Deities and sacred beings
Deities, sages, kings, places and principles compiled from the Puranas. Search, filter and open each profile.
320 beings · page 6 of 16
Hiranyakashipu
हिरण्यकशिपुHiranyakashipu is the mightiest daitya-emperor of puranic legend: son of Kashyapa and Diti, father of Prahlada, whose pride and boon-won inv…
Daityas
दैत्यThe Daityas are the asura-class descended from Kashyapa and Diti: the clan of Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha, the fiercest standing adversar…
Vamana
वामनVamana is Vishnu's dwarf-brahmana avatara: begging three paces of land at Bali's sacrifice and, as Trivikrama, spanning the three worlds in …
Bali (the asura king)
बलिBali (Mahabali), grandson of Prahlada and son of Virochana, is the mighty and famously generous king of the daitya realm: the bountiful hero…
Svarga (heaven)
स्वर्गSvarga (Trivistapa) is Indra's heaven of Hindu cosmology: the impermanent fruit-bearing realm of merit. SB 1.3.19: it was this threefold hea…
Parashurama
परशुरामParashurama ('Rama with the axe'), son of Jamadagni and Renuka, is the Brahmin-warrior of the Bhrigu line and Vishnu's sixteenth avatara: wh…
Parashara
पराशरParashara, son of Shakti of the Vashishtha line, is the maharshi to whom the Vishnu Purana is ascribed: husband of Satyavati and father of V…
Satyavati
सत्यवतीSatyavati, daughter of the fisher-king, was first the wife of Parashara (mother of Vyasa by him) and later of Shantanu; matriarch of the Kur…
Rama (Dasharathi)
रामRama (Dasharathi, Ramachandra) is the Raghu-line king of Ayodhya, Vishnu's celebrated avatara: hero of the Ramayana, the ideal of righteous …
Vrishnis
वृष्णि कुलThe Vrishnis are the leading clan of the Yadava confederacy: that branch of the Yadu line in which Krishna and Balarama were born; Satvata-V…
Buddha
बुद्धThe Buddha-avatara is Vishnu's prophesied incarnation of Vaishnava tradition, appearing in Kali to (in the Bhagavata's words) bewilder the f…
Anjana
अञ्जनाAnjana is, in the Bhagavata's text, the mother of the Buddha-avatara: 'anjana-sutah' (SB 1.3.24). (Note: EN-Wikipedia's 'Anjana' article cov…
Kikata (region)
कीकट प्रदेशKikata is the region of Vedic-puranic geography (traditionally identified with Magadha, Bihar) where, per the Bhagavata, the Buddha-avatara …
Kalki
कल्किKalki is Vishnu's prophesied tenth avatara: at the yuga-juncture at Kali's end, born as Vishnuyasha's son (in the traditional village Shambh…
Vishnuyasha
विष्णुयशस्Vishnuyasha is, in tradition, the ascetic/sage of Shambhala, father of the Kalki-avatara. SB 1.3.25: 'janita vishnu-yasasah' — Kalki will be…
Manus
मनुगणThe Manus are the sovereign patriarchs of the manvantara order: fourteen in each kalpa, the mainstays of dharma through the cosmic cycle (Sv…
Prajapatis
प्रजापतिगणThe Prajapatis are the generation-lord patriarchs of creation: Brahma's mind-born sons (Marichi, Atri, Angira, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vash…
Avidya (nescience)
अविद्याAvidya is a root conception of Vedanta: the ignorance-power that veils the self and projects superimposition. SB 1.3.33: the imposition of '…
Maharaja Parikshit
महाराज परीक्षितMaharaja Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu, is the last great emperor of the Kuru line: cursed by Takshaka, he sat on the Ganga's bank to hear the…
Rig Veda
ऋग्वेदThe Rig Veda is the first of the four Vedas: a collection of 1,028 hymns across 10 Mandalas, the oldest layer of Vedic literature, its verse…