In the Epics Sukra was the son or grandson of Bhrigu, the powerful magician who almost killed Agni. Sukra was also known as Kavya. Sukra became the greatest mas­ter of magic of his age, but he served the asuras. The devas (gods) sent sage Kaca to learn how he had made the asuras invincible. (For more details see the main entry on Kaca.) Devayani was Sukra’s daughter and had a prominent role in that story. The Puranas made Sukra an example of sensual excess. Sukra constantly used up his austerities … Continue reading →

The concept of purification (suddhi) is linked to pollution (mala) and the ways it is removed: ritually, physically, or even by divine grace. Central to the Vedic sacrifices was the notion that blood sacrifices would atone for wrong-doing and remove a form of purification called agnisuddhi. Siva was not invited to Dak­sha’s fire ritual, and that snub implied he was impure. Siva’s impurity may have been by birth—his very caste status (varna) was questioned by the Brahmanical tradition, according to which Siva was a tribal or Dravidian deity and thus … Continue reading →

Subrahmanya means literally “favorable to priests,” often used as an invocation to the devas (gods) in Vedic soma sacrifices. Subrahmanya was also the designa­tion for one of three assistants to the Vedic Udgatri priest. However, this beau­tiful Sanskrit compound was simply appropriated in the Puranas to name Siva’s most frightening creation, a son born to destroy a demon before he was a week old. The story of Agni’s rape of the wives of the sages was also appropriated but reconstructed in such a confusing way that they were not Subrahmanya’s … Continue reading →

This entry will focus on Soma as the plant and Vedic drink. For more information about Soma as a deva and as the moon, see the entry on Candra. In the Vedic period Candra, the moon, and Soma, the entheogenic (religious experience-inducing) plant, were connected by associa­tions (bandhus) in the early hymns. Mythologically, Soma emerged from the Milky Ocean in a pot, a process made possible by the Kurma incarnation of Vishnu and Vishnu’s shape and gen­der shifting as Mohini. Soma was the drink or nectar of immortality (amrita), fought … Continue reading →

Skanda was the six-headed son of Siva, god of war. Skanda can be seen as either sharing his function with Karttikeya, Guha, Kurmara, and Subrahmanya or as absorbing them as epithets. Siva’s son had been the son of Agni, god of fire, in earlier mythology. In the Mahabharata there were several versions of Agni’s paternity of Skanda. In one account of the story of Agni and the frog damsel, Agni had been hiding in the ocean and finally agreed to father Skanda. In another version Agni as the sacrificial fire … Continue reading →

If the mention of the word Siva (auspicious) in the Vedas is considered to refer to Lord Siva, Siva spans all periods of Hindu mythology. No matter when he enters Hindu mythology, Siiva is among the two or three most important gods— either as one of the later Hindu Triad, as the highest of the many gods (devas), or as the Absolute itself (Brahman). One might think of layer upon layer of stories about Siva. Viewed from the present, the mythologies are intertwined and very complex. If each layer is … Continue reading →

Sisupala was the third rebirth of Jaya for his failure to carry out his duty (dharma) as a doorkeeper (dvarapalaka) of Lord Vishnu at Vaikuntha. He was cursed because of that failure, and he played a role in three incarnations of Vishnu. His twin brother Vijaya shared in the original deed and caused an equal amount of trouble. The first two rebirths of Jaya were as Hiranyakasiipu and Ravana. Finally, as Sisiupala he received the grace of Krishna. Sisupala was a ksatriya, born to King Damaghosha and Queen Cedi. He … Continue reading →

Siddhi is a central concept of Hindu mythology; the term means “power” or “supernatural ability.” The siddhis, often listed as eight, could be acquired by austerities (tapas). These supernatural abilities included the ability to obtain anything (prapti), having an irresistible will (prakamya), the ability to subdue anything to one’s own will (vashitva), and having a sweet mouth (madhupratika). Invisibility, the ability to walk through barriers, teleportation, clairvoyance, and clairaudience also appear in the myths. There are terms that were used in the myths that link the person who acquired powers … Continue reading →

Sikhandi’s story had its beginning in another life. Wrongs done in that life car­ried into the next, with a vow to kill the warrior who had wronged her. In that previous birth she was Amba, the eldest daughter of the King of Kashi. She was engaged to marry King Salva, when she and her two sisters, Ambika and Amba- lika, were abducted by Bhishma. The three sisters were to be given to Bhishma’s timid half-brother, King Vicitarvirya. Amba objected and was returned to Kashi. However, King Salva had no desire … Continue reading →