Devi

When demons Chanda and Munda attacked goddess Kaushiki, a fearsome dark form emerged from her forehead - gaunt, wearing skulls. This terrible form devoured demon armies and beheaded both generals, earning the name Chamunda from their combined names.

When Maha Kali, Lakshmi, and Saraswati unified, a girl named Trikuta was born. The demon Bhairon Nath pursued her. She fled to Trikuta caves where she slew him. Seeking forgiveness, he was granted that no pilgrimage to her would be complete without visiting his temple.

Murdered by her stepmother and crushed in a rice pounder, Tejimola transforms successively into creeper, banana, citrus, then lotus. When her fathers boat passes, the lotus sings, revealing its identity. Justice follows.

Only weapons from Dadhichis bones could slay demon Vritra. When Indra approached, the sage willingly sacrificed his life. Vishvakarma fashioned the thunderbolt Vajra from his spine, which Indra used to defeat the demon.

At Kanchipuram, the horse-headed avatar Hayagriva (incarnation of Vishnu) taught Sage Agastya the thousand names of Goddess Lalita. These names were originally composed by the eight Vaagdevis upon Lalitas command - making it the only sahasranama not written by a human and containing exactly 1000 unique names.

A Brahmin receives a goat. Three thieves each approach separately, calling it a dog, then calf, then donkey. Confused by three people seeing three animals, he believes its a shape-shifting goblin and drops it - the thieves feast.

Rishabhadeva, the first Tirthankara, taught humanity the foundations of civilized life including agriculture, writing (Brahmi script), arithmetic, pottery, and weaving. He instituted marriage, almsgiving, and funeral rites, transforming primitive society into organized civilization before renouncing worldly life to become a monk.

Born under inauspicious stars, a baby was thrown into the ocean by his parents. Swallowed by a fish, he drifted to the ocean floor where Lord Shiva was secretly teaching yoga to Parvati. For twelve years, he practiced yoga inside the fishs belly. When he finally emerged, he was an enlightened Siddha - Matsyendranath, Lord of the Fishes.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born in Mayapur, Bengal in 1486 during a lunar eclipse while devotees chanted the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. His golden complexion and auspicious marks indicated he was an incarnation of the Lord.

Yogananda meets Ananda Moyi Ma, an illiterate yet profoundly wise woman saint who stunned intellectuals with her wisdom. Living in perpetual samadhi, she was so absorbed in God that disciples had to feed her by hand.

As a crawling infant, Nimai caught a snake that entered the courtyard and lay peacefully on its coiled body. When family members screamed in fear, He simply smiled. Some recognized the snake as Ananta Sesha, the divine serpent.

The champion scholar Kesava Kashmiri, who had defeated pandits across India, was challenged by young Nimai Pandit. Nimai found faults in his spontaneously composed verses, defeating him. Goddess Saraswati later revealed to Kesava that Nimai was the Supreme Lord.

Beautiful lyrical hymns personifying the Dawn as a radiant goddess who dispels darkness, brings light to the world, and awakens all creatures. She is described as ever young, driving away evil spirits and revealing the path of cosmic order.

The youngest of seven sons of an old woman is fed leftovers by his mother. His wife learns the Santoshi Mata vrat for 16 Fridays. When she observes it faithfully, the goddess appears in her husbands dream, he returns home wealthy, and they establish a happy household.

Queen Veeravati, pampered by her seven brothers, observes Karva Chauth fast but breaks it prematurely after being tricked into thinking the moon had risen. Her husband dies, but through Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvatis grace, she observes the fast correctly and her husband is revived.

Goddess Parvati performed intense penance to marry Lord Shiva. When her father arranged her marriage to Lord Vishnu, her friend abducted her to a forest. There, Parvati made a Shivalinga from clay and worshipped it. Lord Shiva appeared and granted her wish.

A merchants son was predicted to die from snakebite in his sixteenth year. After marriage, his wife observes Mangala Gauri fast as advised by her mother. The wife receives the blessing of eternal wifehood and her husbands destined death is averted.

A woman named Sheela suffering in her marriage learns about the Vaibhav Lakshmi vrat from an old lady who was actually Goddess Lakshmi herself. After observing the Friday fast with devotion, her husbands nature transforms completely and their household prospers.

Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati and Narad Muni visited a forest where women came to offer food. Low-class women came first with simple offerings and received Parvatis blessings for marital bliss. This established that sincere early devotion is most precious to the Goddess.

When poisonous serpent Kaliya polluted the Yamuna, young Krishna dove in. Kaliya attacked but Krishna expanded his body, freed himself, and danced on the serpents hoods until Kaliya surrendered and promised to leave.