A few words from the author

I shall take you to another world — the world of enlightenment and amusement. I feel that enlightenment and amusement are the obverse and reverse of the same coin. In these volumes, I have related some stories from the Puranas, our ancient Indian texts.

There are eighteen Puranas. Their author was the great sage Vyasa who also dictated the Mahabharata. Millions and billions of people have heard these stories. They deal mostly with the cosmic gods and goddesses. Quite a few stories show how the gods and goddesses used to curse each other in the twinkling of an eye. Other stories, especially stories about Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, reveal their struggle for supremacy.

These stories are funnier than the funniest. We get tremendous joy from them. Then again, there are scholars who will be able to give elaborate explanations. From these explanations, which are created by the reasoning mind, we will never get any joy. There is joy in reading the stories, joy in hearing them, but no joy in entering into philosophical discourse. Let the philosophers and historians play their role in their own way; we are not interested.

These stories from the Puranas are not for the mind to understand but for the heart to enjoy.

— Sri Chinmoy