Category Archives: Indian Mythology

The Hidden Romances of the Mahabharata

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Mahabharat is full of love stories. It was not only about battle between good and evil.  Mahabharat was lot more than this. We find examples of revenges as well. But you might get surprised seeing the incidents of love. Yes, you heard me right. There are numerous incidents of love as in the great epic of Mahabharat .  Read on.

Ganga and Shantanu

King Shantanu was the emperor of Hastinapur, a descendent of King Bharat. He was a powerful monarch and ruled his people with truth, justice and love. In his realm none were sick or poor or without food. All were employed.  One day, Shantanu was riding his chariot along the banks of the Ganga river when he chanced to see a stunningly beautiful maiden sitting on the riverbank. She was dressed in white silk robes and had lustrous black hair and creamy skin. Her eyes were dark and liquid and fathomless. He was fallen in love with her immediately and proposed for an union. Ganga accepted on one condition and that condition proved to be a heart wrenching one for Shantanu. Bhishma Pitamah was born out of this wedlock.

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Ganga and Shantanu – Mahabharat – In
dian mythology

Shri Krishna and his 16,108 wives

Out of 16,108 16000 waited not many years but they reincarnated to get married to Shri Krishna. The Supreme Lord can make everyone happy because he is the only one with the power to love everyone in the way they want to be loved. Others may tell us that they love us but we never really believe them. But Krishna, who we cannot see with our material eyes, loves us and we know it, even if he never tells us. That’s the power of the love of Krishna.

Draupadi and Pandavas 

Draupadi  got married to all five Pandava brothers. She had to maintain commitment towards each of her husband. Not only that, all brothers had to trust Draupadi to do the justice. All six of them went through the adversity of life like living in exile. But, Draupadi always trusted them.

Draupadi could have 14 husbands instead of five

Gandhari and Dhritarashtra

After Vichitravirya’s death, his mother Satyavati sent for her first born, Ved Vyasa. According to his mother’s wishes, he visited both the wives of Vichitravirya to grant them a son with his yogic powers. When Vyasa visited Ambika (Sister of Amba), she saw his dreadful and forbidding appearance with burning eyes. Frightened, she kept her eyes closed. Hence, Dhritarashtra, her son, was born blind. Ved Vyasa was the person, who wrote Mahabharat.

The love story of Gandhari and Dhritarashtra started after their marriage. Gandhari, on meeting him and realizing that he was blind, decided to deny herself the pleasure of sight that her husband could never relish. She blindfolded herself voluntarily for her whole married life.

Arjuna and Uloopi

Uloopi was Naga princess and she abducted Arjuna when she fell in love with him. She later convinced him for an alliance as the rules of celibacy applied to him with a relationship with Draupadi and not with other women. She later gave him a boon that he cannot be harmed in water.

Note: Arjuna was on an exile of one year during when this happened.

Rukmani and  Shri Krishna

Shri Krishna, the reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, abducted Rukmani to marry her against the will of her family. Technically this was not an abduction, as she was in love with Shri Krishna and requested him to marry her.

Arjuna and Chitrangada

Chitrangada was the princess of Manipur. It was on the banks of the river Kaveri that Arjuna visited the kingdom of Manipur, whose king was Chitravahana. He had a very beautiful daughter named Chitrangada, with whom Arjuna fell immediately in love. When Arjuna asked for her hand, her father put forth a condition that their child must be brought up in Manipur and should succeed the throne. Arjuna agreed. After their son Babruvahana was born, Arjuna went back to join his brothers at Indraprastha, leaving behind his wife and son.  After the death of Chitravahana, Babruvahana became the ruler of Manipur. Later, after the Mahabharat war, Arjuna was defeated by his son, Babruvahana.

Arjuna and Subhadra

Arjuna and Subhadra’s brother Gada, have taken training together under Drona. During his exile of one year, when Arjuna reached Dwarka, he was invited at Subhadra’s place and both have fallen in love with each other. Arjuna married Subhadra, half sister of Shri Krishna. Shri Krishna has advised Arjuna to abduct Subhadra, and this was an acceptable behaviour of a Kshatriya. Even Shri Krishna did the same with Rukmani. Though Balram was not happy with this, Shri Krishna persuaded him to accept this alliance. When Subhadra reached Draupadi,  she did not disclose the alliance with her. After an hour or so, when Draupadi was comfortable and happy with her, she told her about the marriage and Draupadi accepted her.

Hidimba and Bhima

Bheema was the son of Kunti. Hidimba was the man eater. She fell in love with Bheema and that
changed every thing for her. After marriage they lived together only for limited period of time, then Bheema left as he have to. Hidimba gave birth to the Great Ghatotkacha and takes care of him alone without regretting anything. Later, Ghatotkacha played an important role in Mahabharat war, as Karna had to use the weapon Ekaghni to kill him, thus saving the life of Arjuna.

Satyavati and Rishi Parashar

Parashar was the well known and respected sage who had acquired many yogic powers through devotion. Satyavati, the daughter of a fisherman, Dashraja, used to take people across the river Yamuna in her boat. One day, she was taking Rishi Parashar in the boat. The sage, smitten by her charm, expressed the desire to make love with her. He told her that she was destined to give birth to a great person from this liaison. Satyavati placed three conditions before him:

No one on shore could see what they were doing.  So, Parashar created an artificial mist around them. Her virginity would remain intact. Parashar assured that after she gave birth she would become a virgin again. She wanted the fishy smell that came from her body to be replaced by an intoxicating fragrance. Parashara said that a divine aroma would emanate out of her, which could be sensed for a distance of nine miles. She gave birth to Ved Vyas, the author of Mahabharat.

Satyavati and Shantanu

The fragrance of Satyavati attracted Shantanu to her. He followed it to its source and found Satyavati sitting in her boat. He stepped in and asked Satyavati to row him across the river. When he reached the other bank he asked her to ferry him back. This continued till dusk that day and continued daily for quite some time. Finally Shantanu asked Satyavati to marry him. Satyavati said that she was willing, but would be bound by her father Dashraj’s decision. It turned out that her father has ambitious plans for her and Shantanu was not able to satisfy them. The son of Ganga and Shantanu, made things easier for him and took some vows because of them he was called as Bhsihma.

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Shantanu and Satyavati – Mahabharat – Indian mythology story

Test your knowledge on Mahabharat

Love story of Urvashi and Pururva

Love stories from Mahabharata

The curse of Ashwaththama – Mahabharat

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Seven people apart from five Pandavs survived the Mahabharat war (Kurukshetra). These are Krishna, Kripacharya, Yuyutsu, Kritivarma, Vrishakethu, Satyaki, and Ashwatthama.Ashwatthama , the son of Drona, guru of Pandavas and Kauravas was the great warrior who also commanded the Kauravas army post Drona demise. He is supposed to not die and  this was not as a result of any boon, but rather surprisingly, result of a curse, which was given to him by Sri Krishna, because of his misdeeds during the last days of Mahabharat war. After Drona was killed by Pandavas because of a half-lie, spoken by Yudhisthir, who was the eldest of the Pandavas, Ashwatthama, vowed to kill all Pandavas.

Ashwaththama consoling Duryodhana on his deathbed

Mahabharat - Indian mythology pic where Ashwaththama is sitting close to Duryodhana

One night he saw an owl attacking crows, and in the morning, the situation was reversed, when crows attacked the owl. Inspired by this incident, he attacked the Pandavas during  night and beheaded all Pandavas, but they were Upapandavas, or five sons of Draupadi.
Ashwatthama also used Brahmastra to destroy all pandavas and Arjuna and Krishna intervened. He did not know how to retrieve this, directed this towards the womb of Uttara (wife of Abhimanyu) who was carrying Abhimanyu’s son (Parikshit). This was an attempt to end the lineage of the Pandavas. Krishna used his sudarshan chakra to stop the Brahmastra and save Uttara’s unborn child who later was known as Pariskshit.

Due to above misdeeds, Krishna cursed him to suffer and carry the burden of all people’s sins on his shoulders and will roam alone like a ghost without getting any love and courtesy till the end of Kaliyuga. A gem or mani which was on his forehead was also taken from him. This is believed that Ashwatthama will be freed by Kalki-Avatar, the tenth incarnation of Sri Krishna.

In Hindu mythology or Indian mythology and especially in the epic Mahabharat, we can find many instances of misdeeds, and also see that the power is bestowed to the people who can misuse it. For example, the Brahmastra was in wrong hands. How relevant this is today as we see that nuclear weapons do not necessarily kept by good people only. Similarly we find similar instances in World mythology as well.

Only history will tell who is wrong and who is right as in the case of Ashwatthama, who thought he was avenging the wrong doing of Pandavas, but if we look at the bigger picture, we find that this is not the case. But Lord Krishna knew this, didn’t he?

Karna – the unfortunate who deserved

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Karna – The most virtuous warrior from Mahabharata

In Indian mythology, I don’t come across anyone who is as gifted as Karna, and at the same time, most unfortunate as well. He had everything, yet he ended up having nothing. The reasons, one may argue would his deeds, or the company he kept,but at the same time, we must think that he had to accept what he was given to him, god or if we want this to put more correctly, Ved Vyasa, did not give him too many choices.

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Karna

To start with, being the eldest son of Kunti, he should have been the king, but her curiosity proved to be the undoing of this person. The price which he had to pay for his mother’s curiosity is overwhelming. He was the best warrior amongst the all Pandavas, he had the Kavach and Kundal to prtotect him, but even the gods conspired against him.

Sometimes we wonder, why Surya just chose to warn him and not to protect him, as Indra have done for Arjun. Even he had left him to fight against the gods. Here lies the utlimate curse, a mere mortal cannot think to win against the gods, and if he tried too, then there were curses to ensure that he failed. There was one from his teacher, which proved to be undoing of this great man. On the other hand, Drona, made sure that Arjun remained the best archer in the world and went out of way to ask for Eklavya’s thumb.

Even in the battlefield, his charioteer Shalya, use to praise his opponent Arjun, where do you heard such kind of odds against a man.

The only person who probably have recognized Karna’s prowess correctly was Shri Krishna, and he did salute him in the battlefield, much to the amusement of Arjun. Nevertheless, Karna comes across with a character which is hard to find. I would say that he did not die for his weaknesses, but paid for other’s fallacies. Who says that this earth is a great place to live?

Rudraksh – A gem from Indian mythology

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In Indian mythology, Rudraksh has its own space. It is believed that the Rudraksh stone has got beneficial powers and those who keep these stones, enjoy various benefits. It is supposed to take away our sufferings and bring wisdom and health.

Rudraksha Image

Rudraksha image

Legends
There is an interesting legend associated with Rudraksh. We will tell you the origin & history of Rudraksha. Literally, Rudraksh means tears of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva meditated for several years for the wellbeing of all creatures. But, when he opened his eyes to see around, he saw people suffering. Lord Shiva could not see the sufferings and miseries of people and started shedding hot drops of tears. These tears fell upon the earth and became the trees of Rudraksha.
Another ancient story explains the origin of Rudraksha that Lord Shiva was upset and depressed following death of “Gauri”, his wife. He started crying and roaming here and there in search of Gauri. And while searching he was crying and his tears were falling on the earth. These tears were converted in Rudraksha.

Another story is around three demons Tripurasuras who had innumerable powers. They lived in three Purams and the Purams were protected by a boon from Lord Ganesh and nobody can harm them, unless they come into a single axis. That moment comes only once in every thousand years. All gods prayed to Lord Shiva to kill those Demons. He performed Tapasya (penance) with half-closed eyes. (Ardha Nimeelita neetra). He opened his eyes, concentrated on the axis and burnt Tripurams. Due to the stress caused by Tapasya, tears came out his eyes while opening them. They turned into Rudrakshas.

The story of Gunanidhi

In the country of Kosala there was once a noble brahmin named Girinatha who was rich, erudite and well-versed in the Vedas. Considering his greatness people called him Girinathadiksita. Gunanidhi was his son. When Gunanidhi grew up he started his education under Sudhisna. Sudhisna had a wife named Muktavali. After some time Gunanidhi started having clandestine relations with Muktavali. Gunanidhi gave poison to his guru and killed him. His parents came to know of this and they came and reprimanded him. Evilnatured Gunamdhi thought that the presence of his parents would be an annoyance to him in future.
So Gunanidhi and Muktavali planned together to kill his parents and one day they poisoned them.After some time Gunanidhi and his wife
lost all they had and gradually gunanidhi turned himself into a thief and drunkard. Nobody in the village liked the couple and all the villagers combined together and sent the couple away from the place.
Gunanidhi and Muktavali went to the forests and there they started a life of looting the travellers. After some years of a sinful life Gunanidhi one day died lying beneath a Rudraksa tree. Servants of both Yama and Siva came to claim the soul of Gunanidhi. The servants of Yama said that the right place of Gunanidhi the sinner, was in hell but the servants of Siva said that even if he was a great sinner his place was in heaven because he died
lying beneath a Rudraksa tree. In the end the Sivadutas won and took Gunanidhi to heaven.

The story of an ass

There was once in Kikata a merchant who had an ass to carry his merchandise. Once the merchant was returning home from Bhadracala with his ass loaded with bundles of costly Rudraksas. The old ass fell down dead on the way, the weight of the Rudraksa bundles having been too much for it, and immediately it assumed the form of Siva and went to Kailasa. Even if a man does not know what he is carrying, if he carries sacred things he will certainly attain salvation, like the ass that attained salvation in this case.
For scientifically inclined souls, the botanical name of the Rudrakhsha tree is Elaeocarpus Granitrus.

The achilles heel in Indian and greek mythology

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Indian mythology and Greek mythology – Similarities between gods and characters

The achilles heel is a phrase borrowed from greek mythology which denotes an area of weakness. Achilles was a great fighter who was washed with water of river styx to become invincible. His mother, Thetis held him by his heel and dipped him into the river. His heel was not washed by the water of magical river and that area remained vulnerable and ultimately was cause of his death when a poisonous arrow lodged in his heel.

Shri Krishna and the hunter
Shri Krishna and the hunter

In indian mythology, the great epic mahabharat has a similar story. Duryodhana, the elder son of kauravas, was summoned by his mother Gandhari as she wanted him to become invincible. He was supposed to appear naked before his mother, so that wherever Gandhari gaze fell, his body became invincible. But Shri Krishna has different plans, and he convinced Durodhana to wear a loin cloth as it would not look good for a son to appear naked in front of his mother. Later in Mahabharat war, this weakness around his thighs enabled Bheem/Bhima to kill Duryodhana.

We see that in Mahabharata, that many great warriors have weaknesses exploited which led to their downfall. Drona’s weakness for his son Ashwaththama, Karna weakness from his teacher Parshuram to forget his skills when he needed them most. But in Duryodhana’s case, it was Shri Krishna’s masterstroke which made Duryodhana vulnerable.

We see that how fascinating and similar above stories are, and to take it further, Shri Krishna tenure at earth ended in the same way achilles died, by a poisonous arrow in lodged in his heel, this was due to a curse by Gandhari. Gandhari cursed him after the war of mahabharat that after thirty six years of the war he and his clan will be finished.

Are we seeing copy here, but the bigger question is, who copied whom?

Shri Krishna and Hercules

The story of Ganga (The Ganges)

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The Ganges

The story of Ganga coming to earth is long but interesting, I will try to keep this as short as possible without losing the plot. 

In World mythology, there are many stories related to rivers, but the story around Ganga or The Ganges is very fascinating.


As per the Indian mythology, the person who is accredited for taking Ganga to earth from heaven is Bhagirath and Ganga is also known as Bhagirathi. Bhagirath wanted Ganga to come to earth to liberate his ancestors and he appeased Lord Brahma through severe penance. He was warned that Ganga flows with tremendous force and power and he will have to think of a way to avoid the impact on earth when she comes down to earth.
Bhagirath then began another severe penance, this time directed towards Lord Shiva, who appeared soon before him and agreed to soften Ganga’s fall in his matted hair locks. Having tied up all loose ends, and acquiring the grace of both Brahma and Shiva, Bhagiratha now felt secure about accomplishing his objective.

Bhagirath doing penance to bring Ganga on earth

Bhagirath doing penance to bring Ganga on earth

But there were still hiccups on his path, before all issues could be successfully resolved.
Ganga is visualized in Indian thought as a virtuous, but mischievous and restless maiden, just as many young lasses are. She followed Brahma’s diktat to descend to earth, but couldn’t playfully resist the unwarranted and undeserved feeling that she could sweep away even the mighty Shiva in her forceful current. Shiva, gauging her thoughts, decided to teach her a lesson. Spreading open his serpentine coils of hair, he covered the entire sky, and collected all the waves of Ganga in his outspread locks.
Then with a mighty swoop, he collected his hair, tied into a neat and tight bun, and captured Ganga in the infinite swirls and whirls of his hair. Ganga still flowed with tremendous force, but could not escape, and remained imprisoned and confined inside Shiva’s hair.
Bhagirath, perplexed at the happenings, appealed to Shiva to release Ganga, so that she could wash away the sins of his ancestors, symbolized in their mortal remains. Shiva relented, and in any case Ganga had learnt her lesson. Thus Ganga again followed Bhagirath, who showed her the way. But there were still more adventures to come.
Just near their ultimate destination lay the hermitage of another accomplished sage, known as Jahnu. Ganga, ever the playful maiden, hurried over to what she perceived was a new and curious place. And lo, barely had she entered upon the precincts of the ashram (hermitage), that it became flooded, and all sacrificial fires were extinguished. The ritual utensils and tools were washed away, and the inhabitants of the sanctuary became frightened and anxious. The leader of the ashram, sage Jahnu, became livid at Ganga’s intrusion. He then chanted a mantra, and took a sip of the water flowing all around his hermitage. With the power of his mantra, he swallowed away Ganga with all her waters. All traces of Ganga were gone. Bhagiratha was in a fix. No sooner had he overcome one hurdle, than another was created, mostly due to the impulsiveness and restlessness of Ganga. He hurried over to Jahnu, and explained to him the magnitude and significance of the task he was out to accomplish. Jahnu gave him a sympathetic hearing and appreciated his hard work in bringing Ganga to the earthly realm. Consoling Bhagiratha, he said: ” For you, I will release Ganga immediately,” and saying this, he made a cut in his left thigh, and the waters of Ganga flew out like a fountain. Hence did Ganga came to be known as Jahnvi, the daughter of sage Jahnu.

Navratri festival

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Maa Durga

It is believed that Goddess Durga on her 10 day journey around the earth removes all evil. Thus navratri festival is very auspicious for hindu devotees. Devi has taken avatar to kill the king of asuras, Mahishasura. She killed the most fearsome demon Mahishasura along with others.

Maa Durga

Maa Durga

May Goddess Durga destroy all evil around you and fill your life with happiness and prosperity.

Maa Durga

Maa Durga

Further reading

Legends of Durga Puja

Navratri – Story

Curses on Arjuna (Mahabharata – Indian mythology)

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Curses on Arjuna

Mahabharata is full of incidents of curses, yet when curses are mentioned with reference to Mahabharata in Indian mythology, we would normally associate Karna, but Arjuna also had some curses. But this can be argued that though these have been curses, Arjuna was able to use them to his and Pandava’s advantage.

Curse of Vasus

Chitrangada, in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, is one of Arjuna’s wives. Arjuna  travelled through India during his term of exile of twelve years. His visited Manipur in the eastern Himalayas, an almost mystic kingdom renowned for its natural beauty. There, he met Chitrangada, the daughter of the king of Manipur, and was moved to seek her hand in marriage.

Her father demurred on the plea that, according to the matrilineal customs of his people, the children born of Chitrangada were heir to Manipur; he could not allow his heirs to be taken away from Manipur by their father. Arjuna agreed to the stipulation that he would take away neither his wife Chitrangada nor any children borne by her from Manipur and wedded the princess on this premise. A son, whom they named Babruvahana, was soon born to the couple.

Babruvahana would succeed his grandfather as king of Manipur. Long after the battle of Kurukshetra, Yudhishthira decided to conduct the Aswamedha Yaga. The yaga horse enters the dominion of Manipur, where Arjuna challenges their King Babruvahana for a fight. Babruvahana kills his father in the ensuing battle.  However Arjuna’s snake-wife Uloopi resuscitates him to life by using the magical mritasanjivani gem owned bythe Nagas.

Uloopi reviving Arjuna after Babhruvahana defeated and killed him

Uloopi reviving Arjuna after Babhruvahana defeated and killed him

 

Arjuna’s death in the battle is also attributed to the curse of the Ashta-Vasus. The Vasus, enraged by Arjuna’s deceptive tactic of using Shikandi as a shield to kill Bhishma (an incarnation of one of the eight Vasus), cursed Arjuna that he would be slain by his own son. This curse comes to pass during the battle between Arjuna and Babruvahana.


Arjuna from bali

Curse of Urvashi

 Arjuna was received with all love and affection by his father Indra. Arjuna spent some very pleasant time going around and seeing the world of Indra. Capital of Indra was called Amaravati. In the court of Indra all the Gandharva’s sang divine songs and all the beautiful apsaras gave dancing recitals. All the apsaras, Rambha Urvashi, Menaka, Tilottama were there Arjuna watched all there performance and was very much fascinated. He kept looking at Urvashi. She also noticed Arjuna’s interest in her and the fire of love was kindled in her. Urvashi fell in love with Arjuna. Urvashi could not sleep in the night. She was constantly thinking about

Arjuna. She became too overpowered by her desire for Arjuna. She stole in to Arjuna’s chamber. Arjuna welcomed her with love, courtesy and honour. Urvashi expressed her desire for Arjuna. A surprised Arjuna told her that he had heard about the great romance between her and his ancestor Pururva. That was the reason he was kept watching her in Indra’s court as a child looks at her mother whom he had never seen. He only regarded her as the beloved of his ancestor. She was like a mother to him. Any other relationship was impossible even to contemplate.

Arjuna and Urvashi

Arjuna and Urvashi

Urvashi was very much mistaken,she thought Arjuna was interested in her as an admirer. Urvashi became furious with rage. She took it as a great insult to be turned down by a mere mortal. She said it was not proper to refuse a woman, her desire. Arjuna, by doing so has insulted her. Therefore, she declared, Arjuna, shall never be able to enjoy a woman’s company. He will become a eunuch. Arjuna was dumb with the injustice done to him by Urvashi. In the morning he told these things to a Gandharva, Chitrasena who he had befriended. Indra, being informed about Arjuna’s curse, came to him to console him. Indra said that he would request Urvashi to reduce her curse for a period of one year. The Urvashi curse will be of great help to Arjuna during the period of one year when they were to live in disguise. Arjuna stayed in Amravati for sometime. Indra gave him all the divine astras. Then he came back to earth but before that he learnt the art of dancing and singing from his friend Chitrasena and he became quite an expert in these fine arts.

Thus we see, such is the beauty of mythology stories from Mahabharata, where every incident serves a purpose and fits impeccably in the bigger scheme of things. Everytime I hear these stories, I wonder about the master story teller. A priceless contribution to world mythology.


Seven little known facts from the Mahabharata (2)

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Yudhishthira’s Chariot in Mahabharata war

Yudhishthira has never lied in life save for one incident. Due to this, his chariot always floated a few inches above the ground. At the Mahabharat War, he told a half lie that “aswathama hatha kunjara” which led to Drona’s demise.

Bhima kills Ashwaththama, the elephant

Bhima kills Ashwaththama, the elephant

As a result of this, his feet and chariot, both descended to the ground immediately in the war of Mahabharat. Here one should note, that Yudhisthira could not  tell a lie.  Because, he is a man who has never ever lied in his life.  But on the instructions of Lord Krishna ( Krishna tells Yudhishthira: “Under such circumstances, falsehood is preferable to truth. By telling a lie to save a life, one is not touched by sin” ) he utters a half truth, and no sooner he utters “aswathama hatha kunjara” both  Yudhisthira’s feet and chariot descend to the ground immediately.  But did Yudhisthira utter a false-hood?  Technically no but his convincing Drona was tantamount to telling a lie.  That is why the chariot of Yudhishthra which used to always float in the air and never touch the ground falls to the ground after this lie.

yudhishthira

Birth of Drona

The son of Rishi Bharadwaja, it is widely believed that Drona was not conceived in the womb of any woman, but in the Droon, a vessel made of clay.   In fact the modern day Dehradoon, is closely associated with Drona because it is said that the place where Drona was born, came to be known as Dehradoon. And the land which King Dhritarashtra, donated to Drona, is known as Guru(ka) Gaon- the modern  day Gurgaon. As Drona was not conceived in a womb, there is no mother to him.

Drona and Ekalavya

Brihannala – The eunuch

During their Vanvasa, the pandavas were required to spent one year in disguise. Arjuna spent this period as an eunuch and he was indeed an eunuch during this period. This was due to a curse from and apsara, who became very angry with Arjuna when he was learning Divyastras as he rejected citing her as his mother. After the intervention of Devas, he was allowed to practice this whenever he wanted to practice eunuchness. This helped him in agyatvaas where he spent his time as a eunuch preceding to Mahabharata war.

Arjuna as Brihannala

Arjuna as Brihannala

Danveer Karna

Karna never turned away anyone in his life. He gave his Kavach and Kundal to Indra which ultimately led to his demise despite knowing that the beggar was Lord Indra. He was even tested of this virtue on his death bed when he was asked for alms. His teeth were of gold and he readily given them to the bhagwan who came to him as a beggar. Karna was the most tested character in Mahabharata but he never failed. This is the reason he commands respect.

Five sons of Kunti – Karna’s greatness

This tale tells about Karna’s greatness once again. He promised Kunti before the mahabharata war that she will have five sons. He had the chance to kill all the four pandavas save Arjun. but he let them go because of his promise to Kunti. Eventually he died of when and Arjuna killed him when he was trying to extricate the wheels of his chariot. Thus, the most deserving warrior of Mahabharata met his death.

Bhishma made Krishna break his promise

Shri Krishna vowed that he would not use any weapon and not fight in the battle of Mahabharata. Bheeshma fought with such ferociousness that Krishna got hold of a chariot’s wheel and charged after Bheeshma. Seeing this, Bheeshma put his bow and arrow down and Krishna also realized his mistake.

Karna as ardharathi

Bhishma never liked Karna and used to rebuke him saying that he is an Ardharathi. Karna hence decided not to fight the war under his leadership. Only after when Bhishma was incapacitated, Karna fought the Mahabharata war as Duryodhana’s commander.

Dashavatara – Indian mythology

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Dashavatara

Dashavatar is ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. In Indian mythology, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (Shiv) are symbols of creator, saviour and destroyer. Whenever there is a decline of religion and a rise of irreligion, Vishnu incarnates himself to protect the good, to destroy the wicked, and to re-establish religious principles. The famous ten incarnations of Vishnu are collectively called Dashavatar. The first four appeared in Satya Yuga. The next three appeared in Treta yuga, eighth incarnation in Dwapara yuga and ninth appeared in Kalyuga. The tenth incarnation is predicted to appear at the end of Kalyuga.

Dashavatar of Lord Vishnu – Indian mythology

Ten avatars of Vishnu are :

1. Matsya – The fish

2. Kurma – The Tortoise

3. Varaha – The Boar

4. Narasimha – Half lion and half man

5. Vamana – The dwarf

6. Parashurama – The warrior

7. Sri Rama – The king

8. Sri Krishna – The cowherd

9. Buddha – The Teacher

10. Kalki – The Slayer

 

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1. Matsya avatar The fish incarnation is the first incarnation of Vishnu. One day Brahma was sleeping, Hayagriva stole the holy vedas from under Brahma’s head. He then ran and hide in the depth of ocean. Brahma had to read the holy books to create universe. Since he was unable to do so he approached Lord Vishnu for help. Vishnu took the form of a fish and dived into the ocean to get back the vedas. After a fierce battle with the demon Vishnu was successful in bringing back vedas.

2. Kurma avatar Once during samudra manthan or great churning of sea by the Gods and the demons. This churning was to bring out the ‘amrita’ from the depth of ocean to help regain power and immortality. The huge mountain Mandara was used as a pole for churning of water, but as churning continued mountain began to descend into the sea. Then Vishnu incarnated himself into a huge tortoise and placed the mountain on his back then churning began and this time it continued smoothly.

3. Varaha avatar There was a demon named Hiranyaksha He was granted a boon by Brahma that no God or demon or man or beast would ever kill him. One day he snatched the earth and took it with him under the ocean. All Gods rushed to Vishnu for help. Vishnu remembered that Brahma has forgotten to grant Hiranyaksha immortality against varaha – the two tusked wild boar. Vishnu changed himself into a varaha and dived into ocean, after a fierce battle he killed Hiranyaksha ans brought back earth from the depth of ocean.

4. Narasimha avatar In satya yuga there was a wicked king named Hiranyakashyap. He prayed to Lord Brahma for immortality. He requested that neither at day nor at night could any God, demon man or beast could ever kill him. He also prayed that no instrument or weapon could ever destroy him. Impressed by his devotion Brahma granted him the boon. Hiranyakshyap then banned worship of God. But his son Prahlad was a devotee of Vishnu. This enraged Hiranyakashyapand he decided to kill Prahlad. After many unsuccessful attempts one evening he ordered his men to tie Prahlad to a pillar and behead him. However Vishnu took the form of Narasimha a creature that was half lion and half human, he came out of the pillar. He comes upon Hiranyakashyap at twilight (neither day nor night), on the threshold of courtyard (neither indoor nor outdoor), he put the demon on his thioghs (neither earth nor space) using his sharp nails (neither weapon nor instrument) he tore Hiranyakashyap’s chest apart and killed him.

Dashavatara

Dashavatara

5. Vamana avatar In Treta yuga Vishnu incarnated into a dwarf or vamana. Bali, grandson of Prahlad was a famous demon. By leading a austere life he had acquired the powers to rule the earth. Indra and other God got feared that someday Bali would conquer everything and defeat them so they asked Vishnu for help. Vishnu decided to be born in a household of a poor Brahmin one day he went to Bali and asked for alms. Seeing this young boy, Bali agreed to give anything the dwarf asked for. Vamana asked for entire land that would come under 3 steps. Bali agreed. The dwarf then grew in size and covered earth and heaven in two steps. Then he asked Bali where can he put his third steps. Bali reallised vamana was Vishnu incarnation and his pride was broken he offered his head for third step. Vishnu then blessed him and send him to neither world.

6. Parashuram Parashuram was the sixth incarnation of Vishnu had a violent temper. He was a master archer and desciple of Shiva. Vishnu appeared as parashuram in Tetrayuga to destroy warrior caste. When the king of the earth became despotic and started to harm people and saint in the forest. Vishnu incarnated as Parashuram and destroyed all the kings who were harassing people. Jamdagni a brahmin sage was Parashuram’s father, he had a divine cow kamadhenu. There was a king name Kartavirya arjuna (sahasrarjuna) has thousand arms. Once he and his army visited Jamdagni and demanded the magical cow kamdhenu but JAmadangi refused because he needed cow for his religious ceremonies, king forcible took the cow and devastated ashram. Angered at this Parashuram killed entire army and king after cutting his each hand. As a revenge king’s son killed Jamadagniin Parashuram’s absence. Furious at his father’s murder Parashuram killed all sons of Sahasrajuna. His thirst for revenge unquenched and he went on killing every adult kshatriya on earth not once but 21 times and filling 5 pond with blood. Ultimately his grandfther appeared and stopped him.

7. Rama Rama who was prince and king of Ayodhya was 7th incarnation of Vishnu that appeared in Tetra yuga. Lord Rama defeated and killed the king of srilanka, Ravana for capturing and imprisoning his wife Sita in Ashok garden in Srilanka.

8. Krishna In 8th incarnation Vishnu appeared in Dwapara yuga as Krishna. He is one of the most common worshipped deity in Hindu faith. Krishna killed Kansa and played a huge role in the battle of kurukshetra. He helped pandavas to defeat kauravas. Krishna is a significant character in mahabharat. He delivered Bhagwat Gita on battlefield to Arjun. Krishna is known for his bravery in destroying evil powers throughout his life.

9. Buddha Vishnu in his 9th incarnation appeared as mahavir buddha in Kalyuga to teach the lesson of following a middle path in life. Buddha means the ‘enlightened one’. he thought that all sorrow comes from attachment and desire so its better to curb all attachment in order to be happy.

Dashavatar