lord! You had to go into exile only because of me. I can

never be absolved of my sin.'

Sri Rama consoled him and after taking Bharata into his embrace enquired about his welfare. He

told Bharata that he had to undergo the sufferings of exile because of his own destiny. 'You are

not at fault. Don't curse yourself for my misery.' said Sri Rama. At last all of them including

Bharata boarded Pushpak Vimana and the aircraft took– off for Ayodhya.Continuing with Sri

Rama's tale, Sheshnag said––When Sumanth brought the news of Sri Rama's arrival at Ayodhya,

people danced in joy, Preparations started being made for Sri Rama's grand reception. The whole

city of Ayodhya was decorated with rows of lighted lamps.

Sri Rama and Sita alighted from the Pushpak Vimana and both of them were carried in a

palanquin to the palace. People stood in queues on both sides of the road with folded hands. Sri

Rama blessed them by raising his hand. First of all Rama went to meet Kaikayi who was full of

remorse and guilt. Sri Rama consoled her and then went to meet Sumitra to pay his obeisance to

her. At last, he went to meet his own mother––Kaushalya, who was dying to see him. Kaushalya

blessed Sri Rama, Sita and Lakshman. Bharata then instructed the royal astrologers to decide

upon an auspicious moment for Sri Rama's coronation. Thus Sri Rama became the king of

Ayodhya. During his reign peace and prosperity prevailed everywhere. People were virtuous and

there was no sign of sin.

RAVANA–– THE MIGHTY DEMON

People of Ayodhya lived peacefully during Sri Rama's reign until one fateful day when they

were struck by a bad news––Sri Rama had abandoned Sita after a Washerman leveled an unfair

charge against her character. Such was the greatness of Sri Rama that opinion of each and every

individual was given due respect irrespective of his position and status. One day, Sage Agastya

arrived in the royal court of Sri Rama. After the formal Salutations were over. Sage Agastya

complimented Sri Rama for killing Ravana.

Sri Rama asked Agastya––'Who was Ravana–– the tormentor of deities? I am anxious to know

about the origin of his whole clan."

Sage Agastya replied––Vishrava was the grandson of Lord Brahma. His father was sage Pulastya.

Vishrava had two wives––Mandakini and Kaikasi. Mandakani's son was Kubera while Kaikasi

was the mother of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhishan. Kubera ruled over Lanka. One day,

Kubera, came to see his parents boarded on his aircraft––Pushpak Vimana. After he returned to

Lanka, Ravana, who was very much impressed by Kubera's royal appearances asked Kaikasi––

"Who was this fellow? From where did he acquire such an amazing aircraft."

Kaikasi revealed to Ravana that the guest was none other than his step–brother Kubera. She said–

–"Kubera is the son of your step mother––Mandakini. He has made his mother proud by his

conduct but I am ashamed of you, because of your inconsequential existence. You are no better

than a worm."

Ravana decided to prove his mother wrong by acquiring insurmountable power and authority.

Ravana went to the forest and performed an austere penance for ten thousand years by standing

on one foot. He fixed his gaze at the sun and never for a moment did he remove his gaze from it.

Kumbhakarna and Vibhishan also engaged themselves in austere penance. At last, Lord Brahma

became pleased and blessed Ravana with a vast kingdom. Ravana then started tormenting his

step–brother Kumbhakarna. He snatched Kubera's Pushpak Vimana and drove him out of Lanka.

Ravana then turned his attention towards the deities and drove them out of heaven. The deities

went to seek the help of Lord Brahma who in turn took them to Lord Shiva. Even Lord Shiva

was clueless about the means by which the indomitable Ravana could be subdued. Ultimately all

of them including Lord Shiva went to Lord Vishnu and sought his help.

Lord Vishnu assured them by saying –––

"I shall take incarnation as Rama at a place called Ayodhya. Presently, Ayodhya is being ruled

by Dashrath, who inspite of having three queens, does not have any son. I shall manifest myself

as Rama. Don't worry! I shall eliminate the menace called Ravana." Sage Agastya also told Sri

Rama that Ravana belonged to the caste called 'Brahmrakshas'. This way, Sage Agastya after

having finished his narration looked at Sri Rama anticipating further queries.

AGASTYA ADVISES SRI RAMA TO PERFORM

ASHWAMEDHA YAGYA

Sri Rama requested sage Agastya to tell about the means by which he could become liberated

from the sins of killing brahmins. Sage Agastya advised him to perform Ashwamedha Yagya. He

also described the rituals of performing Ashwamedha Yagya––– "Get a horse of white colour and

after worshipping it on Vaishakh Purnima leave it to wander freely. Tie a piece of paper on its

forehead on which your name and other details are mentioned. Soldiers should follow that horse

wherever it goes. You should fight a battle against any king who dares to stop the horse. You

should lead a celibate life till the horse returns back to the same place from where it had been let

loose. It is customary for the performer of Ashwamedha Yagya to indulge himself in benevolent

deeds till the completion of Ashwamedha Yagya." Sri Rama agreed to perform Ashwamedha

Yagya. He went to the seashore accompanied by numerous sages. He then cultivated a vast

expanse of land with the help of a golden plough. A large oblation site was constructed and thus

began Ashwamedha Yagya under the supervision of Vashishtha.

THE HORSE IS LET LOOSE

As per the advice of Sage Vashishtha, Sri Rama instructed his soldiers to bring a white–horse. A

white parasol was fixed on its back and the horse was decorated with colourful clothes. The

horse was then let loose and the faithful soldiers of Sri Rama followed it wherever the horse

went.A gold–sheet was hanged in the horse's neck and upon which was inscribed––This horse

belongs to Sri Rama, the son of Dasharath. Anybody who dares to stop this horse will meet

ruthless punishment.

Shatrughan followed the horse as per the instruction of his elder brother, Sri Rama. Bharata and

Pushkal also accompanied him. A huge army led by Kalnemi was marching behind the horse.

LAV FASTENS THE HORSE

Some of the kings tried to stop the horse, but were defeated by Shatrughan. This way the horse

continued to move ahead without any problem till it reached the bank of river Ganga. It was

early morning and Lav after noticing the presence of horse become curious. He went near the

horse and tried to read the inscription hanging down its neck. He made fun of the might of Sri

Rama and fastened the horse. The soldiers tried to release the horse but Lav severed their arms.

They returned to Shatrughan and narrated the whole incident to him.

LAV VANQUISHES THE WHOLE ARMY

Shatrughan became extremely furious after seeing the condition of his injured soldiers. He

instructed Kalnemi to teach Lav a lesson. Kalnemi confronted Lav with a huge army and a

ferocious battle took place. Lav managed to kill Kalnemi, which created havoc in the rival's

army. The surviving soldiers tried to hold their ground but were forced to flee on account of a

fierce assault from Lav.

Shatrughan then ordered Pushkal to fight Lav but he became unconscious after being hit by Lav's

arrow. Now, Shatrughan's anger crossed all limits and he ordered Hanuman to kill Lav.

Hanuman uprooted a large tree and tried to hit Lav, but Lav cut that tree into hundred pieces with

a volley of arrows. Lav then released many arrows in the direction of Hanuman. Hanuman

fought valiantly but ultimately he fell down unconscious.

LAV BECOMES UNCONSCIOUS

When Shatrughan learnt about Hanuman's fate he was infuriated and went to fight Lav. But

when he saw a tender looking child in front of him he was surprised. Shatrughan asked ––

'O brave child! Who are you! Who is your father?'

But Lav was not interested in his irrelevant queries and challenged him for a duel. Shatrughan

was left with no other option but to fight. A tremendous battle was fought between them.

Shatrughan released volleys of arrow towards Lav but all of them were neutralized by him. For a

brief time Shatrughan lost his consciousness. After regaining his consciousness, he aimed his

most lethal weapon towards Lav. The arrow hit Lav and he fell down unconscious. Lav's

companions went and informed Sita about the whole incident. Kush came forward to fight

against Sri Rama's army. When he reached the battlefield he saw Lav who was held captive by

the enemy's army's. By that time, Lav had regained his consciousness and after seeing Kush he

somehow managed to free himself from the clutches of his captors.

Now, both the brothers launched a fierce attack on the enemy. The whole army of Sri Rama

started running helter and shelter. It did not take much time for Lav and Kush to vanquish the

whole army. All the great warriors like Hanuman, Sugriva, Pushkal, Angad Veermani and even

Shatrughan were either held captive or injured in the battle. Both the brothers fastened Hanuman

and Sugriva with ropes and took them to Sita. Sita immediately recognized Hanuman and

Sugriva. She instructed both her sons to set them free as well as the horse. Lav and Kush

followed the instruction of Sita and released everybody from their captivity. Sita then whispered–

––'May all the dead soldiers become alive.' Her words came true and all the dead soldiers became

alive once again. Shatrughan regained his consciousness too.

THE ARMY RETURNS TO AYODHYA

Shatrughan decided to return to Ayodhya. He instructed Sumati to make all the necessary

arrangements for the safe return of the caravan, which comprised not only of Sri Rama's army

but also of all the defeated kings and their vanquished armies. When Sri Rama came to know

about their arrival, he sent Lakshman to receive them. Lakshman received the victorious army

with all the honor and the all of them came to the palace. Sri Rama curiously asked Sumati about

everything that had happened.

Sumati paraded all the vanquished kings who had made the mistake of stopping the horse––

Sumad, Sabahu, Daman, Satyavan, Surath, etc. He then narrated the brave deed of Lav and

Kush.He also revealed how mighty warriors like Hanuman, Sugriva, Shatrughan etc. had been

defeated by both of them.

SRI RAMA SENDS LAKSHMAN TO BRING SITA

Sage Valmiki was present in Ayodhya to attend the Ashwamedha Yagya. Sri Rama asked him

about the identity of the two children––Lav and Kush. Valmiki said ––– Sita was pregnant at the

time you had abandoned her. I gave her refuge in my hermitage where she gave birth to twins––

Lav and Kush. Both the children were brought up in my hermitage with love and care. I taught

them all the sacred texts and scriptures and made them masters of various weaponries. So, Lav

and Kush are your sons. You must bring Sita back to Ayodhya with due honor, because she is

pure and chaste. Moreover your whole army owe its life to her."

Sri Rama's heart was filled with grief. He instructed Lakshman to bring Sita along with Lav and

Kush. Lakshman went to Valmiki's hermitage and requested Sita to return to Ayodhya. Sita

refused to return but sent Lav and Kush along with Lakshman. When Sri Rama found that only

Lav and Kush had come, he once again sent Lakshman to bring Sita. Lakshman followed his

instruction and went to Valmiki's hermitage for the second time. Meanwhile, Valmiki instructed

Lav and Kush to sing the praise of Sri Rama in their melodious voice. Everybody was moved by

their soulful rendition. Sri Rama took Lav and Kush in his embrace.

SITA RETURNS TO AYODHYA

Sri Rama eulogised all the revered sages who had arrived to attend the Ashwamedha Yagya. The holy

water of Saryu was brought and sprinkled in the yagya kund where Ashwamedha Yagya was being

performed, amidst the chanting of vedic mantras. Hardly had Sri Rama touched the horse with his hands

then it transformed into a human being. Everybody was amazed by this incident. Sri Rama asked that

man as to how he had attained the form of a horse. The man revealed to the assembled people that he

had become a horse due to Durvasa's curse. 'Later on Sage Durvasa had mercy on me and assured that

I would regain my human form by the divine touch of Sri Rama.'

Having said this the man attained to the heaven. In course of time Sri Rama organised two more

Ashwamedha Yagyas and his glory reverberated through all the three worlds.

UTTAR – KHAND

BADRIKASHRAMA

Once, on being asked by the sages about the greatness of Badrikasharama, Suta narrated the

same tale, which Lord Shiva had once told sage Narada –––

Lord Mahadeva had told Narada that altogether there were one lakh and twenty–five thousand

mountains and Badrikashrama was supreme among them. Lord Mahadeva said–––

Badrikasharama is the abode of Lord Nara–Narayan. Narayan––the origin of all creations has four

arms and his complexion is dark. Narayan manifests himself in both forms––Sakar as well as

Nirakar. He is the eternal Purusha and is worshipped by people during the full period of

Uttarayan. Since Badrikashrama is covered with snow during the period of Dakshainayan,

Narayan is not worshipper during these six months. All the deities dwell at Badrikasharama. The

sages live in their hermitages at Badrikasharama. River Alaknanda flows at Badrikasharama.

Anybody taking a dip in the holy water of Alaknanda becomes liberated from his sins.

THE DESCENT OF RIVER GANGA

Describing about the reason why river Ganga was brought down on the earth, Lord Mahadeva

told Narada––– King Bhagirath was the architect of Ganga's arrival on the earth. He wanted to

liberate his dead ancestorss from the curse of Sage Kapila. King Sagar came from the lineage of

the famous king––Harishchandra. Sagar had two queens. The elder queen had sixty thousand sons

while the younger queen had just one––Panchajan. Panchajan's son was Anshuman, who himself

was the father of Dilip. Dilip was the father of Bhagirath.

Bhagirath did an austere penance on the Himalayas for ten thousand years. As a result, river

Ganga descended on the earth. I (Shiva) held her in the locks of my hair and she remained there

for ten thousand more years. Bhagirath requested me to release Ganga so that his ancestors could

be liberated. I agreed to release Ganga and Bhagirath took her to the Patalloka where his

ancestor's had been charred to death due to Kapila's curse. Bhagirath sprinkled the water of

Ganga on the ashes of his ancestors and each of them attained salvation as a result. Eventually,

Ganga resurfaced at Haridwar––the most sacred place of pilgrimage.

DASHARATH PACIFIES SHANI

Sage Narada curiously asked Lord Mahadeva as to what made Shani such a volatile planet.Lord

Mahadeva replied––– Shani is extremely violent by nature and everybody is scarred of this planet.

Once, the royal astrologer of Dasharath was petrified at the prospect of Shani entering the

constellation of Rohini and warned him of its dire consequences. 'If the Shani is not prevented

from entering Rohini, then famine would occur lasting for more than twelve years.' said the royal

astrologers.

Dasharath went above the sky to subdue the might of Shani well armed with divine weapons.

Shani became terrified on seeing Dasharath in such a menacing mood and expressed his

willingness to fulfill his desires.

QUALITIES OF A VAISHNAV

Giving a detailed description of the qualities of a Vaishnava, Lord Shiva told Narada –––

A person who has total devotion in Lord Vishnu is called a Vaishnava. He is truthful, kind and

forgiving by nature. He engages himself in austere penance and refrains from any kind of

violence. He wears a Tulsi bead in his neck and puts on tilak. He is well versed in sacred text like

the Vedas, Puranas etc. The mere sight of a Vaishnava is enough to liberate a sinner from all his

sins. Feeding a Vaishnava bestowes virtue equivalent to feeding thousand of ordinary brahmins.

INDRAPRASTHA

The sages enquired from Suta about the holiest city situated on the banks of river Yamuna.

Suta narrated the tale which Sage Saubhari had once told Yudhisthira–––Once, Narada and Parvat

were travelling through an aerial route, while they were flying over Khandav forest, they were

lured by the beautiful sight of river Yamuna. They decided to take rest for a while. Both of them

descended down and entered river Yamuna to take their bath. Meanwhile, King Shibi who ruled

over Ushinar saw them. He eagerly waited at the bank of Yamuna. When Narada and Parvat

emerged out of the Yamuna, they found king Shibi eagerly waiting for them. Meanwhile king

Shibi had noticed the remains of numerous 'havan–kundas' (oblation–altars) spread in a large

area.

After the formal exchanges of pleasantaries were over, King Shibi asked Narada about those

havan– kundas.

Narada replied––During ancient times Indra had performed numerous Yagyas at this place to

express his gratitude to Lord Vishnu, with whose blessings he had regained the heaven from the

clutches of Hiranyakashipu. In course of time, this place became famous as Indraprastha. This

sacrosanct place is holier than all the holy places combined together. Indraprastha is spread in the

area of one yojan from east to west and four yojans from north to south.

VAIKUNTH––THE ABODE OF LORD VISHNU

Describing about the grandeur of Vaikunth, Lord Shiva told Parvati––A person who has total

devotion in Vishnu attains to Vaikunth after his death. Vaikuntha is the abode of Vishnu and

constitutes of numerous Janapadas. The magnificence of Vaikunth is beyond description and it

houses many grand palaces fully decorated with jewels and diamonds. The central part of

Vaikuntha is called Ayodhya and is well protected by dwarpals named Chanda, Prachanda,

Bhadra, Subhadra, Jaya, Vijay, Dhata and Vidhata.Vaikunth is inhabited by countless divine

people who live in well illuminated houses.

In the central part of Ayodhya is situated the 'antahpuri' of Lord Vishnu. It is inhabited by

celestial beauties––apsaras. There is a divine canopy situated just at the center of antahpuri, where

Lord Vishnu has his divine throne. The divine throne is surrounded by deities as well as by the

embodiments of all the four Vedas––– Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. The

deities–––Agni, Surya and Chandrama have their dwellings at the center of Vishnu's throne.There

is a grand pedestal called yogapeeth established on the throne. A beautiful lotus flower is

established on the yogapeeth on which is seated Lord Vishnu along with his consort Lakshmi.

Lord Vishnu appears divine in his complexion of a blue lotus, whose radiance is enough to

subdue crores of sun. He has radiant ear–rings hangings down his earlobes. His forehead is

covered with curly hair. He has the famous 'Kaustubh mani' in his neck. He holds a conch and a

chakra in each of his two hands and the remaining two hands are in the posture of giving

blessings.

THE INCARNATIONS OF MATSYA AND KURMA

Once, goddess Parvati expressed her desire to know about all the incarnations of Lord Vishnu.

Lord Mahadeva replied–– Lord Brahma had created numerous Prajapatis like Bhrigu, Marichi,

Atri, Daksha, Kardam, Pulastya, Pulaha, Angira and Kratu. Marichi was the father of Kashyapa.

Sage Kashyapa had four wives––Aditi, Diti, Kadru and Vinta.Aditi was the mother of Deities

while Diti gave birth to demons like––Makar, Hayagreeva, Mahabali, Hiranyaksha,

Hiranyakashipu Jambha, Maya etc. Makar was a mighty demon, who after deceitfully acquiring

the Vedas from Lord Brahma had hidden himself inside an ocean. Lord Brahma requested

Vishnu to liberate the sacred Vedas from the possession of Makar.

Lord Vishnu then took the incarnation of Matsya and after killing Makar gave back the vedas to

Lord Brahma. Durvasa was the son of Sage Atri. Once, he went to Indraloka to see Indra. At that

time, Indra was planning to go out somewhere. Durvasa presented a garland of Parijat flowers to

Indra. Indra, after receiving the garland from Durvasa kept it carelessly on the forehead of his

elephant–Airavat. This garland was trampled under its feet by the elephant, which infuriated

Durvasa. He cursed Indra by saying–––Immense prosperity has made you arrogant. But you will

become a pauper within a very short time.

Durvasa's words came to be true and Indra found that not only the heaven but all the three worlds

had become bereft of goddess Lakshmi. Prosperity vanished and poverty prevailed everywhere.

The deities became worried and went to take the help of Brahma. Brahma took the deities to

Lord Vishnu. Vishnu became pleased with their eulogy and said ––

I will take incarnation as Kurma. If the ocean were churned with the help of Mandarachal

mountain and Vasuki, then goddess Lakshmi would manifest herself. I shall hold the

Mandarachal mountain on my back. This way the churning of ocean commenced. The

Mandarachal mountain was uprooted and placed inside the 'Ksheer–Sagar' and which rested on

the back of Lord Kurma. The serpent––Vasuki, was held by deities and demons on both the ends.

First of all the most venomous poison––Kalkut emerged from the ocean. Seeing both the deities

and demons unwilling to accept it. (Lord Shiva) drank it.

After the emergence of Kalkut, goddess Daridra and Varunai manifested themselves. Similarly,

Airavat– elephant, Uchchaishrava–horse, Dhanvantari, Surabhi––cow and Parijat– tree emerged

from the ocean. Ultimately, goddess Lakshmi manifested herself. The deities requested her to

dwell in the heart of Lord Vishnu and bless all the three worlds by her presence. Goddess

Lakshmi agreed and blessed them.

NRISIMHA––INCARNATION

Continuing with the various incarnations of Lord Vishnu, Lord Mahadeva told Parvati –––

Sage Kashyapa had two mighty sons from Diti––Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha. Hiranyaksha

had once carried the earth to Rasatala. The deities requested Lord Vishnu to rescue the earth.

Lord Vishnu took the incarnation of a boar and killed Hiranyaksha with his sharp horn. When

Hiranyakshipu learnt about his brother's death he went to Merugiri mountain and started doing

penance to please me (Lord Shiva). I blessed him with immortality, Later on, Hiranyakashipu

married Uttanpad's daughter––Kalyani and had a son named Prahlada from her. In spite of being

born in the clan of a demon, Prahlada proved to be an extremely religious child and was a

supreme devotee of Lord Vishnu.

When Hiranyakshipu came to know about Prahlada's religious tendency, he tried his best to stop

him from worshipping Vishnu. But, all his efforts went in vain and Prahlada continued to

worship Lord Vishnu.Hiranyakashipu instructed his subordinates to kill Prahlada but each time

he came out unharmed. One day, Hiranyakashipu pulled out his sword and said–––'You say that

Vishnu is omnipresent. Is he present in this pillar?' Having said like this he assaulted the pillar

with his sword. Suddenly to his sheer amazement, Lord Vishnu manifested himself from that

pillar in the form of Nrisimha.

Hiranyakashipu had been blessed by Lord Shiva that he could be killed neither by a man nor a

beast. No weapon could harm him. He could be killed neither during the day nor during the

night. Hiranyakashiu had taken into consideration all the possible threat perceptions to his life

and tried to become immortal. But, Lord Vishnu takes incarnation to protect the humanity

whenever religiousness is under threat. This time, Lord Vishnu took incarnation as Nrisimha

(partly lion and partly human) and tore apart his belly with his sharp nails. After the death of

Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada was coronated as his successor. Prahlada ruled justly and his subject

were happy and satisfied.

VAMANA––INCARNATION

Continuing with the various incarnations of Lord Vishnu, Lord Mahadeva told Parvati –––

Prahlada had a son named Virochan.The most benevolent king––'Mahabahu–Bali' was Virochan's

son. Bali had defeated the deities and ruled over all the three worlds. Sage Kashyapa commenced

the most austere penance––Payovrata to help the deities regain their lost kingdom (heaven) once

again. He was accompanied by his wife––Aditi in his penance which lasted for one thousand

years. At last, Lord Vishnu became pleased by their penance and appeared before them. Sage

Kashyapa narrated the woeful tales of the deities and requested him to make Indra the Lord of all

the three worlds. Lord Vishnu promised that he would take incarnation as Vamana. In course of

time, Aditi became pregnant and ultimately gave birth to Lord Vamana. Lord Vamana appeared

in the form of a 'Brahmchari'. He wore a deer––Skin and carried a stick and a 'mekhala' in both

his hands. Lord Vishnu enquired the deities about the future course of action. The deities

informed him that Bali was busy performing a yagya and he would not turn down any demand

made to him because if he did so there was a fear of loosing all his virtues attained by the

performance of the yagya.

Lord Vamana went to the oblation site where Bali was performing a yagya and demanded a

small piece of land measured by his three steps. Bali agreed to meet the demand of his guest

inspite of Shukracharya's warning. Bali resolved to donate land by holding holy water in his

palm. Now, Lord Vamana abandoned his dwarfish form and appeared in a giant form. He

measured the whole earth by his first step. Lord Vishnu then measured the whole sky by his

second step. The helpless Bali agreed to donate all the three worlds to protect his vow.

Ultimately, Lord Vishnu sent Bali to the Rasatala and thus Indra became the ruler of heaven once

again.

SRI RAMA'S BIRTH

Describing about Sri Rama's incarnation Lord Mahadeva told Parvati––'Once, Swayambhuva

Manu had expressed his desire of having Lord Vishnu as his son to which Lord Vishnu had

agreed. During Treta Yuga Manu manifested himself as Dasharath and Vishnu kept his promise

by taking birth as his son––Sri Rama. Similarly, during Dwapar Yuga Manu was born as Vasudev

and Lord Vishnu kept his word by taking birth as his son––Krishna. After the completion of one

thousand divine years, Manu will be born in the village of Sambhal as Harigupta and Vishnu will

take birth as his son––'Kalki'.

Lord Shiva then continued with the incarnation of Sri Rama and said––'Sage Vishrava was the

son of Pulasya and was married to Kekashi. Ravana and Kumbhakarna were born to the couple.

Sage Vishrava also had a daughter named Shurpanakha and a virtuous son named

Vibhishan.Ravana and Kumbhakarna did austere penance to please me (Lord Shiva). When I

appeared before Ravana he requested the boon of immortality from me. After receiving the boon,

Ravana became very arrogant and started tormenting the inhabitants of all the three worlds. The

deities became scarred and took the refuge of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu assured them that he

would solve their problem by taking incarnation as Sri Rama.

Dasharath came from the lineage of Surya. He had three queens–––Kaushalya, Sumitra and

Kaikeyi. Once, Dasharath performed a Vaishnav Yagya with the objective of acquiring a son.

Lord Vishnu appeared and assured him that he would take incarnation as Sri Rama in a short

time. Lord Vishnu gave a bowl of divine kheer to Dasharath, which he distributed amongst his

three queens. In course of time, Kaushalya gave birth to Sri Rama on the auspicious day of

Chaitra–Navami. The deities and the sages rejoiced at his birth.

SRI RAMA GROWS UP

Continuing with the tale of Sri Rama, Lord Mahadeva told Parvati––Dasharath requested

Vashishtha to perform the Jatkarm Sanskar of Sri Rama. In course of time Kaikeyi gave birth to

Bharata––an incarnation of Panchajanya conch. Similarly, Sumitra gave birth to two sons––

Lakshman and Shatrughan. Lakshman was the incarnation of Sheshnag while Shatrughan was

the incarnation of Sudershan chakra. Sri Rama and his brothers received education under the

guidance of Sage Vashishtha. In a very short time they became proficient in all the scriptures and

mastered various weaponaries. Although all the four brothers were very close to each other, yet

Lakshman could not bear to live in Rama's separation even for a moment and was specially close

to him.

Sita manifested herself from the field while Janaka was ploughing it. King Janaka brought up

Sita with great love and care. At that time, Vishwamitra was busy performing a grand yagya at

Siddha Ashrama. But the demons created numerous problems and made it impossible for him to

accomplish the yagya. Vishwamitra went to Ayodhya and requested Dasharath to send Sri Rama

and Lakshman along with him so that the yagya could be accomplished without any problems.

Dasharath agreed to send Sri Rama and Lakshman along with Vishwamitra.This way,

Vishwamitra returned to his hermitage acompanied by both the brothers. Garuda presented a pair

of bow and imperishable set of arrows to both the brothers.

While staying at the hermitage Sri Rama and Lakshman killed many demons like Taraka and

Subahu. When Marich tried to disrupt the yagya, Sri Rama attacked him with Pavan–astra, which

sent Marich flying across the sea–shore. Meanwhile, on learning that Janaka was performing

Vajapeya yagya at Janakapur, Vishwamitra took Sri Rama and Lakshman to attend it. On the

way Sri Rama liberated Ahalya who had turned into a rock after being cursed by her husband.

After reaching Janakapur, Sri Rama broke Lord Shiva's bow and married Sita. Lakshman

married Urmila. Dasharath had come to attend the marriage ceremony accompanied by Bharata

and Shatrughan. Bharata was married to Mandavi while Shatrughan married Shrutkeerti.

Meanwhile, on learning that Sri Rama had broken Shiva's bow, Parshurama arrived there and

challenged him, but ultimately Parashurama realized about the divinity of Sri Rama and accepted

his superiority. At last, Sri Rama, Lakshman, Bharata and Shatrughan returned to Ayodhya along

with their respective consorts.

SRI RAMA'S EXILE

Lord Mahadeva continued with the tale of Sri Rama and told Parvati ––Dasharath wanted to

appoint Sri Rama as his successor but Kaikeyi did not like this idea. She wanted Bharata to be

made the king of Ayodhya and Sri Rama to be sent into exile for 14 years. Once, Kaikeyi had

saved Dasharath's life while he was fighting a battle against the demons. To show his gratitude,

Dasharath had promised two boons to her. At that time, Kaikeyi had told Dasharath that she

would make her demand at the appropriate time.

This way, Dasharath was compelled by Kaikeyi to accept the two demands. As a result, Sri

Rama was sent into exile. Bharata refused to become the king of Ayodhya and vowed to wait till

Sri Rama returned. Dasharath could not bear the sorrow of Rama's separation and died in his

sorrow. Bharata tried his best to convince Sri Rama to change his mind and accept the throne,

but Sri Rama did not listen to his request. Bharata then brought Sri Rama's wooden–sandal and

kept it on the throne. He vowed to spend rest of his life in austerities till Sri Rama returned.

While Sri Rama was still in exile, he went to the hermitage of Sage Atri and received his

blessings. Atri's wife– Anasuya preached Sita on the virtues of chastity. Sri Rama also visited

hermitages of some other prominent sages like Sharbhanga, Suteeksha, Agastya etc. Once, while

Sri Rama was living in Panchavati, Shurpanakha arrived there. Shurpanakha was Ravana's sister

and wanted to marry Sri Rama, But Lakshman severed her nose and ears. She went to a mighty

demon named Khar and narrated her woeful tale. Khar attacked Rama with a huge army, which

comprised of brave warriors like Trishira Dushan etc. Rama was Victorious in this battle and

Khar, Trishira and Dushan were killed.

Shurpanakha went to Ravana and informed him about the misdeeds of Rama. Ravana was

infuriated and wanted to take revenge. He abducted Sita with the help of Marich.When Jatayu

saw Ravana carrying Sita to Lanka, he fought with valiance but was injured in the ensuing battle.

Sri Rama went in search of Sita and met Jatayu, who was injured and who informed Rama that

Sita had been abducted by the demon king Ravana. Sri Rama met Hanuman at the Rishyamook

mountain. Later on he befriended Sugriva on the advice of Hanuman. Sugriva had enemity with

his brother–Bali. Sri Rama killed Bali and made Sugriva the king.

Sri Rama requested Hanuman to find out the whereabouts of Sita. Hanuman went to Lanka and

found Sita at Ashoka Vatika. He destroyed the garden and killed many demons including

Ravana's son––Akshay Kumar. Ultimately, he was captured by Meghnath and taken to Ravana's

court. Ravana ordered Hanuman's tail to be ignited. Hanuman then burnt the city of Lanka and

returned to Sri Rama. When Sri Rama came to know about the exact location of Sita, he decided

to attack Lanka with a huge army, which comprised of monkeys. The army camped at the sea–

shore where Vibhishan came to meet him.

A bridge was built across the ocean and the army reached Lanka. A fierce battle took place in

which many demons were killed. At last, Ravana came forward to fight against Sri Rama but was

killed. Sri Rama appointed Vibhishan as the king of Lanka and blessed him. Vibhishan presented

his pushpak Vimana to Sri Rama. All of them boarded the Pushpak Vimana and flew towards

Ayodhya. On the way Sri Rama met Bharata who was still awaiting his arrival at Nandigram. Sri

Rama was very pleased to meet Bharata. Ultimately all of them returned to Ayodhya.

SRI RAMA'S CORONATION

Describing the coronation of Sri Rama Lord Mahadeva told Parvati––People of Ayodhya rejoiced

at the return of Sri Rama. An auspicious day was chosen for his coronation and Sri Rama became

the king of Ayodhya amidst the chantings of Vedic mantras. Sri Rama ruled over Ayodhya for

one thousand years without any problem. Meanwhile, some ignorant people started pointing out

fingers at the character of Sita. Sri Rama decided to abandon Sita in the forest to quell the

rumour. Sita was pregnant at that time. Feeling pity on her condition, Valmiki took her to his

hermitage where Sita gave birth to Lav and Kush.

Meanwhile Sri Rama decided to perform Ashwamedha Yagya at the bank of river Gomati. But,

since the yagya could not have been accomplished without Sita, therefore he performed the

rituals seated beside a golden idol of Sita. In the mean time Valmiki arrived there, accompanied

by Sita. He requested Sri Rama to accept Sita, vouching for her chastity. Sri Rama told Valmiki––

'I am confident of Sita's chastity but she will have to prove her chastity for the satisfaction of

common people.'

Sita was deeply hurt by Sri Rama's unkind remarks. She said––'May mother earth swallow me if I

ever had thought about any man other than my lord Sri Rama.' Hardly had Sita finished her lines

than the earth cracked and Sita vanished into that crevice. Sri Rama's heart was filled with

remorse but thinking that it was perhaps in his destiny to live in separation with Sita, returned to

Ayodhya accompanied by Lav and Kush. In course of time, Kaushalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi left

for heavenly abode. Sri Rama continued to rule Ayodhya for 10,000 more years.

One day, Kala (death) arrived and reminded Sri Rama that the time had arrived for him to leave

his mortal body. Meanwhile Lakshman became aware of Sri Rama's decision of leaving his

mortal body. He gave up his life by taking samadhi in river Saryu. Sri Rama could not bear the

sorrow caused by Lakshman's bereavment. He appointed Lav and Kush as the kings of

Dwarawati and Kushawati respectively and decided to leave for heavenly abode. Sri Rama

entered the water of river Saryu, flowing at the distance of three yojans from Ayodhya.

SRI KRISHNA

Parvati requested Lord Mahadeva to narrate the divine tales of Vasudeva Krishna. Lord

Mahadeva replied––Vasudev was the descendant of yadu. His father was Devameedha. He was

married to Devaki––the daughter of Ugrasena.Ugrasena also had a mighty son named Kansa.

Kansa was extremely affectionate towards his sister Devaki. After her marriage, while Devaki

was going to her husband's house on a chariot being driven by Kansa, suddenly a heavenly voice

was heard.

'Kansa, you would meet death at the hands of Devaki's eighth son.'

Kansa became very scarred and wanted to kill his sister then and there. But, Vasudev requested

Kansa to spare Devaki's life and promised to hand over any child that she gave birth to. Thus

Kansa imprisoned both Vasudev and Devaki.In course of time, Devaki gave birth to seven sons

and Kansa killed each of them. Lord Sri Hari manifested himself when Devaki conceived for the

eighth time. It was the month of Shravana and the day was 'Krishna–ashtami' when Sri Hari took

his incarnation at midnight. Soon after taking his incarnation he gave a glimpse of his divine

form to Vasudev and Devaki. On the instruction of Sri Hari, Vasudeva carried the infant to

Nand's house. He had no problem in moving out of the prison as all the guards had fallen asleep

due to the illusion of Sri Hari.

On seeing the swift currents of overflooded yamuna, Vasudev became worried. But the level of

river Yamuna receded as soon as Sri Krishna touched the river with his feet. Sheshnag protected

Sri Krishna from heavy rain with his thousand hoods. When Vasudev reached Nand's house he

found that Nand's wife–– Yashoda had given birth to a baby girl. Yashoda was sleeping at that

time and Vasudev had no problem in exchanging Sri Krishna with that baby girl. Vasudev then

returned to the prison and laid down the baby girl beside Devaki.

The baby–girl started crying and the guards immediately woke up. They informed Kansa about

the birth of Devaki's eighth child. Kansa tried to kill that baby girl by smashing her head, but she

escaped from his hands and flew up in the sky. She thundered–––'Your death is certain as your

assasin has already taken birth.' Kansa was terrified at the prospect of his death. He instructed his

soldiers to kill all the infants' whereever they were to be found in his kingdom. He also ordered

the release of Vasudev and Devaki, as there was no point keeping them in captivity. Meanwhile,

Sri Krishna grew up under the guardianship of Nand and Yashoda.

One day Kansa sent a wicked ogress named Putna to kill Sri Krishna. Putma had applied poison

on her breasts and tried to kill Krishna by breast–feeding him. Sri Krishna sucked her breast with

such ferocity that she died. Thus, Sri Krishna gave the first glimpse of his divinity to the

inhabitants of Vajra. Sri Krishna accomplished many such divine deeds during his childhood. He

grew up to be a mischieveous child and used to play numerous pranks on the fellow Gopis. He

used to steal their butter and curd. One day, all the Gopis complained to Yashoda about Sri

Krishna's misdeeds. Yashoda became angry and tied him with a wooden–mortar in order to

prevent him from troubling the Gopis. She then placed that mortar between two trees so that

Krishna could not move. But, Sri Krishna toddled away uprooting both the huge trees.

Once, a demon named Bakasur disguised himself as a huge heron and tried to kill Sri Krishna.

But, Sri Krishna hit him with a stone with such force that he met an instant death. This way Sri

Krishna had killed many ferocious demons while he was still a small child. Some of them well

Kaliya––the serpent etc, Dhenukasur, Arisht, Keshi etc. A significant incident had occurred

during Krishna's childhood. People of Vraja were devotees of Indra and used to worship him. Sri

Krishna stopped this tradition and encouraged people to worship Govardhan mountain. Indra

became extremely furious and caused incessant rain for one week. Sri Krishna protected the

people by lifting Govardhan mountain and shielding them from the continuous downpour. At

last, Indra accepted defeat and eulogized Sri Krishna.

KILLING OF KANSA

Continuing with the divine tales of Sri Krishna, Lord Mahadeva told Parvati––When Kansa failed

in his repeated attempts to kill Sri Krishna, he instructed 'Akrura' to invite both Krishna and

Balarama to Mathura on the pretext of attending a ceremony called Dhanush–yagya. Kansa had

planned to kill Sri Krishna by deceitful means. Akrura was a great devotee of Sri Krishna and

was aware of Kansa's evil intentions. But, he had no other option but to follow the command of

his master Kansa. So, Akrura went to Vraja where Sri Krishna and Balarama used to live.

Sri Krishna and Balarama were delighted to meet Akrura. After the formal exchange of

pleasantaries, Krishna took Akrura to his home. Akrura conveyed the instructions of Kansa to

Nanda and requested him to send both Sri Krishna and Balarama to Mathura. Akrura said––'Sri

Krishna is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu and Kansa will be killed by him.'Nanda and Yashoda

were reluctant to send Sri Krishna to Mathura but Sri Krishna convinced them, Ultimately.

Akrura returned to Mathura accompanied by Krishna and Balarama. The people of Vraja became

sad when the time for Krishna's departure to Mathura arrived.

When Akrura reached Mathura accompanied by Sri Krishna and Balarama it was already

evening. Sri Krishna saw a dyer with colourful apparels going towards Kansa's palace. Sri

Krishna playfully demanded some set of clothes from that dyer which he refused to give. Sri

Krishna was infuriated and slapped him so hard that he started vomiting blood. In a short time

the dyer was dead. Sri Krishna and Balarama chose some beautiful set of clothes for themselves

and proceeded towards the palace of Kansa. After sometime they met a crooked woman carrying

'sandal–wood–paste'. Sri Krishna demanded some sandal wood paste from her, which she gave

without any hesitation. Sri Krishna blessed that crooked woman as a result of which she was

cured of her physical––deformity.

At last, both Sri Krishna and Balarama reached the oblation––site where 'Dhanush–yagya' was

suppossed to be performed. Sri Krishna lifted the divine bow kept there and broke it into two

pieces. When Kansa learnt that the divine bow had been broken, he ordered Chanur to kill

Krishna in a wrestling–bout. Kansa also fortified his palace by positioning wild elephants and

mighty warriors at all the entrance–points. Sri Krishna and Balarama spent the night at the

oblation–site. In the morning both of them proceeded towards the palace. Sri Krishna found an

elephant named Kuvalyapeeda standing at the main entrance of the palace. He killed that

ferocious elephant without much difficulty.

Sri Krishna and Balarama then entered the gymnasium where wrestling–bouts were supposed to

take place. All the demons those who had witnessed Sri Krishna killing that huge elephant

without any problem, became terrified and fled away from the gymnasium. Sri Krishna and

Balarama entered the chamber of Kansa. Kansa became terrified and ordered his trusted

lientenants––Chanur and Mushtik to kill Krishna.Chanur confronted Sri Krishna while Mushtik

fought a duel with Balarama. Ultimately, both the demons were killed after a fierce duel. Now,

Kansa was left all alone, Sri Krishna pulled Kansa from the throne where he was sitting and

slapped him so hard that he fell down on the ground. The injury proved to be fatal and as a result

Kansa died. Balarama also killed Kansa's younger brother whose named was Sunama.

After killing Kansa, Krishna and Balarama went to meet their parents––Vasudev and Devaki.

They also freed their maternal grandfather– Ugrasena who had been imprisioned by Kansa. At

last they appointed Ugrasena as the king of Mathura.

JARASANDH

Jarasandh was the father–in–law of Kansa. When he learnt about Kansa' death he surrounded

Mathura with a huge army. Sri Krishna was well aware of Jarasandh's might and bravery. He

was also convinced that it would not be easy to defeat Jarasandh. So, he remembered Daruk––his

eternal charioteer and sought his help. Daruk appeared with a divine chariot named Sugriva––

pushpak. The chariot was well armed with all the divine weapons of lord Vishnu.

Sri Krishna and Balarama then entered the battlefied mounted on that divine chariot. A fierce

battle was fought between Sri Krishna and Jarasandh's army. Jarasandh covered Krishna chariot

with his various weapons but Sri Krishna destroyed them with his 'Chakra'. Sri Krishna then

destroyed Jarasandh's army by showering volley of arrows from his famous bow––Sharang.

Seeing the death and destruction in his army, Jarasandh came forward to fight Balarama.

Balarama attacked Jarasandh with his dangerous weapon––Hala (plough) and destroyed his

chariot. Jarasandh fell down on the ground and as Balarama was about to kill him Sri Krishna

requested Balarama not to kill Jarasandh. After being defeated, Jarasandh sought the help of

Kalyan, who had a large army. Kalyavan agreed to help Jarasandh and surrounded Mathura with

his army.

Realizing that Mathura was no longer a safe place to live, Sri Krishna shifted the whole

population of Mathura to Dwarka and went to fight Kalyavan. The battle continued for a long

period and after realizing that it was not easy to defeat his enemy, Sri Krishna, ran towards the

cave where 'Muchkund' had been sleeping since many past eras. Muchkund was blessed with a

boon according to which any person upon whom he put his glance after waking from his sleep

would die. Krishna hid himself behind Muchkund. Kalyavan, who was chasing Krishna, entered

the cave and kicked Muchkund. Muchkund opened his eyes and saw Kalyavan. Kalyavan was

burnt to ashes. This way, Sri Krishna was able to defeat his powerful enemy by his cleverness.

ABDUCTION OF RUKMINI

Lord Mahadeva told Parvati––– When Jarasandh learnt about Kalyavan's death, he attacked

Balarama to avenge his friend's death. But, very soon he realized that it was beyond his capacity

to defeat Balarama, so he retreated alongwith his army. Sri Krishna and Balarama returned to

Dwarka.In course of time, Balarama married Revati––the daugher of Raivat. At that time, there

ruled a king named Bhismak. He ruled over Vidarbha. He had a beautiful daughter named

Rukmini. He also had many sons among whom Rukmi was prominent.

Rukmi wanted Rumini to get married to Shishupal much against her wishes. Rukmini being an

incarnation of goddess Lakshmi rightly wanted o have Sri Krishna as her husband. Rukmini sent

a message to Sri Krishna about her brother's intention. Sri Krishna went to help her,

accompanied by Balarama. Sri Krishna reached Vidarbha on the same day, Rukmini was

supposed to marry Shishupal and abducted her to Dwarka. Jarasandh and Rukmi chased

Krishna's chariot but Balarama defeated Jarasandh while Sri Krishna fastened Rukmi with the

chariot. Sri Krishna also shaved off Rukmi's hair, which filled him with so much of shame that

he decided not to return to Vidarbha.After reaching Dwarka, Sri Krishna married Rukmini on an

auspicious day.

SRI KRISHNA'S QUEENS

Continuing with the divine tales of Sri Krishna, Lord Mahadeva told Parvati––Sri Krishna had 16

thousand queens among whom Satyabhama, Kalindi, Mitravinda, etc. were prominent. King

Sattajit had a priceless diamond named––Syamantak, which he had presented to his younger

brother––Prasena. Sri Krishna was fascinated by that diamond and demanded it from Prasena,

which he refused to part with.

One day, Sri Krishna alongwith Prasena and other Yadavas went into the forest for hunting.

While chasing a deer, Prasena seceded from his group and was killed by a lion. The lion took the

diamond and started playing with it. Incidentally, Jambavan––who had once fought along with Sri

Rama against Ravana, saw the lion playing with the diamond. He killed that lion and took the

diamond in his possession.

When Sri Krishna returned to Dwarka, he was surprised by a strange rumour, which pervaded

the whole city. Some people suspected that Sri Krishna had killed Prasena for the diamond. Sri

Krishna was very much distributed by this baseless rumour. To clear the doubts, he went into the

forest accompanied by all the residents of Dwarka and showed the dead body of Prasena, which