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
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Pl. IRamayana
What Mandodari said to Ravana on the night before his death
On the last night of the war, Ravana came to his queen Mandodari's chamber. She had not spoken to him in three weeks. That night, she did. The argument she made, quietly, without raising her voice once, was the closest thing to a final mercy the great king ever received.
Vidhata Editorial Desk/8 min/Adults
Krishna lifts Mount Govardhan, India, 17th c.
Pl. IIRamayana
The headless monster in the forest who pointed Rama to Sugriva
Deep in the Dandaka forest lived a monster with no head, his face set in his belly, his arms eight miles long. He caught Rama and Lakshmana in a single embrace. What he asked them to do, and what he had been before, is one of the strangest redemption stories in the Ramayana.
Vidhata Editorial Desk/7 min/All ages
Sudāmā at the glimpse of Krishna’s palace, Pahari, c.1775
Pl. IIIRamayana
The rakshasi who dreamed of Rama's victory before the war began
In the Ashoka grove where Sita was held, an old rakshasi woman named Trijata woke trembling from a dream, and told the other guards exactly how Lanka would burn. The other women laughed at first. By morning they were begging Sita's forgiveness.
Vidhata Editorial Desk/5 min/All ages
The Battle at Lanka, Sahibdin, Mewar, 1649 to 1653
Pl. IVRamayana
The tribal woman who tasted each berry before offering it to Rama
Shabari was an old, low-caste forest woman who waited her whole life to meet Rama. When he finally came, she did something that should have been ritually unthinkable: she tasted each berry herself before offering it. Rama smiled and ate them all.
Vidhata Editorial Desk/6 min/All ages
The marriage of Rama and Sita, Shangri Ramayana, c.1700