Arthatatvam

  Once upon a time, out of the primeval lotus emerged two drops of water. When Lord Narayana cast his eyes upon it, out of one of the drop of water which looked like honey originated a Daitya named Madhu made up of the quality of ignorance. The other drop of water was very hard and out of it originated an other being named Kaitabha made up of the quality of darkness. As soon as they were born, the two Daityas started roaming inside the lotus. They saw Lord Brahma engaged in the creation of the Vedas. They immediately snatched the Vedas from Brahma and dived to the bottom of the ocean. Brahma was upset at this and started praying to Narayana. Then Narayana assumed the form of Hayagriva and went to the bottom of the ocean. There he began to chant the Vedic mantras. The two Daityas hearing the Vedic Mantras being chanted, immediately threw the Vedas down and rushed to the spot. Narayana then collected the Vedas and gave it back to Brahma. In the meantime, Madhu and Kaitabha returned t...

  There was once a king named Bhangasvana. He was pious and was known as a royal sage. But, he was childless. So, he performed a sacrifice called "Agnishtuta" where the fire god was worshipped. Agni then blessed him with a hundred sons. This annoyed Indra as Bhangasvana worshipped only Agni and not him. One day, when king Bhangasvana went on a hunting expedition, Indra saw an opportunity to take revenge on the king. He made the king confused, hungry and thirsty. When the king saw a lake nearby, he immediately plunged into it. When he came out of the lake, he was turned into a woman! He was ashamed to go back to his kingdom but still went back to it. The people of the kingdom were amazed at this transformation. The king then bestowed the kingdom to his sons and went to the forest where he lived in the hermitage of an ascetic. He then delivered a hundred more sons (in the form of a woman). Then he went back to his kingdom with these hundred sons and asked them to live in peace ...

  When a person practices yoga according to the proper rules and regulations laid down in the scriptures, he will attain success in the following stages. In the first stage, when the soul is separated from the body, the person would see the sky of his heart filled with fog. Then, the fog disappears and he would see the form of water. After the water disappears, the fire would appear in the next stage. Then appears a very effulgent wind. In the next stage, a fine filmy substance like a cobweb is seen. Then in the final stage, the soul becomes pure white and subtle as ether. When a person conquers the Earth element, he has the power of creation. For a person who has conquered the wind element, he can cause earthquakes! By mastering the water element, he can drink lakes, rivers and oceans! When he conquers the fire element, he has the power of invisibility! When the Ego is destroyed, he has control over all the five elements! When the consciousness of Ego is conquered and the individu...

  When Brahma's day expires (1 Brahma day = 4.32 billion human years) and night time arrives, Brahma awakens the being called Maharudra. Maharudra then assumes the form of the sun with thousands of rays, divides himself into a dozen parts each resembling a burning fire. He then consumes all the beings of the earth with just the twinkle of an eye! He then fills the whole earth with water. Then dries up the water with cycle-fire. After the water gets dried up, the cycle-fire continues to blaze dreadfully. Then a powerful wind blows and devours the cycle-fire. Then space devours wind. Then consciousness devours the mind and consciousness in turn is devoured by the Supreme Soul. Then the entire Universe is devoured by Shambu. He is the heart of all the creatures and measures just a digit of the thumb! After this what remains is the immutable one who is the creator of the past, present and the future and who is faultless.

  Once upon a time, the Danavas were causing a lot of trouble. To put a stop to this, Lord Brahma performed a great sacrifice. While he was performing the sacrifice, a creature came out of it scattering the flames around it. It was as bright as the moon and it's complexion was dark as the blue lotus. It's teeth was keen and stomach lean. It was tall and energetic. When this being appeared, the earth shook, the oceans became agitated with mountain billows and dreadful eddies. Meteors appeared in the sky, trees fell, inauspicious winds blew like during the destruction of the universe. All the creatures of the universe began to tremble in fear. Then Brahma told all the Rishis and Gods that he had created this being for the protection of the universe and destruction of those who do not follow Dharma and named it "Asi" (sword or scimitar). That being then assumed the shape of a sword. It was highly effulgent, polished and sharp-edged. Brahma then handed the sword to Lord R...

  Once, Ushanas robbed all of Kubera's wealth through his yoga maya. Dejected, Kubera approached Lord Shiva. Shiva got angry. He immediately took his lance and searched for Ushanas. Meanwhile, Ushanas learnt that Shiva was angry with him. So, he placed himself at the tip of the lance. Shiva got to know this and bent the lance. After it was bent, this weapon came to be known as Pinaka. Shiva then took Ushanas and swallowed him! Ushanas started wandering in the stomach of Shiva. Shiva then entered a lake and did penance for a million years! After completing the penance when Shiva came out of the water, he observed that even Ushanas had become pure. Ushanas then began to sing praises to Lord Shiva. He also searched for an outlet to come out of Shiva. But, Shiva closed all of his outlets. Ushanas asked Shiva to forgive him. Then Shiva asked him to come out through his urethra. Ushanas finally came out of the outlet and hence came to be known as Shukra. As soon as Shiva saw him come out...

  Once Daksha performed a sacrifice. He invited everyone except Lord Shiva. Seeing Parvati upset about this, Lord Shiva decided to visit Daksha and destroy the sacrifice! The sacrifice became scared and assumed the form of a deer and tried to fly away. As soon as Shiva saw the sacrifice escaping, he chased after it with a bow and arrow. Shiva became angry when he could not catch it and a drop of sweat appeared on his forehead. When the sweat fell on earth, it appeared like the fire that occurs during dissolution of earth! Out of that fire emerged a very short being with red eyes and a green beard. It's body was covered all over with hair and it stood erect. That being then started consuming the sacrificial fire. After consuming the fire, it started chasing the gods. Agitated, Brahma asked Lord Shiva to calm down and that he too would be given a portion of the sacrifice. He also said that the being would walk among the creatures of the earth in the form of fever. But since its energ...

  One day Lord Indra came to the banks of Maanasasarovara. There he saw a beautiful woman named Chitrasena, who was the wife of Kubera (god of wealth). Chitrasena had come to that lake to worship Goddess Parvati. As soon as Indra saw her, he fell in love with her. Indra immediately summoned Kamadeva(god of love) and asked him to make Chitrasena fall in love with him. Kamadeva obeyed Indra's command and shot the arrow of love at Chitrasena. As soon as Chitrasena opened her eyes and saw Indra, she fell in love with him. Indra asked her who she was and after she introduced herself, he invited her to a secret cave in Mandarachala. She agreed and both of them boarded an aircraft to that place. When Chitrasena's maids returned to Kubera's kingdom without her, Kubera asked them what had happened to Chitrasena. When they told him the story, his face became dim. His minister, Kanthakubja consoled him and advised him to go to his brother, Vibhisana. When Kubera went to Vibhisana'...

  Once Arjuna, the Pandava prince, broke a vow. (He had entered the room when Yudhisthira and Draupadi were spending time together). For this he had to live in exile for twelve years. During this time, Arjuna visited many holy places and did fire sacrifices wherever he went. One day when he went to the river Ganga for a bath, he could not move his leg. He was immediately pulled into the waters by force! He was dragged deep into the river till he came across a beautiful palace. He wondered to whom it belonged. He also saw a sacrificial fire. He sat down by it and completed his rites with devotion. After finishing the rites when he opened his eyes, he saw a woman standing before him. He asked who she was. She told him her name was Uloopi and that she was the daughter of the snake-king, Kauravya. Arjuna asked her why she had brought him there. She told him she wanted to marry him. Arjuna told he would marry her after completing the sacrifice at Gangotri. She agreed. She dropped him ba...

  There once lived an elephant named Gajendra. He was the leader of the elephants. One day he went to a nearby lake to pick some lotus flowers and offer it to Lord Vishnu. At that time a crocodile caught his leg. Gajendra trumpeted in pain and tried to free himself from the clutches of the crocodile, but couldn't. So, he prayed to Lord Vishnu holding a lotus as an offering. Vishnu's heart melted and immediately threw his discus at the crocodile. It died and Ganjendra was free from it's clutches. Gajendra bowed to Vishnu in reverence. Vishnu told Gajendra that he was a pious king named Indrayumna in his previous birth. But once when Sage Agastya had visited his kingdom, he did not rise up from his throne to greet him. So, Sage Agastya cursed him to be reborn as an elephant. But, due to his pious deeds in his previous birth, he will attain moksha in this birth. The crocodile also attained moksha because in his previous birth he was born as a king named Huhu. One day Sage Deva...