The Man from the Egg Read online

  2 In some versions, Brahma is considered to be Manmatha’s father.

  3 The celebration of Holi is also attributed to the mythological tale of Prahlada, a daitya king.

  4 The fortnight between a new moon day and a full moon day is called Shukla Paksha.

  5 The fortnight between a full moon day and a new moon day is called Krishna Paksha.

  6 The jyotirlinga is an iconic representation of Shiva. It is said to have emitted light.

  7 Every year, the birth of Ganesha is celebrated on the fourth day of the Hindu month of Bhadrapada.

  8 A sculpture of this battle can be seen at Ramappa Temple in Telangana, and paintings of the event are on the ceiling of Virupaksha Temple in Hampi.

  9 It is a philosophy that preaches that the soul and God are one.

  10 Her prophecy would come true much later, during the reign of Janmejaya in the kingdom of Hastinapur, when the serpents would be sacrificed as revenge for his father’s death. Janmejaya was the successor of Parikshit, grandson of the Pandava Arjuna.

  11 Today, the hills where Vishnu meditated are called the Tirumala Hills and the area below has come to be known as Govindarajpatnam, or Tirupati.

  Notes

  Gods and Their Abodes

  Deva or Asura Abode (Ancient Name) Abode (Modern Name)

  Brahma Pushkar Pushkar

  Brahma Kapala Badrinath

  Satyaloka

  Shiva Mount Kailash Mount Kailash

  Kashi Varanasi or Benares

  Vishnu Vaikuntha

  Tondamandalam Around Tirupati

  Lakshmi Karvirapura Kolhapur

  Indra Indraloka/Amravati

  Ravana Lanka Sri Lanka

  Jyotirlingas

  Name Place State

  Somnath Prabhas Patan, Saurashtra Gujarat

  Nagesha Darukawana Gujarat

  Mallikarjuna Srisailam Andhra Pradesh

  Mahakala Ujjain Madhya Pradesh

  Amaleshwara Omkara Madhya Pradesh

  Vaijanatha Paraji Maharashtra

  Bhimashankara Bhimashankara Maharashtra

  Trumbakeshwara Nashik Maharashtra

  Grishneshwara Ellora Maharashtra

  Rameswaram Rameswaram Tamil Nadu

  Vishweshwara Kashi Uttar Pradesh

  Kedareshwara Kedar Uttaranchal

  Immortality Loopholes

  Devotee Boon Loophole

  Sunda and Upasunda Cannot be killed by anyone but each other Died fighting each other over a beautiful maiden

  Taraka Cannot be killed by any man or god Died at the hands of a child, Shiva’s son

  Tripurasuras To be rulers of three invincible cities, whose weakest moment would occur during their alignment once every thousand years A single arrow used by Shiva during the alignment

  Gajasura Cannot be killed by anyone who desires something Destroyed by Lord Shiva, who desires nothing in the world

  Vritrasura Cannot be killed by any weapon made of wood or metal Slain by weapons made from the bones of the sage Dadhichi

  Hiranyakashipu Cannot be killed by a human or an animal, in the morning or at night, inside or outside the house Killed by a half-man, half-lion at twilight in a doorway

  Jalandhara Cannot be destroyed by anyone other than Shiva, who was like his father Died at the hands of Shiva

  Madhu and Kaitabha Can choose the time of their death Chose to die after Vishnu obtained a boon from them asking them to die at his hands

  Guha Cannot be killed by a man or a god Was killed by two gods merging to form a deity, Harihara

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  What lesson did a little mongoose teach Yudhisthira?

  The Kurukshetra war, fought between the Kauravas and the Pandavas and which forced even the gods to take sides, may be well known, but there are innumerable stories set before, after and during the war that lend the Mahabharata its many varied shades and are largely unheard of.

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  The Bird with Golden Wings

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  A poor little girl is rewarded with lovely gifts when she takes pity on a hungry bird and feeds it all the rice she has, but what happens when the girl’s greedy, nosy neighbour hears the story and tries to get bigger and better gifts for herself? Why did the once sweet sea water turn salty? How did it happen that the learned teacher forgot all his lessons and had to be helped out by the school cook? And what did the king do so that the people of his kingdom did not come to know that he has horrible donkey ears hidden under his turban?

  For answers to all this and more, delve right into another fabulous collection of stories by Sudha Murty.

  THE BEGINNING

  Let the conversation begin…

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  PUFFIN BOOKS

  UK | Canada | Ireland | Australia

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  Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

  This collection published 2017

  Copyright © Sudha Murty 2017

  The moral right of the author has been asserted

  Jacket images © Neelima P Aryan

  ISBN: 978-0-143-42786-5

  This digital edition published in 2017.

  e-ISBN: 978-9-387-32645-3

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.