Month: March 2023

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Rishi Kashyap And Lord Parshurama

Rishi Kashyap And Lord Parshurama
Rishi Kashyap And Lord Parshurama

This story is about how Rishi Kashyapa saved the earth from the anger of Parshurama.

Once when Parshurama came to visit his parents, he saw that his father had been killed. He asked his mother about who had killed his father? His mother replied that king Kartaviryarjuna and his sons had killed his father because his father refused to give them the holy cow, Kamadhenu.

Hearing this, Parshurama was filled with rage. He thought the kings were getting greedy day by day, so he vowed to kill all the kings on the earth. First, he killed king Kartaviryarjuna and his sons and then went on to kill all the kings on the earth. He traveled the earth thrice and killed all the kings. But in his anger, he also killed the good kings

Rishi Kashyapa feared that the earth would not be at peace because Parshurama had killed 20 generations of kings. He decided to stop Parshurama at once, and so he asked Parshurama to perform Ashwamedha Yagya as he had sinned by killing and that Yagya would cleanse him. Though he agreed to perform the Yagya, Parshurama didn’t know what he would donate in the Yagya since he owned nothing. To this, Rishi Kashyapa replied that since he had killed all the kings on earth, he had conquered the whole earth and that he could donate the entire earth.

Thus Parshurama went ahead to perform the Yagya. When the time came to donate after completing the Yagya, Parshurama asked Rishi Kashyapa to whom he should make the donation? Rishi Kashyapa replied that he should donate all of the earth to Kashyapa himself as Rishi still feared that even after performing the Yagya, Parshurama would not stop the killings. Parshurama donated the earth to Rishi Kashyapa.

Now that the earth was his, Rishi Kashyapa told Parshurama that he could no longer stay on earth. Taken aback, Parshurama asked the reason. Rishi Kashyapa replied that he was a brahmin, and a brahmin was supposed to preach and pray and not kill anyone. Understanding the reason, Parshurama asked Rishi where he would go, as he was given the boon of immortality. To this, Rishi Kashyapa replied that he should go to Mount Mahendra. During the day, he could come to earth, but by night he should go back to the mountain.

Thus Rishi Kashyapa saved the earth from the anger of Parshurama. For more details on Lord Parashuram, please read Srimad Bhagavad Puran.

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Lord Krishna Stories from Hindu Religion

Surrender To God | A Story from Bhagawat Gita

Surrender to God | A Story from Bhagawat Gita
Surrender to God | A Story from Bhagawat Gita

Surrender to God | A Story from Bhagawat Gita

(Shlok)
This shloka number 22nd of the 9th chapter of Bhagwad Gita says that those who totally depend only on me, that is the lord, the lord takes care of them. This is a very important shloka because not all of us believe that if we totally depend on the lord, he will take care of us.

Here is a small story about this shloka of Shreemad Bhagwad Gita.

In a village lived a poor brahmin. He was a great devotee of Lord Shree Krishna and used to read the Bhagwad Gita every day.

One day there was nothing to eat at his home. He was reading Bhagwad Gita sitting under a tree near his home and when he came to this shloka, he started wondering that I am a devotee of lord Shree Krishna and in this shloka, the lord promises that he will fulfill all my needs. But today there is nothing to eat at my home. Thinking this, he made a mark on this shloka in his doubt.

At that time, a small child came to his house with lots of food material. He told brahmin’s wife that brahmin had sent the food to his home. The child had a wound on his head, and it was bleeding. When the brahmin’s wife asked him about the wound, the child answered, “please ask your husband about this wound and the blood.”

After finishing his reading of the Bhagwad Gita, when brahmin returned to his home, he saw that his home was full of all kinds of food. He was very much surprised. He asked his wife as to who gave all this. His wife replied, “You must have forgotten. You only sent this food with a small child.” Brahmin said he had no money, so he could not have sent any food. Brahmin asked his wife to describe the child. His wife replied that the child looked very beautiful but had a wound on his forehead from where blood was coming out. She also told the brahmin that the child had said that the secret of the wound was with the brahmin himself. The brahmin immediately understood that Lord Krishna had himself come with the food, and the red mark was the mark he had made in Bhagwad Gita.

He could not believe that the lord was so merciful. Then, he and his wife both prayed to the lord and asked for forgiveness. Brahmin specially asked forgiveness for disbelieving this shloka of Bhagwad Gita.

This shloka teaches us that if we have complete faith in the lord and surrender ourselves totally to his mercy, he fulfills all our needs.

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Stories Stories from Hindu Religion

Story of Mahishasura Mardini

Story of Mahishasura Mardini
Story of Mahishasura Mardini

This is the story of Mahishasura Mardini

The story of Devi and how she killed Mahishasur and was called Mahishasur Mardini was written by Rishi Markandeya in Markandeya Puran. It is part of Devi Shaptshati, which is in the Markandeya Puran.

The story is like this.

Once upon a time, there was a demon called Mahishasur. He was very strong, and he was called Mahishasur because his upper body was that of a buffalo. He was very powerful, and he defeated all the gods in war. He and his army took over the heavens and drew away all the gods. The gods were left with nothing and had to roam around the earth like ordinary beings.

To get help, the Gods approached Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva and prayed to them. Hearing about Mahishasur, both Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva got very angry. They gave their energy to produce a Devi with great power. All the Gods also gave their powers to her. The Gods gave their weapons to the Goddess too. A lion was also given to the goddess to ride.

The Devi was looking resplendent, sitting on the lion, and with the power of Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva, and all other Gods, she was looking extraordinarily ferocious and beautiful.

The Devi called Mahishasur to fight with her. Their battle continued for many days, and in the end, Devi killed the whole army of Mahishasur and him.

This is why Devi is called Mahishasur Mardini.
Many Hindus read Devi Shaptshati in shardiya Navratri. Especially in Northeast India, Devi Pooja is very popular.

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Stories from Hindu Religion

How Ganesh Ji Became Ekdanta?

This story is about how lord Ganesha lost one of his teeth and became 'Ek Danta.'
This story is about how lord Ganesha lost one of his teeth and became 'Ek Danta.'

This story is about how lord Ganesha lost one of his teeth and became ‘Ek Danta.’

As we all know, Rishi Parshurama killed all the Kshatriyas, or the warrior class from the earth 21 times, and after killing the Kshatriyas, he was called Parshurama by Lord Shiva.

Parshurama wanted to meet lord Shiva and mother Parvati after performing that feat. When he reached Kailash, he found lord Ganesha at the gate of Kailash. Lord Ganesha stopped Rishi Parshurama and told him that Rishi Parshurama could not meet Lord Shiva and Mata Parvati at that time because they were in their bedroom.

Rishi Parshurama told Ganesha he was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and could meet him anytime. But Lord Ganesha answered that it would be a great sin to meet anyone in his bedroom without taking his permission. At this, Parshurama started laughing, and he tried to force himself inside the gate.

Lord Ganpati got angry and he increased the length of his trunk and held Rishi Parshurama with his trunk. He started moving Rishi Parshurama all around the cosmos.

He showed the Vaikunth of Lord Vishnu and the Goloka of Lord Krishna to Parshurama. And then brought him back with a thud near the gate of Kailash. This made Parshurama angry, and he threw his Parshu at lord Ganesha. As the Parshu was given by Lord Shiva to Rishi Parshurama, Lord Ganesha wanted to respect it. Therefore he let his left tooth take the hit by Parshu. This broke his left tooth. A lot of blood oozed out. This way, lord Ganesha lost one of his teeth.

Listening to all this noise, Mother Parvati came out and saw Lord Ganesha and asked him what had happened. Lord Ganesha kept quiet, but when Parvati saw that Parshurama was holding his Parshu that was covered with blood and saw son Ganesha with blood flowing from his left tooth, which had been broken, then she got very angry with Parshurama. She wanted to punish Rishi Parshurama.

At that time, Lord Vaman came and explained everything to Parvati. He told her that as Ganpati was her son, Parshurama was also a great disciple of lord Shiva and so, equal to her son. Lord Vaman also said to her that the whole incident happened because of destiny and that she should forgive Rishi Parshurama and let peace prevail. So, mother Parvati became peaceful and let Rishi Parshurama go.

This story is about how lord Ganesha became ‘Ek Danta.’

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Stories Stories from Hindu Religion

Was Kunti right in discarding Karna?

The decision of Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, to discard her newborn son Karna is a complex and controversial issue. According to the Mahabharata, Kunti was an unmarried princess who had obtained a boon that allowed her to summon any god and have a child with them. She tested the boon and gave birth to Karna, but as an unwed mother, she was unable to keep him.

Some argue that Kunti was justified in her decision to abandon Karna, as she was a young and unmarried girl who would have faced immense social stigma for having a child out of wedlock. Additionally, as a member of the royal family, she may have been concerned about the potential impact of Karna’s birth on the stability of the kingdom.

However, others argue that Kunti’s decision to abandon Karna was cruel and unjust, as she was his mother and had a responsibility to care for him. They point out that Kunti could have found a way to raise Karna without revealing the circumstances of his birth, or could have sought the help of trusted advisors to help her care for him

Ultimately, the morality of Kunti’s decision is a matter of interpretation and debate, and it is up to each individual reader to come to their own conclusions about the actions of the characters in the story.