BharatiyaStories

Story of our Sacred Rivers   The Graceful Godavari It was monsoon time. The spring, summer heat was still scorching the lands. Sage Gautama, his wife Ahalya and the other inhabitants of the Gautama Ashram were looking for a respite after a long and hot summer. They were hoping the monsoons will start soon and provide the much needed water. Weeks and months passed. There was no rain. They were reeling under one of the worst possible droughts that they had seen in their memory. Normally the sages do not invoke the divine and the demi Gods unless it is essential. The long drought was unbearable. Sage Gautama decided that this is one such time, where he had to use his powers of tapasya for a greater cause. He invoked Varuna, the God of the rain. Varuna came in front of the Sage in response to the invitation. Sage Gautama paid his respects to the God of rain. Without any preamble he said “Why have you not graced us with your p...

  Sage Brahmavadhini Maitreyi We saw the story of Anusuya and Arundhati. ( https://bharatiyastories.blogspot.com/2024/05/anusuya-and-trimurtis.html ; https://bharatiyastories.blogspot.com/2024/05/arundhati.html ), Brahmavadhini Lopamudra ( https://bharatiyastories.blogspot.com/2024/05/lopamudra-and-agasthya.html .) and Brahmavadhini Gargi ( https://bharatiyastories.blogspot.com/2024/06/sage-brahmavadhini-gargi.html ). We saw the lives of the women sages Anusuya, Aundhati and Lopamudra. Each of these women are known for their wisdom and knowledge. They were Rishipathnis but also more. That does not mean that they played second fiddle to their well known and learned husbands. In the case of Sage Gargi, she chose to remain unmarried and pursue the path of knowledge. Let us look at another great sage of the Vedic age, Sage loBrahmavadhini Maitreyi. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad mentions her as the second wife of Sage Yagnavalkya. In the Mahabharata Maitreyi is mentioned as an unma...

# Mallikarjuna Swamy and Braharambika The Jyotirlingas have a significant religious, spiritual, historical and religious importance in Bharat. In addition to being a must do in the pilgrim circuit, the Jyotirlingas have a story to tell. Let us understand and appreciate the puranic stories behind these places, the history and the societal significance in the present context. Somnath is the oldest Jyotirlinga. The temple is located in Veraval in Gujarat. ( https://bharatiyastories.blogspot.com/2024/06/jyotirlingas-somnath.html ). Let us look at the story of Mallikarjuna. The Jyotirlinga of Mallikarjunaswamy is located in Srisailam 230 kms from Hyderabad. The Mallikarjunaswamy temple is particularly interesting as the temple also has the Shaktipeet of Brahmarambika. What is the story behind the temple of Mallikarjunaswamy. It is a story that is familiar to many of us.   It all started with the fight for a mango. Once the sage Narada brought a mango to Mount Kailash. He told th...

# Somnath The Jyotirlingas have a significant religious, spiritual, historical and religious importance in Bharat. In addition to being a must do in the pilgrim circuit, the Jyotirlingas have a story to tell. Let us understand and appreciate the puranic stories behind these places, the history and the societal significance in the present context. Somnath is the oldest Jyotirlinga. The temple is located in Veraval in Gujarat. What is the story behind Somnath? What are the stories and mysteries associated with this temple. The story first. Daksha, the son of Brahma had twenty seven daughters. Each of the daughters were named after the constellation of stars. King Daksha got all twenty seven of them married to Lord Chandra. Lord Chandra was expected to move across the different wives (stars) in rotation. Unfortunately, Chandra was partial to one wife, Rohini. Although the many wives of Chandra were sisters, lack of attention from the husband did not go well with the other wives....

  Sage Brahmavadhini Gargi We saw the story of Anusuya and Arundhati. ( https://bharatiyastories.blogspot.com/2024/05/anusuya-and-trimurtis.html ; https://bharatiyastories.blogspot.com/2024/05/arundhati.html ) and Lopamudra ( https://bharatiyastories.blogspot.com/2024/05/lopamudra-and-agasthya.html .) We saw the lives of the women sages Anusuya, Aundhati and Lopamudra. Each of these women are known for their wisdom and knowledge. They were Rishipathnis but also more. That does not mean that they played second fiddle to their well known and learned husbands. Gargi was a religious philosopher and proponent of the Vedas. She was well known during her times as a public debater on Vedic and Upanishadic concepts. Another interesting aspect of Gargi seems to be that she is mentioned as a sage in her own right and not referred to as anyone’s wife. She is believed to have remained a celibate all her life. Who was Gargi? What do we know of her? Let us understand and celebrate this gr...