Tilottama

Tilottama

Demon Sunda and Demon Upasunda were two demon brothers. They were cursed to die at each others hands but they loved each other too much that they can't inflict any pain on the other. Tired of the destruction they had caused on earth, Lord Brahma approached Lord Vishwakarma, the heavenly architect, to find a solution. They decided to create a woman so beautiful that nobody could take their eyes off her. Accordingly, Lord Vishwakarma created the exquistly beautiful Tilottama, seeing whom even Lord Shiva could not remove his gaze. Lord Brahma then instructed her to meet the demons. Tilottama appeared before the demons and seeing her, both brothers fell for her charms. They both wanted to marry her and thus, a fierce enmity followed. They took up arms against each other and died fighting. Unfortunately, Tilottama's charms kept captivating one and all. So Lord Brahma gave curse that nobody would be able to cast his eyes on her for too long.

Yaksha teaching lessons to the proud gods

The Proud Gods

 Yaksha teaching lessons to The proud Gods

The Demons once defeated the Gods and started ruling the world. They caused a lot of destruction. The Gods went to the all powerful Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe. Lord Brahma blessed them and asked them to fight the Demons again. This time the Gods won and got their kingdom back.

The Gods started celebrating their victory and forgot their duties. They became very proud forgetting that they had won because of Lord Brahma's blessings. Lord Brahma decided to teach them a lesson and sent a Yaksha (demi-god) to their kingdom .

When Lord Indra Deva, the king of Gods, saw the Yaksha, he sent Lord Agni Deva, The God of fire, to him. Lord Agni deva said, "I am the powerful God who can burn anything, " The Yaksha gave him a blade of grass and asked him, "Can you burn this?" Lord Agni Deva laughed and said, "This is such a small thing, I can burn it in a second ." Lord Agni Deva tried to burn the blade but failed. Ashamed, Lord Agni Deva returned.

Then Lord Indra Deva sent Lord Pawan Deva, the god of wind. Lord Pawn Deva told him that he was a powerful God who could blow away anything. The Yaksha gave him the same blade of grass and asked him, Can you blow this away?" He placed the blade on his palm and blew at it, but couldn't even move it. he also returned in shame.

Lord Indra Deva then went himself. The Yaksha said, "You Gods have become so proud that you do not recognise that I am Lord Brahma's messenger. I have come to make you realise that it is the most powerful and who made you win. Now leave your pride and fulfill your duties."

The Legend of Lord Brahma's Four Heads

The Legend of Lord Brahma's Four Heads

Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe, is depicted as having four heads, though originally he had five.

While creating the universe Lord Brahma made a beautiful woman and named her Satarupa. But Lord Brahma was changed by his own creation. He had never before seen such a fine beauty. To enable himself to see her from all angles he gave himself a second, third, and fourth head. Wherever Satarupa went she found Lord Brahma's eyes staring at her. Disgusted, she rose skywards and in order to see her, Lord Brahma created a fifth head for himself.

Lord Shiva, the destroyer, was watching all this and Lord Brahma's actions greatly angered him. He felt that as Lord Brahma had created Satarupa, she was like his daughter and it was his duty to protect her.

He felt that it was wrong on Lord Brahma's part to be in love with her and to teach him a lesson Lord Shiva struck off Lord Brahma's fifth head.

The Story Of Rudraksha

The Story Of Rudraksha

A demon named Tripura performed a long and difficult tapasya and was granted a boon by Lord Brahma. This boon made him very powerful and he conquered heaven. When the gods were driven out of heaven, They were helpless and went to Lord Brahma for help. Lord Brahma did know how to solve the problem and sent them to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva decided to help the gods and went to fight with Tripura. He killed him with an arrow. But while he was fighting a few drops of perspiration from his body fell on earth. Rudraksha plants grew in the places whrere the drops fell. 

 

The seed of the Rudraksha plant has a lot of religious significance . It is believed that counting the rudraksha beads while chanting Lord Shiva's mantra cleanses a person of sin.