Love2tellU

Once upon a time, there was a Brahman in the city of Pratisthana. His name was Kaushik. In  spite of being a brahman who had studied the Vedas, he ignored his duties out of desire. He was attracted to a courtesan named Madhavi, despite having a lovely, devout wife named Sandeeli. He left his wife in his ancestral home in a nearby village, and he himself started to stay with the courtesan. He used to spend all of his earnings on her and was ignorant of his own wife.  But soon his perverted lifestyle paid him back. He was affected by leprosy. The courtesan threw him out of her house. Kaushik had no other choice but to go to his wife. But Sandeeli was truly a devout wife who pardoned her husband and made a wholehearted effort to comfort him. But slowly, the condition of Kaushik deteriorated. One day, that wretched Brahman asked his wife that he wanted to see the courtesan Madhavi for once. Instead of being angry, Sandeeli decided to fulfill the wishes of her husband. She went to Madhavi a

One of the most captivating tales from Indian mythology is the one about Ila.  The intent of Vaivasvata Manu and his spouse, Shraddha, was to have a son with exceptional qualities. So they went to the great sage Agastya, asking for his guidance. To please Mitra and Varuna, Agastya performed a magnificent yagna. Agastya asked Shraddha to name the unborn child during the yagna. It was Shraddha who said, "Ila." In order to earn favor from the gods, Agastya started offering gifts in the sacred fire under the feminine name Ilaa. Following the ceremony, Mitra and Varuna emerged from the fire with a young girl, whom they gave to Vaivasvata Manu and his wife. But when the couple saw the girl instead of the boy, they were completely disappointed. However, the infant had already been given life by the gods; thus, there was no way to revert it back. In order to find a solution, Manu and his spouse approached Rishi Vashistha, who then resorted to Lord Shiva for help. Through the grace o

There were two great sages in the Treta Yuga: Nara and Narayana.  They were brothers, and they were revered by all for their wisdom and warrior skills. Once, the sages decided to start severe penance to please Lord Vishnu. Somehow, Devraj Indra (the King of the Devas) came to know about their austerity. Indra became suspicious. It was a matter of concern for Devraj Indra, as those brothers were already revered sages who had knowledge of the Vedas. They had already achieved the highest level of knowledge. Moreover, in spite of being scholars, they were skilled warriors and were able to use many divine weapons. Indra thought they were probably tired of being hermits and were trying to gain the boon of invincibility to displace Indra from his throne.  With doubt in his mind, he decided to test the sages with the highest level of temptation. He asked for help from Kama Deva, the god of love, and his wife Rati to break their penance. Indra also sent three of his best apsaras (celestial danc

The Japanese word "yokai" refers to a wide variety of supernatural and otherworldly entities. Oni falls under the domain of Yokai. Rakshasa can be a synonymous term for oni as depicted in Indian mythology. But there isn't an entity that is precisely like Oni in Western mythology. Even so, we may argue that the words "demon" and "oni" are quite similar. An oni is a massive, humanoid creature with some magical power. Japanese mythological records regard Shuten-Doji as one of the most terrifying oni ever to exist on this planet.  Photo by  Chelms Varthoumlien  on  Unsplash   Shuten-Doji was a son of the legendary serpent Yamata no Orochi. Mount Ibuki was the place of his birth. He was born with every tooth in his mouth and the ability to walk immediately.  He was a very strong and aggressive child. His mother was human, and she hated the evil that had sprung out of her womb as soon as she noticed her son having the attributes of an oni. When Shuten-Doji w

Emperor Ichijo sent a small band of six heroes to Mount Oe (Oeyama) to put a stop to the dread of the demon king Shuten-Doji. Minamoto no Yorimitsu, Japan's finest samurai of the time, led the team, which included his four outstanding retainers: Sakato no Kintoki, Urabe no Suetake, Usui no Sadamitsu, and Watanabe no Tsuna, as well as Fujiwara no Hosho. Image by  12019  from  Pixabay Before embarking on the journey to Oeyama, the great seer Abe no Seimei advised the heroes to seek the blessings of the gods. Consequently, they made the decision to head out for the famous shrines in the Kansai region of Japan. Raiko went to Iwashimizu Hachimangu on Mount Otokoyama (yama means mountain) in Kyoto Prefecture to seek the blessing of Hachiman, the war god. Sakato no Kintoki and Usui no Sadamitsu visited Sumiyoshi Taisha in Osaka Prefecture to seek the favour of Sumiyoshi sanjin. Fujiwara no Hosho, Urabe no Suetake, and Watanabe no Tsuna journeyed to Kumano Sanzan in Wakayama Prefecture via

This is the tale of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, a brave samurai lord, also known as Raiko. He defeated Shuten-Doji, a formidable demon king who terrorised Heian-kyo (modern-day Kyoto) during Emperor Ichijo's reign. Image by  bohdan_zubrytskyi  from  Pixabay The Emperor was informed that countless people were disappearing suddenly from the city of Heian-kyo. The majority of them were young women. The locals suspected that this unusual event was being carried out by an oni (demon).  The Emperor ordered the imperial guards to handle the situation, but they were ineffective in solving the problem. One day, a trader came to meet the Emperor and said that one nightfall he saw a frightening oni near the Rajomon (a massive gate at the southern end of Heian-kyo's central avenue). He saw the oni grab a young woman who was passing through the gate and swiftly vanished in the dense fog. A few days later, another imperial guard reported another instance in which the soldier spotted a female oni

Once upon a time, there was a young charming fisherman named Urashima Taro in Japan. He and his mother used to live in a small village near the seashore. Despite their poverty, Urashima was very kind and honest. Everyone in the village used to adore him for his gentle nature and good behaviour.  Image by  Debbie EM  from  Pixabay One day, while fishing, he noticed a bunch of kids hurting a small sea turtle on the shore. The little turtle was different since it had rainbow stripes on its shell. He dashed to save the animal, but the kids did not give up. They captured the turtle, so it was in their custody, and they were not eager to release it. Urashima, seeing no other option, opted to buy that turtle. He handed the children the little money he had in his pocket and released the small turtle into the water.  A couple of days passed after that. One afternoon, while fishing alone in his boat, he heard someone screaming out his name. It was a sweet, feminine voice. He was astonished beca