Dhritarashtra laments DhritarashtraIn the Mahabharata, Dhritarashtra (Sanskrit: धृतराष्ट्र, dhṛtarāshtra; lit. “a good king” is the King of Hastinapur at the time of the Kurukshetra War, the epic’s climactic event. He was born the son of Vichitravirya’s first wife Ambika, and was fathered by Veda Vyasa. Dhritarashtra was blind from birth,…
Agni Agni (Sanskrit: अग्नि Agni) is the Rig Vedic deity of fire and the conveyor of sacrifices to the gods. He is also a god of divine knowledge, who leads man to the gods. He was one of the most important of the Vedic gods. Agni has three forms: ‘fire’,…
SatyavatiSatyavati (Sanskrit: सत्यवती) was the queen of the Kuru king Shantanu of Hastinapur and the great-grandmother of the Pandava and Kaurava princes (principal characters of the epic Mahabharata). She is also the mother of Rishi Vyasa, author of the epic and composer of Vedas and Puranas. Her story appears in…
Akshauhini An Akshauhini (Sanskrit: अक्षौहिणी), is described in the Mahabharata as a battle formation consisting of 21,870 chariots (Sanskrit Ratha); 21,870 elephants; 65,610 cavalry and 109,350 infantry (Adi Parva 2.15-23). The ratio is 1 chariot : 1 elephant : 3 cavalry : 5 infantry soldiers. In each of these large number groups (65,610, etc.),…
Parikshit (Sanskrit: परिक्षित्, Parikṣit) was a Kuru king who reigned during the Middle Vedic period (12th or 11th century BCE). Along with his successor Janamejaya, he played a decisive role in the consolidation of the Kuru state, the arrangement of Vedic hymns into collections, and the development of the orthodox srauta ritual,…
Uttanka In Hindu mythology, Uttanka is a Rishi (sage) who resided in the Maru desert. The primary source of this account is found in the Mahabharata. In the earliest version, Uttanka is described as the disciple of the sage Veda. In the second version, his guru is Gautama. In both…
Upamanyu was a favorite disciple of Saint Ayodhdhaumya. He was assigned the task of looking after the cows. One day when he returned after his days work, the Guru called him and said, “Son, you look very healthy and radiant. What do you eat while you are working?” Upamanyu replied…
In Hindu mythology, Sarama (Sanskrit: सरमा, Saramā) is a mythological being referred to as the female dog of the gods, or Deva-shuni (देव-शुनी, devaśunī). She first appears in one of Hinduism’s earliest texts, the Rig Veda, in which she helps the god-king Indra to recover divine cows stolen by the Panis, a class of demons. This legend is alluded to in many later…