151 Indian Mythological Stories

During the process of the churning of the ocean, the gods received parijata, the tree, with divine fragrance. This tree was planted in Indra’s garden. One day, sage Narada went to this garden and collected some flowers that had fallen from the tree and gave them to Rukmini, Krishna’s wife. Rukmini was very happy but […]

A long time ago, Indra, the Chief of gods, was riding on his elephant. Sage Durvasa saw him and offered him a garland. He accepted the garland happily and placed it on his elephant’s trunk. The elephant got irritated by its scent and threw it on the ground. Seeing this, sage Durvasa cursed Indra and

One day, Krishna and Arjuna went hunting in a forest. There, they saw a beautiful girl, Kalindi, who was river Yamuna personified. She told that she wished to marry Krishna. Krishna accepted her proposal and brought her to Dwarka. There, he married her with great pomp. The kings of Avantipura, named Vindya and Anuvindya, had

Once Gayan, a gandharva, was driving his flying chariot at a great speed. His chariot passed over the city of Dwarka. Krishna was going towards his palace at that time. So, he had to duck in order to avoid getting hit. Krishna shouted at him. He looked down and saw Krishna looking angrily at him.

Krishna met the Pandavas for the first time during Draupadi’s swayamvar. Krishna was an uninvited guest at the swayamvar. He silently witnessed the whole swayamvar ceremony. When the Pandavas returned home with Draupadi, after Arjuna had won the challenge of the swayamvar, Krishna followed them with all his retinue. He also took lots of presents

Draupadi was the daughter of Drupada, the king of Panchala. The king arranged a swayamvar for Draupadi in the court of Panchala. A pole was erected in the court over which a wooden fish was fixed on a revolving wheel. A pan of water was kept at the bottom of the pole. Anyone who could

Sudama and Krishna were childhood friends. They were classmates at the ashram of sage Sandipani. Sudama belonged to a poor Brahmin family. Years passed and Krishna became the king of Dwarka but Sudama and his family remained poor. Sudama’s wife was a pious soul. One day, she advised him to seek his friend Krishna’s help.

Once, there ruled a king named Paundraka over the kingdom of Karusa province. He was very vain and thought himself to be the most powerful man in the universe. When he heard the stories of Krishna’s bravery, he grew jealous of him. One day, to prove himself superior to Krishna, Paundraka sent a letter to

Rukmini, an incarnation of Laxmi, was born to king Bhismaka of the Vidharbha kingdom. She was very pretty as a child and grew up to be a beautiful princess. She was very much impressed by the stories she heard about Krishna. She fell in love with him and wished to marry him. Unfortunately, Rukmini’s elder

Though Krishna was the king yet he ruled democratically. He had taught the people to live according to the ideals and impart these teachings to others. He not only taught this, but also lived accordingly. So, he left Mathura. Thereafter, Krishna crossed Gomantak and went to Saurashtra. He summoned Vishwakarma, the divine architect, to build

Krishna left sage Sandipani’s ashram and returned to Mathura. The residents of Mathura were anxiously waiting for his return. After returning, he organized public meetings and delivered inspiring speeches to tell the people that they should never bow down to the brutish power and that they were born to achieve something. On the other side,

Krishna was sent to the ashram of sage Sandipani for his studies. In the ashram, he attained formal education. He was also taught a sense of duty, cooperation and self-restraint. There was a touch of divinity in the ashram. The life of sage Sandipani was a living example of selflessness to the students. Krishna attained

Kans was dead. But Krishna could not return to Vrindavan as he had to protect Mathura from the attacks of Kans’s friends. He realised that the people of Vrindavan would be worried about his well-being. They would be eagerly waiting for the news of his well-being. He wanted to reassure them. So, Krishna sent his

After killing Kans, Krishna and Balrama hurried to the palace and entered the dungeons where Devki and Vasudeva were imprisoned. They opened the prison gates. Devki and Vasudeva could not believe their eyes. Their sons were standing before them. They were mad with joy to see them. Devki embraced Krishna and Balrama and shed happy

On the advice of his ministers, Kans now sent the invincible warriors, Mushtika and Chanura, to kill Krishna. A fierce fight ensued between them and soon Mushtika and Chanura were defeated by the two brothers. Meanwhile, back in the palace, Kans was restless. He could no longer contain his impatience and rushed to the arena.