BharatiyaStories

The earth becomes Pruthvi There was a time when Mother Earth decided not to share her wealth with humans. She was angered at the misuse and arrogance of humans in using her resources. This resulted in famine, hunger and death. Sounds very familiar to what we hear now? Misuse of natural resources results in climate change, drought, floods and untimely rains. This story from the puranas highlights the need to treat Mother Earth with respect. The earth had no ruler after the death of the cruel ruler Vena. The Saptharishis realised something needs to be done as a land without a ruler will be the breeding ground of Arajaga or lawlessness. They used the power of their penance to generate a being from the right thigh of Vena. From that came a very evil looking person emerged. The sages realised that this person was evil and shouted Nishada Nishada. Nishada means sit. But the evil dwarf like creature ran out of the yagna shaala. With his exit all the evil from Vena’s body had left. The s...

  The Power of Association There is a saying “Tell me who your friend is, and I will tell you who are.” Association and friendships are that important in shaping our thoughts, deeds and speech. Sanatana Dharma believes association with the wise and the devout automatically brings benefits – not just to humans but also to the animals and birds. This nice story depicts the importance of association with the wise and devout. Sage Narada had a doubt. It is one thing to pray to the divine and get blessings but how does doing service to the rishis and the learned gets divine blessings. The sage decided to go to his favourite God in the Ksheerasagara (milky ocean), Lord Vishnu. He paid his respects and asked “Lord, what is the importance of associating with bhakts and devotees? Is it not better to serve you directly?” Vishnuji smiled and said “Go to the Naimisharanya forest. There will be a tree at the southern end where there is a...

  The Lord and his pretender – Paundraka Vasudeva We all hero worship many people – sportsmen or sports women, leaders, scientists, teachers and in many cases even actors / actresses. We buy clothes like theirs, try and copy their mannerisms, way of talking etc. We think this is a modern day phenomenon? Certainly not. It was happening 5000 years ago during Krishna’s times. Once in a kingdom called as Karusha there was a king by the name of Paundraka. Paundraka was a friend of King Kamsa. Naturally being a friend of Kamsa, he was against Krishna. He was also jealous of Krishna’s popularity. Knowing his weakness, all his friends told him he is equal to or better than Krishna. They foolishly even encouraged him to dress up and behave like Krishna. Paundraka was foolish and vain enough to believe them and start doing the same. He painted his body dark blue in colour, attached some arms with shanka and chakra. He carried a flute too. Unfortunately, a donkey dressing as a peacock d...

  Story of Nriga (Bhagavatha purana) This was the time when Krishna and Balarama were young men and enjoying their time. Although Dwaraka a small kingdom was very rich in natural resources and wealth. Naturally the princes of this kingdom, Balarama and Krishna were treated with great affection and respect. Once the princes along with their friends had gone into the forest for a day of fun. In the heart of a lush forest near Vrindavan, young Krishna and his friends are gathered under the shade of tall trees for a joyful picnic. Mats made of woven grass are spread out, holding simple clay plates filled with fruits, sweets, and butter. The boys are laughing, some playing the flute, others feeding birds or reclining on the grass. Suddenly, their play is interrupted by a strange sound. A curious boy peers into an old dry well nearby and gasps. One by one, the boys—including Krishna, easily recognized by his peacock feather crow...

  Ajamila and the power of the name Narayana Ajamila was a brahmin who resided with his family in a village. He was respectful to his parents and loved his wife. He lived by studying the scriptures, teaching the boys in the village and by performing some religious functions for people. When misfortune strikes anyone, their mind also does not work in a proper way. That is what happened to Ajamila too. One day he had gone into the forest to collect darba grass. (Darba grass is used in all religious ceremonies as it is considered a good conductor of positive energy). There Ajamila saw a beautiful woman. She was new to the village. Ajamila wanted to marry the beautiful woman. He forgot his parents, wife and married the lady. Unfortunately, his new wife was not a good person. She was very greedy and demanding. She pestered Ajamila for jewellery, clothes and other things. Ajamila was till now earning a small amount through teaching and by helping others conduct religious ceremonies...

  Shiva’s Stamp on a gate in Madurai Kulapoodana Pandyan was ruling the Pandya kingdom with Madurai as his capital. He was a good ruler with devotion to the holy couple of Madurai - Lord Sundareshwara and Mother Meenakshi. While good to his own citizens, Kulapoodana Pandyan was not very fond of the Chola king of the kingdom north of his land. The one thing common amongst these two rival kings was their complete devotion to Lord Shiva. The Chola king had a beautiful Shiva temple in Kanchipuram itself. Like many people who aspire for things just outside their reach, Kadu Vetti Cholan had a desire. He wanted to visit Madurai and offer prayers to the Lord there. This desire was triggered by two things. The first one was the fact that the Lord ruled Madurai as its king. In that respect it was equal to Kashi. The second reason was that Madurai was the famous Rajata Sabai or the Velliyambalam where the divine dancer Nataraja (Lord Shiva) performed the Sandhya Thandava. This desire t...

  Yamuna becomes Kalindi We had seen earlier how our Puranas are not just stories but blessings. The blessings could be a mantra, a type of worship, a temple or a river. This is the story of river Yami (also known as Yamuna) mentioned in the Vamana Purana. The river Yamuna was white and pure and was gurgling happily down the plains. Yamuna was the daughter of Lord Surya and Sanjana and the sister of Lord Yama. She was a happy person, well loved by her father and was protected by her brother. Yamuna also known as Yami loved prancing through the plains and was proud of her milky white waters. So how did she become dark? Daksha Prajapati did not like his son in law, Shiva. Daksha had always felt that his daughter Sati was too beautiful and too good for an ascetic wearing tiger skin and carrying skulls. He felt that Shiva cheated him by coming uninvited to Sati’s swayamvara. Daksha could not do anything but give his consent as it was a swayamvara and every one was watching. Sati ...

  Kali Purusha is chastised (Bhagavata Purana) The Mahabharata was over. Normalcy had come back. The kingdom was full of widows, old people   and children as most men who were of a marriageable age had been sacrificed in the  war. King Yudhistira established a just rule that aimed at helping the people. After a few years, the old king Dritharashtra and his queen Gandhari expressed a desire to retire to the forest. The mother of the Pandavas also wanted to retire from worldly life. Although reluctant, Yudhishtira gave them his consent and they left the kingdom. Lord Krishna too had gone back to Dwarka and was ruling his country. Unfortunately, too much of prosperity had brought greed, arrogance and anger to the Yadava clan. Small quarrels became big and the tribes started killing each other. Balarama got distressed and walked into the ocean. Lord Krishna was killed while sleeping by a hunter who shot his arrow mistaking Krishna’s feet for a deer. Yudhistira and the o...

  The curse of the white elephant When we read our puranic stories many of us have a doubt. If God is supposed to be loving, why does he punish people? If the rishis are knowledgeable and learned, why do they curse people? We need to understand that many of these stories are told to us not to narrate what happened to one person or some people but to help us learn a lesson. Some of these incidents also turn out to be a blessing by which man kind gains something. Let us see one such incident. The forest was thick and dark. It was spring. Flowers of all variety were blooming in the smaller plants. The big canopy of trees made it difficult for sunlight to pierce through. In between all this thick vegetation, a dark elephant was wandering listless. Unlike other elephants in the wild, this one seemed to have a regal bearing. It was looking tired and sad. The elephant thought about its glorious past and regretted its current plight. Who was this elephant? It was none other than Aira...