Curse of a Father

Samba was a son of lord Krishna and Jambvanti. He was very handsome but arrogant.
He was becoming mischievous day by day. Every other day numerous complaints reached Lord Krishna . One day Lord Krishna lost his patience and cursed Samba. Due to the curse Samba suffered from leprosy at the very next moment. This shocked her mother. She requested Lord Krishna to take back the curse. But it was against the nature. Only one alternative was left. Lord Krishna ordered Samba to pray to Lord Surya in order to get rid off the curse. Samba, without wasting a minute rushed to sacred place Kashi. Here he prepare a pond(Kunda) and worshipped Lord Surya with utmost devotion. After some time Lord Surya pleased with his prayers and he blessed him . In this way Samba manage to get librated from the curse of his father. It is believe that a person who take bath in that pond(kunda) on Sunday and worship lord Surya, he get liberated from diseases.

Rule is Rule

The five Pandavas were marride to Draupadi. To maintain the relegious conduct it was decided that Draupadi will spend one year with each of the Pandavas. Also it was decided that no brother would disturb the Draupadi and other brother with her during that year. In case of breach of this rule, then there was a penelty for exile. One day a brahmin came to Arjun for his help because some one had stolen his cow. Since Arjun was a kshatriya, so it was his duty to help the brahmin. But there was a problem because his arrow and bows were in the room of his elder brother Yudhishthir and Draupadi. As per rule he could not disturb his brother. He was in a state of dilemma. But he decide to help brahmin at any cost. So he rushed towards Yudhisthir room. And after getting his bow and arrows he rushed to catch the thief. With his courage he manage get back the cow of brahmin. Since he had broken the rule, so he went to Yudhisthir for confession. Elder brother Yudhisthir knew the breach of rule by Arjun, but he pardon him for his mistake because the rule was broken for a noble cause. But the Arjuna was so strong that he could not take his words back. At once he left the kingdom for a one year exile.

Secret Code

There was a king of Magadha called Brihadratha. He had two wives but no children. Once a sage gave him a special fruit to give it to his wife so that the king would be bless with a son. But the king gave half of the fruit to each queen. Strangely in time they gave birth to half a child each. One half was the left side and the other half the right. In the city there was a demoness called Jara. With her magic powers she united the two halves of the child. King and queen were happy and named the child “Jarasandh” . Later the Jarasandh became very powerful and acquired a boon that no weapon could cause his death. Jarasandh was father in law of Kansa. Since Lord Krishna had killed Kansa, so Jarasandh had an inimical feeling towards Lord Krishna. To kill Jarasandh was too difficult due to protection of boon. Once Lord Krishna decided to visit his court along with Bheema and Arjun. Here Lord Krishna played a trick and asked Bheema to challenge Jarasandh for a fight. As a result a very intense fight was fought between Bheema and Jarasandh for 14 days. All the efforts for Bheema went in vain because every time he crushes the body of Jarasandh, his pieces were reunited. Only Lord Krishna knew the secret of Jarasandh. Immediately Lord Krishna picked the blade grass, tore it into 2 parts and threw in opposite direction. He did it just to signal Bheema. This secret signal Bheema well understood. Bhima tore apart Jarasandha in two pieces lengthwise and threw away the pieces in opposite directions i.e. right piece of body on the left side and the left piece of body on the right side. In this way the mighty Jarasandh was killed due to trick of Lord Krishna.

Jai Shri Krishna!

As Per Vishnu Puraan, Lord Krishna was born in the linage of Chandravanshi Kings. Here is the linage of Chandra Vansh.

1. Brahma
2. Daksha
3. Vivasvat
4. Manu
5. Chandra
6. Pururava
7. Aayu
8. Nahush
9. Yayati
10. Yadu
11. Kroshtu
12. Dhwajinivan
13. Swati
14. Rushanku
15. Chitrarath
16. Shashabindu
17. Pruthusravas
18. Prithutam
19. Ushanas
20. Shitpu
21. Rukmakavach
22. Paravrushta
23. Jayamadh
24. Vidarbh
25. Krath
26. Kunti
27. Dharishti
28. Nidhrtti
29. Dasharha
30. Vyoma
31. Jimut
32. Vikrati
33. Bhimrath
34. Navrath
35. Dashrath
36. Shakuni
37. Karambhi
38. Devrat
39. Devkshetra
40. Madhu
41. Kumarvansh
42. Anu
43. Anshu
44. Satvat
45. Vrishni
46. Yudhjita
47. Anamitra
48. Vrishni
49. Chitrarath
50. Vidurath
51. Shoor
52. Sharman
53. Pratikshatra
54. Bhoj
55. Hridika
56. Devmudh
57. Shoor
58. Vasudev
59. KRISHNA
60. Pradyumna
61. Aniruddha
62. Vajranabha
63. Pratibahu
64. Subahu
65. Shantasen
66. Shatasen

One Eye

During the period of exile Once Lord Rama and Sita were staying at Chitrakoot. While they were resting a crow attacked Sita. The attack of crow was so furious that he injured Sita with his beak. Her blood fell on Rama. He woke up hurriedly. The crow was none other than Jayant, the son of Indra. To take revenge Lord Rama decided to use the mighty weapon called “Brahma Astra”. He invoke his weapon with the help of mantras in a blade of grass and fired it to the crow. The weapon pursued the crow who tried his best to escape. The crow could not able to get the shelter in any of the three loka and he returned to Lord Rama for the forgiveness. But as per rule the Brahma Astra could not be taken back. So the crow decided to give his right eye ball as a penalty for his sin. Since then the crow is said to have only one eye-ball . The crow uses one eye ball by rolling it from one eye socket to other to look.

The Janak

King Nimi died due to curse of Sage Vashishtha. In order to prevent the kingdom from disorder the sages churn the body of king Nimi and produced a son named Janak. Since his father was bodyless, he was also known as “Videh” which means without body. From here the lineage known as “Videh Janaks”. The lineage continued as follows.
1) Janak
2) Udavasu
3) Nandivardhana
4) Suketu
5) Devavrat
6) Brihadukath
7) Mahavirya
8) Sudhriti
9) Dristaketu
10) Haryasva
11) Manu
12) Pratik
13) Kritiratha
14) Devamidha
15) Vibhut
16) Mahadhriti
17) Kirtirata
18) Mahorama
19) Swarnorama
20) Hrisvaroma
21) Seeradhwaja - Father of Sita.
22) Bhaanumaan
23) Shatadyumn
24) Shuchi
25) Oorjnaamaa
26) Kriti
27) Anjan
28) Kurujit
29) Arishtnemi
30) Shrutaayu
31) Supaarshwa
32) Srinjaya
33) Kshemaavee
34) Anenaa
35) Bhaumarath
36) Satyarath
37) Upagu
38) Upagupt
39) Swaagat
40) Swaanand
41) Suvarchaa
42) Supaarshwa
43) Subhaash
44) Sushrut
45) Jaya
46) Vijaya
47) Rit
48) Sunaya
49) Veetahavya
50) Dhriti
51) Bahulaashwa
52) Kriti

64 Kalas

It is believe that lord Krishna possess 64 kinds of arts called "Chausath Kalas". They are as follows
(1) Geet vidya -- art of singing.
(2) Vadya vidya -- art of playing on musical instruments.
(3) Nritya vidya-- art of dancing.
(4) Natya vidya-- art of theatricals.
(5) alekhya vidya-- art of painting.
(6) viseshakacchedya vidya -- art of painting the face and body with color
(7) tandula-kusuma-bali-vikara -- art of preparing offerings from rice and flowers.
(8) pushpastarana -- art of making a covering of flowers for a bed.
(9) dasana-vasananga-raga -- art of applying preparations for cleansing the teeth, cloths and painting the body.
(10) mani-bhumika-karma -- art of making the groundwork of jewels.
(11) sayya-racana -- art of covering the bed.
(12) udaka-vadya -- art of playing on music in water.
(13) udaka-ghata -- art of splashing with water.
(14) citra-yoga -- art of practically applying an admixture of colors.
(15) malya-grathana-vikalpa -- art of designing a preparation of wreaths.
(16) sekharapida-yojana -- art of practically setting the coronet on the head.
(17) nepathya-yoga -- art of practically dressing in the tiring room.
(18) karnapatra-bhanga -- art of decorating the tragus of the ear.
(19) sugandha-yukti -- art of practical application of aromatics.
(20) bhushana-yojana -- art of applying or setting ornaments.
(21) aindra-jala -- art of jugglery.
(22) kaucumara -- a kind of art.
(23) hasta-laghava -- art of sleight of hand.
(24) citra-sakapupa-bhakshya-vikara-kriya -- art of preparing varieties of delicious food.
(25) panaka-rasa-ragasava-yojana -- art of practically preparing palatable drinks and tinging draughts with red color.
(26) suci-vaya-karma -- art of needleworks and weaving.
(27) sutra-krida -- art of playing with thread.
(28) vina-damuraka-vadya -- art of playing on lute and small drum.
(29) prahelika -- art of making and solving riddles.
(30) durvacaka-yoga -- art of practicing language difficult to be answered by others.
(31) pustaka-vacana -- art of reciting books.
(32) natikakhyayika-darsana -- art of enacting short plays and anecdotes.
(33) kavya-samasya-purana -- art of solving enigmatic verses.
(34) pattika-vetra-bana-vikalpa -- art of designing preparation of shield, cane and arrows.
(35) tarku-karma -- art of spinning by spindle.
(36) takshana -- art of carpentry.
(37) vastu-vidya -- art of engineering.
(38) raupya-ratna-pariksha -- art of testing silver and jewels.
(39) dhatu-vada -- art of metallurgy.
(40) mani-raga jnana -- art of tinging jewels.
(41) akara jnana -- art of mineralogy.
(42) vrikshayur-veda-yoga -- art of practicing medicine or medical treatment, by herbs.
(43) mesha-kukkuta-lavaka-yuddha-vidhi -- art of knowing the mode of fighting of lambs, cocks and birds.
(44) suka-sarika-prapalana (pralapana)? -- art of maintaining or knowing conversation between male and female cockatoos.
(45) utsadana -- art of healing or cleaning a person with perfumes.
(46) kesa-marjana-kausala -- art of combing hair.
(47) akshara-mushtika-kathana -- art of talking with letters and fingers.
(48) mlecchita-kutarka-vikalpa -- art of fabricating barbarous or foreign sophistry.
(49) desa-bhasha-jnana -- art of knowing provincial dialects.
(50)nirmiti-jnana -- art of knowing prediction by heavenly voice
(51) yantra-matrika -- art of mechanics.
(52) dharana-matrika -- art of the use of amulets.
(53) samvacya -- art of conversation.
(54) manasi kavya-kriya -- art of composing verse mentally.
(55) kriya-vikalpa -- art of designing a literary work or a medical remedy.
(56) chalitaka-yoga -- art of practicing as a builder of shrines called after him.
(57) abhidhana-kosha-cchando-jnana -- art of the use of lexicography and meters.
(58) vastra-gopana -- art of concealment of cloths.
(59) dyuta-visesha -- art of knowing specific gambling.
(60) akarsha-krida -- art of playing with dice or magnet.
(61) balaka-kridanaka -- art of using children's toys.
(62) vainayiki vidya -- art of enforcing discipline.
(63) vaijayiki vidya -- art of gaining victory.
(64) vaitaliki vidya -- art of awakening master with music at dawn.

The Great Transformation

Once there was a burglar named Ratnakar. He used to rob the person of his belongings and with this wealth he looked after his family. This process continued for a long time. One day he was hiding in the forest to rob the passengers. At the same time sage Narad was passing through that forest in which Ratnakar was hiding. As soon as Ratnakar saw him, he threatened him to stop. But sage Nard said that he had nothing to offer him. But Ratnakar was adamant. Sage Narad said to Ratnkar “why do you kill people who are innocent? One has to face the consequences for his own deeds. No one shares the punishment of god for the sins of others.” Sage Narad asked Ratnakar to go back to his home and asked his family members whether they will share his sufferings for the sins he committed for them. This shocked the Ratnakar. He get back to his home and asked the same question to each family members. He said to his family members , “ Is anybody ready to share my sins?" . But every member decline at once. Ratnakar was disappointed. Ratnakar went back to the forest to met sage Narad and asked for forgiveness. Sage Narad asked him to chant the name of God Rama. But for Ratnakar even pronouncing it was difficult. Sage Narad asked him to pronounce it backwards that is 'Mara'. Ratnakar started to chant 'Mara, Mara' sitting there. He continued with this chant for many years.He performed the tapasya with such a devotion that he didn’t moved a single inch from it’s place. The termites made his body their home.Lord Brahma pleased with his devotion blessed him and gave him the name Valmiki because of the termites, which are called Valmik in Sanskrit. So it was the great transformation of a burglar into a sage who wrote the Ramayana.

The Blink of Eyes

Once King Nimi of surya vansh boansh decided to organise a Yagya .He invited the sage Vasishth to perform the Yagya. But sage Vasishth expressed his inability to participate Yagya as he had already promised Indra for the same. He requested the king to wait till he was free from Indra’s obligations. But King Nimi was in no mood to wait for sage Vashishtha. He started Yagya with sage Gautam . At the completion of Yagya for Indra, sage Vasishth hurried back to the earth to conduct Yagya for King Nimi. But here he found that a Yagya was already in progression. This made the sage angry. He cursed Nimi, who was sleeping at that time, to lose his body at once. On the other hand, at end of Yagya when the gods appeared to accept their due share from the offerings, the other sages prayed to them to grant boon to Nimi. King Nimi expressed his desire to live bodiless because he wanted to get liberated from the bondage of birth and death and it was not possible for his soul to re-enter his body because his body was destroyed.The gods thus, grant the eyelids as the dwelling place for the soul of king Nimi. So the wink of eyelids remind the existence of king Nimi. Since then blinking of eyes came into practice because of Nimi’s stay there. Also as per hindu system of time measurement, the time interval between the blink of eyes is called " Nimesh" which is derive from the King Nimi.

King Shibi

King Shibi was famous for his kindness. Once Indra and Dharmraaj decided to test him. Indra took the form of a pigeon and Dharmraaj took the form of a hawk. One day king Shibi was sitting in his court. All of a sudden that the pigeon came flying and fell into Shibi's lap for protection. The pigeon was badly injured. In the meantime the hawk also came following him. He saw the pigeon hiding in king's lap and asked Shibi to returned back the pigeon. But Shibi declined to return it to hawk as it was duty of the king to protect anyone who seek help. He decided to sacrifice his own body as a prey to hawk. A weighing scale was brought and the pigeon sat in one pan of the balance. Shibi cut off his arms and put it on the other pan. But the pigeon's weight outweighed Shibi's flesh. So king Shibi cut off legs and put it on the pan to balance the pigeon's weight. But once again, the pigeon outweighed the flesh. Ultimately, king Shibi ordered that his bleeding body be put on the pan. As soon as this was done, Indra and Dharmaraj too appeared in their original forms. Gods blessed the King Shibi and he ruled for many year

The great Architect

The following day after Diwali is devoted to Lord Vishwakarma. All kind of workers of all kind worship Lord Vishwakarma on this day . He is the divine architect of the universe according to Hindu mythology. He is also known as “Architect of Gods”. As per Vedas he is supreme master of Sthapatya Veda( The science of architecture & mechanics ). He constructed the holy city of Dwarka, the palace for Pandavas at Khandavprastha, lanka of Ravana and many other equipments for Gods. He was the son of Yogsidha(sister of Devguru Brihaspati) and Prabhas(the 8th vasu).His daughter was sanjna who was married to Surya. As per classics, his daughter could not able to bear the heat of sun, so Lord Vishwakarma curtail 1/8 part of sun’s radiance. With that curtailed part he prepare the weapons of gods. As per another legend, once King Indradyumna requested lord Vishwakarma to carve a deity from a log. He took the responsibility. On a condition that he would not be disturbed while he was carving the deity and start working in closed room . But King was too anxious. He opened the door and found the deity half-finished as the deity had no arms and legs. As per promise Vishwakarma disappears at once. Still at Jagannath puri, the incomplete deity of created by Lord Vishwakarma is installed at the temple.

Costly Exchange

As per Hinduism the 5 subtle elements are called “Panch Tatva”. Agni or fire is one amongst them. It the fire which carries all the sacrifices made at havan or yagya to Gods. Agni is considered as god. All the auspicious ceremonies are performed with the presence of fire as a deity. Agni appears before us in three forms, as the sun, the lightning in the sky and the fire on earth. Agni is also the link between man and god because he receives all divine oblations. Agni is the eldest son of Brahma. His wife is Swaha and has three sons, Pavak, Pavmaa and Suchi and through them as forty-six grandsons. Thus Agni has Forty-nine members as his descendants. As per classics Agni is reddish in color, has three flaming heads, three legs and seven arms. A garland of fruits adorns his neck and his vehicle is the ram. Once Agni had indigestion due to over eating of yagya material regularly. This created panic amongst the sages because no yagya could have been performed without fire. To regain the strength fire god has only one option to burn the Khandav forest. But it was the home of king of snakes, Takshak. On the other hand Indra,the God of rains was friend of Takshak. So all the attempts of agni to burn the forest went in vain due to Indra who causes rains during all the attempts made by agni. So Agni decided to met Arjun and lord Krishna for the help. In return Agni promise to gave Arjun a bow called “Gandiv” and a box containing everlasting arrows.Agni strated his work. In few minutes the whole forest engulfed in fire. Luckily Takshak was away but his family was at home. Indra sent rains to rescue the family of Takshak. Fierce battle took place between Arjun and Indra. At the end Arjun emerges winner. Somehow the family of Takshak managed to escape, but he swore revenge. So it was takshak who killed the grandson of Arjun, Parikshit later. In this way Agni regain it’s lost power at the cost of loss of Parikshit,the grandson of Arjun.

Curse to Karana

Karana,the son of Surya was up bring by the charioteer, Adirath. He could not afford the education of his child. Even Dronacharya rejected him to teach. This hurts Karna a lot. He wanted to learn the archery to prove his talent of Kshatriya. In search of teacher he reached the ashram of Lord Parshuram. He misrepresented the fact that he was not a Brahmin. Sage Parshuram accepted Karna as his student. One day when his learning was completed he went to forest with his teacher. Sage Parshuram wanted to rest a while. He rested with his head in Karna’s lap. When Sage was in deep sleep, a poisonous insect bite Karana. He didn’t uttered a word and bore the acute pain. He didn’t wanted to disturb his Guru. From his deep wound warm blood fell on Sage Parshuram which caused him to woke up.He was shocked to see his student’s determination because it was not possible for any Brahmin to bear such pain. On asking Karana revealed the secret that he was not a Brahmin. Sage cursed him that all his education will disappear in the hour of its utmost need. So in the battle of Mahabharata, this curse proved to be cause of death of Karana when all of a sudden he forgot all his skills and lost his life to Arjuna. Otherwise he was superior to Arjuna in all respect.

Mark of Lord Rama

When the construction of the bridge was going on at Rameshwaram by lord Rama to attack the kingdom of Ravana, a little squirrel was also there in the team work. All of a sudden lord Rama noticed the squirrel running here and there. He saw that the squirrel rolled on the sand and then ran at the construction site to shake off the sand from its back. The squirrel was doing the same work without stopping with chanting the lord Rama’s name all the time. When asked, the little squirrel replied that she was helping to build the bridge to save Sita. On hearing such touching words Lord Rama took the squirrel in his hand and patted her back with his fingers. With his fingers Lord Rama drew 3 lines on her back. Since then the squirrel has the mark of three stripes on its back.

Wrong test

Kunti was daughter of Shursen,who was grandfather of lord Krishna. Vasudeva was her brother. Her father gave kunti to his childless brother Kuntibhoja. She had a great time at the house of kuntibhoja. Once Sage Durvaasa visited the palace of Kuntibhoja. He was deeply impressed by the services of Kunti. Before leaving the palace Sage Durvaasa asked her to demand any boon from him. She replied that grant her something which could be helpful to her in the future. Sage Durvaasa grant Kunti a special mantra. But this was not the end of story. After getting this mantra she remained in the state of anxiety for many days regarding the working of mantra. One day she decided to test the mantra. The rule for the mantra was that a person who recites that mantra with a particular image of god in mind, the same God will appear. In the early morning she woke up and recite the mantra while looking towards rising sun. The result was shocking. God Surya appears immediately before her. The radiance of sun was unbearable for Kunti. She requested him to return. But this was against the rules of nature because Sun god could not returned without blessing her. He blessed her a son and returned back to surya lok. But Kunti was unmarried at that time. so due to fear of defamation, she abandoned the child in a basket in a river. This was the turning point in the life of kunti. Later the same abandoned child was famous as “Karna”, who in terms of power and skill he was better than Arjun

Big Mistake

King Pandu was the king of Hastinapur. He was known to be the father of five Pandavas. Biologically he was not their father. It was due to involvement of curse of Sage Kindam. Once he was roaming in forest for hunting. He was the greatest archer of all time. He had a skill of using “Shabda vedhi” arrow,with the help of which he could hit any remote unseen target just on the basis of sound . The same skill proved deadly for him.He mistook Sage Kindam and his wife as deer and fired an arrow. As a result the couple died instantly. But before dying, Sage kindam cursed King Pandava that whenever he attempt to achieve fatherhood he will die instantly. This was a great shock for him. He spent fifteen years of life in celibacy. But one day he could not control his desires. He forgot the curse of Sage Kindam. When he touched his wife he died instantly.

Jai Shri Ram

Lord Rama belonged to Surya vansh. It is also known as “Raghu vansh” At first Lord Brahma created Sage Marichi from his mind. Sage Kashyap was the son sage Marichi. Later Surya become the son of Sage Kashyap. After that the lineage continues as follows-
1)Manu
2)Ikshwaaku
3)Vikukshi
4)Ripunjaya
5)Kakutsth
6)Anenaa
7)Prithu
8)Vishwagashwa
9) Adri
10) Bhadraashwa
11) Yuvanaashwa
12) Shraavast
13) Brihdashwa
14) Kuvalayaashwa
15) Dridhaashwa
16) Nikumbhak
17) Sankataashwa
18) Prasenjit
19) Ravanaashwa
20) Maandhaataa
21) Purukuts
22) Trinshdashrav
23) Anranya
24) Prishdashwa
25) Haryashrawa
26) Vasumaan
27) Tridhanvaa
28) Trayyaaruni
29) Trishanku
30) Harishchandra
31) Rohit
32) Haareet
33) Chanchubhoop
34) Vijaya
35) Ruk
36) Sagar
37) Asmanjas.
38)Anshumaan
39) Dileep
40) Bhageerath
41) Shrutsen
42) Naabhaag
43) Ambareesh
44) Sindhudweep
45) Ayutaashwa
46) Rituparn
47) Sarvkaam
48) Kalmaashpaad
49) Sudaas
50) Ashmak
51) Harivarma
52) Dasharath I
53) Dileep I
54) Vishwasaha
55) Khatwaang,
56) Deerghbaahu
57) Sudarshan
58) Dileep II
59) Raghu
60) Aja
61) Dasharath II
62) Lord Rama
63) Kush
64) Atithi
65) Nishadh
66) Nal
67) Nabh
68) Pundareek
69) Kshemdhanvaa
70) Devaaneek
71) Aheenag
72) Kuru
73) Paariyaatra
74) Balasthal
75) Ukth
76) Vajranaabhi
77) Shankhnaabhi
78) Vyuthnaabhi
79) Vishwapaal
80) Swarn-naabhi
81) Pushpsen
82) Dhruvsandhi
83) Apvarmaa
84) Sheeghragantaa
85) Marupaal
86) Prasushrut
87) Susandhi
88) Amarshan
89) Mahaashwa
90) Brihadwal
91) Brihadaishaan
92) Murukshep
93) Vatspaal
94) Vatsvyooh
95) Prativyom
96) Devakar
97)Sahadev
98) Brihadashwa
99) Bhaanuratn
100) Suprateek
101) Marudev
102) Sunakshatra
103) Kesheenar
104) Antaliksh
105) Suvarnaang
106)Amitrajit
107) Brihad-raaj
108) Dharm-raaj
109) Kritanjaya
110) Rananjaya
111) Sanjaya
112) Shaakyavardhan
113) Krodhdaan
114) Atulvikram
115) Prasenjit
116) Shoodrak
117) Surath.

Revenge

Bhishma was step brother of King Vichitravira of the kingdom Hastinapur. He was assigned the duty of selecting bride for his brother. At the same time there was “Swayamvar” ceremony was going on at the Kaashi. The king of Kaashi had 3 daughters-Amba,Ambica and Ambalika. Bhishma went to Kaashi. He abducted the 3 sisters to Hastinapur to marry his brother.But amongst the three sisters, Amba already liked the king Salva. So she refused to marry King Vichitravira.As a result Bhishma send her back to King Salva. But King Salva refused at once to marry Amba. This was a highly embarrassing moment for her. She returned back to Bhishma for justice and demanded to accept her as his wife. But Bheeshma had already taken the oath for remaining bachelor for the whole life. Amba could not bear this insult. She cursed him that in the next birth she would be the cause of his death.She was re-born as Shikhandi the son of Drupada. In the battle of Kurukshetra, Shikhandi was mode of Bhishma's death otherwise Bhishma was invincible. So, insult of a woman proved costly to Bhishma.

Curse to Lord Krishna

After the end of Mahabharata war Lord Krishna visited Mother Gandhari to offer his condolence. On seeing him she burst into anger and cursed lord Krishna that just as the Kaurava dynasty had ended fighting with each other, similarly the Yaduvansh would end fighting and killing each other. Lord Krishna happily accepted the curse. The time progresses. Once upon a time sons of lord Krishna were playing around and they dressed Samba as a pregnant woman, and brought him before Sage Durvasa. In joke they asked the sage to predict what kind of child Samba would give birth to. Sage Durvasa was famous for his short temperament. It was like an insult for him as the children of lord Krishna were making fun of him. The sage cursed them that he would give birth to an iron rod that would become the device to end the yadu-vansh. As per curse, the next day Samba delivered an iron rod . All the boys were terrified. They went to Lord Krishna for the help. As per his advise they crush the iron rod into powder and threw it into the water.
Still one small piece of iron left. They also threw it into the water. But the destiny was powerful. The powdered form of the iron disappeared from the shore but it grew into arrow like grass called “Naagar Motha”(a kind of pointed grass grows in water). The last part of iron was eaten by the fish. One fisherman caught the fish and removed that iron part from its stomach. A hunter found that iron piece and used it on top of the arrow. Once all yadavas went near the shore. During the playtime all of a sudden debate broke amongst them. They started fighting with each other. It was so intensified that they uprooted the “Naagar Motha” grass from the shore and started firing upon each other. In this way all the yadus were killed. Lord Krishna was in a shocked state. He sat under a tree. At that moment a hunter came. He misunderstood Lord Krishna for a deer and shot an arrow into His foot. Lord Krishna died at once . The death of lord Krishna marked the beginning of Kali-yuga. In this way the curse of Sage Durvasa proved correct. The hunter which killed Lord Krishna was Bali in previous birth who was killed by lord Rama in the same fashion.

Pride Shattered

The Vindhya mountain was so arrogant that he kept growing his size to such a huge extent that he blocked the path of sun too. All gods approached sage Agastya for the help. He agreed to help gods. Sage Agastya began his journey from north towards south to met mount Vindhya. Sage Agastya requested mount Vindhya to bend a little bit to provide passage for him to cross. He also requested not to regain its size unless returned. Mount Vindhya accepted the request of the sage. He reduces his height to minimal. Sage Agastya crossed the passage with ease but he never returned back. Still Vindhya is lying like that even today. In this way the pride of mount Vindhya was shattered by sage Agastya.

Defeat of love

Shukracharya was preceptor to the demons. He had a secret knowledge of “Mrit-sanjivni” which had a power to bring life to dead. Sage Brihaspati who was dev-guru had a son whose name was Kach. Once he send his son to Shukrachrya to learn this secret knowledge. Shukracharya accepted Kach as his student. But other demon didn’t liked it. As the time progresses once Kach fell in love with the daughter of Shukracharya, Devyani. This irritates the demos. In the absence of Shukracharya, demons killed Kach.This news upset Devyani a lot. On the request of his daughter, Sage Shukracharya brought back life to Kach with the help of “mrit-sanjivni” knowledge. From there the love between Kach and Devyani grew day by day. One day while Kach was alone in forest, the demons killed him for the second time. He burnt his body and mixed his ashes in the drinks of Shukracharya. When Devyaani came to knew about this she was shocked. She requested her father for the second time. The agony of his daughter was unbearable for Shukracharya. Again he used his powers to bring life back to Kach.As a result Kacha came back to life and came out from inside the stomach of shukracharya. From this day wine is forbidden for those engaged in the pursuit of wisdom. Now this was Kach’s turn to bring life back to his Guru. He did the same. Devyani was happy to found both of them alive. But a new problem erupts. Kacha disagreed to marry Devyani on the grounds that since he was reborn from the stomach of Shukrachraya so he could not marry his daughter Devyani. This was a bitter shock for her. She cursed Kach that from now he would never be able to use this knowledge. Even Kach counter curse Devyani that no Brahmin will going to marry her.

Catch-22

Jayadrath was king of Sindh . He was married to Dushaala, the sister of Duryodhan. In the battle of Mahabharata he killed Abhimanyu,the son of Arjun. After this Arjun promised to took revenge from Jayadrath before the sunset otherwise decided to immolate himself. In the battle field Kauravas prepared special arrangements to kept Jayadrath out of reach of Arjun. It was race against time for Arjun. On the other hand it was a win-win situation for Kauravas because Jayadrath had a boon that a person who would cut his head and let it fall on the ground, his own head would be crushed into thousands pieces. So the death of Arjuna was inevitable at that moment. Despite the best effort Arjun could not able to locate the Jayadrath. Evening was approaching fast. Kauravas were waiting for this moment anxiously. The sky became dark. Now Arjun had to die as per his vow. Now Jayadrath came out from the hidden place. Arjun was about to kill himself. Immediately, Lord Krishna shouted and said to Arjuna to look at the sky as the sun reappears. Previously it was illusion created by lord Krishna himself by providing cloud cover to the sun. Now with his divine power the cloud cover was removed. Immediately Arjun  fire an arrow to Jayadrath in such a unique manner that his chopped head fell in the lap of his father who was meditating at that time. He opened his eyes and stood in a moment. As a result the head of Jayadrath fell on the ground and the head of his father smashed into thousands pieces. In this was Arjuna able to came out of catch-22 situation

Descent of Gangaji

In Solar dynasty there was a powerful king whose name was Sagar. He had 2 wives Sumati and Keshini. From Sumati he had 60,000 sons and from Keshini he had a son Asamanjas.Once he had performed Ashwamegha yagya to prove his power. This was a major threat to Indra. He decided to play a trick. He stole the horse of Sagar and tied it in the ashram of sage Kapil who was in meditation at that time. When the sons of Sagar came to knew about the horse they attacked the ashram of sage Kapil. But Sage burnt them into ashes from his divine power. This was a setback for the king Sagar. His grandson Anshuman visited Sage Kapil. The sage returned back the horse and said to Anshuman that for the salvation of the lives of his ancestors it is necessary to bring the Ganga river to the earth from the heaven. Despite all his tapasya Anshuman could not able to please lord. Even his son, king Dilip failed. Now, the son of kind Dilip, Bhagirath was determined to bring Ganga to earth. With his determination Lord Brahma pleased and agreed to send river of devlok, Ganga, to earth. But there was a catch because the flow of Gang was so intense that it was not possible for the earth to bear the pressure of the current of Ganga. Finally Bhagirath requested lord Shiva for the help. He agreed to accept the descending Ganga on his head. Bhagirath led Ganga to the ashram of sage Kapil. On reaching there all the souls of the forefathers of Bhagirath got salvation. From that day the river got it’s name “Bhagirathi”.Ganga ji descend on earth on Jyestha month,Shukla Paksha,dashmi tithi,wednesday,hasta nakshatra,Vyatipaat Yoga,Moon in virgo,sun in taurus. This day is celebrated as Ganga Dusheraa

Dangerous Food

There were two demons whose names were Vatapi and Ilwal. They had spiritual powers. They had a strange modus oprendi to kill Brahmins. They used to invite one brahmin every day and Vatapi used to convert himself into ram. Ilval performs the duty to serve the flesh of ram to invitee. On entering the stomach Vatapi changed it’s form and came out of the stomach of invitee. This was their usual practice to kill Brahmins everyday. One day the demon brothers decided to target sage Agastya. They invited him. But sage knew all the tricks of demons. So while eating, when Vatapi enters the stomach of sage, the sage used all his yogic powers to kill the Vatapi in his stomach. On knowing the death of Vatapi, the other demon Ilwal tried to escape but Sage Agastya killed him too with his divine powers. From that day onwards it is prohibited for Brahmins to eat meat.

Akshya Paatra

When the Pandavas were spending the troublesome years in exile then they had face scarcity of food. At that time the sun god bless them a divine vessel “Akshya Paatra”. The akshya means “which never diminishes” and paatra means “vessel”. The feature of that paatra was that as long as Draupadi,the wife of Pandavas does not take food it had capacity to feed infinite number of guests. After getting that paatra it was routine for Draupadi to consume food last after giving food to all members. Once Duryodhan who was a bitter enemy of Pandavas send Sage Durvasa to test the Pandavas. Sage was famous for it’s hot temper. Sage along with ten thousands companion visited the place where Pandavas . They asked Pandavas to prepare the food for them. All the sages went to river to took bath before meal. It was the evening time and Draupadi had already consumed the food. So situation of dilemma for Pandavas emerge because they had nothing to offer to eat to sage and its companions. Draupadi prayed to Lord Krishna for the help. Lord Krishna appeared there in his divine form. He asked Draupadi to brought the “akshay paatra”. With surprise feeling Draupadi brought that vessel. Lord Krishna pointed one grain of rice that was stuck in the vessel. He picked that grain and ate immediately. Still Draupadi could not understand the theme. At the same moment sage Durvasa came back there after the bath. Shockingly all the sages decline to ate food because their stomach was paining as if they had overeaten. So, eating of grain by Lord Krishna had filled the belly of all the sages. In this way he protected the Pandavas from the possible curse of sage Durvasa

New heavan

According to Indian mythology, Trishanku was a powerful king in the Suryavansh. He had a desire to go to heaven with his mortal body. For this Sage Vashishtha was the best choice. But Sage Vashishtha rejected his request. Then he visited the ashram of Sage Vashistha’s sons to request them to perform special yagya for him so that he could fulfill his desire. Vashishth's sons also refused to do such a Yagya because their father had already rejected the offer. In anger, they gave curse to king to become a "Chaandaal"
Consequently the king became “Chaandaal”. In a last attempt he went to Sage Vishwamitra. Sage assured the king that he would help him to fulfill his dream. He started the yagya. As a result King Trishanku stared to rise towards heaven. This was shocking for Gods. When King reaches at the threshold of heaven, Indra interrupted. He kicked Trishanku. Consequently Trishanku began to come down. On seeing this Vishwamitra with his divine power stopped Trishanku in the mid air suspended. He promised to create a new heaven for Trishanku. Sage provided a space above the earth in southern sky. Still it is believe that many star and heavenly body are revolving around Trishanku near south pole.

Namkeen Samundra

In a fierce battle between gods and demon, the demons started loosing strength. Due to fear of death many demons hide themselves in sea. This frustrates gods. For the victory it was necessary to kill them. They went to Sage Agastya for the help They requested him that if he withheld the sea in his stomach with his divine powers, then the defence of demons would be weakend. As per commitment sage Agastya drank the entire sea and withheld it inside his body until all the demons were killed by the gods. But a new problem errupted for the life of water animals. To maintain the balance of nature sage Agastya released the sea that was trapped inside his body. But by that time various body fluids of sage Agastya were mixed in it. From that day the sea becomes salted.

Hisaab Barabar

Once sage Chyavan was meditating in the forest. He spend many years motionless there so that anthills were formed around him covering his whole body except eyes. Once beautiful princess Sukanya visited there. She could not able to realize the eyes of sage. In curiosity she put straw there. The sage in agony was about to curse. In order to save the kingdom from the curse of sage Sukanya decided to marry the sage. It was a mismatch marriage. Once the twin gods Ashwini Kumar was passing by the ashram of sage Chyavan and saw his wife Sukanya. They proposed Sukanya. But she refused . On forcing she put a condition to Ashwini kumars that they should make his husband as beautiful as them. The Ashwini kumars took Sage Chyavan to a divine pond. After the bath sage Chyavan turned into a beautiful young man as Ashwini kumars. So it was time for Sukanya to choose his husband among three. With her divine power she recognize her husband. Ashwini kumars accepted the judgment.. But sage Chyavan promise to repay the debt to Ashwini kumars. The Ashwini kumars returned to heaven. Once at indralok, the divine nectar Som was distributed to Gods. But Indra refuse to Ashwini kumars. At this hour of need the requested Sage Chyavan for the help. Fierce battle broke between Indra and sage Chyavan. Later sage Chyavan created a monster called “Mada” from his divine power. Indra could not able to resist to fury of monster and conceded. After the defeat he permitted Ashwini kumars and Sage Chyavan to drink the nectar. In this way Sage Chyavan repaid the debt own to Ashwini kumars. From here onwards Sage Chyavan possess the great knowledge of healing.Hisaa

Birth of Coconut

It was the utmost desire of Sage Viswamitra to defeat his rival Sage Vashishtha. But he never succeeded. But he never become dejected. He keep on adding divine powers acquired by him after tapasya. At one time he become so powerful that he started creating many species. This was a threat to Lord Brahma. While Sage Vishwamitra was involved in creation of human species, Lord Brahma rushed towards him to stop. But he already created the head of human. So, the question arises what to do with the created portion. Lord Brahma named that head as “Sriphal” or coconut and blessed that without the sriphal no yagya would be complete. Even today when the covering of coconut is peel off then impression of two human eyes are still visible.

Raj Rishi ya Brahma Rishi

Once King Vishwarath visited the ashram of Sage Vashistha along with his army.He was very hungry at that time. Sage Vashistha offered food to king as well as his army. After having delicious food king was surprised. Sage told the secret that he able to fed the mass with the help of Kamdhenu Cow. It was a divine cow which fulfils all the desires. After knowing this king expresses his desires to acquire the cow by any means. But Sage Vashistha with his divine powers manage to defeat the king as well as his army easily. The king was shaken by the defeat. He decided to perform tapasya in the forest to took revenge. Pleased by his penance, God blessed him with a divine weapon. But Vashishta even overcome that divine weapon So Vishwarath anger act as a barrier to get maximum benefit from the penance. King realize his mistake. He went for tapasya again to please lord Brahma. Lord Brahma pleased with his tapasya and bless him divine powers and said that from today he would be known as Vishwamitra. But king was not satisfied. He asked Lord Brahma to confer a new title to his name so that he could prove his superiority over Sage Vashishtha. Surprisingly he blessed with the title of “Raj Rishi”instead of “Brahma Rishi(the highest title)”. In this way the human weakness of Sage Vishwamitra broke his dream of becoming “Brahma Rishi”. From that day rivalry between two Sages began.

Kalanemi-II

He was a demon king, son of Virochana, the grandson of Hiranyakashyap. He had 6 sons.
They were also known as the shad(six)-garbhas. Surprisingly they didn’t followed the rules of demons rather they were keen follower of lord Vishnu.After performing tapasya for many years, they were granted the boon. They asked for the blessings that they should not be killed by demigod, disease, Yaksa, Gandharvasi. But when Hiranyakshyap came to know about this, he was very angry at his grandsons. He cursed them that their father will take birth as Kansa and he will kill all of you as they will be born as the sons of Devki. Because of this curse, the grandsons of Hiranyakashyap had to take birth from the womb of Devki and be killed by Kansa, although he was previously their father.

Kalanemi-I

Kalanemi was a uncle of king Ravana of Lanka. Ravana did not wanted that Lord Hanuman to bring the divine herb for lakshman. So he ordered Kalanemi to kill lord Hanuman and promised Kalanemi to give him half of his kingdom for his job. Kalanemi was powerful and he had a sidhi to change himself into any form. He visited to Gandhamandata mountain where Lord Hanuman was expected to came for medicinal herbs.Kalanemi change himself in the sage to deceive Lord Hanuman. After few time Lord Hanuman visited there and met him. Kalanemi offered him to visit his ashram. But Hanuman refused and went to a nearby pond to bath. The moment he stepped in the pond, a crocodile appears and started to drag the leg of Hanuman in water. But Hanuman was too powerful and he killed that crocodile.From the dead body of crocodile emerges a apsara who was cursed by king Daksha to live as a crocodile till she get liberated from Hanuman.Before disappearing she exposed the ill plans of Kalanemi who was waiting for Hanuman to kill. Hanuman went back to ashram there and hold dragged him with his leg and with utmost force he threw him in the air. The intensity of force was so high that he fell at the feet of Ravana in Lanka. In this was the hope of getting half of Lanka was dashed away

Nav Nidhis

In Hindu mythology , Lord kuber is considered as God of wealth, who is guardian of North direction. He was the son of Sage Visharwa and brother of king Ravana. He is also known as “Hiranya-garbha” meaning belly of jewel. He is known to be owner of nine kinds of wealth called as “ Nav Nidhis”. The literal meaning of nidhi is treasure. Each nidhi is personified as having a guardian spirit, and some tantrikas worship them. Following are the 9 treasure of kuber-
1)Mahapadma (great lotus flower)
2)Padma (lotus flower)
3)Shankha (conch)
4)Makara (Crocodile)
5)Kachchhapa (tortoise)
6)Mukunda (a precious stone)
7)Kunda (jasmine)
8)Nila (sapphire)
9)Kharva (dwarf)

Ashta Sidhi

While reciting “Hanuman chalisaa” , we come across the word “Ashta-sidhi”. It is believe that lord Hanuman is a possessor of 8 kinds of sidhis. Literal meaning of the word “sidhi” is “precision”. In Hinduism this word is used for depicting the meaning “ Attainment of heighest peak in spirituality”. It refers to spiritual paranormal powers. It is of 8 kinds as follows-
1)Anima: Paranormal power to reduce one's body even to infinitely small.
2)Mahima: power to expand one's body to an infinitely large.
3)Garima: power to become infinitely heavy.
4)Laghima: power of becoming weightless.
5)Prapti: ability to move anywhere without restriction.
6)Prakamya: power to know the desires of other.
7)Isitva: powers of having complete lordship;
8)Vasitva: the power to conquer all.

All the above superpowers are possessed by Lord Hanuman. Even in astrology when a person is under the malefic influence of Shani or its Sade-saati, the recitation of “Hanuman chalisa” works as a best remedy. The reason is simple. Being a possessor of 8 sidhis he is the God who is capable of warding off all evils.

Manu

It is believe that each day of lord Brahama consist of 4,320,000,000 years. This period can be further subdivided into 14 units called manvantar consisting 306,720,000 years each. Each manvantar is ruled by “Manu”. So there are 14 Manus correspond to each day of lord Brahma. The order of Manu is as follows

1. Swayambhoo
2. Swarochisha
3. Uttama
4. Tamas
5. Raivat
6. Chakshush
7. Vaivaswat
8. Savarni
9. Daksha Savarni
10. Brahma Savarni
11. Dharma Savarni
12. Rudra Savarni
13. Daiva Savarni
14. Indra Savarni

As per classics 50 days of Lord Brahma has been passed. Currently 7^th Manu ,that is Vaivaswat is running

Tale of JadaBharat

King Bharat(not to get confuse with Bharat who was son of Dushyanta and Shakuntla) was a pious man. Once he was meditating at the bank of river he saw a doe. She was in the final stage of pregnancy. While she was drinking water, a lion roared behind her. That roar frightened the doe so much that she jumped across the river to save her life. In an effort of jumping, she delivered a premature fawn. King Bharat rescued the new born fawn and brought it to his hermitage. He began to look after the fawn. He was so engaged in bringing up the fawn that he lost focus on his prayers. With the progress of time his attatchment grew. One day that deer ran away in the jungle. This separation proved fatal for king Bharat. Even at the time of death he had thoughts of deer in his mind. Due to this Bharat took his next birth in the form of deer. Even in this birth he still remember his past life.this story don not end here. Again he born as a Brahmin in the next birth. Despite being so knowledgeable he showed little interest towards holy scriptures. He used to wander here and there. He had a indifferent kind of behaviour towards others. After the demise of his father, his brothers made him work hard in the fields but gave little to eat. Because of his dullness, he was known as Jadabharat.

Fall from Heaven

Vritasur was a demon who was killed by Indra. After killing him, Indra remained disturbed . He concealed himself under a lake. It was the need of an hour to elect the new king. All sages approached King Nahusha, who was one of the powerful king in Chandra vansh. He was the grandson of king Pururva. Nahusha was a kind king. With his great tapasya he had a boon that he would absorb the power of any creature.Unanimously Nahusha was selected as the new king of Indralok. But the luxuries of indralok made him arrogant. Soon he lost control over his senses.One day he proposes Sachi, the wife of indra. She was terrified and went to devguru Brihaspati for the help.He suggested plan to Sachi. She came to Nahush with her agreement to become his wife. Nahusha fell into the trap. She put a condition to Nahusha. She said that he should visit to her palace on a paalkee(a vehichle) that should be carried by great sages. Nahusha was very happy as this condition was easy to fulfill for him. The next days he ordered great seven rishis (sapta rishis) to come to bear the paalkee. No one could go against the order. A royal paalkee was brought and King Nahush mounted on it. It was very difficult for the sages to carry out this task. King was in a hurry to reach the palace of Sachi. He said to rishis “Sarp,sarp” and he kicked sage Agastya . In sanskrit “Sarp” has two meanings i.e. “run fast” and second is “snake”. This was enough for Sage Agastya to get irritated. He curse him to be a snake. Nahusha asked for forgiveness. Sage replied that he would be free from this curse in the era of Dwapar yuga when one of the Pandavas during the years of exile will answer your questions. So, Indra regain his kingdom

Blind Love

King Pururva was grandson of Moon. He was one of the most handsome king in that era. Once he fell in love with the apsara Urvashi. She was the nymph in the court of Indra. Due to involvement of curse she was expelled from the Indralok. She had to pass certain period of time on earth. So she decided to visit King Pururva. Urvashi agreed to marry him but on two conditions. First was that the king should look after her favourite two lambs. Secondly the king should never be seen without clothes. The king agreed on strange conditions. They started living happily. This happiness was intolerable to Indra. He ordered Gandharvas to bring back the Urvashi to heaven. They were awarded of the conditions of Urvashi. One day they got opportunity to steal the lambs from the palace. At the same time Pururva was changing his clothes. On listening the news of lambs being stolen he rushed after the gandharva.This was the moment for which the Gandharvas were waiting. They immediately flashed the thunder light. The idea was to show King who was not wearing full clothes to Urvashi. In this way two conditions were breached. Urvashi disappeared from the palace. Pururva made all the efforts to search for Urvashi but all went in vain. One day he found Urvashi at the bank of river. She consoles him by informing that she was bearing his son. She promise to visit once in a year for 5 year and gave his son as successor of his kingdom.Pururva got 6 sons as Ayu, Satyayu, Rath, Vijay and Jai. At the end of five years when the time of separation came the king again filled with grief. Urvashi was stunned with the true love of the king. She told Pururva to approach Gandharvas for the boon in order to make her live on earth. This gives confidence to King Pururva. He worshipped Gandharvas with great devotion. His devotion was so strong that nature has to accept defeat. He was granted place in Gandharvalok with Urvashi for ever.

Ashta Vasus

Hindus believe in the concept of creation,preservation and destruction.This is nerver ending process.There are 32 gods which are assisting this process.They are classified into 4 groups.

a)Prajapati(Creator)

b)12 adityas(Pretservator)

c)11 rudras(destroyer)

d)8 vasus(Sphere of the activity)

Vasus are attendants to Indra,the chief of gods. They are 8 in numbers.They are personifications of natural phenomenon. They represent the basic variables that define every creation. They are elemental gods representing aspects of nature, representing cosmic natural phenomenon.According to some classics they were the children of Aditi and Sage Kashyap. Their names are as follows

1)Apa(water)

2)Dhara(earth)

3)Anila(wind)

4)Anala(fire)

5)Antriksha(atmosphere)

6)Dyaus(sky)

7)Chandrama(Moon)

8)Nakshatra

He or She

Vaivaswat Manu was childless king at the beginning of satyuga. He performed special yagya for the son. But his wife had a desire for the daughter.During the yagya she recite a special mantra for the girl child. As a result she gave birth to a baby girl, Ila, later. King Manu was amazed as he was sure before the yagya about the son. He went to Sage Vashishtha for the help. With his divine power Sage Vashistha transformed that baby girl into boy. They named him Sadyumna. The time passed peacefully. Sadyumna grew up.One day he went to Sharwan forest for hunting. There was a curse linked with that forest that if any male enters into it, he will be converted into female. Sadyumna was unaware about the upcoming danger. The moment he stepped into the forest he found himself changed into a female. Sadyumna was helpless. While coming back he met the Budh(mercury). Now the Sadyumna already changed back to Ila. Parents accepted the marriage of Ila with Budha. Later they gave birth to a son called “Pururva”. Pururva was the founder of Puru dynasty. This story has a link with Mahabharata as King Pururva was the ancestors of Kauravas and Pandavas.

Journey of hell

Yama,who is the god of death rules the kingdom, hell or the Yamalok. As per Hindu belief when a soul travels through the south direction for the final judgment in Yamalok, it has to bear a lot of sufferings as the path is too difficult. After the judgment the soul has to resides in different types of hell on the basis of sins committed during life time. In our classics there is an interesting description of the hell. It is situated below the earth. Below it there is a cosmic ocean called Garbodhaka. Broadly the hell is classified as follows

01)Raurav

02)Sukar

03)Rodha

04)Taal

05)Vishsan

06)Mahajwaal

07)Taptakumbh

08)Lavan

09)Vilohit

10)Rudhirambh

11)Vaitarni

12)Krimish

13)Krimibhojan

14)Asipatravan

15)Krishna

16)Lalabhaksha

17)Daarun

18)Puyuvah

19)Paap

20)Vahnijwaal

21)Adhahshira

22)Sandansh

23)Kaalsutra

24)Tamas

25)Aavichi

26)Swabhojan

27)Apratishthit

28)Aprachi.

All the above regions are differ on the degree of torture which a soul has to bear after the death on the basis of sins committed. Persons who gives false witness are thrown into Raurav hell. Those who drink wine, kill Brahmin or steal gold fall into Sukar hell. Those who kill unborn babies and cows or destroy the villages fall into Rodha hell. Those who kill Kshatriya or Vaishya fall into Taal hell. Those who copulate with other’s wife fall in Taptakumbh hell. Those who sell women fall in Taptloha hell. Those who copulate with their daughter or daughter-in-law fall into Mahajwaal hell. Those who criticise the teachers and the Vedas or sell Vedas fall into Lavan hell. Those who violate social norms fall in Vilohit hell and those who envy the gods, the Brahmins and their parents fall in Krimibhaksha hell. Those who dine first even before the parents, the gods and the guests fall into Lalabhaksha hell. Those who manufacture arrows(arms and ammunitions) fall in Vedhak hell. Those who manufacture swords fall in Vishsan hell.Those who earns money through wrong deeds fall in adhshira hell. Backbiters, killers of friends and sellers of wine fall in Rudhiraandh hell. Destroyers of Yagya fall in Vaitarni hell. People who cuts tree without reason fall into vahnijwal hell.Those who expel from the gurukul for wrong deeds and who disobey vratt(fasting) deliberately fall in sandansh hell

Curse of Sage Gautam

Sage Gautam was very pious. He was married to Ahilya . She was devotee to her husband.On the other hand Indra, who is the chief of gods wanted to marry her. But it was not possible because she was very pure and chaste. Indra had some other plans. He used to notice the daily routines of ashram of Sage Gautam. Once he got a chance to found ahilya alone at the ashram. Indra changed himself in the form of Sage Gautam. But ahilya could not able to identify indra and she considered him as his husband Sage Gautam. At the same moment Sage Gautam returned back and felt shock to see his duplicate. With his divine power he traced him as Indra. Indra was trembling in fear because his fault was caught. Indra decided to run away by changing his form into peacock.But sage Gautam blocked his way and prevent him from running and curtail his power of running. Since then it is believe that peacocks can never run fast despite being a bird. Sage Gautam cursed Indra that from now his post as king of gods will not remain permanent and one thousands wounds will be evident on his body. After this Indra's throne remains insecure forever. He is repeatedly defeated by Ravana,the king of Lanka. Once the son of Ravana Indrajit bound Indra in serpent noose(Naag Paash) and dragged him across Lanka in a humiliating display. The angry sage cursed his wife Ahilya too for not able to distinguished between his husband and other person. He cursed her to become the stone. Ahilya begged for forgiveness but the curse could not be taken back. Sage replied that in Treta yuga,when incarnation of lord Vishnu will take place in the form of Rama and she would get rid of curse when he touches you by foot.

The Great sacrifice

Sage Dadhichi was the son of Atharvana Rishi.He had a very secret knowledge called “Madhu Vidya” which could help him to achieve the ultimate height in spirituality. When Indra came to know about this, he was terrified and cursed him that if he tried to taught any one else then he would behead him. At the same time the twin Gods Ashwini kumars expressed their desire to learn this vidya.They were aware of the curse of Indra. They shared the plan with Sage Dadhichi. As per plan, the ashwini kumars cut the head of Sage Dadhichi,and preserve it for future and replace it with the head of horse. They manage to learn that divine science. When Indra came to know about it, he chopped the head of sage Dadhichi. Immediately, the ashwini kumars replaces the head of sage. Indra thought himself to be invincible after this event. He was unaware that another threat to his kingdom was growing. A demon,Vritrasur attacked the indralok,the abode of Indra .So,Indra was dethroned. Vritrasur had a boon that he could not be killed from the ordinary weapon. Only a weapon made from the bones of a sage could have killed the Vritrasur. But the question was, who will sacrifice his life. As a last resort Indra visited the ashram of sage Dadhichi again but with different motive. He narrated his demand to Sage. After listening sage Dadhichi happily agreed to sacrifice his life. With his yogic power he left his body for the gods to collect the bones. Indra made the special weapon called vajra from them. With this the gods battled with Vritrasur. In the end the gods won. It was the sacrifice of sage Dadhichi which helps gods to regain their kingdom.

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The God of Hurricane

Diti was wife of Sage Kashyap. She sought a son who could destroy even Indra. Sage Kashyap granted her boon on a condition that she would have such a son only when she observes complete sanctity during one hundred years of gestation period.At that time there were strict rules for the pregnant ladies. It included prohibiting to eat in evening,to go under any tree,to keep hairs open.She had to maintain the purity,physically and mentally. Diti agreed to abide by the condition. As the time progressed Diti conceived. When Indra came to know about this, he felt threatened. He rushed to ashram of Sage Kashyap with some plan. He began to serve Diti with full devotion. Actually wanted to see if by chance Diti ever violated the stipulation for then he would easily destroy the unborn child without incurring any sin. Sometime before the completion of gestation period, one day, Diti did violate the stipulation. She forgot to wash her feet before going to bed. Indra was waiting for the moment. He broke the foetus into seven pieces but still the foetus survived and began to cry loudly. Indra then broke each of those seven pieces into seven pieces more and consoled them not to cry. Those forty-nine pieces of Diti’s foetus later on came to be known as Marudgana the assistants of Indra. It is believe that they controll the cyclones and storm

Lords of Universe

At the time of creation of universe Lord Brahma appointed various kingdoms under the rulership of different Gods. He appointed
1) Chandrama as the ruler of all the Nakshatras, planets, Brahmins, vegetation, Yagya
2) Kuber as the ruler of the kings
3) Varun as the ruler of the water bodies
4) Vishnu as the ruler of Adityas
5) Agni as the ruler of Vasus
6) Daksha was appointed as the ruler of all the Prajapatis
7) Indra as the ruler of Marudgana
8) Prahlad was appointed as the ruler of the demons.
9) Dharmaraaj Yama became the ruler of Pitragana
10) Airavat became the ruler of all the elephants.
11) Garud came to rule the birds.
12) Indra was appointed as king of the gods
13) Uchchaisharva as the king of the horses
14) Vrishabh as the king of the cows
15) Lion became the king of the beasts
16) Sheshnaag of the snakes
17) Himalaya became the king of all the landmasses
18) Kapil became the king of the sages
19) Tiger became the king of those animals that have nails and long teeth.
20) Dikpals (guardians of the directions) on all corners of the earth. These Dikpals still guard the earth

Bhakt Prahlad

Hiranyakashyap was the king of the asuras. He ordered his soldiers to punish all those who worship lord Vishnu. To conquer the 3 worlds he began to perform tapasya.At that time the wife of Hiranyakashyap was expecting a child. She moved herself to Sage Narada's ashram. She lived there and learned about religion and the glory of Vishnu from him. The child within her, Prahlad, too, absorbed all this knowledge. Meanwhile, Lord Brahama was pleased with the tapasya of Hiranyakashyap and granted him a boon that he would not die from either man or beast, with a weapon or without a weapon, during day or night, indoors or outdoors, on earth or in the sky. This boon made him invincible. During that time his wife delivered a boy whose name was Prahlad. As the time progresses Hiranyakashyap noticed that Prahlad devotion toward Lord Vishnu increases day by day. It was all due to effect of learnings during his stay in mother’s womb. When all the attempts to persuade Prahalad failed his father decided to kill him. Hiranyakashyap then got Prahlad thrown amidst venomous snakes. But, biting by the snakes had no effect on Prahlad because his mind was contemplating in Lord Vishnu. Then Hiranyakashyap got Prahlad crushed by big elephants. But even elephants could not harm Prahlad. Instead their tusks were broken as soon as they touched Prahlad. Later he was pushed off a cliff but Prahlad was unharmed. In another attempt Hiranyakashyap asked his sister,Holika to kill Prahlad.Holika had a magic cloth, on wearing that the fire could not burn her. She took Prahlad in her lap and wore the cloth on her head and jumped in the fire. Then a miracle happen. A strong wind blew which pushed the cloth from holika to Prahlad.Thus Prahlad escapes unhurt. Ultimately Hiranyakashyap decided to kill Prahlad himself. He tied Prahlad to a pillar and hit the pillar. As soon as he hit the pillar, it broke and Lord appeared from it in Narsimha incarnation. His appearance was extremely scary with half human and half lion form. His look was neither beast nor man. It was the twilight hour, the junction of day and night. He dragged Hiranyakashyap to the threshold. Significally it was neither indoor nor outdoor. He hold Hiranyakashyap in his lap and He killed him with his powerful nails. After the death of Hiranyakashyap, Prahlad continued his lineage. Prahlad had a son, Virochan. Virochan in his turn had Bali as his son. The king Bali was sent to the nether world by Vaaman incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Aakash se Paataal tak

As per Hinduism it is believe that the entire universe is divided into different divisions. These divisions are known as “Loka”. Each loka is abode for different kinds of species. It is believe that the upper world are of 7 in numbers
1)Bhu-loka, the earth. –It is a division of universe where we live.
2)Bhuvar-loka, the space between the earth and the sun, the region of the Munis, Siddhas, demi-gods like yakshas, kinneras, kimpurushaas,gandharvaas live.
3)Swarg-loka, the abode of Indra, between the sun and the Dhruv Tara(polar star).
4) Mahar-loka, the usual abode of saints, who are supposed to be co-existent with Brahma.
5) Jana-loka, here the 7 manas putras of lord Brahma lives. They were Atri, Vasistha, Angirasa, Marichi, Bhrigu,Daksha, pulasthya.
6) Tapa-loka, where the deities called Vairagis reside. Here the Four first sons of brahma live. They were Sanata, Sanatana, Sanaka,Sananda
The tapaloka,janaloka and maharloka are collectively called MUNILOKA.
7) Satya-loka or Brahma-loka, is the abode of lord Brahma. It is a land of infinity where Lord Brahma and godess Saraswati live here. There is no concept of time in this loka. anddimension. Only infinity exist. Once the soul moves in this world then it will exempt from the trap of birth and rebirth.
The first three worlds are destroyed at the end of each kalpa(one day of Brahma); the last three at the end of his life(hundred of his years); the fourth loka is equally permanent, but is uninhabitable from heat at the time the first three are burning.
There is another school of thought which divides the upper world in 8 divisions instead of 7
1) Brahma-loka, the world of the superior deities;
2) Pitra-loka, that of the Pitris, Rishis, and Prajapatis;
3) Nakshatra loka, of the moon and Planets;
4) Indra-loka, of the inferior deities;
5) Gandharva-loka, of heavenly spirits;
6) Rakshasa-loka, of the Rakshasas;
7) Yaksha-loka, of the Yakshas;
8) Pisacha-loka, of the Pisachas
Now.below the earth there is a nether world of 7 kinds. This is a lower world
1)ATALA-It is a abode of “Mayasur”.He is an architect of demon.He was a father in law of Ravana
2)VITALA- The ganas of lord Shiva live here.
3)SUTALA- It is a abode of King BALI
4)TALATALA- it is a abode of 3 demon brothers (Tripurasurs)
5)MAHATALA- Here the children of Kadru live. They were snakes
6)RASSTALA- here the chidrenof DITI, called Daityas and the children of DANU, called daanavaas live. DITI and DANU were also wives of Kashyapa.
7)PAATALA-It is also a land of snake. Here lives the king of snakes,Vasuki

Price of theft

Sage Vashishta possessed a cow called Nandini.This cow was capable of producing great riches to its possessor. One day 8 brothers called Vasus , came to Ashram of sage Vashistha, accompanied by their wives. When one of the ladies beheld Nandini, the cow of plenty, she became desirous of possessing it. Now the Vasu knew that the cow belonged to the Rishi. So he tried to persuade his wife to forget about the cow.But all his efforts went in vain.With the help of his brothers he stole the cow.Sage Vashishtha was shocked when he came to knew about the loss.With his divine power he able to knew about the culprit.In his anger he cursed them to be reborn on earth.When the Vasu's came to know of the about curse, they became terrified, and begged the Rishi for forgiveness.The sage softened and replied, "My curse cannot be reverted. The seven of you who have obeyed your brother's orders, shall not have to bear the sufferings for long. However, Dyu(one of the 8 brothes), who is the real culprit, will have to suffer his curse for a long time. However, he will be a great warrior, and will not have any children." .Dyu holds a very important role in the story of Mahabharata as he born as the son of Goddess Ganga who later known as “Bhishma”. It was due to this curse Bhishma remained unmarried and had no children.After his death in the battle of Mahabharta he left for heaven.

14 Ratan

During the war between Gods and demons,churning of ocean took place from which 14 precious things were produced.They were as follows
1. Halaahal-A Poison which is consumed by Lord Shiva
2. ‘Parijat’ , a tree in the Paradise of Lord Indra
3. Airavat- a multi-tusked elephant for again Lord indra
4. Kamadhenu-a cow which provides desired objects
5. Uchchaihsravas-the white horse for Lord Indra
6. Sankha the conch of Lord Vishnu used for victory
7. Chandra-The moon
8. Laxmi- goddess of wealth
9. Rambha- the apsara (celestial beauty) for heaven
10. Kaustubh Mani-Lord Vishnu took it and placed it in his neck.
11. Kalpavriksha - a tree fulfilling one’s wishes
12. Dhanwantari- the physician for all Gods.
13. Varunee Devi-Godess of wine
14. Amrit
This great war was started on Ekadashi of Krishna Paksha of Kaartik month and ended on amavasya

Holika

Holika was the sister of Hiranyakashipu, the king of the demons. His son Prahlad was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. His devotion towards Lord vshnu irritates his father regularly. All his attempt to convince his son failed.Finally he decided to kill him. He ordered his sister, Holika to perform this duty. Holika had a boon that if she wore a piece of special cloth on her head then even a fire could not detroy her. To fulfill her duty she took Prahalad in her lap and wore that special cloth over her head and both sat in the fire. But miracle happened. All of a sudden strong wind started to blew.As a result that protected cloth flew from his head and it fell upon Prahalad’s head. In the absence of that protective cloth she burnt alive and the fire could not able to harm Prahlad .On Holi eve a pyre made of cow dung, representing Holika, is prepared and set fire in special muhurat. This is a legend behind holi. This night is also important for tantric kriyaas.Intrestingly 8 days before holi is considered as “Holashtak” which is considered as malefic period. No auspicious work is done during that period. So, the festival of holi has a lot of meanings

Exchange of Curses

Radha was so attached with Lord Krishna that she became too much possessive. One day she came to know that Lord Krishna has a affinity towars another gopi called Vrinda.This was untolerable for Radha. She rushed to Lord Krishna in fury. When she was about to utter a word to Lord Krishna, there came Sridama, one of the fast friend of Lord Krishna. But Radha was unstoppable. She started scolding to Lord Krishna. But Sridama could not bear the insult of his friend and warned Radha to stop and threatened her to be prepared to get a curse from him . This added a fuel to the fire. Radha backfire on Sridama and said “It is my curse that you have to take birth in a low family and have to suffer acute poverty”. Now it was the turn of Sridama to respond. He replied immediately and said “Now I am cursing you that for 100 years you will not able to meet Lord Krishna”. This exchange of curse came true later. It is believed that Radha was with Sri Krishna for the first eleven years of Sri Krishna’s life. Then Krishna left Brindaban and stayed in Mathura and other places for one hundred years.

21 Durvas

While offering prayers to Ganesha, one should offer Dhurvas as it is one of its favourite .There is a legend behing it. Once upon a time there was a demon known as "Analasur". The hindi meaning of his name is fire demon. He was famous with his name because he had the ability to spit flames. The demon used to trouble all the Gods. He was becoming more and more powerful by each day. A stage came when the Gods had no answer to his immense power.They failed miserably. They left with only one option.As a result they approached Lord Ganesha for the help.Ganesha had a long battle with the demon that went for a years. At the end, Ganesha swallowed the demon. But since the demon was made of flame, the intense heat generated which was unbearable. Various Gods turned to the rescue of Ganesha, prescribing their own methods, but to no avail. The sacred water from Vishnu's lotus was administered to Him. This gave the Lord some respite, although he was still in pain. The snake of Lord Shiva was then tied around his waist. This also helped but the pain still persisted. Lastly, 21 durvas were given to him and the Lord was finally cured. Since then , 21 durvas are offered to the Lord is considered as ausoicious.

Curses of Lord Ganesha & Tulsi

Lord Ganesha has the boon that he will be worshipped first in any auspicious occasion. During pooja all sorts of sacred flowers, fruits and sweets are allowed except Tulsi leaves. Though Tulsi is considered as very auspicious but due to involvement of curse it is prohibited to use tulsi leaves at the time of pooja. Once Lord Ganesha was engaged in deep meditation As Ganesha was doing pooja, there came Tulsi. The moment she saw Ganesha, she fell in love with him and requested him to take her as his wife.But Lord Ganesha had turned down the offer and said that he had no intention of marriage. This irritated Tulsi. She took it as her insult. In her fury she cursed Lord Ganesha saying that “you will certainly get married against you wishes”. On hearing this Lord Ganesha cursed her back in revenge saying,”You would be possessed by a demon in marriage, and then under a curse from the saints become a plant”. On hearing this curse, Tulsi felt sorry and prayed Ganesha. This pleased Lord Ganesha and he said, “Tulsi!, you will be regarded supreme among the plants. Whosoever worships the lord Vishnu with your leaves as offering would achieve liberation in heaven, but you will always be unacceptable by me. ” Later under Lord Ganesha's curse she became the wife of the demon king called Shankhachuda. She lived with him as his beloved wife, but then her husband was killed in a battle between Gods and demons and she turned into a plant of holy basil. Since Tulsi is dear to Lord Vishnu that is why Tulsi is held so sacred and grown into temples and houses offered in worship to Lord Vishnu. Also tulsi leaves are placed into the mouth of a dying person and when a Tulsi plant dies, it is immersed into a holy river, but it never offer to Lord Ganesha .

Guru Dakshina

For a teacher every student is same. It is left to the student how he make use of that knowledge. Sage Dronacharaya was the teacher of kauravas and Pandvas in childhood.One day a child named Eklavya came to Drone and requested him to be his Guru for archery. But Sage Dronacharya turned down the request as he used to taught only kshatriyas. Disappointed the young child came back to the forest. He bore no ill-will towards Drone in his mind. Back in the forest he made a statue of Dronacharya He called him his Guru. Daily he would worship his image of Guru and practice archery. Within a short time he became master in archery. One day Kaurav and Paandav went on a picnic in a forest. They took a dog along with them. The dog entered the forest. While wandering the dog saw Eklavya and started barking at him.Eklavya sealed his mouth with his seven arrows. Now the dog could not open his mouth. The dog ran away to the place from where he came.So Dronacharya and children saw a dog coming with his mouth full of arrows. Arjuna was in a state of shock because he always thought himself to be the best archer. They all went in the direction from where he came. Dronacharya found a boy practicing archery. On asking , the boy revealed his identity as Ekalvya.Sage Dronacharya got surprised to hear this because he never taught him. Ekalavya took them where he had established his Guru's statue (Dronacharya's statue). Drone had another surprise. Eklavya said that he had learnt the art by regarding that idol as Guru. Also he stood hiding while Sage Dronacharya taught others in ashram.But Sage Dronacharya loved Arjun very much and he wanted him to be the best archer in the world. He saw another future better archer in Eklavya. At this point he asked for Guru Dakshina. Because without paying it the education is incomplete.Ekalvya agreed.Sage Dronacharya asked for the right thumb of Ekalvya as Guru Dakshina. All children stood stunned hearing such Guru Dakshinaa, but Eklavya immediately picked up a knife and cut his right hand thumb and offered it to Guru's feet without any hesitation. Even now the people from that tribe do not use their right hand thumb while using their bow and arrow.

Tale of King Yayati

King Yayati was one of the learned king in Chandra Vansha. He married the daughter of Sukracharya - Devyani. His father in law Shukracharya warned him that if he involved in relations with other woman then he would turned old immediately. Later Devyani gave birth to 2 sons –Yadu and Turvasu.There was a maid called Sharmishtha whos was insulted by Devyani at one time. To take revenge from Devyani, Sharmishtha married secretly with King Yayati. She gave birth to 3 sons –Druhyu,Anu,Puru. When Devyani came to know about the relationship of Yayati and Sharmishtha and their three sons she felt shocked and she went away to her father's house. Shukracharya was unhappy with the king Yayati, and cursed that he would lose his youth and become an old man immediately. As soon as Shukracharya uttered his curse Yayati became an old man. King Yayati asked for forgiveness.The only exception to that curse was if Yayati wanted he could give his old age to someone and take their youth from them. Yayati, now an old man, quickly returned to his kingdom and called for his eldest son. He asked him to exchange his youth for some time. But he turned down this request. Only his youngest son, Puru, however said it was his duty to fulfill his father's desires and ensure his father's comforts o he agreed to take Yayati's old age. For a thousand years Yayati lived a pleasurable life with his wives and after his desires were fully satisfied he returned Puru's youth to him. In return for Puru's sacrifice he crowned Puru as the next king of the lunar dynasty and declared that his lineage would continue through Puru. It was in this dynasty that the Kauravas and the Pandavas were born. Yadu started his own dynasty. Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, who was the advisor to the Pandavas, was a descendent of Yadu. This Story throws hints about anti aging process

Useful Curse

During the years of exile, Arujna wanted to increase his powers to protect himself and his family. He visited Indra in the heaven. Arjun learned and mastered the art of weaponry. During that time Indra decided to impart him with the knowledge of music and dance as he was aware of future. On the other hand even in the heaven, in Arjuna’s mind the bitter memories of Hastinapur was still fresh. Indra commanded apsara Urvashi at Arjuna's service so that she could mitigate Arjuna's pain. As Urvasi was fascinated by Arjuna, she readily agreed for the task. At the dawn, she got ready and reached Arjuna's place. Arjuna was amazed at her arrival and asked for its reason. Urvasi told Arjuna that she was at his service. Arjuna said that he could never imagined desiring her as she was worthy of respect. Urvashi argued that since she was a mere dancer, she was not bound to anyone. It was improper for Arjuna to think her as respectable and avoid her. However, Arjuna remained adamant in his stand. Urvashi got upset and cursed him that he would turn into a dancer and impotent. When Arjuna came back on earth, the final year of the exile had began, in which all pandavas had to spend the whole year in disguise form. It is this curse which prove beneficial to Arjuna as he himself turned into a female dancer to conceal his identity.That cursed proved to be a blessing in disguise for Arjuna during the the final year of exile.

Story of Marisha

Once Lord Indra send aspsara PramLocha to disturb the meditation of Sage Kandu. Kandu passed one hundred years enjoying company with the apsara. One day, the apsara expressed her desire to leave for her heavenly abode. But he requested her to stay for some more time with him. The apsara agreed to his request and stayed with him for another hundred years. Then once again she expressed her desire to leave for her heavenly abode. Once again, blinded by illusion, the sage requested her to stay for some more time. Once again the apsara stayed for another hundred years with Kandu. Thus, every time, when the apsara got ready to leave, sage stopped her. One day, towards the evening, the sage hurriedly left his ashram. On enquiring the sage replied that as it was dusk, he should offer his evening prayers.Laughingly, she said- "O Sage ! your day has ended after hundreds of years! ". But the Sage replied that "You had arrived at the ashram right in the morning today. You passed the whole day with me and now it is evening.”. Pramlocha told the sage that they had together passed nine hundred and seven years six months and three days. Hearing this, the sage began to curse himself that he was so sunk in the wordly pleasure with the apsara that he even forgot the time.He drove her away from his ashram. Due to fear she she began to perspirate. As a result few drops of sweat fall on leaves of trees. The child she had conceived by the Sage Kandu came forth from the pores of her skin in drops of perspiration. The trees received the living dews, and the winds collected them into one mass. The rays of Chandra provides nourishment.Gradually it increased in size till it became the lovely girl named Marisha.In the previous birth Marisha was a childless widow of king. Lord Vishnu granted her a boon that in her next birth she would be wife of ten most powerful Gods and would gave birth to a child who will be the father of all creations. In the next birth she had became the wife of ten Prachetas who attained the powers of God after doing meditation of several thousands years in the ocean. She gave birth to Daksha Prajapati.Following the dictate of Brahma, Daksha Prajapati produced different kinds of living beings as his children.

The First Generation

According ti Hindu Mythology, Swayambhu Manu and Shatrupa were the first male and female created by Lord Brahma. They had three daughters(Akuti ,Prasuti and Devahuti) and two sons(Priyavratt and Utanpad). The linage of Prince Priyavratt was as follows. He married to Barhishmatee, the daughter of Vishwakaram.They had 10 sons and 1 daughter.From his second wife he had 3 sons – Uttam, Tamas & Raivat.The second Prince Uttanpad had 2 wives-Suniti &Suruchi.Suruchi gave birth to Uttam and Suniti gave birth to Dhruv.Now Princess Akuti was married to Prajapati Ruchi, Princess Prasuti to Daksha and Princess Devahuti to Sage Kardam. As the time progress Akuti gave birth to a boy(named Yagna) and a girl(Dakshina) . Prasuti and Daksha had sixteen daughters. Thirteen were married to Dharma and one to Agni. One daughter was sent to Pitraloka and the last daughter was Sati.Twelve of the thirteen daughters married to Dharma gave birth to a son each. The thirteenth one, Murti, was the most blessed because she gave birth to Nara and Narayan, who were incarnations of Vishnu.Another daughter of Daksha,Svaha who had married Agni, gave birth to three sons Pavak, Pavamana and Shuchi. It is these three who consume the oblations offered to the fire during sacrifices. These three sons had another forty-five sons, making the number in the three generations of fire-gods to forty-nine. Svadha who was married to the ancestors in Pitraloka had two daughters, Vayuna and Dharini. Both were experts in Vedas

Test of King Rantidev

Once upon a time Indra, Yamraj and Lord Brahma had a despute regarding who amongst them is greatest devotee of Lord Vishnu. They went to Vaikunth Dham, the adobe of Lord Vishnu to knew the answer.Surprisingly Lord Vishnu replied “King Rantidev” as the most devotee. They decided to test his devotion. During that period Rantidev had kept fast for 48 days. To test him the Gods went to him on the 48^th day, the last day of fasting. They knew that a hungry man can not share food.They saw Rantidev was about to break fast with food and water.Exactly at that moment a Brahmin came there and asked for something to eat.Rantidev gave him half of his share of food.The Brahmin blessed him and went away. Now as Rantidev started to eat again a beggar approached him who too was hungry since many days. Rantidev gave some of his remaing part of food. As Rantidev began to eat, again a wanderer came there along with some dogs.He begged for food for himself and for his dogs.Rantidev was so kind that he didn’t refuse him and gave away all the food.Actually all the persons who came to Rantidev were gods who were testing him.But Still God of Death,Yamraj had to took test of Rantidev. So he changed himself into a poor man and went to Rantidev. The king didn’t had any thing to eat except just a glass of water to break the fast. As Rantidev about to drink the water, the poor man came and asked for water to quench his thirst. As Rantidev invited poorman to took the glass, he refused to enter the house. The poorman said that he was untouchable shudra and if he touched the him then it would have sin for Rantidev. But Rantidev placed around the neck of poor man and welcomed him to offer a glass of water.He said “You are my guest. For me you are equivalent to God”. The poor man drank water. Now all the Gods appeared in their true form.Lord Vishnu said “I am pleased with you.You have regarded everyone equal and see me in all that is around you”. Lord Vishnu blessed him and grant him a place in heaven.

Sacrifice of King Asmanjas

King Sagar was ruler of Ayodhya. He had two wives kesini and Sumati. They had no child so they prayed Aurv Muni to give them children. Aurv Muni said - "Among both of you one queen will have only one son, but he will carry the name of his father; while another will have 60,000 sons just to fulfill her wish to have children. So ask whatever you wish for according to your desire." Kesini asked for one son and then Sumati had 60,000 sons. Keshini's son's name was Asmanjas. In previous birth prince Asamajas was a saint. But he couldnot reached the ultimate height because of one bad company. As a result he has to took birth again. The event of previous birth was still fresh in the mind of prince Asamanjas. He did not wanted to fell in trap of bonds of relations as they are the obstacles in the path of Salvation. In this birth he was determined not to made mistake by emotionanlly attached with some one. So, from childhood he tried to stay away from parents. Some times he even pretended to be a lunatic so that no body could love him in family. He did all those acts to make the relatives against him. He even threw his friends in river while playing to make the people against him.Finally King Sagar dejected him. Prince Asmanjas happily left the kingdom because this was what he wanted to go ahead in the path of salvation. But before leaving he brought back the life of children who were drowned in the river. This act brings the wave of happiness in the kingdom. The anger of people turned into respect. But by that time prince Asmanjas left for the forest. So emotions are the block between our soul and supreme soul

Lord Brahma's Pride

Once upon a time Lord Brahma was doing meditation.After many years passed away he thought that he had attain the ultimate height.This made him proud. At this moment, there appeared in front of him the most beautiful apsara. Her name was Mohini.She wanted to marry him.Lord Brahma got furious and asked her to leave. Mohini was insulted. But before leaving she cursed him that no one will worship him. As a result Lord Brahma was no longer worshipped by any one. Hurted Lord Brahma went to Lord Vishnu. While he was waiting in Vaikunth, the adobe of Lord Vishnu,he saw somebody just like himself, except that this figure had ten heads. Then he saw another figure like himself, but with one hundred heads, and a third with one thousand heads. All of them looked exactly like him, but he had only four heads. When Lord Vishnu came, Lord Brahma asked him who these other figures were. Lord Vishnu replied, “These are all Brahmas, like you. You are not the only Brahma! You must know that there are many universes and each universe is represented by one Brahma, one Creator. There are hundreds of universes and hundreds of Brahmas. They look exactly like you, but you have only four heads, whereas they have many, many more.”.After hearing these words from Lord Vishnu, the pride of Lord Brahma vanished away. Then Lord Brahma asked for the remedy for Mohini’s curse Lord Vishnu replied that the only remedy is to meditate for 60,000 years and then he must go to the holy river Ganga and bathe. Only then he would able to get rid of that curse. Since then it is believe that in Indian mythology, they always say that a curse lasts for 60,000 years

Tale of King Harishchandra

King Harishchandra, the king of Ayodhyaa was the son of Satyavrat. He was the 28th king in solar dynasty.He had a devotee wife and a son, Rohit.He was famous for his tuthfulness.One night Sage Vishwaamitra came in his dreams and asked his whole kingdom.Although it was all in dream, still Sage Vishwamitra appeared in his court next day and asked for it. As per promise he was firm to gave the kingdom to Sage Vishwamitra.King decided to go to Kaashi with wife and a son. At the last moment Sage demanded “Dakshina” also.But since King didn't had anything after donating the whole Prithvi to Vishwaamitra, he sold his wife and son,Rohit to a Braahman, still he couldn't met the demand of Vishwaamitra, so he sold himself to a Chaandaal (who normally does the lowest jobs in Hindu society such as cremation of dead bodies). So he made Harishchandra the guard of cremation place. He gave all that money to Vishwaamitra.Once, the son had been to the garden to pluck flowers for his master's prayer, when he was bitten by a snake and he died instantly. His mother, having nobody to console her, carried his body to the cremation grounds. In acute poverty, she could not even pay the taxes needed to cremate him. Harishchandra did not recognise his wife and son.He asked the lady to sell her golden Mangalasutra and pay the tax.It is at this instance that his wife recognises the man as her husband.She has a boon that her husband only could see her mangalasutra. Harishchandra then came to her and recognised her as his wife . Seeing his only son dead he filled with grief.But, Harishchandra, was dutybound . He demanded taxes before last ceremonies.But she was helpless.So, he asked his wife, if she was willing to undergo further hardships and stand by him in this hour of calamity. The faithful wife readily gave assent. She had in her possession only a saree, a part of which was used to cover the dead body of her son. She offers half of her lone dress as the tax, which Harishchandra could accept and perform the last rites of his son.As she was taking off her half remaining Saree off to pay taxes, Bhagvaan Vishnu appeared there along with Indra and Vishwaamitra. Chandaal was non else but Yama, came to his original appearance.Lord Vishnu made Rohit alive and asked them to come to Heaven, but Harishchandra refused to go there on the basis of that his public would have been sad without him.Harishchandra asked Indra to take all his public to Swarg, but Indra said that it is not possible because every one has it’s own good and bad karmas. Then Harishchandra said - "Then I donate my all Punya Karmas to them and I am ready to go to Hell." Indra got very happy to hear this, so all people of Ayodhyaa went to Swarg with Harishchandra. Vishwaamitra inhabited Ayodhyaa with new people and appointed Rohit the king of that kindom.

Close call for Sage Durvasa

In Surya dynasty there was a king Ambreesh.Ambareesh was great devotee of Lord Vishnu.Pleased with his devotion Vishnu appointed His Chakra to guard him.Once, Ambarish followed Nirjala Ekadashi Vrat (waterless fast observed on the eleventh day of each phase of lunar month) for a year. During one such fast, on the twelfth day, king Ambarish was about to break his fast, when sage Durvasa arrived there along with his ten thousands disciples. Welcoming him, the king requested Durvasa to accept food. But the sage turned down the request saying that it was prayer time for him, so he would first go to take bath, then worship and take food. But the sage Durvasa did not return for long. As per rule of fasting it was necessary to beak the fast before the next tithi. At the same time he was in dilemma because he could not took food before serving to Sage Durvasa.With the Braahman's consultation he decided to take water to break the fast.Just then sage Durvasa returned and saw Ambarish breaking his fast. So taking it as an insult. he broke a flock of his hair from his skull and produced a Krityaa to kill Ambareesh. She proceeded towards Ambareesh to kill him but Ambareesh stood unmoved. Vishnu's Chakra killed the Krityaa and then proceeded towards Durvaasaa.
When Durvasa saw Sudarshan aimed at him, he ran for his life. Durvasa reached Vaikunthdham, the supreme abode of Lord Vishnu. He was feeling intense heat of the wheel. He felt at the Lord's feet and asked for help. He said - "I am under the control of my devotee, so I cannot help you, go to king Ambreesh for forgiveness". He went back to Ambareesh and fell down on his feet. Ambareesh prayed Chakra. Lord Vishnu the Chakra back.King Ambreesh fed Sage Durvasa.At the end Sage Durvaasaa blessed him and went to his Lok.

Vaman Avtaar

King Bali was Prahalad’s grandson.He was very powerful and popular king. To reach the maximum height he performed a yagya. This rose an alarm for the Gods because after that Bali would become an invincible.They went to Vishnu for help. King Bali proceeded with the sacrificial ceremony under the guidance of his Guru, Shukracharya. As part of the sacrificial rites, Bali decided that he would grant special favours to anyone who asked him. He would immediately give whatever that person wanted. All of a sudden, a dwarf joined the gathering and started chanting from the Vedas, the Upanishads and other holy scriptures. Bali was impressed by the dwaf and asked him for his wish. At that moment, Shukracharya sensed that the dwarf was actually Lord Vishnu and warned Bali not to grant his wish.But in those days keeping a promise was an ultimate thing. So he ignored his advise. As a ritual Bali ordered the vessel(Kamandal) of water to sprinkle the feet of dwarf. At that moment Shukracharya occultly entered into the vessel and sealed up the opening with his body. He felt that if he could stop the flow of the water, the purification ceremony could not be performed and Bali would not be able to fulfil the dwarf’s wish.Bali did not knew that his Guru was inside the earthen vessel. When Bali sat at the feet of the dwarf and tried to pour the water, he discovered that the mouthpiece of the vessel was sealed. Bali used a straw of hay to remove the blockage. Unfortunately, the straw pierced one of his Guru’s eyes, leaving him blind in that eye. Naturally, When Shukracharya emerged from the vessel holding his left eye, Bali felt sad. But Bali was determined and performed the ceremony of purification of dwarf. After that he asked dwarf for the wish. The dwarf asked for 3 steps of earth.Bali was surprised as it was next to nothing for him to fulfill this desire. So, he agreed. Upon hearing Bali’s words, the dwarf, who was Lord Vishnu himself, resumed his universal form. With one stride, he covered the whole world; with his second stride, he covered the Brahmaloka. For his third king Bali offered his head.Lord Vishnu kept his 3^rd step on Bali’s head and send him to Pataal Lok. This is the story of Lord Vishnu in his incarnation as a dwarf, who was called Vamana. Since then this day is celebrated as "Bali Pratipada" on the next day of Diwali