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44 great people of India from ancient Purana forming Shlokas

1Arundhati
2Anasuya
3Savitri
4Janaki
Sati
6Draupadi
7Kannagi
8Gargi
9Meera
10Durgavati
11Lakshmibai
12Ahilyabai Holkar
13Keladi Chennamma
14Rudramamba
15Nivedita
16Maa Sharada
17Srirama
18Bharata
19Krishna
20Bhishma
21Yudishtira
22Arjuna
23Markandeya
24Harishchandra
25Prahlada
26Narada
27Dhruva
28Hanuman
29Janaka
30Vyasa
31Vasishta
32Shuka
33Bali
34Dadheechi
35Vishvakarma
36Prithu
37Valmiki
38Bhargava
39Bhagiratha
40Ekalavya
41Manu
42Dhanvantari
43Shibi
44Rantideva
अरुन्धत्यनसूया च सावित्री जानकी सती
द्रौपदी कण्णगी गार्गी मीरा दुर्गावती तथा ॥

1. Arundhati

  • Eighth daughter of Kardama and Devahuti
  • Wife of sage Vasistha, one of the seven sages
  • Identified with the morning star
  • Also with the star Alcor which forms a double star with Mizar (identified as Vashista Maharshi) 
  • Epitome of Chastity

2. Anasuya

  • Free from envy and jealousy
  • Daughter of Kardama and Devahuti
  • Wife of Sage Atri
  • Appears in Ramayana living in a small hermitage in Chitrakuta
  • Was very pious, practiced austerity and devotion throughout
  • Gave Sita on her visit an ointment that maintained her beauty for life
  • Mother of Dattatreya and Chandra Dev (Moon)

3. Savitri

  • Daughter of Madra King, Ashvapati
  • Named after Sun God Savitr
  • As instructed by her father king, she sets out on a pilgrimage to find her husband
  • Finds Satyavan the son of a blind king Dymatsena
  • Even after she finds from Narada later that Satyavan is destined to die a year later, she marries him saying she can only select once
  • At the day of predicted death of Satyavan, Yama takes away his body
  • Savitri follows Yama and impresses by her dharmic conversation
  • Yama grants her three boons except for her husband’s life
    1. Father-in-law’s eyesight back
    2. Hundred children for father
    3. Hundred children for self
  • Impressed again Yama grants her one more wish forgetting the condition
  • Now she asks for Satyavan’s life, which is granted

4. Janaki

  • The daughter of King Janaka, hence the name Janaki
  • Also called as Sita, wife of the legend Lord Rama, the seventh avatar of Vishnu
  • She is the avatar of Mahalakshmi who is the wife of Vishnu, the protector
  • The central female character of the one and only Ramayana
  • She chose her husband through Swayamvara and chose to be with him in the forest
  • Incidentally, another Maya Sita gets abducted by Ravan. Till her release real Sita will hide in the fire
  • During Agni Pareeksha Maya Sita is destroyed in flames to become Draupadi and subsequently Padmavati
  • Once Sita becomes pregnant, which is when a fisherman makes insensitive comments, following which Rama sends her to Valmiki’s ashram
  • After reuniting her sons with Rama she returns to the womb of her mother, Earth

5. Sati

  • Daughter of Prasuti and Daksha
  • Also known as Dakshayani
  • She is the goddess for marital felicity and longevity 
  • She is the first consort of Lord Shiva and the second being Parvati, who is the second incarnation of Sati
  • Sati and Parvati are the two people behind bringing lord Shiva from isolation to creative participation with the world

6. Draupadi

  • The most important female character in the epic Mahabharata
  • She is called Draupadi because she is the daughter of Drupada
  • India has never been a racist country right from times, she was also called Krishne due to her dark complexion
  • There are a lot of myths about Draupadi
    1. She did not reject Karna in the Swayamvara
    2. She did not insult Duryodhana when he fell waist-deep in Pandavas illusionary palace
  • When Krishna kills Shishupala using his Sudarshana Chakra, a little blood oozes out of his fingers once the Chakra comes back to Krishna. It is the cloth that she lends to comfort Krishna that comes back to her at the time of disrobing her, by Dushasana
  • She was abducted by Jayadratha when all the Pandavas had gone for hunting leaving her alone. When the Pandavas came to know, Jayadratha leaves her on the road and flees, but gets caught. For the sake of Dussala and Gandhari, Bhima spares Jayadratha
  • Kichaka filled with lust asks Draupadi to marry him. Then planning with Pandavas, Draupadi asks Kichaka to come to a place where Bhima goes, fights and kill him
  • She accompanies their husbands through their journey towards the Himalayas at the end of Mahabharata, where she falls down due to being impartial to Arjuna

7. Kannagi

  • Daughter of merchant and Ship captain Manayakan from Puhar
  • She marries the son of Macattuvan, Kovalan, a sea traders’ family
  • Their patron deity is Manimekalai
  • When her husband meets a dancer, he develops an affair with her. Moreover, he starts spending all his money on the dancer and becomes penniless. 
  • Realizing his mistake, he returns to Kannagi, hoping of recouping the fortune by trade in Madurai, he plans to sell Kannagi’s precious anklet
  • Pandyan King, the then king, doubts the anklet to be his queen’s. Without any trial, the king immediately beheads her husband
  • Furious about this Kannagi proves her husband is innocent, followed by which the king commits suicide. Kannagi further curses that Madurai be burnt to ashes
  • On request of Goddess Meenakshi, she calms down and attains salvation

8. Gargi

  • Ancient Indian philosopher honored as a great natural philosopher
  • She was a renowned expounder of the VedasThe daughter of sage Vachaknu in the lineage of Sage Garga, she was named as Gargi Vachaknavi
  • Her keen interest in Vedic scriptures from a very young age made her very proficient in the fields of philosophy
  • Also known as Brahmavadini, a person with knowledge of Brahma Vidya
  • Participating in the philosophic debate organized by King Janaka, she challenges the sage Yajnavalkya questioning about the issue of atman
  • She was knowledgeable both in Vedas and Upanishads
  • Gargi was honored as one of the Navaratnas in the court of Janaka Maharaj of Mithila

9. Meera

  • She was born to a Rajput royal family of Kudki district of Pali
  • She was a sixteenth-century mystic poet
  • Known for fearless disregard for social and family conventions were;
    • Her devotion to Krishna
    • Her treating Krishna as her husband
    • She being persecuted by her in-laws for her religious devotion
  • For all the above reasons she has been the subject of numerous folk-tales
  • Thousands of poems are attributed to Meera, but many of them are written by her admirers
  • She was married to Bhoj Raj, the crown prince of Mewar in 1516
  • Her husband was wounded in a war between Hindus and Muslims in 1518, and subsequently died in 1521
  • Her in-laws tried to kill Meera for her devotion many times like poisoning her or send her snakes in a basket. But, she survived all this every time it was done

10. Durgavati

  • She was born to king Keerat Rai who belonged to the family of Chandel at the fort of Kalinjar, Banda, Uttar Pradesh
  • She was the ruling queen of Gondwana from 1550 until 1564
  • Dalpat Shah, her husband died when his son Vir Narayan was at a very young age
  • This resulted in Rani Durgavati taking the reigns herself. Her administration was commendable
  • After fighting battles and winning against Islamic invaders, a time came when she had to fight a Mughal General, Khwaja Abdul Majid Asaf Khan, who was a general from Akbar’s army
  • Even though she knew that the armies were no match, she and her young son fought fearlessly, but Rani Durgavati was gravely injured and fell unconscious
  • On gaining consciousness, knowing that she was bound to get defeated, she killed herself, showing to the nation that she did not want to live a life full of slavery 
लक्ष्मीरहल्या चन्नम्मा रुद्रमाम्बा सुविक्रमा
निवेदिता सारदा च प्रणम्या मातृदेवताः ॥

11. Lakshmi Bai

  • Born on 19 November 1828 in the town of Varanasi into a Marathi Karhade Brahmin
  • Her birth name was Manikarnika Tambe, Tambe her surname. She was nicknamed Manu
  • Her mother died when she was four years old and her father worked for Peshwa of Bithoor district
  • She was a very playful child and hence added to her name is “Chhabili” meaning Playful
  • She was taught back at home the following skills
    1. Shooting
    2. Horsemanship
    3. Fencing
    4. Mallakhamb
  • She was taught along with her childhood friends – Nana Sahib and Tatya Tope
  • When she was married to the Maharaja of Jhansi, Raja Gangadhar Newalkar in 1842, afterward she was called in the name of Lakshmi Bai
  •  After four months of giving birth to a boy named Damodar Rao, he died, so the couple adopted their relative named Anand Rao and named him Damodar Rao, on the day before Maharaja died
  • Due to British politics, his son was not allowed to be the king. She was given an annual pension of Rs. 60000/- and was ordered to leave the palace
  • But she managed to fight against the Britishers by carrying her young son on her lap sitting on her horse

12. Ahilya Bai Holkar

  1. Ahilyabai was born to Mankoji Shinde on May 31, 1725, in the village of Chondi, Taluka Jamkhed District, in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Her father, was the Patil of the village, a member of the proud Dhangar community. 
  2. Ahilya’s husband, Khanderao, died in the battle of Kumher in 1795
  3. She got rid of the thugs who sought to plunder the kingdom, personally leading her army into the battle
  4. During her reign, she sentenced her only son, found guilty of a capital offense, to death by crushing him using an elephant 
  5. She has built a lot of temples in various places of the country which Hindus even today use to worship

13. Keladi Chennamma

  • She was the daughter of Siddappa Shettar a native merchant of Sagara, Karnataka
  • She married Somashekara Nayaka, the king of Keladi, that was formed after the fall of Vijayanagara Empire
  • After ten years of her marriage, Somashekara Nayaka died and she was in charge of the kingdom
  • During her reign of 25 years, she repelled the advance of the Mughal army led by Aurangzeb, from her military base in Sagara
  • She also rendered a trade agreement between Portuguese 
  • You can read about her complete biography here.

14. Rudrama Devi

  • She was the monarch of the Kakatiya Dynasty in the Deccan Plateau from 1263 until her death
  • She is said to have ruled the kingdom along with her father Ganapatideva. 
  • After marrying a member of the Chalukya Dynasty, Virabhadra, there was no participation of Virabhadra in administration at all. This clearly indicates that the marriage was political enforcement by her father
  • She was succeeded by her daughter’s son Prataparudra

15. Bhagini Nivedita

  • Born as Margaret Elizabeth Noble, on 28 Oct 1867, she was an:
    1. Irish teacher
    2. Author
    3. Social activist
    4. School founder
    5. A disciple of Swami Vivekananda
  • After meeting Swami Vivekananda all that she had learned from her father came handy, especially the ideal of service to mankind
  • Swami Vivekananda named her Nivedita when he initiated her into the vow of Brahmacharya. The name meant “Dedicated to God”.
  • She educated the girls in Calcutta (now Kolkata) who were even deprived of basic education
  • During the plague epidemic, she nursed and looked after the poor patients
  • Read her complete biography here.

16. Maa Sharada

  • Born as Saradamani Mukhopadhyay in Jayrambati, on 22 Dec. 1853 was the wife of the spiritual consort of Sri Ramakrishna, a mystic saint
  • She played a key role in the growth of the Ramakrishna Movement
  • Both of them lived lives of unbroken continence, showing the ideals of a householder and of the monastic ways of life
  • After Ramakrishna’s death, Sarada Maa became the mother of all disciples of Ramakrishna, she was asked for advice and encouragement
श्रीरामो भरतः कृष्णो भीष्मो धर्मस्तथार्जुनः
मार्कंडेयो हरिश्चन्द्र: प्रह्लादो नारदो ध्रुवः ॥

17. Srirama

  • Born in the Treta Yuga to Dasharatha and Kausalya, he was a Maryada Purushottam who followed all rules and principles of dharma to bring back his wife Sita
  • Ravan, before the beginning of the war, performs pooja and blesses Rama to win the battle as a priest
  • At the time of Rama and Ravana battle the Devatas request Rama not to pardon Ravana at any cost, knowing the qualities of a Maryada Purushottam
  • He showed even a single person uncomfortable with something has to be tested in democracy
  • Read More

18. Bharata

  • A great brother of Lord Srirama, who was the son of Kaikeyi. He gets stuck in a dilemma and supports righteousness, that is in the side of Rama and listens to his elder brother through and through
  • Not wanting to be the king as opposed to what her mother wants, Bharata meets Rama at a forest only to go back and rule the kingdom with his Paduka on the Simhasan and rule
  • A brother who did not even have a little amount of ego, even when given the whole kingdom to rule, surrendered and put everything under his brother’s control following Dharma 

19. Krishna

  • The most looked upon god in India for his wits, naughtiness, management, administration, counseling, strategy, decisions and whatnot.
  • He knew how to get things done, no matter what
  • Showed that the vision of a longer motive that is good is more important than short-termed, self-centric motives.
  • Was not involved in any of self-centric strategies, he was only bothered about the welfare of the society and Dharma
  • Forgave small selfish acts of Pandavas, seeing in them a bigger picture of principles and good intentions they followed, so started mentoring them
  • Showed to the world that for self-liberation we cannot forget our duty
  • Read more

20. Bheeshma

  • The eighth and last son of Kuru king Shantanu and Ganga
  • Bheeshma Pratijna, a well-known oath that Bheeshma is famous for
  • Following the oath he followed celibacy throughout his life
  • He was blessed with a “wish long life”
  • Both Pandavas and Kauravas were related to him
  • Vishnu Sahasranama was a contribution of Bhishma who handed it over to Yudhistira

21. Dharmaraya

  • The eldest son of Pandu and Kunti
  • Initially the king of Indraprastha and later Hastinapur
  • Being the elder brother of Arjuna, Bheema, Nakula, and Sahadeva, he was the leader from Pandava side in the Kurukshetra war
  • He was the only one to ascend heaven without any problems for his good character and deeds
  • He was also blessed with the spiritual vision

22. Arjuna

  • The middle Pandava was the younger brother of Yudhishtira and Bhima
  • He won the heart of Draupadi by his great presentation on his archery
  • Arjuna was the central character who was blessed with the Bhagavad Gita from Lord Vishnu himself in the incarnation of Krishna
  • Though he was a little more proud of his Gandiva, his trust in Lord Krishna and the righteous path made him reach where he had to
  • He lost one of his bravest sons, Abhimanyu, in his absence, in Kurukshetra war Chakravyuha

23. Markandeya

  • Born to a sage Mrikandu Rishi and wife Marudamati on a condition
    • An extremely intelligent son who will die young
    • A not so intelligent son who will live longer
  • Since the rishi selected the former, an extremely intelligent Markandeya was born, who was destined to be dead by his 16th year
  • On the day of his destined death, Markandeya was worshipping Lord Shiva with complete devotion that when Yama himself came to take him away, mistakenly sprung the noose around Lord Shiva. 
  • This lead to a big fight between angry shiva and Yama. Lord Shiva won the fight and granted a life forever to Markandeya

24. Harishchandra

  • The truthful king that relied only on truth and nothing but that
  • His truthfulness attracted rishis and devatas who involved themselves to test this great king of his truthfulness
  • After a lot of trials in his life like him losing the kingdom, power, money, and finally his own child and wife, he stood to be an epitome of truth
  • Mahatma Gandhi saw his piece of drama, got inspired and never spoke a lie
  • You can read more about his biography here

25. Prahlada

  • The son of a demon king Hiranyakashupu
  • Prahlada was an ardent worshipper of Vishnu, who his father hated the most
  • Prahlad survives all the punishments his father gives him for his devotion towards Vishnu
  • Prahlad is known for his calmness and devotion without expectation, the true bhakti
  • He then answered about his concept of omnipresent god to his father 
  • From one of the places that Prahlad showed to Hiranyakashipu Lord Narasimha came and killed his father
  • Prahlada ruled the kingdom with just and joyous ever after

26. Narada

  • Narada is the mind child of Brahma and is also considered as one of the 24 avatars of Vishnu
  • He moves from one place to another in the speed of mind
  • Narada is said to be born to a maid on earth for his misbehavior from his Gandharva times
  • He gained knowledge from one of the rishis who came to his place
  • Lord Vishnu gave him boons and in his next birth he became an ascetic who observed celibacy
  • When he started sitting in one place and preaching celibacy to one and all, Prajapati cursed him not to sit in one place, so he cannot stay in a single place for more than 45 mins

27. Dhruva

  • Born to King Uttanapada and first wife Suniti, the king was always in favor of his second wife and her son Uttama
  • Dhruva was not allowed to even sit on his father’s lap due to the assumption of he becoming the future king as he was the first child
  • This made Dhruva angry who left to the forest for penance against the advice of Sage Narada
  • When Dhruva had no food, no water for six months, Lord Vishnu appeared before him and asked him for a wish
  • He, being an uneducated child, did not even know how to sing praises of the Lord. So he asked for the knowledge of Stuti (hymn) to praise the Lord 
  • Since he had renounced everything and did not have any desire as such, he is given the most revered seat of a star
हनुमान्‌ जनको व्यासो वसिष्ठश्च शुको बलिः
धीचिविश्वकर्माणौ पृथुवाल्मीकिभार्गवाः ॥

28. Hanuman

  • Hanuman is an ardent fan of Srirama 
  • He is known as the lord of celibacy, as he was an ideal Brahmachari or also called as Nitya Brahmachari
  • Being one of the central characters of Ramayana, who is the son of Kesari and Anjana Devi, and also the son of wind-god
  • An embodiment of the word Yogi, he has always followed a strict, disciplinary lifestyle and has perfect mastery over his senses
  • This is achieved by two of his main qualities:
    1. Celibacy
    2. Selfless devotion
  • He can also be called as a perfect karma yogi as he performs his actions through detachment, without any selfish motive

29. Janaka

  • Janaka is an ancient King of Videha and is said to be the son of Hroshhoroma
  • He is revered to be the king as being an ideal example of non-attachment to worldly possessions
  • Being a king, he was free from the worldly illusions
  • His interaction with sages such as Ashtavakra and Sulabha are recorded in ancient texts
  • Sita was his adopted daughter and was called Janaki from Janaka’s name
  • His court was an intellectual center for sages like Yajnavalkya, Uddalaka, Aruni, and Gargi Vachaknavi

30. Vyasa

  • His original name is Krisha Dwaipayana, due to his dark-colored skin and the place of birth
  • After the classification of the Vedas into four parts, he was called Veda Vyasa
  • It is said that his birthday and the day when he categorized the Vedas is the same day
  • That day happens to be observed and celebrated as Vyasa Purnima or Guru Purina
  • He also belongs to the set of seven Chiranjeevi (immortal beings who live (in the hearts of people) forever)
  • Read more

31. Vasishtha

  • One of the Saptarishis (the seven great rishis of India)
  • He is called as the first sage of Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy by none other than Shankaracharya himself
  • Yoga Vasishtha, Vasishtha Samhita, some parts and version of Vishnu Purana and Agni Purana are some texts that are credited to him
  • He was the one who possessed the two holy cows in the Hindu tradition, the Kamadhenu and her daughter Nandini
  • These two holy cows would handover anything that the owner would ask for, which lead to major conflicts with some Kings

32. Shuka Deva

  • Shuka was churned out of a fire stick after hundred years of Mahabharata austerity by Vyasa
  • He was born with ascetic powers and Vedas imbibed in him 
  • He was the son of the sage Vyasa and was the main narrator of the Bhagavat Purana
  • He narrated the entire Bhagavat Purana to the dying king Parikshita who had committed certain mistakes both as a king and as a normal human being
  • He is said to have achieved Moksha the liberation by renouncing the world

33. Bali Chakravarti

  • He was also called as Mahabali and was the son of Cirochana who was a  benevolent Daitya King and the grandson of Prahlada
  • With a sense of little pride that was visible after he conquered Devatas, he was sent to Patala Loka after Vishnu took the form of Vamana Avatara
  • Bali after agreeing to share his wealth to the three steps of Vamana never stepped back on his words
  • When Vishnu grew and grew to an extent that he stepped one on earth, the other on Devaloka, Bali offered himself as the third step (complete surrender)
  • For this, Lord Vishnu, please by his act, sent him to Patala and made him the king there
  •  Onam is celebrated to mark his visit from Patala to earth on that day and Bali Padyami is named after this great demon king on which date the Vamana Avatara happened

34. Dadhichi

  • He is also called by the names Dadhyancha or Dadhyanga, a name derived from two Sanskrit words
  • Dadhya is curds and Ancha means parts, bringing meaning to the body parts created by the strength of the curds
  • It is said that after being driven out of Svarga by the demon serpent king named Vritra, the devas needed a powerful weapon to fight the demon
  • The weapon could only be made from the bones of Dadhichi. Knowing this, when Devendra came to Dadhichi and asked him about this, without forethought, he agreed
  • This is considered to be the ultimate form of sacrifice to mankind from Dadhichi
  • Read more about the great sage Dadheechi here

35. Vishvakarma

  • He is considered to be the first of the architects in the whole universe.
  • He created and taught the mankind of building the ancient monuments and architectures in the country being the personification of ultimate reality and deity of the creative power
  • According to Rigveda, he is the architect or divine engineer who is said to have been the brain behind the engineering of the universe even before the advent of time
  • The ultimate reality is visualized to be Vishwakarma who is later developed as Brahma from whose navel all visible things Hiranyagarbha emanate

36. Prithu

  • Prithu is a great king named in the Vedic scriptures of ancient India
  • There are twenty-four incarnations of Lord Vishnu, one of whom is said to be Prithu
  • Prithvi, the name of mother earth is said to be derived from the word Prithu
  • He was the person who was instrumental in giving earth the form as it is today by chasing mother earth who fled in the form of the holy cow
  • After chasing and catching hold of mother earth, she eventually agreed to yield her milk as the world’s grain and vegetation
  • Both Mahabharata and Vishnu Purana considers him as an avatar of Lord Vishnu
  • Read more

37. Valmiki

  • Valmiki was born to a brahmin named Pracheta or Sumali of Bhrigu gotra, his initial name being Agni Sharma
  • When he met Narada and wanted him to teach him about his regular duties, Narada advised him to utter the word Mara and penance
  • Happy about this, Agni Sharma went and penanced chanting the word, Mara. After a few years, the word turned around to become Rama and anthills (known as Valmika in Sanskrit) were formed on Agni Sharma, which eventually changed his name to Valmiki
  • He is the author of a 480002 words’ scripture called Ramayana

38. Bhargava (Parashurama)

  • Born to the sage Jamadagni and his wife Renuka, his is said to be a Saraswat Brahim 
  • He opposes all kshatriyas after encountering one kshatriya king called Kartaviryarjuna, who enforces the Kamadhani that his father possessed and takes it away.
  • Enraged by this Parashurama rages war against the King and wins
  • He is also known to be the sixth avatar of Vishnu just before Rama
  • Read more
भगीरथश्चैकलव्यो मनुर्धन्वन्तरिस्तथा
शिबिश्च रन्तिदेवश्च पुराणोद्गीतकीर्तय: ॥

39. Bhageeratha

  • A legendary king who brought mother Ganga to earth from heaven to earth to release his 60000 great-uncles from the curse of sage Kapila
  • He started this procedure by convincing River Ganga to flow, not convinced, Ganga asks Bhagiratha to ask shiva to hold the river and that the force will be too much for the earth to withstand
  • Shiva agrees and does the job by controlling the force and letting Ganga reach the earth safely
  • Again Sage Janhu drinks it, releasing it takes a lot of effort from Bhagiratha for Ganga to flow on the earth
  • So a part of Ganga is called a Bhagirathi

40. Ekalavya

  • Ekalavya was the adopted son of Hiranya Dhenu, who was an army commander in King Jarasandha
  • He with the desire of learning archery came to Drona in search of a guru
  • Drona does not consider him as his disciple, without getting disheartened, Ekalvya makes a statue of his revered guru
  • With great discipline and study, he learns from the idol of Drona
  • One day Arjuna sees a dog that cannot bark. When examined, he figures out that arrows would not be letting it bark.
  • The arrow construction would be contrived in such a way that it would not have harmed the animal too
  • Such was the capacity of Ekalavya, who offers his own right thumb for the sake of Drona in the form of Guru Dakshina 

41. Manu

  • There are various meanings for Manu with a small change, if you hear the word Manu, it can be any of the following
  • Manu is the archetypal man or the first man. The Manav word of Sanskrit comes from the word Manu, the children of Manu
  • The fourteenth Kshatriya ruler whose presence will be cyclical, beginning with each Kalpa when the universe is born anew
  • According to Puranas, each Kalpa consists of fourteen Manvantaras and each Manvantara is headed by a different Manu, the present Manu is the seventh one
  • Everything mentioned above is mostly cyclic and is in one way or the other connected to the Indian Timing System

42. Dhanvantari

  1. A Hindu god of medicine and one of the twenty-four avatars of Lord Vishnu
  2. He is referred to as the god of Ayurveda who taught the lessons of Ayurveda to mankind
  3. Dhanvantari is said to have incarnated from the ocean of milk, where he appears with the pot of amrita (elixir for immortality)
  4. Dhanvantari is depicted with four hands and should look like Vishnu
  5. His birthday, every year is celebrated two days before Deepavali, the Hindu festival of lights

43. Shibi

  • Shibi Chakravarti is said to be the son of Ushinara, a famous king of Lunar Dynasty at the same time as that of Trayarunya, from the Solar race, an ancestor of Lord Rama
  • Shibi had single-handedly conquered the entire world, performed Yajnas and was extremely charitable
  • He was renowned for his liberal beliefs and selflessness and is said to have saved Agni (transformed into Dove) from Indra (transformed into Hawk)
  • Agni is saved by Shibi Chakravarty by offering his own flesh to the Hawk
  • He is also said to have helped restore the king to heavens when he once encountered the spirit of Yayati
  • Sehwan in Pakistan was earlier known as Shibistan, named after Shibi

44. Rantideva

  • Rantideva is an ancient king who is known for his Daana Guna. His utmost important thing was to serve the citizens of his kingdom
  • Once, it so happened that his kingdom was struck by drought. He started serving the subjects especially women and children
  • A few days went by and the king realized that there was nothing with him to serve his subjects
  • He got some food after not having anything for eight days
  • When he attempted to eat, four people asked for his food
    1. Very old Brahmin
    2. A beggar
    3. A sweeper with his dogs
    4. A person by name Chandala
  • When he offered all that he had, pleased by this Maya appeared before him. As he was not interested in any worldly pleasures, he later went on to become a yogi

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