Stories 34
Tradition: All traditions · clear
A day of Brahma
One day of Brahma is a kalpa of 4.32 billion human years, and his night is as long.
Aiyanar, the horseman at the village edge
The Tamil village guardian on horseback was absorbed over the medieval centuries into Shasta, the son of Shiva and Mohini, and the Sanskritising continues today.
Andhaka, the blind demon who wanted his mother
Parvati in play covers Shiva's eyes and the worlds go dark.
Ayyappa and his companion Vavar
Kerala's Ayyappa, born of Shiva and Mohini, grows up in Pandalam, defeats the demoness Mahishi and keeps a Muslim companion whose mosque still faces his temple at Erumely.
Brahma is born in the golden egg
A golden egg forms in the waters and glows like the sun.
Brahmotsavam, the festival of Brahma
Brahma is believed to have worshipped Venkateswara at Tirumala and to have conducted the first festival for him.
Daksha's sacrifice and the death of Sati
At a gathering Shiva stays seated when Daksha enters; Daksha reads it as contempt.
Dattatreya: the three natures in one son
The sage Atri and his wife Anasuya earn great merit through their conduct and austerity.
Ganga comes down through Shiva's hair
King Sagara's sixty thousand sons, hunting his stolen sacrificial horse, accuse the sage Kapila and are burnt to ash by his glance.
How Shri became Vishnu's inseparable consort
The Vedic Shri of prosperity rises from the churned ocean as Lakshmi, surveys every being and chooses Vishnu as her husband.
How scholars explain Shiva's rise
Scholars treat the Shiva of today as a figure merged from several older gods rather than one continuous cult.
Kama burnt by the third eye
Taraka can die only to a son of Shiva, and Shiva sits in grief and meditation after Sati.
Kartik Purnima at Pushkar
The fair opens with the month of Kartik and closes on its full moon.
Krishna's penance for a son
Jambavati asks Krishna for a son like Pradyumna; Krishna spends six months in austerities under the sage Upamanyu, and Shiva appears as Ardhanarishvara to grant the boy Samba, named after that form.
One being, three functions: the Trimurti idea
The Maitri Upanishad names Brahma, Rudra and Vishnu together as portions of one being, matched to the three gunas.
Purusha and Narayana on the waters
The cosmic person of the Purusha Sukta and the Narayana who rests on the waters are fused into Vishnu's cosmic identity, pictured as Anantashayana.
Rama's linga at Rameswaram
Rama wishes to worship Shiva on the island before crossing to Lanka, or after killing Ravana, to be cleansed of killing a brahmin.
Ravana's boon at Gokarna
Ravana and his brothers Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana perform austerities at Gokarna for ten thousand years.
Rudra, the howling archer of the Rigveda
The Rigveda addresses Rudra in three whole hymns and mentions him about seventy-five times.
Saraswati: daughter, consort, or both
Brahma's body splits into a male and a female half.
The Brahmaputra, son of Brahma
Brahma sees Amogha, wife of the sage Shantanu, and desires her.
The Elephanta bust: Trimurti or Sadashiva?
A seven-metre three-faced bust fills the south wall of Elephanta's Cave 1.
The Pushkar sacrifice and Savitri's curse
Brahma kills the demon Vajranabha with his lotus-weapon.
The birth of Kartikeya
Taraka can be killed only by a son of Shiva.
The golden womb and Prajapati
Before the gods there are only the primordial waters.
The horned figure on the Indus seal
Ernest Mackay finds a steatite seal at Mohenjo-daro in 1928–29, dated about 2350–2000 BCE.
The hunter and Arjuna
In exile Arjuna does austerities in the Himalaya to win weapons for the coming war.
The mind-born sons, Narada and Daksha
Brahma wishes for children and brings them out of his own mind.
The sacrifice in dwarf form wins the earth
In the Shatapatha Brahmana Vishnu, as the sacrifice itself, takes dwarf form and strides the earth back from the asuras for the gods.
The so-called Trimurti cave at Mahabalipuram
Three Pallava shrines on one platform: Shiva in the centre, Vishnu on the right, and a disputed left shrine read as Brahma by Vogel but as Subrahmanya or Brahmasasta by later scholars; a Durga panel stands beside.
The three strides of the Vedic Vishnu
In the Rigveda Vishnu is a minor companion of Indra whose one great act is to pace out the cosmos in three steps.
Vamana and King Bali
The generous asura king Bali grants a dwarf brahmin three paces of land; two strides cover heaven and earth, Bali offers his own head for the third and is sent to rule Sutala with Vishnu as his doorkeeper.
Vishnu and Rama as worshippers of Shiva
Vishnu offers a thousand lotuses and his own eye at Kashi; Rama raises a sand linga at Rameswaram before crossing to Lanka; the full record is I-10 in the interactions file.
Why Brahma has four heads
Brahma's four heads face the four directions and stand for the four Vedas.