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Raktabīja
Raktabija () is an asura in Hinduism. According to the Puranas, he fought with Sumbha and Nisumbha against the goddesses Kali and Chandi, both forms of Durga. Raktabija had acquired a boon from Shiva that whenever a drop of his blood fell on the ground, various Raktabijas would emerge from the spot, equivalent to his strength, form, and weapons. Legend Origin According to the Puranas, Raktabija was, in his previous birth, Rambha, the son of Danu, the king of the asuras. Due to being childless, Rambha and his brother, Karambha, performed a penance to seek offspring. The brothers performed a tapas, with Rambha seated in the midst of five fires, and Karambha in the midst of water. Alarmed, Indra assumed the form of a makara and dragged Karambha into the depths, drowning him. Enraged, Rambha decided to offer his own head to the fires as a sacrifice. Agni appeared before him, and urged him to desist from performing suicide, denouncing it as a great sin. He offered Rambha a b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kali
Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tradition, she is considered as a ferocious form of goddess Mahadevi, the supreme of all powers, or the ultimate reality. She is the first of the ten Mahavidyas in the Hindu Tantras (Hinduism), tantric tradition. Kali's earliest appearance is when she emerged from Shiva. She is regarded as the ultimate manifestation of Shakti, and the mother of all living beings. The goddess is stated to destroy evil in order to protect the innocent. Over time, Kali has been worshipped by devotional movements and Tàntric sects variously as the Divine Mother, Mother of the Universe, Principal energy Adi Shakti. Shaktism, Shakta Hindu and Tantra, Tantric sects additionally worship her as the ultimate reality or ''Brahman''. She is also seen as the divi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rambha (asura)
Rambha is an asura in Hindu mythology. Rambha and Karambha are asura brothers, born as the descendants of Danu and Kashyapa. When they were young, both decided to perform penance to get special powers to establish the rule of Danavas in the universe. Penance and boon Rambha started penance standing inside a burning fire to please Agni Deva, while Karambha stood inside water to please Varuna Deva. When Indra became aware, he decided to kill both brothers. Firstly, Indra assumed the form of a makara and dragged Karambha into the depths, drowning him. However, Agni Deva saved Rambha when Indra tried to kill him. Finally, Rambha got a boon from Agni Deva that he would not be killed by any Deity (Deva), Demon ( Danava) or human. Only a dead man could kill him (which was virtually impossible). Rambha became powerful after getting the boon; he began mass killings of human beings and other living beings. Birth of Mahishasura Afterward, Rambha saw a water buffalo and fell in love with h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chandi
Chandi ( sa, चण्डी, ) or Chandika () is a Hindu deity. Chandika is another form of Mahadevi, similar to Durga. Chandika is a powerful form of Mahadevi who manifested to destroy evil. She is also known as ''Kaushiki'', '' Katyayani'', ''Asthadasabuja'' ''Mahalakshmi'' and ''Mahishasuramardini''. History or is the name by which the Supremely divine is referred to in Devī Māhātmya. Chandi represents the killer of Chanda. ''Chanda'' and Munda were Ashur's strong army generals. The word Chandi also refers to the fiery power of anger of the Brahman. Bhaskararaya, a leading authority on matters concerning Devi worship, defines Chandi as 'the angry, terrible or passionate one'. While scholars debate whether an old Goddess was Sanskritized or a suppressed Goddess was reclaimed, the fact remains that since the very early days, the Devi was worshiped in the subcontinent regardless of whether she appears as a supreme deity in Brahminic texts. Scholars who trace her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devi Mahatmya
The ''Devi Mahatmya'' or ''Devi Mahatmyam'' ( sa, देवीमाहात्म्यम्, devīmāhātmyam, Glory of the Goddess) is a Hindu philosophical text describing the Goddess as the supreme power and creator of the universe. It is part of the Markandeya Purana. ''Devi Mahatmyam'' is also known as the ''Durgā Saptashatī'' () or Śata Chandī (शत् चण्डी). The text contains 700 verses arranged into 13 chapters. Along with ''Devi-Bhagavata Purana'' and Shakta Upanishads such as the Devi Upanishad, it is one of the most important texts of Shaktism (goddess) tradition within Hinduism. The ''Devi Mahatmyam'' describes a storied battle between good and evil, where the Devi manifesting as goddess Durga leads the forces of good against the demon Mahishasura—the goddess is very angry and ruthless, and the forces of good win. In peaceful prosperous times, states the text, the Devi manifests as Lakshmi, empowering creation and happiness. The verses of this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sumbha And Nisumbha
In the Devi Mahatmya, Sumbha (शुम्भ) and Nisumbha (निशुम्भ), were two '' asuras'' that confronted, and were ultimately slain by Kaushiki; an avatar of Devi Chandi. In the Devi Mahatmyam The story of Sumbha and Nisumbha begins in the fifth chapter of the Devi Mahatmyam. Parvati relates how two brothers of Asura stock sought to conquer the Three Worlds by subjecting themselves to severe penance and purification rituals so that no man or demon could destroy them. Sumbha and Nisumbha traveled to Pushkara, a sacred place, and remained there in prayer for ten thousand years. God Brahma saw the brothers' penance, and was pleased, granting them the boon they requested. It was at this time that Chanda and Munda, two lesser Asuras in the service of Shumbha, encountered Parvati, and were overwhelmed by her beauty. They carried reports of this goddess to Shumbha, who sought to possess Parvati and her beauty. Shumbha sent the demon Sugriva (asura) to court Parvati, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chanda And Munda
In Hinduism, in the Devi Mahatmya, Chanda and Munda are asuras (demons) in the service of Sumbha and Nishumbha. After the death of Dhumralochana, Sumbha sent them to fight Devi Kaushiki. After Chanda and Munda approached Devi Kaushiki, she turned black and Kali sprung from her head and killed them. Then, Kaushiki gave the name Chamunda to Kali. Afterward Raktabīja was sent, but was also slain by Goddess Kali. See also * Rambha (asura) * Raktabīja * Sumbha and Nisumbha * Mahishasura Mahishasura is a bovine asura in Hinduism. He is depicted in literature to be a deceitful demon who pursued his evil ways by shape-shifting. Mahishasura was the son of Mahisi (Buffalo) and the great-grandson of Brahmarshi Kashyapa. He was ultim ... * Dhumralochana * Sugriva (asura) References Danavas {{Hindu-myth-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahishasura
Mahishasura is a bovine asura in Hinduism. He is depicted in literature to be a deceitful demon who pursued his evil ways by shape-shifting. Mahishasura was the son of Mahisi (Buffalo) and the great-grandson of Brahmarshi Kashyapa. He was ultimately killed by goddess Durga with her trishula (trident) after which she gained the epithet Mahishasuramardini ("Slayer of Mahishasura"). The Navaratri ("Nine Nights") festival eulogises this battle between Mahishasura and Durga, culminating in Vijaya Dasami, a celebration of his ultimate defeat. This story of the "triumph of good over evil" carries profound symbolism in Hinduism, particularly Shaktism, and is both narrated as well as reenacted from the Devi Mahatmya at many South and Southeast Asian Hindu temples. Legend Mahishasura is a Sanskrit word composed of ''Mahisha'' meaning “buffalo” and ''asura'' meaning “demon”, translating to “Buffalo Demon”. As an asura, Mahishasura waged war against the devas, as the devas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matrikas
Matrikas (Sanskrit: मातृका (singular), IAST: mātṝkās, lit. "divine mothers") also called Matar or Matri, are a group of mother goddesses who are always depicted together in Hinduism. The Matrikas are often depicted in a group of seven, the Saptamatrika(s) (Seven Mothers). However, they are also depicted as a group of eight, the Ashtamatrika(s). In the '' Brihat Samhita'', Varahamihira says that "Mothers are to be made with cognizance of (different major Hindu) gods corresponding to their names." They are associated with these gods as their spouses or their energies (''Shaktis''). Brahmani emerged from Brahma, Vaishnavi from Vishnu, Maheshvari from Shiva, Indrani from Indra, Kaumari from Skanda, Varahi from Varaha and Chamunda from Devi. and additionals are Narasimhi from Narasimha and Vinayaki from Ganesha. Originally believed to be a personification of the seven stars of the star cluster the Pleiades, they became quite popular by the seventh century and a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brooklyn Museum - Durga Slaying The Buffalo Demon Raktabij And Kali Lapping Up The Demon%27s Blood Page From A Markandeya Purana Series
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behind New York County (Manhattan). Brooklyn is also New York City's most populous borough,2010 Gazetteer for New York State . Retrieved September 18, 2016. with 2,736,074 residents in 2020. Named after the Dutch village of |
Agni
Agni (English: , sa, अग्नि, translit=Agni) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism. He is also the guardian deity of the southeast direction and is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu temples. In the classical cosmology of the Indian religions, Agni as fire is one of the five inert impermanent elements ('' pañcabhūtá'') along with space (''ākāśa''), water (''ap''), air (''vāyu'') and earth (''pṛthvī''), the five combining to form the empirically perceived material existence (''Prakṛti''). In Vedic literature, Agni is a major and oft-invoked god along with Indra and Soma. Agni is considered the mouth of the gods and goddesses and the medium that conveys offerings to them in a ''homa'' (votive ritual). He is conceptualized in ancient Hindu texts to exist at three levels, on earth as fire, in the atmosphere as lightning, and in the sky as the sun. This triple presence accords him as the messenger between the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devi Bhagavata Purana
The Devi Bhagavata Purana ( sa, देवी भागवतपुराणम्, '), also known as the Srimad Devi Bhagavatam, Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavata Purana or simply ''Devi Bhagavatam'', is one of the eighteen Purana, Mahapuranas of Hinduism. Composed in Sanskrit language, Sanskrit by Vyasa, Veda Vyasa. The text is considered as a major purana for Devi worshippers. It promotes ''bhakti'' (devotion) towards Mahadevi, integrating themes from the Shaktadvaitavada tradition (syncretism of Samkhya and Advaita Vedanta. literally, the path of nondualistic Shakti). The purana consists of twelve cantos (sections) with 318 chapters. Along with ''Devi Mahatmya'', it is one of the most important works in Shaktism, a tradition within Hinduism that reveres Devi or Shakti (Goddess) as the primordial creator of the universe and the Brahman (ultimate truth and reality). It celebrates the divine feminine as the origin of all existence, the creator, the preserver and the destroyer of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Svarga
Svarga (), also known as Indraloka and Svargaloka, is the celestial abode of the devas in Hinduism. Svarga is one of the seven higher lokas ( esoteric planes) in Hindu cosmology. Svarga is often translated as heaven, though it is regarded to be not the equivalent of the Abrahamic Heaven. Description Svargaloka is a set of celestial worlds located on and above Mount Meru, where those who had led righteous lives by adhering to the scriptures delight in pleasures, before their next birth on earth. It is described to have been built by the deity Tvashtar, the Vedic architect of the devas. The king of the devas, Indra, is the ruler of Svarga, ruling it with his consort, Indrani. His palace in the abode is called Vaijayanta. This palace holds the famous hall, Sudharma, unrivalled among all the princely courts. The capital of Svarga is Amaravati, and its entrance is guarded by the legendary elephant, Airavata. Svarga is described to be the home of Kamadhenu, the cow of plenty, as w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_Hindu_puja%2C_yajna%2C_yagna%2C_Havanam_in_progress.jpg "Click for more on -> Agni")
