Every myth carries a truth older than the civilization that told it.
Showing 441–450 of 746
Prahlada — the asura boy-saint whose unbreakable devotion to Vishnu survived every torture his demon-father devised, summoning the man-lion Narasimha. His
The myth of Vritra: the great serpent-demon of drought in Hindu myth, the cosmic dragon who imprisoned the world's waters, coiling around the mountains to
Tarakasura wrung from Brahma a boon that only a son of Shiva could kill him — forcing the gods to engineer the birth of the war-god Kartikeya, his
Banasura, the thousand-armed asura king and ardent devotee of Shiva, warred with Krishna over his daughter's love — and was spared when Shiva himself
Hidimba, a man-eating rakshasa of the Mahabharata, died wrestling Bhima — and his sister's love for Bhima produced the heroic half-rakshasa giant
Kumbhakarna, Ravana's mountainous giant brother cursed to sleep half the year, woke to condemn his king's injustice — then fought and died for him out of
The rakshasa — Hindu shape-shifting, flesh-eating night-demons and masters of illusion. From the cannibal Hidimba to the righteous Vibhishana, a full
The pishacha — lowest of Hindu flesh-eating spirits, the gibbering corpse-eater of cremation grounds blamed for disease, madness, and possession.
The myth of the Makara: a mythical aquatic creature of Hindu myth, a composite sea-monster combining crocodile, fish, elephant and other features, the
The myth of the Kinnara: the celestial musician-beings of Hindu and Buddhist myth, half-human, half-bird beings of great beauty renowned for their music,
