This story was narrated by Markandeya to Yudhishtira– it appears in the Vana Parva of Mahabharat. Once there lived Kaushika, a young learned brahmin who led an ascetic life. One day he was sitting below a tree in penance. A female crane sitting on top of the tree let herContinue Reading
Indian epics contain many examples of specialized human skills. One such example is the archery skill to shoot an arrow to hit an invisible sound source. Shabda-vedha (sabda vedha), as it is known, remained the gift of very few. The most noted one related to this ability is perhaps theContinue Reading
It is indisputable that Karna is one of the most fascinating characters in Mahabharata. He had sterling character and was a victim of circumstances. His fighting skills were unmatched and loyalty to his friend, unflinching. But a combination of fate, personal traits and shrewed battle strategy of Krishna ensured thatContinue Reading
We all know that Dasaratha had four sons and they are central to the theme of Ramayanam. But Dasaratha’s daughter Santa has not attracted as much attention as his sons. Santa was Dasaratha’s first child – her mother was Kausalya. She was born much before the sons. King Lomapada ofContinue Reading
Vararuchi was one of the Navaratnas in the court of King Vikramaditya. The King one day challenged Vararuchi to identify the most important shloka of Ramayana. Vararuchi did not know. Vikramaditya asked him to find out the answer in forty-one days or else leave the country. Vararuchi wandered many placesContinue Reading
Daksha, son of Brahma, was one of the Prajapatis. He was greatly revered by even the devas. His daughter Sati married Shiva in spite of her father’s objections. Daksha had a very poor opinion about Shiva and his ways. Once Brahma Satra yagnya was performed by Marichi maharshi. It wasContinue Reading
In the early days of creation, Devas were suffering from shortage of food. They approached Brahma for a solution. Brahma decided to convert the ‘havissu’ (offering during yagnas) offered by Brahmins into a usable form for Devas. Agni (fire), however did not the ability to burn (dahanam) the offerings soContinue Reading
Ravana is the ‘ten headed’ demon – villain of the story of Ramayana. But did he really have ten heads ? How could someone have ten heads and live a normal life ? Many films and books have picturised Ravana as a comical looking character with ten heads one besidesContinue Reading
During the vanavasa of the Pandavas, Duryodhana, Karna, Shakuni and their friends wanted to go to the forest with all their entourage to tease the Pandavas. They thought that the Pandavas will burn with jealousy and anger. They also calculated the Draupadi would be furious to see the women folkContinue Reading
Shalya was the king of Madra-desa. His sister Madri was the mother of Nakula and Sahadeva. In spite of being the maternal uncle of Pandavas and wanting to fight along with them in the great war, Shalya ended up fighting for the Kauravas. He eventually took up the lead ofContinue Reading