Hindu Mythology - Garuda and Lizards restricted in Kashi

It's said that the Garud - golden eagle (also the vehicle of Lord Vishnu) do not fly over Kashi (also known as Varanasi, Banaras) around a radius of about 50 km. 

Similarly the house lizards do not make their noises in Kashi. 

There is a reference abut the reason for this peculiarity in the scriptures. 

So the story goes something like this:

After killing Ravana, Lord Rama wanted to offer special pooja to Lord Siva in order to get rid of the 'BrahmaHatya sin' (the sin of killing Brahmin). 

He asked to Hanuman to go to Kashi and bring a 'Swayamboo Ling' (a Siva Ling of self originated) from there. 

When Hanuman went there the place was full of Siva Lings. So he could not identify the Swayamboo Ling. 

Garud, came to help Hanuman then, and showed a Swayamboo ling by flying in a  circle over it. 

Also, at that time the lizard helped Hanuman and made its sound to confirm the selection of Garud. 

Hanuman, then removed the ling and started flying out of Kashi towards Rameswaram. 

Now, Kasi was believed to be guarded by Lord Bhairav. 

When Hanuman reached the border of Kashi, Bhairav stopped him and asked him as to how dare he (Hanuman) is to take Shiva Ling without his (Bhairav's) permission.

To this, Hanuman replied that he need no permission from any body as it is as per by the request of his lord Shri Rama. 

Thus followed a fierce battle between Bhairav and Hanuman. Neither of them were getting defeated or winning. 

All the gods watched this with great sorrow. After some time some of them took initiative to stop the fight. 

They requested Bhairav to allow Hanuman to take the Ling so that Lord Shri Ram can offer the worship. 

Bhairav agreed to their request. 

Now, since Garud and Lizard helped Hanuman to identify the Swayamboo Ling, Bhairav  made a condition that Garud should not fly within 45 miles of Kashi and Lizards should always be silent in Kasi. 

Mahabharata - Sahadev as greatest Astrologer

Sahadev knew about the up-coming Mahabharata war well in advance.

He was a great astrologer and was supposed to have known the events of the Mahabharata War beforehand. But, it's said that he was also cursed that if he discloses the knowledge, his head would split in pieces.

Probably due to this, we see him playing a relatively silent role in the epic as compared to other brother pandavas. 

The Bhagavata Purana has a passage in which Sahadeva predicts events of future when asked by his elder brother Yudhisthira, the king.

Of the five Pandavas, Sahadeva was the youngest. Still he has been referred to as the wisest of all of them. 

Yudhishtra even speaks of him as wiser than Brihaspati, the divine teacher of the Devas.

Sahadeva's fury

Source: Amar Chitra Katha

Also note that he was one of the few people (like Bhishma and Vidura) to be able to realize the that Lord Krishna was the almighty Para Brahman himself and lived at that time.

And he was the only one who performed Agrapuja to Lord Krishna, declaring openly among Kings, in the face of opposition, that Lord Krishna, being Parabrahma Swarupi, deserves the first respect.

As per the Bhagavata Purana, he was one of the greatest devotees of Lord Krishna. 

Lord Krishna once asked Sahadeva, what should be done to stop the war. 

Sahadeva told him that Krishna himself must be tied down and imprisoned. And all the Pandavas along with Duryodhana must be sent to forest. And Karna must be made the king.

When Krishna challenged him to tie him down, Sahadeva started meditating and envisioned Krishna as a small baby and tied him down. 

Since Krishna could not move out of the bondage created by Sahadeva in his meditative trance, he blessed him with divine vision and then only Sahadeva released Krishna from the bondage.

At the time of Mahabharata War, both the sides were trying to give sacrifice to Goddess Durga seeking success. 

Sahadeva being a great astrologer, Duryodhana approached him to determine the most auspicious time for performing the sacrifice. 

It is believed, in Hindu school of thought, that the time of sacrifice, denotes the commencement of war and thus decides the very outcome of the great war. 

Sahadeva advised him to perform the sacrifice on the new moon day to ensure success in war.

When questioned by his brothers and Lord Krishna, Sahadeva replied politely that he is ready to die doing his swadharama of being an astrologer.

To this, Lord Krishna came to rescue and played a trick on the Sun and Moon gods to create the Bodhayana Amavasya which occurs one day earlier than the regular Amavasya. 

The Pandavas performed the sacrifice on Bodhayana Amavasya day and obtained the boon of success from Goddess Durga, which sealed their fate to win the war.

Note that Sahadev was probably following the teaching of Lord Krishna even before the Bhagavad Gita was given out by Lord Krishna.

Also note that, similar characteristics were also demonstrated by Ravana in Ramayana, when he agreed to determine the auspicious muhruth for Lord Rama's before the war.

Mahabharata - Krishna's Chariot

The chariot that lord Krishna rode for Arjuna was supposedly very powerful. 

As soon as the war of Mahabharata was over, Krishna took Arjuna's chariot to a remote place. He then asked Arjuna to get down first. Later Krishna himself got down from the chariot.

Then he took Arjuna to some distance away from the chariot and they both started looking at the chariot.

Then he showed Arjun the divine presence of Lord Hanuman on the chariot..

The moment Hanuman got down from the chariot, the horses burnt alive and the chariot exploded into pieces.

It's beleived to be due to the devastating effect of the arrows from Drona and Karna on Arjuna;s horses and chariot. 

It was the devine presence of Lord Hanuman on the chariot that protected Arjuna from certain death by the hands of Drona and Karna.

Observing all this, Arjuna felt ashamed as his ego got hurt. He was under the impression that it was he valour which singlehandedly won the was for Pandavas. 

Mahabharata - Draupadi's past Life

Draupadi, was Indrasena, the wife of Saint Moudgalya in her past life.

Due to Leprosy her husband died early. 

So, now in order to satisfy her desires she prayed Lord Shiva with great devotion. 

Lord Shiva became happy (as usual) and appeared and granted her a wish.

She got bewildered and asked five times for a husband. 

Lord Shiva blessed her with five husbands in next life. 

And so we know the rest of the story.

Ramayana - Shanta Sister of Lord Rama

It might come as a surprise to you that lord Rama had a sister too.

IHMO, she must be the most under-played character of epic Ramayana.
Her name was Shanta. 

She was the eldest of all four brothers.
Shanta is a well documented character in Tulsidas Ramayana. 

The story goes something like this:

Daughter of  king Dasharatha and Kausalya, but was adopted by the king of Angadesh, Raja Rompad, and her aunt Vershini, an elder sister of Kausalya. 

Vershini had no children, and, when at Ayodhya, Vershini jokingly asked for offspring. To this, Dasharatha agreed to allow the adoption of his daughter. 

However, the word of Raghukul was binding, and Shanta became the princess of Angadesh.

Bonus Fact:

As Dashratha had no children after Shanta, he wanted a son to continue his legacy and to enrich his royal dynasty. He called Rishyasringa to perform a putra-kameshthi yagya to beget progeny, and as the consequence of the said Yagya were born: Rama, Bharata, and the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanta

Hindu Mythology - How many Devi-Devtas?

So how many Devi-Devtas are there in Hindu Mythology?

You might come back with an answer "33 Crore". But is this the correct answer?  appears not to me after I read some analysis. 

My current answer is: No-one knows. 

And if you anyone really understood the concept of Sanatan Dharma (Basis of Hindu Mythology and origins etc), there is really no need to know this as well. There is no value in answering this question anymore.

Here is more analysis on this:

According to our Vedas, there are 33 “koti” Devi-Devtas. 

"Koti" is a Sanskrit word which means Variety or Types. 

Now, my guess is, due to misinterpretation or wrong pronunciation it was wrongly concluded to be 33 Crore since ancient generations.

These 33 types are:


12 types are Aaditya: Dhaata, Mit, Aryamaa, Shakra, Varun, Ansh, Bhag, Vivaswan, Poosha, Savita, Tvashtha, and Vishnu.


8 types are Vasu: Dhar, Dhruv, Som, Ah, Anil, Anal, Pratyush And Prabhash. 
11 types are Rudra: Har, Bahuroop, Tryambak, Aparajita, Vrashakapi, Shambhu, Kapardi, 
Revat, Mragvyadh, Sharva, And Kapali.
And Two Types Are Ashvini And Kumar.


Total: 12+8+11+2=33

Ramayana - Ravana as Rama's Purohit

Ravana was a brahmin and the king of Lanka. He is also considered as a great devotee of Lord Shiva.

It's said that his race from maternal side was Rakshasa and Prajapati (descendants of Brahma) from paternal side. He was the greatest scholar and most learned person of his time.

In this context, also consider the fact that he was also the brahmin from Raja Dashrath's (Rama's father) side.

Now, when Lord Rama crossed the ocean and reached Lanka to battle with Ravana, he is supposed to fix the auspicious date and time of the war (muhurth).

Ravana being the only brahmin available nearby (that too purohit from his father's side), Rama sends Hanuman to Ravana for this.

Even though, Ravana knows that if fixes the date and time, he would definately be loosing the war, he did not turned back on this as it would have been against the brahmin rules.
And hence, It is Ravana who fixed the muhurth in favour of Rama and ...(we know the result)

Ramayana - Vibhishan's character

How do you characterize Vibhishan in Ramayana?

I think the answer depends from what perspective we look at him:

• Ravana's point of view: Vibhishan is a traitor. Obviously not welcomed in Lanka.

• Rama's point of view: Rama would always welcome someone like Vibhisan. Being a native of Lanka, Vibhishan was fully aware of weaknesses and strategies of Lankan army. So for the opponent side, friendship with him is fruitful.

Also note that, as soon as Rama won the battle, he took no time getting rid of Vibhishan by making him the king of Lanka ; as it is not wise enough to keep a person like him on selfside.

• Vibhishan's own point of view: Ravana was a successful king, Lanka flourished in his rule. It was next to impossible for Vibhishan to dethrone Ravana himself and take over Lanka. Friendship with Rama turns out to be the best deal for him to get the throne.