Category: Cosmic Tales
Narrative, editorial astrology — stories that illuminate the sky.
The Boy Who Danced on the Serpent’s Heads
The taming of Kaliya is one of the most vivid episodes of Krishna’s childhood. Kaliya (Kāliya) was a huge, many-headed serpent whose venom had poisoned a stretch of the Yamuna river near Vrindavan,…
The Night of a Million Lamps: Rama Returns Home
Rama’s homecoming to Ayodhya is the closing movement of the Rāmāyaṇa’s great war story. After fourteen years of exile in the forest and the war in Lanka against Ravana, the demon king who had carried…
Born at Midnight: Krishna Comes Into the World
The birth of Krishna is one of the best-loved stories in Hindu tradition. Krishna, revered as an avatar — an earthly “descent” — of the god Vishnu, was born at midnight in a prison cell in Mathura,…
The Bridge That Should Not Exist: Building Ram Setu
Ram Setu, “Rama’s bridge,” is the causeway that the Rāmāyaṇa says Rama’s army built across the sea from the southern tip of India to Lanka. They built it so they could rescue Sita from the demon king…
Fourteen Years in the Forest: The Exile of Rama
The exile of Rama is the turning point of the Rāmāyaṇa. On the eve of being crowned heir to the kingdom of Ayodhya, Prince Rama was ordered to live in the forest for fourteen years. The order came…
The Bow That Chose a King: Rama and Sita’s Swayamvar
The breaking of Shiva’s bow is the story of how Rama, prince of Ayodhya, came to marry Sita, daughter of King Janaka of Mithila. Janaka had set a single test for anyone who wished to marry her: lift…
The Birth of the Blue Prince: Rama Comes to Ayodhya
Rama is the hero of the Rāmāyaṇa, one of India’s two great epics, and one of the most widely worshipped figures in Hinduism. He is honoured as an avatar — a descent or incarnation — of the god…
The Half-Being Who Contains Everything
Ardhanārīśvara — usually written Ardhanarishvara — means “the lord who is half woman”. It is a form of Shiva in which his body is joined with that of his wife, the goddess Parvati, so that one figure…
The Arrow That Crossed the Universe: Tripurantaka
Tripurāntaka — “the one who ended Tripura” — is a name of Shiva, and it refers to one of the best-known war stories told about him. Three demon brothers were granted three flying cities that could…
The Pillar of Fire Without Beginning or End
Lingodbhava — from liṅga, the sign or emblem of Shiva, and udbhava, “appearance” or “emergence” — is the story of Shiva appearing as an endless pillar of fire between two quarrelling gods, Brahma and…