Stories
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Mother Earth Becomes Prut...
The earth becomes PruthviThere was a time when Mother Earth decided not to share her wealth with humans. She was angered at the misuse and arrogance of humans in using her resources. This resulted in famine, hunger and death. Sounds very familiar to what we hear now? Misuse of natural resources results in climate change, drought, floods and untimely rains. This story from the puranas highlights th...
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The Power of Association
The Power of AssociationThere is a saying “Tell me who your friend is, and I will tell you who are.” Association and friendships are that important in shaping our thoughts, deeds and speech. Sanatana Dharma believes association with the wise and the devout automatically brings benefits – not just to humans but also to the animals and birds.This nice story depicts the importance of associatio...
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The Lord and his Pretende...
The Lord and his pretender – Paundraka VasudevaWe all hero worship many people – sportsmen or sports women, leaders, scientists, teachers and in many cases even actors / actresses. We buy clothes like theirs, try and copy their mannerisms, way of talking etc. We think this is a modern day phenomenon? Certainly not. It was happening 5000 years ago during Krishna’s times.Once in a kingdom call...
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Story of Nriga
Story of Nriga(Bhagavatha purana)This was the time when Krishna and Balarama were young men and enjoying their time. Although Dwaraka a small kingdom was very rich in natural resources and wealth. Naturally the princes of this kingdom, Balarama and Krishna were treated with great affection and respect.Once the princes along with their friends had gone into the forest for a day of fun. In the heart...
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Ajamila and the power of ...
Ajamila and the power of the name NarayanaAjamila was a brahmin who resided with his family in a village. He was respectful to his parents and loved his wife. He lived by studying the scriptures, teaching the boys in the village and by performing some religious functions for people.When misfortune strikes anyone, their mind also does not work in a proper way. That is what happened to Ajamila too. ...
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Shiva`s stamp on a gate i...
Shiva’s Stamp on a gate in MaduraiKulapoodana Pandyan was ruling the Pandya kingdom with Madurai as his capital. He was a good ruler with devotion to the holy couple of Madurai - Lord Sundareshwara and Mother Meenakshi. While good to his own citizens, Kulapoodana Pandyan was not very fond of the Chola king of the kingdom north of his land.The one thing common amongst these two rival kings was th...
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Yamuna becomes Kalindi
Yamuna becomes KalindiWe had seen earlier how our Puranas are not just stories but blessings. The blessings could be a mantra, a type of worship, a temple or a river. This is the story of river Yami (also known as Yamuna) mentioned in the Vamana Purana.The river Yamuna was white and pure and was gurgling happily down the plains. Yamuna was the daughter of Lord Surya and Sanjana and the sister of L...
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Kali Purusha is chastised
Kali Purusha is chastised(Bhagavata Purana)The Mahabharata was over. Normalcy had come back. The kingdom was full of widows, old people and children as most men who were of a marriageable age had been sacrificed in the war. King Yudhistira established a just rule that aimed at helping the people. After a few years, the old king Dritharashtra and his queen Gandhari expressed a desir...
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The curse of the white el...
The curse of the white elephantWhen we read our puranic stories many of us have a doubt. If God is supposed to be loving, why does he punish people? If the rishis are knowledgeable and learned, why do they curse people? We need to understand that many of these stories are told to us not to narrate what happened to one person or some people but to help us learn a lesson. Some of these incidents als...
