From the epics
Stories from the Indian astrological tradition.
Hand-curated stories from the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavata Purana, Padma Purana, Skanda Purana, Buddhist Jataka tales, the Tamil Sangam corpus, and oral folk traditions of Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra. Each story sourced to a specific text. Five to ten minutes per story. Every translation is hand-authored.
- Catalogue38 stories in printCurated by the Vidhata Editorial Desk5 to 10 minutes each
Browse the catalogue
Pl. IPuranic tales
The girl who composed thirty verses to win Vishnu's heart and walked into his idol on her wedding day
A foundling raised in a Tamil flower garden refused every human suitor and composed the Thiruppavai - thirty Margazhi verses - for the only husband she would have. On her wedding day at Srirangam, she climbed onto the deity's couch and was never seen again. The verses are still sung at dawn through the cold month, in every Vaishnava house in the south.
Vidhata Editorial Desk/8 min/All ages
Krishna lifts Mount Govardhan, India, 17th c.
Pl. IIPuranic tales
The sage who kicked Vishnu in the chest to test him, and the goddess who walked out of heaven because of what came next
Sage Bhrigu drew back his foot and struck the Lord of the Universe in the chest. The cosmos went still. What Vishnu did is the famous half of the story. What Lakshmi did, less told, is the deeper one.
Vidhata Editorial Desk/8 min/All ages
Sudāmā at the glimpse of Krishna’s palace, Pahari, c.1775
Pl. IIIPuranic tales
The boy who would not stop saying Narayana, and the pillar his father struck in fury that opened, releasing a man-lion
In the throne room, in front of the full court, the demon king pointed at a great stone pillar and asked his small son: "Is your god in this too?" The boy looked at the pillar, then back at his father, and answered yes.
Vidhata Editorial Desk/9 min/All ages
The Battle at Lanka, Sahibdin, Mewar, 1649 to 1653
Pl. IVPuranic tales
The five-year-old prince who climbed onto his father's lap, was pushed off, and walked into the forest to find a higher throne
When his stepmother told him he had no right to sit on the king's lap, the small boy did not cry for long. He walked into the forest, learned a single mantra, and stood on one foot until the sky itself bent to look at him.
Vidhata Editorial Desk/8 min/All ages
The marriage of Rama and Sita, Shangri Ramayana, c.1700
Pl. VPuranic tales
When Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva came to test Anasuya - and ended up as her babies
Anasuya was famous for absolute hospitality. The three goddesses, jealous, sent their husbands - Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva - to her cottage as begging brahmins, with one impossible demand: they would only eat if she served them naked. What she did made all three gods, briefly, into infants.
Vidhata Editorial Desk/7 min/All ages
Bhishma on his bed of arrows, Razmnama, 1761 to 1763
Pl. VIPuranic tales
The boy who hugged a Shiva-linga and defeated Yama himself
When Yama came at the appointed hour to take 16-year-old Markandeya's life, the boy threw his arms around the Shiva-linga and would not let go. What happened next changed the rules of death.
Vidhata Editorial Desk/7 min/All ages
Krishna and Arjuna on the chariot, India, 18th to 19th c.