Sage Markandeya told Yudhishthira the importance of duty, through the story of an ascetic, Kaushika. Kaushika got angry easily. A crane’s droppings fell on him while he was meditating under a tree. He looked up angrily and the bird died. Kaushika felt very bad at his own anger. He went to beg alms from a […]
The King’s entourage was clearing the King’s path, but Ashtavakra refused to move. He said the King must make way for women, the blind, the deformed, those learned in the Vedas and those carrying loads. Impressed, the King let him pass. At the palace gate, Ashtavakra was stopped again. The guard said the debate was
Ashtavakra was the son of Sujata, daughter of Sage Uddalaka, and Kagola, his disciple. Kagola was virtuous but not very knowledgeable. When Uddalaka taught him, he made mistakes. The unborn Ashtavakra, in his mother’s womb, would twist and turn or kick out, because he was learning faster than his father. He got eight twists in
Raibhya’s learned sons, Puravasu and Arvavasu, were invited to the palace of King Brihadyumna to perform a great sacrifice. Puravasu had to return to the ashrama for a while. He saw something move and shot it with an arrow. It turned out that he had killed, not an animal, but his own father, as a
Thus warning him against pride, Bharadwaja told his son to show proper respect to Raibhya. Heedless of the warning, one day Yavakrida attacked the beautiful daughter-in-law of Raibhya. When Raibhya heard of it, he created a beautiful maiden and a demon and asked them to kill Yavakrida. The beautiful maiden went up to Yavakrida who
Yavakrida began to study and soon became known for his knowledge and learning. His father, Bharadwaja, warning him against vanity, told him Medhavi’s story. Sage Baladhi, grieving for his dead son, did penance to get a son who would never die. The gods told him that everyone dies, but he could ask for the period
Yavakrida was the son of a Brahmana called Bharadwaja, who had a friend, another Brahmana named Raibhya with two sons Paravasu and Arvavasu. Yavakrida was jealous that people had more respect for Raibhya than for his father. He prayed to Indra to become the most learned man in the world. Again and again, Indra would
Rishyasringa was the pure and learned son of Vibhandaka who had an ashrama in a forest. Once there was a famine in the kingdom of Anga near by. King Romapada was advised to bring Rishyasringa to the city. His purity would cause rains to come to the area where he lived. The king sent beautiful
When he couldn’t find any source of income, Agastya decided to get his wealth from the wicked demon, Ilvala. Ilvala and his brother, Vatapi, hated Brahmanas and had a plan for killing them. Ilvala would invite a Brahmana for dinner. He would magically change Vatapi into a goat and serve its meat to the Brahmana.
The Pandavas and Draupadi waited for five years for Arjuna to return. These years were spent visiting various pilgrim sites with sage Lomasa and Dhaumya. They heard the stories about sages, kings, demons to build up their courage and patience. These were some of those stories. Agastya rishi saw some of the spirits of his
Once Nala, a powerful Nishada king with a vast kingdom, caught a swan who told him about Damayanti, the daughter of the King of Vidarbha. The swan went to Damayanti and told her about the handsome Nala. The king invited everyone to her swayamvara including Nala. On the way, several gods asked him to plead
In order to comfort Yudhishthira and make him realise that he was not the only person suffering in the world, Brihadashwa told him the story of King Nala of Nishada. He too had been cheated of his kingdom and wealth in a game of dice and sent into exile. There were no brothers or friends
Krishna and Balarama came to the forest to discuss matters with the Pandavas, who were awaiting Arjuna’s return. Bhima desired immediate action against the Kauravas. Many of their allies were willing to go into battle on their behalf. But Krishna said that the Pandavas would like to fight their own battle, though definitely with help
Bhima, looking for food, one day came to a large cave on mountain-side. A huge python lived in the cave and caught unwary passers-by. As soon as it saw Bhima, it shot out towards him and, before he could do anything, it had coiled itself around him tightly. Bhima was unable to do anything. He
In a forest, the wind dropped a fragrant flower near Draupadi. Bhima set off to find more for her. On the way, a huge monkey lay across the path, blocking his way. He couldn’t persuade or frighten the monkey to get out of his way. The monkey said Bhima should jump over him and go.
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