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Markandeya (1919 Film)
Markandeya ( sa, मार्कण्डेय, translit=Mārkaṇḍeya) is a rishi (sage) featured in Hindu literature. He is the son of the sage Mrikanda and his wife, Manasvini. The Markandeya Purana, attributed to the sage, comprises a dialogue between Markandeya and a sage called Jaimini. A number of chapters in the Bhagavata Purana are dedicated to his conversations and prayers. He is also mentioned in the Mahabharata. Markandeya is venerated within all mainstream Hindu traditions. Legend Rescue by Kalantaka-Shiva One legend relates the story of how Shiva protected Markandeya from the clutches of death, personified as Yama. Sage Mrikanda performed penance to propitiate Shiva for several years and sought from him the boon of begetting a son. The deity offered him the choice of either a virtuous and pious son who would have a short life, or a dull-witted or malicious child who would have a long life. Mrikanda chose the former, and was blessed with Markandeya, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mrikanda
Mrikanda is a son of Vidhta, folk hero of the Bhargava Brahmins, a caste of Indian Priest. According to the legend, his Bhargava Brahmins community In mythology and history Mrikanda was the descendant of one of the daughters of Daksha (son of the Hindu god Brahma), who married ''rishi'' Bhrigu and bore him two sons. Mrikanda (the elder of the two sons) had a son, the renowned sage Markandeya. Mrikanda is venerated as the founder of weaving, and as a result of the gods' gratitude he was granted two boons—a tiger and a giant. The giant disobeyed Mrikandaʻs orders and was summarily slain, but the tiger was obedient and so lived. According to modern ''Koshte'' folklore if a tiger is encountered in the jungle it is enough only to speak Mrikanda's name allowed to prevent being attacked. Mrikanda is still seen as a watchful and protective figure in mythology. In addition to being the father of modern weaving, he is also venerated as the biological ancestor of the great sage Markan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manvantara
A ''manvantara'', in Hindu cosmology, is a cyclic period of time identifying the duration, reign, or age of a Manu (Hinduism), Manu, the progenitor of mankind. In each ''manvantara'', seven Rishis, certain deities, an Indra, a Manu (Hinduism), Manu, and kings (sons of Manu) are created and perish. Each ''manvantara'' is distinguished by the Manu who rules/reigns over it, of which we are currently in the seventh ''manvantara'' of fourteen, which is ruled by Shraddhadeva Manu, Vaivasvata Manu.Account of the several Manus and Manwantaras Vishnu Purana, translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, 1840, Book III: Chapter I. p. 259, The first Manu was Swáyambhuva, then came Swárochisha, then Auttami, then Támasa, then Raivata, then Chakshusha, Chákshusha: these six Manus have passed away. The Manu who presides over the seventh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Punya (Hinduism)
Punya (), also rendered Punyam () is a concept in Hinduism with various definitions. It generally refers to virtue or merit, and the activities that allow one to acquire this attribute, in order to achieve liberation from samsara, the cycle of birth and death in the material world. Definitions ''Punya'' is referred to as good ''karma'' or a virtue that contributes benefits in this and the next birth and can be acquired by appropriate means and also accumulated. In Vedanta terms ''punya'' is the invisible wealth, a part of ''dharma'', the first of four human goals; the other three goals being ''artha,'' ''kama, and moksha''. ''Punya'' and '' pāpa'' are the seeds of future pleasure and pain, the former, which sows merits, exhausts itself only through pleasure and the latter, which sows demerits, exhausts itself only through pain; but '' Jivan mukti'' ends all karmic debts consisting of and signified by these two dynamics. Philosophical traditions During the Vedic period, ''brah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parvati
Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi in her complete form. She is also revered in her appearances as Durga and Kali.Suresh Chandra (1998), Encyclopedia of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, , pp 245–246 She is one of the central deities of the goddess-oriented sect called Shaktism, and the chief goddess in Shaivism. Along with Lakshmi and Saraswati, she forms the Tridevi. Parvati is the wife of the Hindu god Shiva. She is the reincarnation of Sati, the first wife of Shiva who immolated herself during a yajna (fire-sacrifice).Edward Balfour, , The Encyclopaedia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, pp 153 Parvati is the daughter of the mountain-king Himavan and queen Mena.H.V. Dehejia, Parvati: Goddess of Love, Mapin, , pp 11 Parvati is the mother of the Hindu deities Ganesha and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banyan
A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as an epiphyte, i.e. a plant that grows on another plant, when its seed germinates in a crack or crevice of a host tree or edifice. "Banyan" often specifically denotes ''Ficus benghalensis'' (the "Indian banyan"), which is the national tree of India, though the name has also been generalized to denominate all figs that share a common life cycle and used systematically in taxonomy to denominate the subgenus '' Urostigma''. Characteristics Like other fig species, banyans bear their fruit in the form of a structure called a " syconium". The syconium of ''Ficus'' species supply shelter and food for fig wasps and the trees depend on the fig wasps for pollination. Frugivore birds disperse the seeds of banyans. The seeds are small, and because ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pralaya
Pralaya ( sa, प्रलय, , Apocalypse or the Annihilation of the Universe, translit=Pralaya) is a concept in Hindu eschatology. Generally referring to four different phenomena, it is most commonly used to indicate the event of the dissolution of the entire universe that follows a ''kalpa'' (a period of 4.32 billion years) called the ''Brahmapralaya''. Pralaya also refers to ''Nityapralaya'', the continuous destruction of all animate and inanimate beings that occurs on a daily basis, ''Prakritapralaya'', the great flood produced by Prakriti (Nature) that ends all of creation after the completion of the Chaturyuga (four-age) cycle, and ''Atyantikapralaya'', the dissolution of one's Atman (Self) due to its union with Brahman (Ultimate Reality). A concept that has been referenced in literature since the Upanishads, the concept of pralaya has been widely discussed in Hindu cosmology as well as philosophy. Description Hindu cosmology posits an endless cycle of the periodi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maya (religion)
''Maya'' (; Devanagari: , IAST: ), literally "illusion" or "magic", has multiple meanings in Indian philosophies depending on the context. In later Vedic texts, connotes a "magic show, an illusion where things appear to be present but are not what they seem"; the principle which shows "attributeless Absolute" as having "attributes". also connotes that which "is constantly changing and thus is spiritually unreal" (in opposition to an unchanging Absolute, or Brahman), and therefore "conceals the true character of spiritual reality".Lynn Foulston and Stuart Abbott (2009), ''Hindu Goddesses: Beliefs and Practices'', Sussex Academic Press, , pp. 14-16. In the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, , "appearance", is "the powerful force that creates the cosmic illusion that the phenomenal world is real." In this nondualist school, at the individual level appears as the lack of knowledge () of the real Self, ''Atman-Brahman'', mistakingly identifying with the body-mind comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nara-Narayana
Naranarayana (), also rendered Nara-Narayana, is a Hindu duo of sage-brothers. Generally regarded to be the partial-incarnation (aṃśa-avatara) of the preserver deity, Vishnu, on earth, Nara-Narayana are described to be the sons of Dharma and Ahimsa. The Hindu scripture ''Mahabharata'' identifies the prince Arjuna with Nara, and the deity Krishna with Narayana. The legend of Nara-Narayana is also told in the scripture ''Bhagavata Purana''. Hindus believe that the pair dwells at Badrinath, where their most important temple stands. Etymology The name "Nara-Narayana" can be broken into two Sanskrit terms, ''Nara'' and ''Narayana''. Nara means male being, and Narayana refers to the name of the deity. Monier-Williams dictionary says Nara is "the primeval Man or eternal Spirit pervading the universe always associated with Narayana, "son of the primeval man". In epic poetry, they are the sons of Dharma by Murti or Ahimsa, and emanations of Vishnu, Arjuna being identified with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 peaks exceeding in elevation lie in the Himalayas. By contrast, the highest peak outside Asia (Aconcagua, in the Andes) is tall. The Himalayas abut or cross five countries: Bhutan, India, Nepal, China, and Pakistan. The sovereignty of the range in the Kashmir region is disputed among India, Pakistan, and China. The Himalayan range is bordered on the northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, and on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Some of the world's major rivers, the Indus, the Ganges, and the Tsangpo–Brahmaputra, rise in the vicinity of the Himalayas, and their combined drainage basin is home to some 600 million people; 53 million people live in the Himalayas. The Himalayas have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashram
An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ... in Indian religions. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Proto-Indo-European, PIE *''ḱremh2'') with the prefix 'towards.' An ashram is a place where one strives towards a goal in a disciplined manner. Such a goal could be ascetic, spirituality, spiritual, yogic or any other. Overview 
An ashram wo ...
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Kamadeva
Kama ( sa, काम, ), also known as Kamadeva and Manmatha, is the Hindu god of love and desire, often portrayed alongside his consort, Rati. The Atharvaveda, Atharva Veda regards Kamadeva as the wielder of the creative power of the universe, also describing him to have been "born at first, him neither the gods nor the fathers ever equalled". He is described to be attended by the celestial nymphs of Hindu mythology, the Apsara, apsaras, depicted as a youthful deity of blue or red skin, decked with ornaments and flowers, armed with a bow of sugarcane and shooting arrows of flowers. His most popular legend is his story of incineration by Shiva's third eye while the latter was meditating, later embodied on earth as the eldest son of Krishna and his chief consort Rukmini, Pradyumna. Etymology and other names The name ''Kama-deva'' () can be translated as 'god of love'. ''Deva'' means heavenly or divine, and refers to a deity in Hinduism. ''Kama'' () means "desire" or "longing", ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gandharva
A gandharva () is a member of a class of celestial beings in Dharmic religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, whose males are divine performers such as musicians and singers, and the females are divine dancers. In Hinduism, they are regarded to be the celestial demigods who serve as the musicians of the devas. It is also a term for skilled singers in Indian classical music. Gandharvas have been associated with the historical Gandhara region. In Buddhism, this term also refers to a being in the intermediate state (between death and rebirth). Hinduism In Hinduism, the gandharvas (, , , , , , ; , ) are a class of minor deities who serve as divine musicians in Hindu mythology. The term gandharva is present in Vedic sources (including in the Rigveda) as a singular deity. According to Oberlies, "In mandala I, IX and X the gandharva is presented as a celestial being (dwelling near the sun / in the heavenly waters) which watches over the Soma (apparently) for the benef ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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