Rama

This philosophical retelling introduces Maya Sita - a shadow who was abducted while the real Sita was hidden. Ravana never actually captured the true Sita. The entire epic is framed through Advaita Vedanta, presenting Rama as Brahman in human form.

Aged vulture king Jatayu fought Ravana to protect Sita despite impossible odds. Mortally wounded, he lived to inform Rama and attained moksha.

Kannagi proves her husband Kovalans innocence after wrongful execution by breaking her anklet revealing rubies not pearls. She tears off her breast, curses Madurai to burn, and is later deified as goddess Pattini.

King pays 5000 gold to a trader for horses that never arrive. Tenali shows the King a list naming him the biggest fool. When asked what if trader returns, Tenali says then the trader becomes the bigger fool.

When Parashuramas mother Renuka momentarily entertains impure thoughts, her husband Jamadagni orders his sons to behead her. While elder brothers refuse, Parashurama obeys without hesitation, impressing his father who grants him a boon - he requests and receives his mothers restoration to life.

When King Kartavirya Arjuna forcibly seizes the divine cow Surabhi from sage Jamadagni and murders him, his son Parashurama receives divine weapons from Vishnu including his legendary axe. He then wages a relentless campaign, severing Kartaviryas thousand arms and eliminating the corrupt kshatriya class twenty-one times.

Janamejaya performed Sarpa Satra to avenge his fathers death by serpent king Takshaka, drawing snakes from everywhere into the sacrificial fire. The sacrifice was stopped by young sage Astika, whose mother was Vasukis sister, who convinced Janamejaya to spare remaining serpents. It was during this sacrifice that Vaishampayana narrated the entire Mahabharata.

The complete pattern of Vishnu's avatars from Matsya to Kalki - showing how each incarnation represents a stage in the evolution of consciousness and the cycles of cosmic time.

Viduras wife Vidurani became famous when Krishna visited Hastinapura and chose to stay at their humble home rather than Duryodhanas palace. Overwhelmed by devotion, Vidurani mistakenly offered Krishna banana peels instead of fruit, which Krishna lovingly accepted, valuing her devotion over material perfection.

After defeating Ravana, Rama sought to atone for killing a Brahmin (Ravana was learned in Vedas). When Hanuman, sent to Mount Kailash for a Shiva lingam, was delayed past the auspicious hour, Sita made a lingam from sand. When Hanuman returned disappointed, Rama decreed his lingam would be worshipped first. The temple houses both lingams.

A crow who witnessed multiple cycles of creation and heard the Ramayana directly from Shiva. He retained divine knowledge across lifetimes, teaching that spiritual wisdom transcends physical form.

Ramana Maharshi taught primarily through silence, guiding seekers to reflect on the source of their inquiries rather than answering questions directly. Visitors received spiritual instruction simply by sitting in his presence. When asked about his death, he said: I am not going away, I am here! The body is not the guru.

Ramanuja traveled eighteen times to receive the sacred eight-syllable mantra from his guru who extracted promises of secrecy. Upon receiving it, Ramanuja immediately climbed to the temple tower and shouted the mantra to all people below. When confronted, he replied: I will gladly suffer hell if millions can be saved. His guru, moved by such compassion, blessed him.

In Vishnumangalam, Madhvacharya faced Trivikramacharya, a brilliant logician, in fifteen intense days of philosophical contest. Trivikrama deployed every logical weapon but was so convinced by Madhvas Tattvavada that he surrendered at his feet. The irony: the defeated scholars son later wrote the Madhva-vijaya, glorifying his fathers conqueror.

At sixteen, young Venkataraman was suddenly gripped by intense fear of death. He lay down like a corpse and inquired: With the death of this body, am I dead? In that moment, he realized: I am a spirit transcending the body. The material body dies, but the spirit cannot be touched by death. Fear vanished forever, leading him to Arunachala where he remained until death.

Ramakrishna declared: I see that God is walking in every human form, manifesting through the sage and the sinner, the virtuous and the vicious. When meeting different people, he would say: God in the form of the saint, God in the form of the sinner. This vision of unity transcended all distinctions and became central to his teaching that all religions lead to the same goal.

Nisargadatta Maharaj was a humble Mumbai merchant selling cigarettes when his guru gave him one instruction: meditate on the sense I Am. With complete faith, Nisargadatta followed this simple practice. In just three years, he attained Self-Realization - demonstrating the path to enlightenment need not be long for one with total faith in the gurus words.

Young Mukunda visits Gandha Baba (Vishudhananda), a yogi who could produce any fragrance from flowers or human skin at will. Despite witnessing miraculous perfume manifestations, Yogananda decides not to follow him, concluding that such miracles are spiritually useless entertainment.

Mukunda visits Ram Gopal Muzumdar, a saint who remained awake in ecstatic God-consciousness for over 25 years without needing sleep. The saint teaches Yogananda that his guru Sri Yukteswar has everything he needs and that the kingdom of God is found within.

Sri Yukteswar teaches Yogananda about the true science of astrology and how to overcome planetary influences through prayer, will power, yoga meditation, and astrological bangles, demonstrating that the wise can defeat their planets.