Subhadra Subhadra (IAST: Subhadrā) is a character in the Mahabharata. She is the sister of Krishna and Balarama, wife of Arjuna and mother of Abhimanyu and grandmother of Parikshit. She is the daughter of Vasudeva and Rohini. When Subhadra becomes of age, Balarama suggests her as a bride to Duryodhana who was his favourite pupil. Krishna (knowing that Arjuna and Subhadra are deeply in love with…
Somadatta Somadatta, son of Bahlika, was an ally of the Kauravas. He was a suitor to Devaki, mother of Krishna. He fought with Sini, who was seeking the hand of Devaki for his friend Vasudeva. The battle was hard fought and in the end Sini emerged victorious. Devaki married Vasudeva. This incident began a bitter feud between the clan of Somadatta and…
Shantanu Shantanu was a Kuru king of Hastinapura. He was a descendant of the Bharata race, of the Lunar dynasty and great-grandfather of the Pandavas and Kauravas. He was the youngest son of King Pratipa and had been born in the latter’s old age. The eldest son Devapi had leprosy and gave up his inheritance to become a hermit. The middle son Bahlika abandoned his…
SamvaranaIn the Mahabharata, it is mentioned that Samvarana is the son of Riksha, fourth in descent from Ikshvaku (Adi Parva, Sambhava Parva). He married Tapati, a daughter of Surya. (Adi Parva, Chaitraratha Parva). Samvarana was driven from Hastinapur by the Panchalas, and forced to take refuge among the thickets of…
SanjayaSanjaya (Sanskrit: संजय, meaning “victory”) or Sanjaya Gavalgani is a character from the epic Mahabharata. In Mahabharata—an epic poem of war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas—the blind king Dhritarashtra is the father of the principals of the Kaurava side. Sanjaya, equal to sage was born from the portions of…
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…
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…
Sarpa Yaga Emperor Janmejay ascended to the throne of Hastinapura upon the death of his father Parikshit. According to legend, Parikshit, the lone descendant of the House of Pandu, had died of snakebite. He had been cursed by a sage to die so, the curse having been consummated by the…
The Satya Yuga (Devanagari: सत्य युग), also called Sat Yuga, Krta Yuga and Krita Yuga in Hinduism, is the first of the four Yugas, the “Yuga (Age or Era) of Truth”, when humanity is governed by gods, and every manifestation or work is close to the purest ideal and humanity will allow intrinsic goodness to rule supreme. It is sometimes referred…
Shukra Shukra, the Sanskrit for “clear, pure” or “brightness, clearness”, is the name of the son of Bhrigu, and preceptor of the Daityas, and the guru of the Asuras, identified with the planet Venus, one of the Navagrahas. He presides over Shukravar or Friday. He is of white complexion, middle-aged and of agreeable countenance. He is described variously as mounted on…