Seven interesting death stories – Indian mythology

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Death stories from Mahabharata and The Ramayana – Indian Mythology

Though this topic seems a bit unusual, but there are enough incidents in Indian mythology, especially in Mahabharat and in the Ramayana, which compel me to write an article on the matter. These are a bit peculiar, so they warrant your attention. Interested? Read on…

Death of Ravana

Ravana's - A character from the Ramayana

Ravana’s – A character from the Ramayana

This is the story from the period of the Ramayana.  Ravana has obtained a boon from Lord Shiva that he shall not be slain by the Devas, the divine beings, Gandharvas, the Yakshas or by the Rakshasas. He did not include human beings into the list. Lord Vishnu took birth as a human in the form of Rama, and thus Ravana could be killed.

Jayadrath

Jayadrath was brother in law of Kauravas. He had a boon from Lord Shiva that he can stop all Pandavas for a day in a battle except Arjuna. He did so on thirteenth day of the Mahabharata war and did not allow pandavas to come into the chakravyuha. Arjuna’s son knew to enter the chakravyuha and he was trapped there as Pandavas could not follow him. Abhimanyu died a glorious death while defending Yudhishthira.

Arjuna vowed that the next day, he will kill Jayadrath or set himself on fire. The next day, Shri Krishna has to resort to his exploits when he made the sun to disappear using his Sudarshan chakra. Seeing this, Jayadratha came out of hiding to celebrate  Arjuna’s defeat. At this point of time, Shri Krishna withdrew the chakra and told Arjuna – Here is the Sun and here is Jayadrath, so kill him. Arjuna duly obliged and thus Jayadrath was killed in the Mahabharata war.

Jayadrath (Mahabharata)

Here is another story, Jayadrath was granted a boon by his father, sage Vridhakshtra that whosoever causes Jayadrath’s head to fall, his head will be burst in 100 pieces.  Shri Krishna directed Arjuna to cut his head in such a way that it falls in the lap of his father. You know what could have happened next?

Jayadratha killed by Arjuna

Jayadratha killed by Arjuna

Hiranyakashyap

Hirankashyap had a boon from Brahma that “I should die neither in the morning nor in the evening, neither inside of my house not outside of my house, neither n earth nor in sky, not by any creature created by you and not by any weapon.”

Narsingh Avatar of Lord Vishnu - Dashavatar of Vishnu

Narsingh Avatar of Lord Vishnu – Dashavatar of Vishnu

Lord Vishnu took the form of Narasingh avatar and killed him in a place and at a time which fulfilled above prophecy. Bhagwan Narsingh’s  head was of a lion and his body was of a human being (He was not the creature created by Lord Brahma). He immediately attacked Hiranyakashyap and fought with him. He fought till it was evening (neither day nor night). At that time he picked him up, took him to the door (neither inside the house nor outside the house), kept his body on his lap (neither on Prithvi nor in the sky) and ripped his stomach with his nails (not with any kind of weapon).

Bhasmasur

Bhasmasur obtained a boon from Shiva that any person who is touched by Bhasmasur on his head, will burn into ashes immediately. After obtaining this, he tried to test this on Shiva. Shiva had to flee and he sought Bhagwan Vishnu’s help in this. He soon appeared before him in a form of beautiful lady, Mohini. Mohini asked Bhasmasur to match him while dancing and she will marry him. During the competition, she put a hand on her head, Bhasmasur obliged and immediately turned into Ashes.

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How Bhasmasur was killed?

Pandu

 Pandu had a curse from Sage Kindam. Kindam died when he was spending time with his wife in the guise of deer. Pandu was hunting and he accidentally killed the couple. They cursed him that he will die similarly. Later, a day in forest, Pandu was with his wife Madri and forgot about the curse. Soon, both of them died as a result of the curse. This story is from the days of Mahabharat.

Jarasandh

Fight between Bhima and Jarasandh while Krishna watches

Fight between Bhima and Jarasandh while Krishna watches

This story is from Mahabharat period. Jarasandh was killed in the same way he was born, in two pieces. Mighty Bhima, one of the Pandavas, fought a one to one battle with him and torn him in two pieces and threw them in opposite directions. Jarasandh was born in two halves after his father distributed the divine fruit to two of his wives. He was immensely powerful and was planning to become immortal when Krishna intervened. The fight between Bhima and Jarasandh reached and end only after Shri Krishna advised Bhima to throw the two halves of Jarasandh in opposite directions. Shri Krishna, the central character of Mahabharat, has been instrumental in many such incidents.

Sri Krishna, Bheema and Arjuna visit Jarasandh

Death of Bali or Vali

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Rama killed Vali in the period of the Ramayana

In the period of the ramayana, bali and sugriva were two brothers. Bali has the boon that he will get the half strength of his opponent in any battle. Thus it was impossible to beat him by fighting with him. Bali has also done injustice to his brother Sugriva. Ram, decided to help him and asked Sugriva to fight with his brother with a garland. Thus Rama identified Sugriva and killed Bali with an arrow from hiding. Sugriva, later helped Rama when he searched his wife, Sita and his vaanar sena helped in fighting the war with Ravana.

Aruni and Dhoumya – teacher and student example

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Aruni – the real disciple of his teacher

We find many examples highlighting teacher and pupil’s relationship or depicting the devotion of the disciple towards its teacher. Ekalavya, Karna, Ram, Krishna all great gods of Indian mythology were great pupils as well. One such disciple is Aruni.

Aruni was in gurukul – The teacher’s abode

Aruni was a disciple of the ancient sage Dhoumya. In olden days a student had to stay with the teacher and help in the teacher’s daily chores in order to attain the knowledge he sought.
It was winter. Aruni was carrying the firewood he had collected for the sage’s household. As he was passing by the field, which belonged to the sage, he noticed a breach in the embankment that was holding water in his teacher’s field. He realized that the water would drain away and the field’s crops would die with no water.

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Aruni – another example of teacher – disciple relationship

Aruni decides to tend to the field

He was in a dilemma If he stops to build the embankment,  there will be a delay as there is no firewood at the teacher’s place to keep it warm. He thought its better to rush to the hermitage with the firewood and then come back to take care of the breach.
Meanwhile the sage and his disciples had assembled for the day’s lesson. Aruni was missing.
Soon Aruni rushed in, dropped the firewood in the courtyard, and informed the teacher about the breach of the embankment. Then he quickly rushed out.
His teacher Dhoumya felt proud of his disciple, “It is hard to get such a responsible pupil.”

Aruni ran all the way back to the troubled spot and tried to stop the leakage of water by putting some logs and mud. However, this did not stop the leak. The heavy pressure of water washed away the dam Aruni made. He felt helpless. It seemed impossible for him to stop the leakage without help. He thought for a while and then made a plan.
When it turned dark, the teacher became worried. He called his disciples and set out looking for Aruni. As he called out for Aruni, he heard a faint voice, “Here I am!”

Aruni was found freezing

The teacher and his disciples rushed to the spot and saw Aruni lying on the breach, trying to cover the gap. The disciples quickly pulled Aruni out from the freezing water. He was repeatedly muttering, “The water is flowing out, the crops will die.”
“Don’t worry Aruni! We will take care of the breach,” said the disciples.
“Never mind my son! You are more precious than the crop,” said the teacher.
Aruni was covered in a blanket and brought home. Sage Dhoumya himself tended to Aruni. The sage then blessed his disciple with pride, “You shall, forever, be renowned for your unmatched devotion and obedience to your guru.

Aruni - The devoted student

Thus Aruni presented a notable example of his devotion towards his teacher. This indian story is taken from Mahabharat, a Hindu mythology epic.

 

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

Sati and Shakti peeths

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Sati and Shakti Peeths have a significant importance in India. Sati is consort of Lord Shiva and there is a story behind the origin of Shakti peeths. Please read on for details on this interesting mythological story about Sati.

Sati and Shiva
Sati and Shiva

Sati’s Penance

Sati was daughter of Daksh Prajapati who was a ruler. When Sati grew old she performed intense penance to attain Shiva as her husband. She married Lord Shiva against the wish of her father.When Daksha was performing a Yagna, he invited all the deities except Shivji and Sati. Sati was very sad after not receiving an invitation for the yagna. She insisted on attending the function, despite of the disapproval of Lord Shiva.

Daksh insults Shiva and Sati

When Sati entered the palace, king Daksha insulted her. He said that his other daughters were more distinguished and worthy of honour than Shivji and Sati. Sati was unable to bear her father’s disrespect for her husband. Then Goddess Sati approached the sadas (the area of the site of sacrifice where the main priest sits). She thundered: “My husband, the Lord of Lords has been insulted for no good reason. No fault exists in Him. It is claimed in the Scriptures that those who steal knowledge, those who betray a teacher and those who defile the Lord are great sinners and ought to be punished”.After saying these words, Goddess Sati threw herself in glowing sacred fire. Daksha yagna was desecrated.

Shiva and Sati
Shiva and Sati

All the invitees were scared of being avenged, hence disappeared. When Lord Shiva heard this he was enraged. He created a creature Veerbhadra from lock of his hair.Veerbhadra tore off king Daksha head and tossed it in the same sacrificial fire. However it was proclaimed that the yagna should not be left incomplete, so head of goat was placed on Daksha to restore his life.

Lord Vishnu comes to rescue to stop Lord Shiva

Sad Lord Shiva began to wander carrying the dead body of Sati in his arms. He started dance of destruction of universe. In order to save universe and break this attachment of Lord Shiva, Vishnu with his sudarshan chakra and cut Sati’s body into pieces. Sati’s body pieces fell at different places and these are called Shakti Peeths.There are 52 shakti peeths and it is believed that if you worship these places with devotion all desires are fulfilled.
A list of Shakti Peeths as taken from Tantra Chudamani is provided below:

No:Place:Part of the body:Bhirava:Shakti:
1.Hingula (Pakistan)Brahma randhraBhima lochanaKottari
2.Sharkarara (Maha rashtra)TrinetraKrodheeshaMahisha mardini
3.Sugandha (Bangla desh)NasikaTriambakaSunanda
4.Kashmira (Jammu&Kashmir)Kantha deshaTri sandhyeshwaraMaha maya
5.Jwala mukhi (Himachal pradesh)JihwaUnmatta/ VatukeshwaraSiddhida/ Ambica
6.Jalandhara (Punjab)Vama stanaBhishanaTripura malini/ Tripura nashini
7.Vidya natha (Bihar)HridayaVidya nathaJaya durga
8.Nepala (Nepal)Janu dwayaKapaliMaha maya
9.Manasa (Tibet)Dakshina hastaAmara/ HaraDakshaini
10.Utkala/ Viraja (Orissa)NabhiJagannathaVimala/ Vijaya
11.Gandaki (Nepal)Dakshina gandaChakra paniGandaki chandi
12.Bahula (West bebgal)Vama bahuBhiruka/ TivrakaBahula
13.Ujjaini (Madhya pradesh)KurparaKapilambaraMangala chandi
14.Chattala (Bangla desh)Dakshina bahuChandra sekharaBhavani
15.Tripura (Tripura)Dakshina padaTripureshaTripura
16.Trisrota (West bengal)Vama padaAmbara/ EshwaraBhramari
17.Kama giri/ Kama rupa desha (Assam)Maha mudra/ YoniUmanandaKamakhya/ Dasha maha vidya
18.Yugadya/ Ksheera grama (West bengal)Dakshina padangushtaKsheera kantakaBhoota dhatri
19.Kali peetha (West bengal)Dakshina padanguliNakuleeshaKali
20.Prayaga (Uttar pradesh)HastanguliBhavaLalitha
21.Jayanti (Bangladesh)Vama janghaKramadeeshwaraJayanti
22.Kireeta/ Kireeta kona (West bengal)KireetaSamvarta/ Siddha rupaVimala/ Bhuvaneshi
23.Manikarnika/ Varanasi (Uttar pradesh)Karna kundalaKala bhiravaVishalakshi
24.Kanyashrama (Tamil nadu)PrishtaNimishaSharvani
25.Kurukshetra (Haryana)Dakshina gulphaSthanuSavitri
26.Manivedika (Rajasthan)Mani bandhaSarvananda/ SharvanandaGayatri
27.Srisaila/ Sri hatta (Andhra pradesh)GreevaSamvarananda/ ShambaranandaMaha lakshmi
28.Kanchi (Tamil nadu)KankalaRuruDeva garbha/ Veda garbha
29.Kala madhava (Uttar pradesh)Vama nitambaAsitangaKali
30.Shona (Madhya pradesh)Dakshina nitambaBhadra senaNarmada
31.Rama giri/ Raja giri (Uttar pradesh)Dakshina stanaChandaShivani
32.Brindavana (Uttar pradesh)Kesha jalaBhootesha/ Krishna nathaUma/ Katyaini
33.Shuchi/ Anala (Tamil nadu)Oordhwa danta panktiSamhara/ SamkruraNarayani
34.Pancha sagara (Maharashtra)Adho danta panktiMaha rudraVarahi
35.Kara toya tata (Bangladesh)Vama talpaVamanaAparna
36.Sri parvata (Andhra pradesh)Dakshina talpaSundaranandaSundari
37.Vibhasa (West bengal)Vama gulphaSarvanandaKapali/ Bhima rupa
38.Prabhasa (Gujarat)UdaraVakra tundaChandra bhaga
39.Bhirava parvata (Madhya pradesh)OordhvoshtaLamba karnaAvanti
40.Jana sthana (Maharashtra)ChibukaVikritakshaBhramari
41.Godavari teetra (Andhra pradesh)Vama gandaDanda pani/ Vatsa nabhaVishwa matrika/ Rakini
42.Ratnavali (West bengal)Dakshina skandhaShivaKumari
43.Mithila (Nepal)Vama skandhaMahodaraUma devi/ Maha devi
44.Nalahati (West bengal)NalaYogeeshwaraKali
45.Karnata (Karnataka)KaranaAbhiruJaya durga
46.Vakreshwara (West bengal)ManasVakra nathaMahisha mardini
47.Yashora (Bangla desh)Vama hastaChandaYashoreshwari
48.Attahasa (West bengal)AdharoshtaVishweshwaraPullara
49.Nandi pura (West bengal)Kantha haraNandikeshwaraNandini
50.Lanka (Sri lanka)NupuraRakshaseshwaraIndrakshi
51.Virata (Rajasthan)Vama padanguliAmritaAmbika
52.Magadha (Bihar)Dakshina janghaVyoma keshaSarvanandakari

Jai Sati Maa.

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.

Mahabharat Katha – A brief introduction

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The Mahabharat or Mahabharat Katha, is one of the two greatest epics available for Hindus, the other being the Ramayan. Mahabharat includes the stories from Dwapar yuga. This epic contains the facts from fascinating battle between Pandavas and Kauravas. It is said that a sage called Ved Vyasa narrated this epic to the Lord Ganesha. Ganesha, in turn, penned it. It is believed that it has existed well over two thousand years for now.

ved-vyasa-ganesha-mahabhart-author-indian-mytology
Ved Vyasa and Ganesha – writing Mahabharat

Bhagvad Gita

The famous Bhagavad-Gita, which is widely read in the western world is part of Mahabharat.  This comes from Chapters XXV through XLII of Bhishma Parva (the sixth volume). This is a short diversion prior to the great battle.

Srimad Bhagwatam

Vyasa also wrote the Srimad Bhagavatam, which contains much of the life of Krishna. The Hare Krishna’s are a good source for a copy of this work.  The other great Indian epic is the Ramayana. The Ramayana was compiled by Valmiki at an earlier date than the Mahabharata.

The Mahabharata in its longest version consists of over 100000 shloka or over 200000 individual verse lines (each shloka is a couplet ) , long prose passages, or about 1.8 million words in total, the Mahabharat is roughly ten times the length of the Iliad and Odyssey combined, or about four times the length of the Ramayana. W. J. Johnson has compared the importance of the Mahabharata to world civilization to that of the Bible, the works of Shakespeare, the works of Homer, Greek drama, and the Qur’an. [Excerpt taken from Wiki]

The central character of thus epic is Shri Krishna. Others being  with Pandavas and Kauravas. The famous battle of Mahabharat took place in Kurukshetra, which lasted for eighteen days.

In brief, it tells the story of the birth of five Pandava brothers – Yudhishthira, Arjuna (the main characters of the Bhagavad Gita), Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva.  Krishna also plays an important part.  During a game of dice, Yudhishthira loses his kingdom. The 5 Pandavas are exiled for 12 years, and they must return in the 13th year. They need to remain undiscovered in society or face a further 12 years exile.  They complete the sentence, and ask Duryodhana for half their kingdom back.   He refuses.  The battle of Mahabharat follows,  and the story concludes with the lineage of the descendants of Arjuna.  Lineage, wisdom and moral counselling is imparted throughout the story.  Historians are agreed that a battle took place, but the date is not agreed – it may have been around 800 – 1100 BC. It may be much older, say 3000 BC.

Historical importance of the Mahabharata is not the sole reason to read the Mahabharata.  The Mahabharata is a powerful and amazing narrative which inspires awe and wonder and the same time teaches a few things.  Many a times, the reader is just spell struck by the complexity it brings but yet this is so interesting. It presents sweeping visions of the cosmos and humanity and intriguing glimpses of divinity in an ancient narrative that is accessible, interesting, and compelling for anyone.

This narrative details about Indian Mythology gods and more fittingly, Krishna. Krishna made sure that Pandavas come out as the winners from the battle of Mahabharata.

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.