Tag: Bhagwat Katha

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Stories Stories from Hindu Religion

The Story Of King Ambarish and Rishi Durvasa

The Story Of Ambarish and Rishi Durvasa
The Story Of Ambarish and Rishi Durvasa

King Ambarish was a very devout king. He was the son of King Mandhata. King Ambarish was a great devotee of lord Vishnu. His story comes in Shreemad Bhagavad Puran.

It is said that once King Ambarish performed the ‘Dwadashi fast’ which required that the king must start the fast on Ekadashi and break the fast at the start of Dwadashi and also feed all the people. When the time of breaking the fast came near, Rishi Durvasa suddenly came to meet king Ambarish. King Ambarish asked rishi Durvasa to be his guest. Rishi Durvasa went to take a bath in the river Yamuna and it so happened that he did not return at the time of breaking the fast. The brahmins advised king Ambarish to break his fast in the absence of rishi Durvasa.

When rishi Durvasa returned and saw that king Ambarish had broken the fast, he became very angry. In his anger, he produced a ferocious demon to kill Ambarish. But as Ambarish was a great devotee of lord Vishnu, the Sudarshan chakra of Vishnu intervened and killed the demon. The chakra then started following Durvasa to kill him. In great fear, Durvasa went to Brahmaji and Lord Shiva to save him from sudarshan chakra. But they expressed their inability. Then Durvasa went to Lord Vishnu and asked him to stop his chakra. Lord Vishnu told Durvasa that the chakra could only be stopped by Ambarish and advised Durvasa to go to Ambarish and request him to stop the chakra.

Rishi Durvasa then approached king Ambarish and asked him for his forgiveness. King Ambarish requested the chakra to stop and not kill rishi Durvasa.

This story from Shreemad Bhagavad Puran teaches us that lord protects his devotee under any circumstances. If we keep our faith in God and if we are devoted to God, we will be protected at all times.

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Ramayana Stories

The Story of King Trishanku

The Story of King Trishanku
The Story of King Trishanku

King Trishanku was born in ‘Sun Linage’. Lord Rama was also incarnated in the same lineage.

King Trishanku was in great love with his body and was obsessed about the thought that he would go to heaven in his own body only. He requested rishi Vashisht to send him to heaven in his own body but rishi Vashisht refused saying that nobody could go to heaven in the earthly body made of 5 elements. Trishanku then approached the sons of rishi Vashisht but they also refused. Then Trishanku got angry and started uttering disrespectful words. Hearing them the sons of rishi Vashisht got angry and they cursed Trishanku to appear like a beggar and emit an awful smell.

King Trishanku left his kingdom and started wandering around. One day he met rishi Vishwamitra who recognized him. When Vishwamitra asked about what happened, Trishanku told him the whole story. Rishi Vishwamitra promised Trishanku that he would send him to heaven in his own body itself. When Trishanku started reaching the heaven, lord Indra threw him down. Then a tussle started between rishi Vishwamitra and lord Indra. One wanted to send Trishanku to the heaven whereas other wanted to throw Trishanku back to the Earth. After sometime rishi Vishwamitra and lord Indra both decided to leave king Trishanku hanging in the space. This space is also called Trishanku’s heaven.

This story teaches us that we should not get obsessed with our body, and not try to go against laws of the nature. To know more about this story, please read Valmiki Ramayan.

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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

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.

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Stories Stories from Hindu Religion

The Story of Ashtavakra Geeta

The Story of Ashtavakra Geeta

It is a story of Ashtavakra Geeta

Ashtavakra Geeta is considered one of the most important texts of Advaita Vedanta. Ashtavakra was bent at eight places and that’s how he got this name.


When teenager Ashtavakra was told by his friend Svetketu that his father was drowned in a river on orders of King Janaka, he asked why?

Svetketu answered that a learned Brahmin Vandin defeated his father in an argument and, that was the reason why Ashtavakra’s father was drowned. 


Hearing this Ashtavakra went to King Janak’s court and challenged Vandin for an argument to find out who was more knowledgeable? Nobody believed that Ashtavakra could win, but Ashtavakra defeated Vandin convincingly. King Janak then ordered that according to the conditions Vandin should be drowned.


Vandin informed all present that he was the son of Varun, god of water. Vandin also told all present that Varun needed learned Brahmins for a yagya. And, now that the yagya was finished all the Brahmins would return. Ashtavakra’s father also returned. Muni Ashtavakra has written a definitive text about Vedanta called Ashtavakra Geeta.

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Stories Stories from Hindu Religion

Why is Bhishma Called Gangaputra?

Why is Bhishma called Ganga Putra_
Why is Bhishma called Ganga Putra_

Why is Bhishma called Gangaputra?

Bhishma was a Vasu in his earlier birth. There are eight Vasus in total. It is said that once the Vasus came across the cow Nandini who belonged to Rishi Vashishth. A Vasu named Prabhas stole the cow at the request of his wife. 


When Vashishth came to know of the theft, he cursed all the Vasus to take birth on the earth as human beings. The Vasus were devastated on hearing this. They requested Vashishth to reduce the curse.

Vashishth said that the seven Vasus would be killed immediately after taking birth, but Prabhas would have to live much longer on earth.
Bhishma was the Vasu Prabhas. After hearing the curse, the Vasus requested river Ganga to be their mother and kill the seven of them as soon as they were born. Ganga agreed. 


Once King Shantanu was roaming around the Ganga river when he saw an enchanting woman. He asked her to marry him. But the woman who was Ganga had a condition. She said she would stay with Shantanu till he never asked her any questions. 


Ganga started to kill her children as soon as they were born. King Shantanu kept quiet till the seven children were killed, but stopped Ganga when she wanted to kill the eighth child. On this, Ganga said that Shantanu had broken the condition of their marriage and she left. Before leaving she revealed to Shantanu the real story. 
Ganga brought up Devavrata and brought him back to Shantanu when he grew up. This is the reason why Bhishma is also called Gangaputra.

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Stories Stories from Hindu Religion

The Story Behind The Name of Bhishma

The Story behind the name of Bhishma
The Story behind the name of Bhishma

It is a story of how Bhishma got his name

Bhishma was the son of King Shantanu. His real name was Devarata. He got the name Bhishma after he vowed not to sit on the throne of Hastinapur.


Once King Shantanu was traveling in his kingdom, he saw Satyavati, a fisherman’s daughter. King Shantanu asked the fisherman to let him marry Satyavati. But the fisherman said that he had a condition. He wanted that only the sons of Satyavati would become the kings of Hastinapur. King Shantanu was depressed hearing this. He returned to Hastinapur in a heartbroken state. When Devarata saw his father in this mood, he made inquiries and found out about the fisherman’s condition.


He went to the fisherman and vowed that he would not sit on the throne of Hastinapur. Hearing this, the fisherman asked what would happen if Devvrata’s sons claimed the kingdom? Hearing this, Devvrata vowed that he would never marry. 
Hearing such vows, the gods praised him and named him Bhishma.

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The Birth of Lord Krishna

Story of Lord Krishna's birth
Story of Lord Krishna's birth

It is a story of the birth of Lord Krishna

When the earth was highly troubled by the demons, she became a cow and approached Brahma Ji, and both of them went to pray to Lord Vishnu. That time Lord Vishnu promised that he would incarnate and kill all the demons on the earth. 


True to his promise, he incarnated as the 8th child of Devaki and Vasudev.

As Kans had decided to kill all the children of Devaki, Lord Vishnu requested Vasudev to take him to Gokul at Nand Baba’s home. So Vasudev picked up the child Krishna and found that all the guards had gone to deep sleep and opened all the locks. 


He walked out of prison and walked through the Yamuna river to Gokul. It was raining, so Sheshnaag appeared and covered both Vasudev and Lord Krishna.


Vasudev Ji crossed the river and reached Gokul. Then, he went to Nand Baba’s place and replaced the newborn girl with Lord Krishna. 
He brought the newborn girl with him back to the prison. As soon as he walked into the prison, the prison got locked again, and the guards woke up. As the guards saw that Devaki had given birth to a girl child, they informed Kans about it. Kans was surprised to see a girl child, but he decided to kill her anyway. As soon as he smashed her on a rock, she went up in the sky and took the form of a Devi. She informed Kans that his killer was already born. 

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