Results for "Mahavira"

Son of Vayu and the supreme devotee of Rama, whose strength, humility, and unbroken devotion are the pattern for bhakti itself. He flew across the ocean to find Sita and carried an…

Why a new-moon night in Kārttika became the festival of light: the Upaniṣadic prayer from darkness to light, Lakṣmī of the Śrī Sūkta, the many stories that claim the same five days…

*Dīpāvalī* is two plain Sanskrit words joined together: *dīpa*, a lamp, and *āvali*, a row or line. The name describes what people do, not a single story. That matters, because Dīp…

*Jain tradition:* For Jains, Dīpāvalī marks the *nirvāṇa* of Mahāvīra at Pāvāpurī on this new-moon night. The Kalpasūtra records that the assembled kings lit lamps, saying that sin…

- *Primary scripture:* Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.3.28; Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.15; Bhagavad Gītā 10.11; Śrī Sūkta 1–2 (Ṛgveda Khila 2.6); Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.18–23 and 10.59; Vālmīki Rāmā…

Before Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva became a coordinated trio, the Brāhmaṇa texts already told stories of one god's injury, rivalry and repair during sacrifice — Viṣṇu as a dwarf and as …

A fuller story appears at *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa* XIV.1.1. It's really two stories linked together. **The first** is about Agni, Indra, Soma, Makha, Viṣṇu, and the Viśvedevas — a gro…