Famous Curses in Indian mythology

Curses and boons are an integral part of mythological stories. When it comes to curses, Karna from Mahabharata immediately comes to our mind. Similarly Sage Durvasa is also known to be a person, who cursed freely. But do we know, that Lord Rama and Shri Krishna were also cursed and Lakshman has to die as a consequence of a curse.  This article attempts to catalog some famous and some unknown curses.

Curse on Lord Rama

Perhaps the most amazing unknown fact from The Ramayana. Tara (wife of Vali) cursed Rama so that he will soon lose Sita after he regains her. She also declared that Sita will return to the earth. This happened after Rama killed Vali when he was having a duel with Sugriva. Tara additionally cursed Rama that in his next birth, he will be killed by Vali. (Shri Krishna and the hunter).

Tara curses Lord Rama

Curse on Jaya and Vijaya by Sanath Kumaras

This can be regarded as the most defining curse in Hindu mythology, which resulted in birth of Ravana, Kumbhkarna, Hiranyakashyap and Hiranyaksha. Lord Vishnu took four avatars to relieve them of their curse. [complete story]

Curse on King Dashrath by parents of  Shravan Kumar

Parents of Shravan Kumar cursed Dashrath to suffer for his son, which came true due to boons given to Kaikeyi. Dashratha accidentally killed Shravan Kumar while he was fetching water for his parents. Upon knowing this, his parents cursed him that he would also suffer with separation of his children. This came true when Kaikeyi demanded that Rama should be banished.

Dashrath accidentally kills Shravan Kumar

Sage Gautam’s curse to Ahilya

Indra disguised himself as Sage Gautam and had a relationship with Ahilya . Sage Gautam came to know of this and he cursed Ahilya to turn into a stone. She was later liberated by Lord Rama. This story is available in Aranya Kand of Ramayana.

Rama and Ahalya

Sage Gautam’s curse to Indra

Lord Indra with thousand eyes

After Indra cheated Sage Gautam’s wife Ahalya, He was cursed by Sage that he would have one thousand female genitals (Sahasrayoni). Later this curse reverted into a boon and Indra got thousand eyes. Indra is also known as Sahasraaksha.

Curse on Lord Hanuman

Hanuman has been very mischievous in his childhood. Some sages, irritated by Hanuman’s exploits, placed a mild curse on him by which he became unable to remember his own ability unless reminded by another person. The curse is highlighted in Kishkindha Kand and Sunder Kand, when Jambavantha reminds Hanuman of his abilities and encourages him to go and find Sita.

Hanuman departing for Lanka in search of Sita when Ravana abducted her from Dandaka forests.
Hanuman departing for Lanka in search of Sita

Curse on Anjana – mother of Hanuman

Anjana was actually an apsara but took birth as a vanar. Once she threw some fruits on a meditating vanar, who was a sage doing penance. The sage cursed her to born become a vanar or monkey the moment she fells in love. She was absolved of this curse later through Brahma’s boon.

Gandhari shrap to Krishna

Gandhari held Krishna responsible for Mahabharat war and cursed that his end will be ordinary. She also cursed that his clan will also destroyed by infighting. Accordingly, her curse came true after 36 years of Mahabharata war.

The curse of sages (Vishwamitra, Durvasa, Vashistha, and Narada) to Samba

Samba, Lord Krishna’s son and his friends once have joked with sages. They cursed him to give birth to a iron lump of mass which will bring the destruction of the entire Yadava race.

Shri Krishna’s curse to Samba

Shri Krishna cursed Samba (his own son) to be affected by leprosy.

Shri Krishna to Ashwaththama

Ashwaththama, son of Guru Drona, tried to do the unthinkable. After he tried to kill Abhimanyu’s unborn son (Parikshit) with a deadly weapon brahmastra, Krishna cursed him  and to live forever. He also took out the shining jewel from his forehead.

Urvashi’s curse to Arjuna

To become a eunuch when he refused an alliance with her. Later, she diluted this for a year which he used in agyaatvaas. [related link]

Yudhisthira to womankind

That they could not hide anything from anyone. This was done after he came to know from Kunti that Karna was his elder brother who was slain in the war of Mahabharata. Kunti tried the mantra given by Sage Durvasa to test its effectiveness. This would have caused embarassment to her, so she had to let Karna go and kept silent about it. This is why Yudhishthira cursed womankind.

Parshuram to Karna

This is quite famous incident of a teacher and the student. Parshuram cursed Karna that he would forget the mantra when he would need most. There is a whole article on curses on Karna.

Parshurama sleeping in Karna's lap
Parshurama sleeping in Karna’s lap

Bhoomi devi to Karna

Owing to an incident where Karna cause distress to Bhoomi devi, She cursed him. In the battle of Mahabharat, the wheel of his chariot got stuck.

Brahmin curse to Karna

To die as a helpless as he has killed a cow. Karna had his more than share of curses. Details can be read on this article which is all about curses on Karna.

Curse of Vasishtha on Vasus

 Vasishtha cursed vasus to be born on earth as mortals since they have abducted his cow, Nandini. This curse is also related with birth of Bhishma.

Rishi Kindam’s curse to Pandu

Pandu accidentally killed Sage Kindam alongwith his wife. He cursed Pandu to die a similar death. Pandu died alongwith Madri, his second wife.

The curse on King Yayati by Shukracharya

Sage & Guru Shukracarya cursed King yayati to go as a Old man as Yayati secretly wedded Sharmishtha. (She was Devayani’s sister.) He was allowed to exchange his state from someone who was willing to do. Yayati’s all sons refused, but Puru agreed and he later became his successor.

Shukracharya curse to Yayati

Saraswati’s curse to Brahma

Brahma not being worshipped is associated with Saraswati’s curse too. He was cursed after being irritated with undue advances from Brahma.

Brahma’s curse to Shiva

Originally Brahma has five heads. Once Parvati mistook him for Shiva and when she realized she told this to Shiva. Shiva removed Brahma’s fifth head as Kal Bhairav. Brahma cursed Shiva that the fifth head will be attached to Shiva and will cause him hunger. The  fifth head must be attached to his hand itself and hereafter Shiva must be affected having hunger, having no sleep. Parvati sought Vishnu’s advise and got rid of the fifth head ‘Kabala’.

Shiva as Bhairava
Shiva as Bhairava

Narada’s curse to sons of Kuber

Narada cursed Kuber’s sons to become trees. They were liberated by Shri Krishna.  Nalakuvara and Maṇigriva were Kubera’s sons. Once they were taking bath in water with their wives naked. Sage Narada came that way. The ladies took their garments after seeing the sage. But the sons of Kubera ignored him. Narada gave a lecture on the false prestige and madness after drinking liquor by the rich and influenced. Then Narada cursed them to become twin trees to be released later by Lord Krishna.

Sage Narada
Sage Narada

Vasishtha’s curse to Satyavrata – Trishanku

He is popularly known as Trishanku and cursed with a debilitating disease. He was cursed because he stole the cow of Sage Vasishtha and killed it. He then ate it later. But he took care of Sage Vishwamitra’s family, Vishwamitra wanted to send him to heaven.

Curse on Shantanu and Ganga by Brahma

Shantanu and Ganga were celestial beings who had also been cursed to be born on earth as human beings.  Shantanu was King Mahabhishak and he and Ganga were cursed by Brahma for their indecencies in their past lives.

Saraswati’s curse to Laxmi

To be born as a tree, Saraswati as a result of Ganga’s curse would become the wife of Brahma. Ganga due to Saraswati’s curse would become a holy River to demolish the sins of those who take baths on her waters.

Curse of Kabandha

Kabandha was a Gandharva. Lord Indra made Kabandha in a ugly creature. He gave him two long arms and a mouth on his belly. Indra said that Kabandha would regain his original form when Rama severs his arms. Rama meets the rakshasa Kabandha and kills him, freeing him from a curse. The freed Kabandha advises Rama to seek the help of Sugriva to find Sita.

Kabdandha’s salvation by Rama and Lakshman

Ganesha’s curse to Moon

Ganesha cursed moon for him being impolite. The whole story is available here.

The guru of curse – Sage Durvasa(2)

Following are the incidents where Durvasa has been involved with various people which resulted in curse. This is in continuation from this article.

 Curse on Durvasa by sage Orga

 Once Durvasa saw a Gandharva playfully bathing in a river with his wife . The sage was influenced by the scene and he desired to marry to enjoy conjugal life . Soon , he married Kandali , the daughter of sage Orva . However Kandali was arrogant , obstinate , rude and impolite . Durvasa could not bear her nasty behaviour for long and he reduced her to ashes by his curse . Just then the sage Orva arrived there and was very sad for the death of his daughter . At once , he became angry and cursed Durvasa  —  ” One day you will be insulted by the entire world for your anger and pride ”

Curse on Ambarish

This was the turning point in the life of Sage Durvasa . Durvasa plucked a hair and directed to kill Ambarish. Lord Vishnu ‘ s came to help his devotee. He used  Sudarshana Chakra , which, after killing the demon , started to chase Durvasa . The sage sought protection from Brahma who expressed his helplessness . When approached , Shiva also cited helplessness and directed the sage to seek Vishnu for protection . However Vishnu said , ” let us all approach Ambarisha for relief ” .

Durvasa curse to Ambarish

Seeing the dangerous state of the sage , Ambarisha said , ” Oh ! Sudarshana Chakra ! If I am righteous and if I am obedient to the pious people , may the sage Durvasa be saved ” . Then Sudarshana Chakra was pacified and it vanished . Tha anger and pride of Durvasa was humbled . The sage felt glad that he was cleansed of his evil trait .

Sudarshan Chakra chasing Durvasa

Curse on Shri Krishna

Durvasa did not spare Krishna also from his wrath. One day, Durvasa was eating kheer (a sweet dish made of rice and milk). Krishna was present. Durvasa ordered Krishna to apply the left over kheer on his body. Krishna applied it on the full body but did not apply on his feet. Durvasa got angry at this and cursed Krishna that since he did not obey his orders and did not apply the kheer on legs, his legs will not remain impenetrable and
unbroken. Combined with this curse and Gandhari’s, as she had cursed Krishna to die an ordinary death. She thought that Krishna was the root cause of death of her sons.

Makar Sankranti – first major festival of the year

14th January is very auspicious from Hindu religion point of view. On this day, sun transits into capricorn(makar) rashi. Makar Sankranti thus means – transition to capricorn and makar sankranti celebrated. On this day, new endeavors are undertaken with a belief that they will be successful. This day is one of the harvest days for indians. Makar Sankranti and Pongal are important festivals which are celebrated on same day.

Kite flying is a major activity of this festival
Kite flying is a major activity of this festival

Almost all of India celebrate this festival with different culture and different names. Khichdi,  Uttarayan, Magh Bihu and Maghi are few of them. In neighbouring countries, this is celebrated as Magho or Maghe Sankranti (Nepal),  Songkarn (Thailand),  Thingyan (Myanmar) and Moha Sangkarn (cambodia).

Makar Sankranti and Lohri

Lohri is also an important festival which falls an evening before the festival of Makar Sankranti.

Makar Sankranti wishes in Hindi

Historical and cultural importance of this festival

This day is important for the following reasons:

1. Surya visits his son Shani, on Sankranti day. Though father and son do not go along well, but still, father visits his son’s house.

Sun god visits his son, Shani
Sun god visits his son, Shani

2. Bhagirath liberated his ancestors from curse after bringing Ganga on this day. People celebrate this day as Ganga sagar mela in West Bengal. Sage Kapil ashram attracts lot of visitors on this auspicious day.

Sage Kapil ashram - Gangasagar
Sage Kapil ashram – Gangasagar

3. Bhishma left this earth on this day. He had the boon of iccha mrityu and he chose this auspicious day to depart from earth.

Bhishma leaving his body in presence of Shri Krishna on the day of Makar Sankranti
Bhishma leaving his body in presence of Shri Krishna on the day of Makar Sankranti

4. Lord Vishnu buried the asuras under Mandara parvata on this day.

Celebrations of this festival

Makar Sankranti Maharashtra

Makara Sankranti celebrated in Maharashtra by exchanging til-gud as tokens of goodwill. People wish each other “तिळगुळ घ्या, आणि गोड-गोड बोला (til-gud ghyaa, aani goad-goad bola)” meaning, ‘Accept these sweets and utter sweet words. The first day of Makar Sankranti festival is known as Bhogi. This is when the sun god is worshipped and people step out of the house in the morning to fly kites. The second day is called Sankranti and on this day, married women dress up in ethnic wear and have a get-together called Haldi-Kumkum which translates to turmeric-vermilion.

Bihar

This day is celebrated as sankranti or Sakrat. People start doing new things from this day as this is believed to be auspicious day. People take bath in rivers and ponds and feast upon seasonal delicacies as a celebration of good harvest. The delicacies include Chura dahi, Gur(jaggery), various sweets made of til (Sesame seeds) such as Tilkut, Tilwa, Maska, etc., curd, milk and seasonal vegetables. Khichdi is consumed in the night. Rajgir is a holy place where devotees bath in brahma kund.

Devotees at Brahma kund
Devotees at Brahma kund

Uttar Pradesh

In hindu calendar, this is the first of the big bathing days. Over two million people gather at their respective sacred places for this holy bathing such as Allahabad,Haridwar(now in Uttarakhand) and Varanasi. People fly Kites on this day.

Punjab

In Punjab, with Makar Sankranti, lighting of bonfire is done to celebrate this featival. This festival is “maghi”. The bonfire signifies the burning away of all evils for a bright and auspicious new year.  Lohri is the harvest festival, which falls on 13th January, is an important festival of Punjab.

Gujarat

This festival is popular as Uttarayan. Kite flying is a major activity of this day. People eat delicacies undhiyu and chikkis and consume all through december and january.

Andhra Pradesh

This is a four day festival in Andhra Pradesh. Bhogi, Pedda Panduga (“the big festival”),  Kanuma and Mukkanuma. People discard old things on the day of Bhogi.

Next day is Makara Sankrant, also called “Pedda Panduga” (పెద్ద పండుగ). Everyone wears new clothes on this day, prays to God, and make offerings of traditional food to ancestors.

Rajasthan

This is a major festival of Rajasthan. People consume delicacies such as Ghevar, til paati, ghajak and kheer on this day.

A delicay of Makar Sankranti
A delicay of Makar Sankranti

Makar Sankranti and Pongal in Tamilnadu

Pongal is a four day festival.  The second day, Thai pongal is the most important.

  • Bhogi Pandigai (Bhogi)
  •  Thai Pongal
  •  Maattu Pongal
  •  Kaanum Pongal
Pongal
Pongal

Thai pongal is the first day of tamil month Thai.  People prepare a dish by boiling rice with fresh milk and jaggery in new pots. Ingredients like brown sugar, cashew nuts and raisins adds to the taste. The preparation of dish is done by allowing it to boil over the vessel. This tradition gives Pongal its name. The moment the rice boils over and bubbles out of the vessel, the tradition is to shout of “Ponggalo Ponggal!” and blowing the sangu (a conch), a custom running for ages during the festival to announce this year will have abundance of good tidings.

In Goa, women celebrate haldi-kumkum. In Himachal Pradesh, this festival is popular as Magha Saaja i.e. onset of  month magha (by Hindi calendar). People enjoy khichdi with chaas. In Karnataka, this is suggi. People follow the ritual of Ellu Birodhu. Kite flying is also a major activity. In Uttarakhand, Ghughuti is the name of this festival which welcomes the migratory birds back from the plains.

Makar Sankranti Decoration ideas

Since Makar Sankranti and Pongal are the festivals falling on New Year and Kite flying, some of the decoration ideas are following this theme. Below is an example of Rangoli.

Beautiful rangoli design as Makar Sankranti Decoration idea

Another Makar Sankranti decoration idea is as below:

Kite rangoli as Makar Sankranti Decoration idea

Makar Sankranti Quiz

In which direction, does Sun start moving on Makar Sankranti? – North. So, this also called that Surya has become Uttarayan.

Dulla Bhatti is a famous folklore character of Makar Sankranti n which state? Ans – Punjab

During Makar Sankranti the Sun makes a transition from a zodiac sign to another. From Sagittarius to Capricorn.

Which great character from Mahabharata waited till Makar Sankranti to die. Bhishma Pitamah

Parashuram Kund Snan during Makar Sankrantitakes place in Arunachal Pradesh. This is popular as Makar Sankranti Snan.

Makar Sankranti Daan

मकर संक्रान्ति के दिन सूर्य देव की पूजा काले तिल से की जाती है. साथ ही काली दाल, चावल, घी, नमक, गुड़ और काले तिल दान किए जाते हैं. काले तिल और गुड़ के लड्डू बनाकर खाए जाते हैं और दान भी किए जाते हैं. माना जाता है कि इससे सूर्यदेव और शनिदेव दोनों की कृपा प्राप्त होती है ।

मकर संक्रांति में क्या करना चाहिए?इसे सुनेंमकर संक्रान्ति के दिन गंगा स्नान और दान पुण्य का विशेष महत्व है। मान्यता है कि मकर संक्रान्ति के दिन देव भी धरती पर अवतरित होते हैं, और आत्मा को मोक्ष प्राप्त होता है। इस दिन पुण्य, दान, जप तथा धार्मिक अनुष्ठानों का अनन्य महत्व है। इस दिन गंगा स्नान व सूर्योपासना पश्चात गुड़, चावल और तिल का दान श्रेष्ठ माना गया है।

मकर संक्रां​ति के दिन खिचड़ी खाने और तिल के लड्डू खाने की परंपरा है. तिल की तासीर गर्म होती है. सर्दी के समय में तिल खाना स्वास्थ्य के लिए अच्छा होता है ।

The guru of curse – Sage Durvasa (1)

Sage Durvasa – famous for curses

Durvasa is famous for his anger and his curses are mentioned frequently in ancient texts. Following are the few incidents  related with this trigger happy sage. The meaning of Durvasa is someone who is difficult to live with.

Curse on Indra

His most famous curse is on Indra, which led to churning of ocean. Once, Durvasa presented Indra a garland. Indra put that on Airawat’s (Indra’s elephant) head. The elephant has thrown the garland on the floor. Enraged by this incident,  Durvasa cursed indra. As a result, the devas become weak and went to vishnu for help. Vishnu helped Devas which resulted in gods getting hold of amrita.  The complete story is available in Kurma avatar – Vishnu dashavatar. 

Churning of ocean due to curse of Durvasa

Curse on Shakuntala

May be hindi movies are inspired by this incident. Manmohan desai made lot of hindi movies on lost and found formula. We have similar incident in mythology as well. Durvasa cursed shakuntala that her lover would forget about her. She could not notice the sage as she was thinking of Dushyant. She begged for forgiveness.  Durvasa, softened his stance that he would remember her after seeing the ring he has given to her.

Durvasa curse on Shakuntala

Durvasa curse on Shakuntala

The incident which consumed Laxman ( an incident from the Ramayana)

Durvasa one day visited Rama. He wanted to meet Rama and asked Laxman to let him meet. Laxman denied him because Rama was in a confidential meeting with death. It was understood that who so ever appears during that meeting, will die. Durvasa was adamant and he was threatening to curse whole of Ayodhya. Fearing this, Laxman thought that it is better to sacrifice his life instead letting Ayodhya suffer.

There are other incidents where incidents related to Durvasa sage are worth mentioning. These will be detailed in next article:

1. Curse on Ambarish

2. Curse on Durvasa by sage Orga.

3. Curse on Shri Krishna

4. Pandavas were on the verge of receiving a curse from Durvasa, but they were rescued.

 

Durvasa’s boons

Boons granted by Durvasa

Though Durvasa is notorious for his flying temper and curses, there are few boons which had a great impact in indian mythology. For example, the pandavas, who are at the centre of the epic Mahabharat were born due to a boon from Durvasa to Kunti.

Boon to Kunti

Durvasa was a sage who blessed liberally when happy. This is evident when Kunti got the boon from him. This boon gave the power to summon any god she wished. This boon became helpful when she was unable to give birth to babies and summoned Surya, Pawan and Indra for herself and Ashwini kumars for Madri. Thus they conceived sons who were later known as Pandavas.

Promise to Duryodhana

Once Duryodhana did great service to sage Durvasa. He became very happy and asked Duryodhana for a boon. Duryodhana thought of a plan to do something so that pandavas get to face the wrath of sage. He asked him to visit pandavas when everyone has eaten. Thus he thought that Pandavas will not be able to serve him with food and out of anger, sage durvasa will curse his enemies. Durvasa visited Pandavas but with the help of Shri Krishna, pandavas were saved.

Duryodhana and Durvasa – Indian mythology

Pandavas saved from curse – Duryodhana’s plan

Pandavas were once in a situation where Durvasa may have cursed them. As per the advice of Duryodhana, Durvasa with his ten thousand disciples reached panadavas. they reached at a time, when everyone had taken their meal. Draupadi has an akshaypatra which was able to feed anyone till the time she has not eaten from it.  That day, unfortunately, she ate from the patra. Durvasa demanded food for himself and devotees. Draupadi sought help from Krishna. Krishna found a grain in the patra and ate that. After that Durvasa and his disciples were not hungry.

Saving Draupadi from cheer haran

Contrary to the general Mahābhārata version, the Shiva Purana attributes her miraculous rescue to a boon granted by Durvasa. The story goes that the sage’s loincloth was once carried away by the Ganges’s currents. Draupadi quickly tore a piece of her garment to cover him. The sage was pleased with her. He granted Draupadi a boon which caused an unending stream of cloth to cover her when Dushasana was trying to strip her in Hastinapura’s royal dice-hall.

Birth of Swaminarayan – by curse of Durvasa

Narayana took birth as the saint Swaminarayan due to a curse by Durvasa. A great debate had been held in Badrikashram, the divine abode of the deity Nar-Narayan. They were discussing the great pain, the good and honest souls were suffering at the hands of the evil demons on earth. Durvasa Rishi stood at the back of the assembly. Several hours passed, but none noticed him. Durvasa Rishi got very angry and cursed the assembly, “May you all take birth on the earth. Let those evil demons harass you and make you suffer.”  On behalf of the entire assembly, Dharmadev and Bhaktidevi asked for forgiveness and pleaded with Durvasa Rishi to take back his curse. Durvasa Rishi replied, “The curse cannot be withdrawn. However, the supreme Lord will come with you onto the Earth. The Lord will destroy the evil demons and save you from your troubles.” This mythological episode has been stated in the scriptures to describe the reason why the supreme Lord Swaminarayan manifested upon this Earth.  The Akshardham temple houses Swaminarayan.

Durvasa curse and birth of Swaminarayan
Durvasa curse and birth of Swaminarayan

What are some interesting facts about Maharishi Durvasa?

Above are the few unknown facts about Sage Durvasa.

Barbarika surprises Sri Krishna

Barbarika and his three arrows

When Shri Krishna mocked Barbari that how he is hoping to win the Mahabharat war with three arrows? (Read the story of Barbari)

He responded that a single arrow was enough to destroy all his opponents in the war, and it would then return to his quiver. He further explained that, the first arrow is used to mark all the things that he wants to destroy. On releasing the third arrow, it would destroy all the things that are marked and will then return to his quiver. If he uses the second arrow, then the second arrow will mark all the things that he wants to save. On using the third arrow, it will destroy all the things that are not marked.

In other words, with one arrow he can fix all his targets and with the other he can destroy them. Krishna then challenges him to tie all the leaves of the peepal tree under which he was standing, with those arrows.

Barbari accepts the challenge and starts meditating to release his arrow by closing his eyes. Then, Krishna without the knowledge of Barbari, plucks one of the leaf of the tree and puts it under his foot. When Barbari releases his first arrow, it marks all the leaves of the tree and finally starts revolving around the leg of Krishna.

Barbari sacrificing his life as a true warrior to Shri Krishna in mahabharat

Then Krishna asks Barbari, as why was the arrow revolving around his foot? For this, Barbarika replies that there must be a leaf under his foot and the arrow was targeting his foot to mark the leaf that is hidden under him.

Barbari advises Krishna to lift his leg, since, otherwise the arrow will mark the leaf by pricking Krishna’s leg. Thus, Krishna lifts his foot and to his surprise, finds that the first arrow also marks the leaf that was hidden under his foot. Of course, the third arrow does collect all the leaves (including the one under Krishna’s foot) and ties them together.

With this, Krishna concludes that the arrows are so infallible, that even if Barbari is not aware of his targets, the arrows are so powerful that they can still navigate and trace all his intended targets. The moral of this incident is that, in a real battle field, if Krishna wants to isolate someone (for example: the 5 Pandava brothers) and hides them elsewhere in order to avoid them from being Barbarika’s victim, then Krishna will not be successful as the arrows can still trace the target and destroy them. So, nobody will be able to escape from these arrows. Thus Krishna gets a deeper insight about Barbari’s phenomenal power.

Madhubani paintings and Indian mythology (in pictures)

Madhubani painting – a folk art form

Madhubani painting is a popular folk art form from India. This folk art form is originated in a small town of bihar, India and gained popularity. The subject is often nature, hindu gods and mythological stories. Let u shave a look at some of them.

 Ganesha

The following pic narrates the story of Ganesha and how he got his elephant head.

Ganesha getting an elephant head – Madhubani Painting

Dashavataras in madhubani paintaings

Following picture tells about the dashavataras, ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu.

Dashavatara – Ten incarnations of Vishnu through Madhubani painting

 Navadurga’s nine forms

Goddess durga’s nine forms are shown in the following madhubani painting.

Nine forms of Durga (Shakti) – Madhubani painting

Ravana and Sita

Ravana threatening Sita in ashok vatika is narrated here. On the tree, hanuman is observing this incident. They are surrounded by demons

Ravana threatens Sita at Ashok Vatika in Lanka (The Ramayana)

 Ardhnarishwar or Ardhnarishvar

Ardhnarishwar represents Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati, in a single form. This is also believed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva. The Matasya Purana describes how Brahma, pleased with a penance performed by Parvati, rewards her by blessing her with a golden complexion. This renders her more attractive to Shiva, to whom she later merges as one half of his body

Ardhnarishwar – Shiva’s form

Rama and Sita swayamvar

Following is a scene from the Ramayana, depicting swayamvar of Rama and Sita.

Lord Rama and Sita

 Shri Krishna and Radha

Life of Shri Krishna and Radha is also depicted by Madhubani paintings. Following is an example.

Shri Krishna and Radha

 Mahakali – a form of Shakti

Mahakali is a consort of Lord Shiva and represent Adi Shakti, the primeval force of this universe. Her most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishul (trident), a severed head and a bowl or skull-cup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head.

Mahakali – Madhubani paintings

Putna vadh

Putna was employed by Kansa to kill the child Krishna. But Shri Krishna killed the demoness.

Putna vadh

Lanka Dahan

Hanuman burned lanka when he went to search for Sita. He then went back to Kishkindha.

Hanuman destroying Lanka

 

Following painting depicts the infamous incident of Draupadi Cheerharan. The main protagonists were Duryodhana and Dushashana, who  had to pay dearly for their misconduct. They had to part with their lives. The pic shows the game of dice being played and Pandavas are helpless.

Draupadi cheerharan - Madhubani PaintingDraupadi cheerharan - Madhubani Painting

Draupadi cheerharan – Madhubani Painting

 

 

Seven supreme sacrifices from Indian mythology

Supreme sacrifices from Indian Mythology

We come across unparalleled sacrifices in Indian mythology. Here are seven of them which are the most remarkable.

The sacrifice of sage Dadhichi

Sage Dadhichi has done the ultimate sacrifice of giving his life so that Devas finally got an upper hand over asuras. Because of his sacrifice, Indra got his famous weapon Vajra. This weapon was made from the bones of sage Dadhichi.

Vajra – the weapon of Indra

Once, Vritrasur, a powerful demon, wanted to conquer heaven. He fought with the gods and swallowed all their weapons. The gods went for help to Lord Vishnu. He said , the weapon made of sage Dadhichi bones can kill Vritasur. As the sage is my devotee, he should not be killed. You will have to request him to die to give his bones. Gods, led by Indra, went to Dhadichi and begged for his bones.

Indra requesting Dadhi for his bones

Dadhichi was ready to sacrifice his, but he wanted to go on a pilgrimage before that. Hearing this, Indra brought all the holy places near him. After taking dips in the holy waters, Dhadichi gave up his life. Indra made a weapon called Vajra with his bones and killed Vritrasur. This same vajra was used on Hanuman by Indra.

Sacrifice of Bhishma

Devvrata, son of Ganga and Shantanu, pledged to remain bachelor all through his life. This was because Shantanu could marry Satyavati since her gather was sceptical that Satyavati’s sons would not get the ascendancy to the throne. Hearing this, Bhishma vowed that he will remain unmarried. Due to this, he is called Bhishma and his oath is called as Bhishma Pratigya.

Bhishma_pratigya_nishaadraaj_mahabharat-indian-mythology

Bhishma taking oath for being unmarried – Bhishma Pratigya

Puru’s sacrifice for his father Yayati

Bhishma was not the only son who sacrificed for his father. Puru, son of Yayati, made a similar sacrifice by exchanging his youth with his fathers’ old age. As it happened that Yayati was cursed by Shukracharya to lose his youth. He later diluted the curse that Yayati could exchange his old age with someone’s youth.

Shukracharya curse to Yayati

Karna

Karna forgone the throne of Hastinapur when Kunti offered to him before the war of mahabharata. Karna also promised that Kunti will always have five sons. Due to his promise, he did not kill four pandavas, though he had a chance to do so. He also sacrificed his kavach and kundal to Indra.

Karna parting with kavach and kundal

The sacrifice of Abhimanyu

Abhimanyu, Arjuna’s son literally opened the flood gates for killing of Kauravas with not so desired methods. Abhimanyu was killed in after he was trapped in Chakravyuha formation when he was fighting alone with all the veterans in Kaurava’s army. Shri Krishna leveraged this fact in killing of Drona and other warriors.

Abhimanyu killed by Laxman (Duryodhan’s son) on thirteenth day of Mahabharata war.

The sacrifice of Barbari

Barbari, son of Ghatotkach, grand son of Bhima was mightier than both pandavas and kauravas alone. Shri Krishna asked him for his head before the war of Mahabharata. This was because, due to a vow taken by Barbari, there was a possibility that he would have destroyed all the warriors from both armies.

Barbari sacrificing his life as a true warrior to Shri Krishna in mahabharat

The sacrifice of Eklavya

Eklavya gave away the lone ambition of his life, to his teacher, Drona. This was probably the unparalleled sacrifice. A pupil, sacrificing everything to the teacher, who did not accept him as his pupil. What he gave? The right thumb, which is foremost important in archery.

Weapon catalogue – Indian mythology (2)

Weapon catalogue from Indian mythology

Following on from earlier article, here various weapons used are narrated here.

Name of the weapon

Effect and usage

Associated with

Naga paasha

This weapon is a trap made of million snakes. This would bind the target in coils of living venomous snakes. In the Ramayana, it was used against Lord Rama and Lakshmana by Indrajit. Garud freed the two brothers after Hanuman intervened.

The Nagas

Naga astra

The weapon would have an un-erring aim and take on the form of a snake, proving deadly upon impact.Karna used once in Mahabharat on Arjuna, but it missed its mark. Due to a promise made to Kunti, he did not use this again.

The Nagas

Vajra astra

Target would be struck with bolts of lightning (vajra referring to Indra’s thunderbolt). Indra used this on Hanuman when he wanted to swallow Sun.

Indra

Parvata astra

Would cause a Parvata/mountain to fall on the target from the skies.  

Brahma astra

Would destroy entire hosts at once. Could also counter most other astras. Used by Indrajit on Hanuman, but due to a boon from Brahma, Hanuman escaped from this.

Brahma, the Creator

Brahmasirsha astra

Capable of killing devas. Was used by Ashwatthama on Parikshit

Brahma, the Creator

Narayana astra

Would create showers of arrows and discs. The astra’s power would increase with the resistance offered to it. This weapon had to be obtained from Vishnu directly, and could be used only once.

Vishnu, the Preserver

Amoghastra, Vasavi Shakti

Indra gave this to Karna in before the battle of mahabharat. He was ashamed by Karna’s generosity, when he has given him Kavach and Kundal in alms. Vasavi Shakti: The magical dart weapon of Indra, unfailing at executing its target. Indra granted it to Karna during the Kurukshetra war. The Mahabharata also refers to it as the Amoghastra.  

 

The story of Madhu and Kaitabh

At the beginning of universe, there was ocean all around. Vishnu lay on Sheshnag in deep slumber under the influence of Yog Nidra. While Vishnu slept a lotus stalk grew out of his navel. At the upper end of the stalk was a lotus flower. Brahma was born in the lotus flower and was in deep meditation at the time of his birth.  At the same time when Brahma was in deep meditation in the lotus flower reciting the Vedas, ear wax flowed out of both ears of Vishnu and  two Asuras known as Madhu and Kaitabh were born out of the ear wax.

There names are Madhu and Kaitabh. Both performed great penance for thousands of years. The Goddess was pleased with their devotion, appeared before them and granted them the boon that death would come to them only when they desired it. By the knowledge of their immense strength, both the asuras became arrogant. They attacked Brahma and stole away from him the four Vedas. Brahma though furious, was helpless in the before the Asuras. Hence he rushed in great consternation to Vishnu to seek his protection.

Vishnu, however, was in deep sleep under the influence of yog nidra and did not wake up inspite of the best efforts of Brahma.

Seeing the demons, Brahma who was seated on a lotus at Vishnu’s navel sang to Devi Mahamaya. He pleaded her to withdraw from Vishnu so he may awaken and slay the two demons. Hearing the Brhamastuti, the Goddess took pity on Brahma’s plight and left Vishnu’s body. Lord Vishnu then woke up.

Vishnu now freed from the influence of Maya, woke up and saw the mighty demons threatening all creation. For five thousand years Vishnu fought the demons using his arms as weapons. Now frenzied and blinded by their might Madhu – Kaitabh exclaimed, Vishnu we are pleased by the fight you put up. Ask us for a boon! Such was their delusion caused by power and might.

Seeing the Goddess’s play, Vishnu replied, I ask that you may be slain by me. The demons caught in their own trap and bewitched by the Devi looked around to see only an ocean stretching endlessly.

Slay us then at the spot where the world is not flooded with water, they said to Vishnu who lifted them on to his lap suspended above the waters and slayed them with his discus.

The Goddess, so praised by Brahma had come to his rescue and restored order to the Cosmos.

Madhu and Kaitabh. Brahma born from lotus.

In the episode of Madhu and Kaitabh, Goddess Durga has been portrayed as the ‘Yoga Nidra’ whose powerful influence renders even Lord Vishnu helpless.