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Showing posts from March 28, 2014


Story of Uchchaihshravas – The Horse of Indra

The story of the origin of Uchchaihshravas is found in the Bhagavata Purana. This divine horse appeared during the churning of ocean (Samudra Manthan) by Devas (demi gods) and Asuras (demons). Uchchaihshravas means one with long ears or one that neighs loudly. Uchchaihshravas is white like the moon and has seven heads. This flying horse was taken by Indra, the king of Devas. It is also the king of the horses. The color of the tail of Uchchaihshravas was the reason for Vinata and Garuda becoming the slave of Kadru and her serpent sons. Vinata was sure that the tail of Uchchaihshravas was white but Kadru said it was black. After a bitter argument it was decided that whoever was wrong would become the slave of the winner. Kadru’s serpent sons hanged to the tail of Uchchaihshravas and made it appear black, when in reality the tail was white. Thus Vinata and her son Garuda became the slaves of Kadru and her sons. Another story has it that Goddess Lakshmi once happened t

Book – The Seduction of Shiva: Tales of Life and Love

Book titled ‘The Seduction of Shiva: Tales of Life and Love’ is compiled and translated by Aditya Narayan Dhairyasheel Haksar. The stories of love and longing from various Sanskrit texts including Puranas are part of the book. Indian Express writes  ”All great literature deals with the theme of the relation between the sexes and I have tried to bring together a collection of stories covering as big a period as possible,” Haksar said during the book release here recently. The first story in the anthology talks about how the god Shiva is seduced by Mohini, the female form assumed by Vishnu. In another tale, Urvashi curses the Pandava prince Arjuna when he rejects her advances. The protagonist in another story pursues pleasure first as a man and then as a woman. “The stories in the ‘Seduction of Shiva’ have been taken over a over 1500 years let me drew material from not only from what is called secular writing but also literature traditionally regarded as scriptural like tales