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The Rigveda precedes all other Hindu scriptures in age and sacredness. The name Rigveda is a compound of rik (verses of “praise”) and veda (book of “knowledge,” or “wisdom”). It comes to us in such a highly crafted language (Samskrita, Sanskrit) that it was believed to have been received by the Seven Sages (sapta-rishis) whose students would memorize each word, each cadence, each intonation. Internal evidence suggests that it was composed by quite a few sages, who gave their names to individual hymns and collections, or chapters (suktas). These were … Continue reading →

The Ramayana is one of the two great Epics of Hindu mythological literature. The other is the Mahabharata. The Ramayana was said to have been authored by the sage Valmiki. The Ramayana dealt with the story of Sri Rama and Sita. The Ramayana is divided into two sections, the first with six books (kan- das) and the second with one. The first and seventh books are believed by most scholars to have been added later to the original. The traditional view in India, however, is that the whole was created … Continue reading →

The Rama myth cycle is especially complex because there are so many literary and oral versions, each language of India having its own variations, as well as expressions in art, dance, drama, and film or video. Since Rama was an incarna­tion of Vishnu, his story is nested within the Vishnu myth cycle, requiring sto­ries about the need for another incarnation and its outcome. Some of the power of the basic story can be suggested by the fact that it traveled all the way to the island of Bali (then considered … Continue reading →

Rakshasas were often described as a subset of the asuras. Other subsets were yakshas and daityas. The word rakshasa came from the root raksh, meaning to guard. They may have originally been guardians, as one myth indicated that when Brahma created the waters, he created rakshasas to guard them. Individ­ual rakshasas were often good but prone to getting cursed by the gods. Ravana was sufficiently evil to make up for any who were not. Their origin was vari­ously explained as being created from the foot of Brahma, or from the … Continue reading →

Rahu can be seen as the earliest Vedic astrological pre-science embedded in a story—the ascending and descending nodes created as the moon’s orbit inter­sects the ecliptic plane of the earth, used in predicting solar and lunar eclipses. Mythologically, Rahu was one of the great demons (daityas) at the Churn­ing of the Milky Ocean. Rahu managed to change his shape and drink from the pot of immortality-giving nectar (amrita). The sun (Surya) and moon (Candra) discovered what he had done and informed Vishnu, who immediately cut off his head. The upper … Continue reading →

The consort of SrT Krishna Radha is one of the most popular fig­ures in Hindu mythology and is even understood by some to be a manifes­tation of the Supreme. Radha has many personas and a complex myth­ology. Radha is the young, innocent maiden coming into the forest at night in response to Krishna’s magi­cal flute. Radha is the favorite wife of Krishna (an incarnation of Vishnu) from his many wives among the cowherds of Vrindavana (Gokula). And Radha is the wife of Adhiratha (or Kalavati) and the foster mother of … Continue reading →

Pushan was the son of Surya, the sun, or an aditya, a son of Kasiyapa (a progeni­tor) and Aditi. He was reduced in later mythology to a guardian of the roads, to toothlessness, and to an eater of gruel. Pushan was an early Vedic god (deva) who was connected with Bhaga (god of inheritance). At the earliest level Pushan was a god of fertility, associated with semen and with the offering of soma (the divine nectar). His name implied that he was a nourishing god, and there seemed to be … Continue reading →

Purusha meant “man” and later by extension “soul” or “consciousness.” It was utilized both in Hindu mythology and philosophy—often in quite divergent ways. In the various philosophical-theological schools (darsanas), purusha shared contexts with atman (self), brahman (Absolute), kshetrajna (the knower of the field). In the great creation hymn of the Rigveda (10.90), purusha was clearly the first one, linked to its desire for and actual materialization (prakriti). In the later Vedic period, especially the Upanishads, purusha is pure conscious­ness (cit) and pure self (atman) alone without materiality (prakriti). The uni­versal … Continue reading →