Arthatatvam

  There was a Rishi named Mandavya. He used to observe the vow of silence by raising his arms at the entrance of his hermitage. Once a gang of thieves came near his hermitage and hid their stolen goods. When the guards of the king came in search of the thieves, they saw the Rishi Mandavya and asked him their whereabouts. Since, the Rishi was observing the vow of silence, he did not reply. At that time the guards saw the stolen goods hidden near the Rishi. Assuming he was also one of the gang members they took the Rishi to the king. Later they found the other thieves and took them to the king as well. The king asked the guards to impale all of them! When the guards did so, all the thieves died except Mandavya. Other Rishis came in the form of birds took pity on him and asked him why he had to suffer such a plight. When Mandavya replied, the guards told the king that the Rishi was alive. The king came there and begged for the Rishi's forgiveness and offered to remove the pole from hi...

  Once Ruru, the son of Sage Pramati, along with his friends went to the hermitage of Sage Sthulakesha for some water. When they asked for it, the daughter of Sage Sthulakesha, Pramadvara, approached them with some water. As soon as Ruru saw her, he fell in love with her. After he and his friends returned home, he told his father he wanted to marry her. So Sage Pramati approached Sage Sthulakesha for the proposal. Sage Sthulakesha told him that he found Pramadvara abandoned in the forest when she was a baby and he adopted her. Ruru said he did not have a problem with this and soon they were engaged. Then one day Pramadvara was playing with her friends in a forest. At that time she accidentally stepped on a snake and it bit her. She immediately died. When Ruru heard the news, he was aghast! He immediately went to the forest to see her. When he saw her lying there, he lamented and said if he had been charitable, respected his elders, observed penances, to restore the life of Pramadva...

  Once the Ashwini Kumaras (Celestial physicians) saw Sukanya in a forest and asked her to marry them. She told she was the wife of Sage Chyavana and would not marry anybody else. When they asked why she wanted to be the wife of a blind Sage, she got angry and asked them to leave before she curses them. They said they wanted to test her chastity and would restore Sage Chyavana's vision and his youth if she passes the test. The Ashwini Kumaras said they would disguise themselves as Sage Chyavana along with him and she has to identify from the three who is her real husband. Sukanya was hesitant. She approached her husband and took his permission to take the test. He blessed her. Then the Ashwini Kumaras along with Sage Chyavana jumped into the lake. When the came out, all the three looked like Sage Chyavana. Sukanya prayed to the divine mother. The divine mother told her to look carefully only at their eyes and said only the mortals blink. Sukanya observed only the eyes of the one in...

  Once, there lived a Sage named Chyavana. He performed severe austerities in the jungle on the outskirts of Sharyaati's kingdom. Being immersed in meditation for several years, he was not aware that he was covered by an anthill. Once Sukanya, King Sharyaati's daughter, wandered off into the forest in which Sage Chyavana was doing his meditation. Suddenly the anthill attracted her. She saw two shining objects inside the anthill and assumed it to be fireflies. She poked it with twigs unaware that it was the eyes of Sage Chyavana! She saw blood flowing from the anthill. Terrified, she ran to her father. She observed that all her father's men were in pain. Sukanya narrated her story to her father. He along with his men set out to the jungle. When he saw Sage Chyavana, he narrated the story of his daughter. He asked for his forgiveness and asked if he could do anything to help him. Chyavana said he needed someone to look after him as he was blind. The King offered hundred men t...

  Sage Bhrigu was the mind-born son of Lord Brahma. He had a wife named Puloma. Once Bhrigu had gone out to perform his ablutions. At that time, a Rakshasa(demon) also named Puloma came to the Rishi's hermitage and kidnapped the Rishi's wife. He told her that her father had formerly promised her to him. He told Agni (Fire) had been a witness to this and asked Agni to tell her this. But, Agni was afraid of Bhrigu's curse. Agni told the Rakshasa though he was promised to her by her father, she was given as a gift to Bhrigu and was married to him with due rites. So, she rightfully belonged to Bhrigu. After hearing this, the Rakshasa took the form of a boar and carried Puloma away. The child that was in her womb got enraged and dropped down. For this reason he got the name Chyavana. Looking at this, the Rakshasa fell down and was burnt to ashes. Lord Brahma consoled Puloma and a great river was formed from her tears named Vadhusara. When Bhrigu saw his wife and son, he got angr...

  Once there were three asuras(demons): Tarakaksha, Vidyunmali and Kamlaksha. All of them did great penances. Lord Brahma was pleased and appeared before them and gave them each a boon. They asked to be immortal. When Brahma said nobody could be immortal, they asked for  three indestructible cities made of iron, silver and gold and located on earth, in the sky and in heaven, respectively.  However, as Brahma told them that nothing could be everlasting, they requested the destruction of the cities could be brought about by a single arrow only. Brahma agreed to this.   Maya(Celestial architect) built them the three cities. The three cities were called Tripura.  The three cities were mobile and moved in such a way that they would never be in a single line, except for a few moments in around a thousand years. All the asuras lived in the three cities happily. After sometime, their inherent evil tendencies surfaced once again and they began to destroy the earth and he...

  Garuda proceeded to the abode of the Devas. Various evil omens appeared there. Indra (The King Of The Devas), consulted Brihaspati (The Guru Of The Devas), about this. Brihaspati told him that Garuda was on his way to steal the Amrit (Nectar Of Immortality). Indra informed others about this and asked them to guard it. Garuda arrived and a terrible battle ensued between him and the Devas. He defeated them. He had to cross a wall of fire surrounding the Amrit. He filled his beak with water and put the fire out. He then saw the Amrit guarded by two poisonous serpents and a revolving wheel with a sharp edge. He reduced his size and slid under the wheel and killed the serpents and snatched the pot of Amrit and the wheel shattered. He rose to the sky carrying the Amrit. As he flew along, Vishnu saw him. Vishnu wondered that though Garuda had the Amrit, he didn't even have a drop of it. He decided to give him two boons and called Garuda. When Garuda arrived and was asked what boons...