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Purochana
Purochana () is a character in Hindu mythology, an architect in the kingdom of Hastinapura, and one of Duryodhana's trusted aides in the Indian epic Mahabharata. He was also a minister under the Kauravas. He is better known as the individual who created the Lakshagraha (palace of lac) under the orders of Duryodhana and his evil mentor, Shakuni. Purochana himself perished in the fire meant to kill the Pandavas. In his previous life, he had been born as Prahasta, who was a powerful rakshasa Rakshasas ( sa, राक्षस, IAST: : Pali: ''rakkhaso'') lit. 'preservers' are a race of usually malevolent demigods prominently featured in Hindu mythology. According to the Brahmanda Purana, the rakshasas were created by Brahma wh ... warrior, and chief commander of Ravana's army of Lanka. In both his births, he has been the minister of antagonistic monarchs. References Characters in the Mahabharata {{Hindu-myth-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lakshagraha
Lakshagriha ( sa, लाक्षागृहम्, )) (The House of Lacquer) is a place mentioned in the ''Mahabharata'', one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of History of India, ancient India, the other being the Ramayana. This place is located on the bank of ganga river, 5 km south side from handia tehsil, Prayagraj. Jealous of their cousins Pandava, Pandava brothers, Duryodhana planned to kill them by building a palace made from lacquer, and invited them to stay there for a while. Purochana the architect was employed in the building of Lakshagriha in the forest of Barnava, Varnavrat. The house was meant to be a death trap, since lacquer is highly flammable. The plot itself was such that nobody would suspect foul play and the eventual death of the Pandavas would pass off as an accident. In the Mahabharata this incident is considered as a major turning point, since the Pandavas were considered dead by their cousins, and makes them ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and the Pāṇḍava princes and their successors. It also contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or ''puruṣārtha'' (12.161). Among the principal works and stories in the ''Mahābhārata'' are the '' Bhagavad Gita'', the story of Damayanti, the story of Shakuntala, the story of Pururava and Urvashi, the story of Savitri and Satyavan, the story of Kacha and Devayani, the story of Rishyasringa and an abbreviated version of the ''Rāmāyaṇa'', often considered as works in their own right. Traditionally, the authorship of the ''Mahābhārata'' is attributed to Vyāsa. There have been many attempts to unravel its historical growth and c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prahasta
In the Hindu epic, the ''Ramayana'', Prahasta (Sanskrit: प्रहस्त, IAST: prahasta, lit. ''he who has extended hands'') was a powerful rakshasa warrior and the chief commander of Ravana's army of Lanka. He was the son of Sumali and Ketumathi. In his next birth, Prahasta was reborn as Purochana in the Mahabharata as Duryodhana's trusted aide and was the main responsible for the Lakshagraha incident. Legend Prahasta was one of the ten sons of Sumali and Ketumati. He also had four sisters. One of them was Ravana's mother Kaikashi. Prahasta was appointed as the commander-in-chief of Ravana's army. He led Ravana's army in the wars against Yama, Kubera and the Devas, and the Asuras and Daityas, through which Ravana established his sovereignty over the three worlds. He also led the initial Lankan response to the invasion led by Rama, Lakshmana, Sugriva and the Vanara army. Prahasta killed several important warriors of Sugriva's army and was actually proving to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kauravas
''Kaurava'' is a Sanskrit term which refers to descendants of Kuru, a legendary king of India who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the epic ''Mahabharata''. Usually, the term is used for the 100 sons of King Dhritarashtra and his wife Gandhari. Duryodhana, Dushasana, Vikarna and Chitrasena are the most popular among the brothers. They also had a sister named Dussala and a half-brother named Yuyutsu. Etymology The term ''Kauravas'' is used in the ''Mahabharata'' with two meanings: *The wider meaning is used to represent all the descendants of Kuru. This meaning, which includes the Pandava brothers, is often used in the earlier parts of popular renditions of the ''Mahabharata''. *The narrower but more common meaning is used to represent the elder line of the descendants of Kuru. This restricts it to the children of King Dhritarashtra, excluding the children of his younger brother, Pandu, whose children form the Pandava line. The rest of this article deals with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindu Mythology
Hindu mythology is the body of myths and literature attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion, found in Hindu texts such as the Vedic literature, epics like ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'', the Puranas, and regional literature like the Tamil ''Periya Puranam'' and ''Divya Prabandham'', and the '' Mangal Kavya'' of Bengal. Hindu myths are also found in widely translated popular texts such as the fables of the '' Panchatantra'' and the ''Hitopadesha'', as well as in Southeast Asian texts. Primary sources * Vedas ** Rig ** Sama ** Yajur ** Atharva * Itihasa ** Ramayana ** Mahabharata * Maha-Puranas **Agni Purana **Brahma Purana ** Brahmanda Purana **Bhagavata Purana **Devi-Bhagavata Purana **Garuda Purana **Kurma Purana **Shiva Purana **Skanda Purana **Markandeya Purana **Matsya Purana ** Narada Purana **Linga Purana **Padma Purana **Varaha Purana **Vayu Purana **Vishnu Purana *Bengali literature **Mangal-Kāvya *Tamil literature ** Divya ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duryodhana
Duryodhana ( sa, दुर्योधन, ) also known as Suyodhana, is the primary antagonist in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata.'' He was the eldest of the Kauravas, the hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra and his queen Gandhari. Being the first-born son of the blind king, he was the crown prince of the Kuru Kingdom and its capital of Hastinapura, often forced into ceding the title to his cousin Yudhishthira, who was older than him. Karna was the prince's closest friend. Notably, Duryodhana, with significant assistance from Karna, performs the Vaishnava Yagna when the Pandavas are in exile. Duryodhana used his greater skill in wielding the mace to defeat his opponents. He was also an extremely courageous warrior and was said to be a good ruler. Duryodhana's greed and arrogance were the two qualities said to have led to his downfall in the Mahabharata. Etymology The Sanskrit word, ''Duryodhana'' means "invincible" in battle. Birth When Gandhari's pregnancy continue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago., "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73–55 ka.", "Modern human beings—''Homo sapiens''—originated in Africa. Then, int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epic (genre)
Epic is a genre of narrative defined by heroic or legendary adventures presented in a long format. Grant, John, and John Clute. 1997. "Arabian fantasy." ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy''. London: Orbit Books. . . Originating in the form of epic poetry, the genre also now applies to epic theatre, epic films, music, novels, stage play, television series, and video games. Scholars argue that 'the epic' has long since become "disembedded" from its origins in oral poetry. History Ancient sources Providing a plethora of narrative tropes, the Mesopotamian ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', as the first recorded epic poem, would lay the foundation for the entire Western branch of the genre. Both the Old Testament and New Testament borrow many themes from ''Gilgamesh'', which in turn has been found to draw from older Sumerian tradition. As such, some anthropologists identify Jesus as an embodiment of the same mythical archetype. Some similarities, among others, include stories of: * the uni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new online opinion-orientated site called the ''DailyO''. History ''India Today'' was established in 1975 by Vidya Vilas Purie (owner of Thompson Press), with his daughter Madhu Trehan as its editor and his son Aroon Purie as its publisher.Bhandare, Namita"70's: The decade of innocence".''Hindustan Times''. Retrieved 29 July 2012. At present, ''India Today'' is also published in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S .... The India Today news channel was launched on 22 May 2015. In October 2017, Aroon P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shakuni
Shakuni ( sa, शकुनि, , ) plays a key role in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is one of the main antagonists of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He was the prince of the kingdom of Gandhara when introduced, later becoming its king after the death of his father, Subala. He was the brother of Gandhari (Mahabharata), Gandhari and the maternal uncle of the Kauravas. Portrayed as intelligent, crafty and devious, Shakuni supported his nephews, particularly the eldest, Duryodhana, in plotting against their cousinsthe Pandavas. It was Shakuni who played the game of dice against Yudhishthira, one of the seminal events in the epic. He was a master of manipulating the game using loaded dice, which caused the exile of the Pandavas and the consolidation of the power of the Kauravas. During the Kurukshetra War, Shakuni was killed by the youngest Pandava, Sahadeva. Etymology and epithets The Sanskrit word "Shakuni" means 'a large bird'. In the epic, Shakuni has been referred to by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pandava
The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledged as the sons of Pandu, the King of Kuru, but were fathered by different ''Devas'' (gods) due to Pandu's inability to naturally conceive children. In the epic, the Pandavas married Draupadi, the princess of Panchala, and founded the city of Indraprastha after the Kuru Kingdom was split to avoid succession disputes. After their paternal cousins the Kauravas—led by Duryodhana—tricked them into surrendering their kingdom and refused to return it, the Pandavas waged a civil war against their extended family, and this conflict was known as the Kurukshetra War. With the help of the god Krishna, the Pandavas eventually won the war with the death of the Kauravas, albeit at great cost. Etymology The word ''Pandava'' ( sa, पाण्डव ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rakshasa
Rakshasas ( sa, राक्षस, IAST: : Pali: ''rakkhaso'') lit. 'preservers' are a race of usually malevolent demigods prominently featured in Hindu mythology. According to the Brahmanda Purana, the rakshasas were created by Brahma when he assumed a body of ''tamas'' (darkness), the beings springing forth and promising to protect the waters of creation. They are often depicted to be man-eaters (''nri-chakshas'', ''kravyads''), acting as embodiments of the powers of evil in the Vedic scriptures. They are offered a distinction from yakshas, their cousins who are depicted to be forces of destruction. The term is also used to describe asuras, a class of power-seeking beings that oppose the benevolent devas. They are often depicted as antagonists in Hindu scriptures, as well as in Buddhism and Jainism. The female form of rakshasa is rakshasi. Hinduism In Vedas The Hymn 87 of the tenth mandala of the ''Rigveda'' mentions about Rakshasas. They are classified amongst the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
