Reading Notes: The Mahabharata

This week for my reading I decided to watch the videos on youtube. I thought that they were very interesting to me because I felt like they had much more to them than the reading that I did the past few weeks. And maybe I just missed something from the last week, but I felt like there was more to Bhisma in this story than there was in the readings that I did the other weeks. I enjoyed the story because of the way they illustrated it as they went and how I could really get into it and understand what was happening because of the drawings. It definitely kept my attention as I watched because I could see how it was being read and not just listening to it. It also felt more like a telling and not just a reading of the story. In the long run of the story it felt for the most part the same as the reading that I did the last few weeks. I like how it was told by people who follow and understand hinduism really well because I thought that they could make much more of a understandable story. So this was a very good reading in my opinion. I didn't realize that Bhisma had kidnapped the princess to give to his sons. That part was very interesting to me because I do not believe that I caught that in the other reading and I feel like it is kind of a big part to the story, kidnapping usually is pretty big. I story of the archery competition was one of my favorite parts, I liked listening to how they battled it out based on the way they shot their bows. That was a great story overall and I was glad to read it. 

The Mahabharata

Link to Photo

Epified: Mahabharata Story

Link to Videos

Storytelling: The Bhagavad Gita

It was an eerie day when the two armies approached the fields of battle. Both sides in a hot rage ready to battle it out till the end. We were approaching from the West while the armies of Kanto approached from the East. Our general was Arjuna, and he was the fiercest warrior that the land had ever known. He was swift with his arrows and graceful with a sword, his slowest move was quicker than your fastest. He was leading us into battle and under his command we were eager to fight. 

But something strange happened that morning of the battle. I heard General Arjuna speaking to his charioteer in this small opening of rocks. I was just on the other side listening to the exchange of words and my heart became heavy because I did not think that my general was going to fight. I was born to fight this was my class, this was my duty; if we turned back now I would have felt the shame of a nation falling onto my shoulders. So I listened intently waiting to hear whether or not we were going to ride into battle against the army of Kanto. I did not know much about this army but as I listened, I understood. They were cousins, uncles, nephews, this was a battle between family, a civil war. As I listened I heard my general say to his charioteer, “Why would I fight these men? They are my family, my cousins, uncles, all of which are friends of mine! My heart is heavy, friend, I cannot kill these men who taught me all that I know!” Arjuna cried toward his charioteer. 

“You must not look at these men as your family anymore, they are warriors and you are a warrior. It is your duty that you must fight these men, whether you live or die, it is your duty sir!” his charioteer spoke back to him. 

“I hear your words, but my heart is heavy. I grew up with these men, I grew up learning from them, playing with them, they are family! How can I kill my own blood?” My general spoke back. With every word the charioteer spoke my heart grew happy, I wanted to fight so bad that I was secretly cheering him on. 

“Sire, fight these men. Fight for your honor, fight for your pride, fight so that you can go back to your kingdom and rule with your brothers. You are the fiercest warrior in the world, fight to protect that sir.” The charioteer answered him. In that moment I saw the most marvelous thing ever. The charioteer was transfigured into a god. Not just any god, but Krishna. My mouth fell open and my eyes widened, I could not believe what I was seeing. “If you do not fight Arjuna, your men will be disappointed” and with a swish of his hand the rock that I was hiding behind was moved to expose me eavesdropping on the conversation. 

The general, stunned at the transfiguration and that I was hiding behind the rock, couldn't hold his head steady, changing his glare between myself and Krishna he finally spoke, “Lord, I will fight for you, I will fight for my honor and duty, and I will fight for my men. Are you ready son?” Arjuna asked me. 

Stunned that the general was speaking to me I answered, “Sir, yes sir!”. And he told me to hop onto his chariot and we rode to the frontline of the army to announce our attack. 

The Bhagavad Gita

Link to Photo

 

The Mahabharata

Link to Story

Sources used: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie,Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore.

Authorts note:

In most of this story it always talks about the main characters. While taking the actions that happened in the story during the part of the Bhagavad Gita, I decided to take a look at what it would have looked like to have been part of the army, a soldier, none of the main characters. This story is kind of his journal, his thoughts as to what was going on during the war. I thought this would give a twist compared to what I have mostly done and what most people in the course have done, at least that I have read. I changed the name of the kingdom that was fighting so that we could have some difference, but I wanted to make it the majority the same.  

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata part D

The battle is raging on now, and it seems, by the telling of the story, that it is a very brutally and bloody battle. Arjuna gets worried about the war because he is loosing many men, but Krishna reinforces him and tells him that Bhisma, the other armies big hitter, is going to die. So Arjuna takes this news and fights hard and ends up killing Bhisma himself. Though Arjuna was very unhappy because Bhisma was like a father to him, so he wept over his death. Abhimanya, Arjuna’s son, was fighting in the battle and found himself surrounded by many foes and nobody could make their way to him to help him out, he soon fell in battle and Arjuna, learning of his death, became furious and full of vengeance. Arjuna swore to kill all his enemies by the time the sun went down, and Krishna made the sun stay up a little longer so that Arjuna could do just that. Arjuna finds his way to Karna, and they have it out, and with Arjuna’s celestial bow he shot off the head of Karna and victory was theirs. Many were left dead including many of the sons of Draupadi. They had their ceremonial fires to honor the dead and then they had a horse sacrifice to honor the gods for their victory. But time came for the Panduva’s to depart from the world and go to heaven. As they were traveling to heaven along the way they began one by one to fall short of heaven and die. In the end Udistera is the only one to make it to the mountain where heaven is. He says to the gods that he will not go in without his brothers and wife. The gods show him to his brothers and wife who are in some form of hell. But it was just a test, and the brothers and Draupadi were actually in heaven with him.

Arjuna Confronts Karna

Link to Photo

The Mahabharata

Link to Story

Sources used: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie,Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore.

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata part C

After the brothers wagered themselves into exile they left and took Draupadi with them. The bad guy tried to win her but slaves couldn’t wager anybody, so she got to go with them into exile. They met some people out in the forests including some gods and sages, who told them that they would win back their kingdom from the Kauravas. Arjuna went away by himself to the mountain to fast and pray where he met a god who blessed him and gave him a celestial bow. The rest of the brothers met the god Indra in the forests and praised him, and then they met a sage and finally running into Arjuna as well. They all met Hanuman, who told them about his adventures with Rama. They just kept meeting all the gods, cause Krishna was there too. Draupadi, just like Sita, was kidnapped, but this time it was Jayadratha who took her, and Draupadi seems meaner than Sita, cause she wanted Jayadratha to die for touching her. The brothers found their wife, yea they all share a wife, and made Jayadratha their slave, he wasn’t the best slave. The family made their way to the kingdom of Virata where they all took up places in which they could serve and lead. Everybody in this kingdom, including the king, loved the Panduva’s so they were given the best places in which to work and serve. The brothers, along with the gods tried to make peace with the Kauravas, but they would not listen to reason, so the act of war slowly began to take place. When they made it to the battlefield, Arjuna felt compelled not to fight and this is where the famous story that Bhagavad Gita takes place. Krishna gives Arjuna reason, and all consent to battle, so they fight.

The Bhagavad Gita

Link to Photo

The Mahabharata

Link to Story

Sources used: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie,Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore.

Week 5 Storytelling: The Game of Dice

“Guys, guys, guys! I have a great idea” Aaron proclaimed to his four brothers in excitement. 

“You never have good ideas” Nate said to Aaron, “What could this one be?”.

“No I swear, this idea is going to be great”, Aaron continued with a grimace toward Nate. “Lets place a bet with Karl. He already has us on the outside right now, and if we win the bets we could get back on the inside and win it all back from him. We could take everything back from him” Aaron proclaimed to his brothers. He was really excited about getting back on the inside of the kingdom and getting rid of Karl. 

“Okay, I think this might actually be your best idea ever Aaron” Bradley said, “We might actually be able to pull this one off”. 

“Whats the plan then? Are we going to just waltz on in and demand to play some dice with the one guy who just tried to kill us all” questioned Sam. Sam wasn't too into this idea of just walking into Karl’s evil layer, otherwise known as his palace. They eventually all agreed to the idea and started their journey to the temple. It was a few days journey back to the temple, and the five brothers were merrily walking their way back. Once they made it to the kingdom walls they heard the horns blowing and the gate began to open. The general of the army stepped out to greet them. 

“What do ya want” the general questioned in a high pitched voice. 

“We are here to play some dice with Karl” Aaron yelled triumphantly to the general. 

“Okay, come in” the general said without fighting back to the brothers and he walked them to the temple. the brothers were thinking that this was too easy to get in to Karl but they didn't mind cause they were about to win their kingdom back. Karl stepped forward to the brothers and looked them over and laughed. 

“So you want to play some dice” Karl questioned the brothers standing in front of them. 

“Yes, that is why we are here Karl” Aaron said, “Lets get to it, dice equal seven you win, if they equal nine, we win”.

“What is your bet” asked Karl.

“200 gold pieces” said Aaron. 

Karl rolled the dice, they landed on seven, so the brothers handed over 200 gold pieces. “Don’t worry guys, I am just playing him” Aaron whispered to his brothers. “We bet the rest of our gold pieces” he exclaimed loudly. 

Karl rolled and again it landed on seven. They handed over the rest of their gold. “What do you bet next” asked Karl.

“All of our weapons” said Aaron. Karl rolled the dice again and won again. Frustratingly they handed over all their weapons, with a grimace toward Aaron. One by one the brothers began to leave thinking they were defeated and couldn't loose anymore. Once all but Aaron was gone, Aaron put forth a new wager, “I bet the lives of myself and all my brothers to be committed to you as your salves”. Thinking that he hustled him enough, he took the dice to roll this time, and too his surprise, he lost. Karl laughed loudly and exclaimed to the kingdom that he had five new slaves. “Go tell your brothers now” he shooed Aaron out the door. 

Aaron found his brothers and said in a whimpering voice, “Hey guys, so I have some news… I, uh, I placed another bet and lost…”. 

“What else did we have” questioned Bradley.

“Well, we are now Karl’s slaves” Aaron answered as he stepped backwards away from his brothers. 

“YOU DID WHAT” Bradley screamed.

The Game of Dice

Link to Photo

Authors Note:

So for this story I decided to change the names of all the characters because I was having a hard time keeping track of all of them to begin with. And I also wanted to see make a story a little funnier, so I hope that it was for you. The story is kinda humorous to me, so I wanted to make my story humorous as well. 

The Mahabharata

Link to Story

Sources used: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore.

Reading Notes: The Mahabharta part B

This part of the story got more interesting to me, as I have read part of this section previously. This section caught my attention and got me hooked to listen to it more. It started with the Panduvas making it to the palace where they were to stay for their banishment. Not much of a banishment if they are staying in a palace, but thats alright. One of the brothers sees that the building is covered in oil and lets everybody know that about the plan to kill them all that he found out. So, they begin to dig a tunnel, the tunnel was supposed to go from the palace to the forrest. A few days later after the tunnel had been finished, the captain set fire to the palace, but the Panduvas went into their tunnel and escaped. The captain found the bodies of some beggars in the building and thought his mission was finished. He went crazy then and began to set a fire on the guard house. That fire got so big that it killed all the guards and he got caught in it to and it killed him too. Draupadi goes to a city where the whole place is under siege by Bukah, a man eating monster. He eats flesh for a tax to guard the story. Each family has to take turns on sacrificing a person to Bukah. Draupadi was at someone’s house whose turn it was, and she wished that her son was there to help them. When she thought that he came and killed Bukah. Panduvas began to gamble with Kama and lost everything that they owned to him. Including themselves, then they were banished to the forest for 12 years. Because they were good people the followed the rules of what they said they would do and went into banishment. 

Link to Story

Sources used: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore.

Kunti and Pandavas Escape

Link to Photo

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata part A

The Mahabharata is a very interesting read. I have only read a small section of this before, so it all felt very new when I read this. I thought that it was good but very different, I thought that the Ramayana was a better read in my own opinion. I liked how the Ramayana rhymed, but the Mahabharata did not. Honestly it kept my attention less as I read it. I was kinda confused as I read it too, because of how many different names that came into play. Trying to remember each of them and read and take notes made it hard, but it is a good story still. I thought it very interesting that the origins of the heroes of the story came from fish humans. One fish human going to the king the other going to fisherman that caught them. Later we find out that Arjuna was one of the best warriors of the land and was trained by a great warrior himself. He was the best with a bow and arrow and horseback riding and with axe and mace. He could pretty much kill you with anything he got his hands on. Arjuna partook in a challenge to see who would be the best warrior in all the land, and he had beat everybody except one person, Kama. Kama challenged Arjuna and beat him. The king at the time sent away five brothers into exile, those were the Panduvas. The Panduvas went away because they were good people and wanted to obey the king. Kama told a wicked captain of the army to kill the Panduvas by burning them alive in a palace of wood. The wicked captain promised that he would kill them, so he leads them away to the palace that they were to stay in. 

Link to Story

Sources used: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore.

Kama Made King

Link to Photo

Feedback Focus

These feedback strategies were useful in their own way. I enjoyed getting to try out different feedback styles, but some were not my favorite, while others I found a better and more suitable option for myself. My least favorite feedback option was the reading for 10 minutes. While I found it helpful in my focus, I am terrible at keeping focus anyways so I lost focus, even when taking notes. So this option made it hard for me to continue to read and stay focused. My second favorite was the copy and delete option. This option was helpful for me to get a better idea of what is happening, but I did not care for it as much because I just didn't like the notes I was taking from them. The best option for me was the reading out loud, I liked this option because it always helps me to understand what I am reading and what I have gone through, so this was helpful to get a better picture of the story. I wasn't too surprised when this is the option that worked best for me, because I have done it before and it worked great then too. I will continue to try to read out lout in later feedbacks, because it helped me out very much in my practice and in the past. I have no other recommendations, because reading out loud is the best one I have done in the past. I enjoyed reading the Wax Crocodile story. This story was good to me and I loved getting to read it.

The Wax Crocodile

Comment Wall

Welcome to my blog.

Jatakas

Link to Photo

Tell me what you think as you see our journey through the Jatakas. Click here.

Reading Notes: The Ramayana, Sita Sings the Blues

For my reading assignment today I watched the video of “Sita Sings the Blues”. I thought this video was incredibly funny and all around a great illustration of the Ramayana. I have seen this video partially before, so I was excited to get to watch the whole thing. Knowing that this video is about a group of people who are retelling the story in the ways they have heard it before, it is funny to watch it because they contradict each other so many times. I enjoyed this video a lot for that and just to see how people in India understand the Ramayana. I enjoyed listening to the dialogue between the three friends trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle of the story. It was interesting to me to see how none of them mentioned that Lakshmana ever took part in the wilderness. So hearing it this way made it interesting, because I was thinking that it would have been hard for Rama to have done everything that he did without Lakshmana. It was also fun listening to all the songs that were sung in it. All of Sita’s songs were fun to listen to and to hear more of her thoughts, whether they were real or fake. Also the song that Rama’s children sing about Rama, was super catchy. Getting to have a different view point from many different people along with having the vision of the couple that moved to India was also helpful. These two different views of the story told in different lights were helpful in understanding what the story of Rama is all about. Because of the two different stories that I have been able to read and watch, I have been able to learn more than I have ever been able understand what the story is about. 

Sita Sings the Blues

Link to Photo

Source: "Sita Sings the Blues" by Nina Paley, 2008

Link to Story

Storytelling: The Return of Kong

“It’s late summer now, we have been out here in the wilderness for 13 years. I know that I chose to come myself in support of my brother, but I am so ready to be home. This has been a long hard road we have traveled on, and without Sita here to help boost our mentalities, our weeks seem much longer. Sita has been gone for a four years now. Four years! Why did I leave her? Why did I listen to her that day? This is all my fault. But I am sure we will find her” Laka writes in his journal. He wanted to get his thoughts out of his head for the first time in a while because he felt they were eating at him. He continued in his journal, “We met the monkey king Sugriva this last year and his faithful friend Kong has given us shelter and food. We have been thankful for our time in their home, without it, I would have felt like I could have died. But even while we are here we are still on the search, doing whatever we can to find Sita. Sugriva sent scouts, multitudes of his people to find Sita. We have been anxious to here from them, all groups are supposed to be back today”. 

Laka finished writing as he heard the horns blasting in the distance, the scouts had returned. He ran out of his room to the city walls to see the group as they came in. Climbing over the walls and rushing over the gates the Eastern scouts returned with no news. In the distance the North scouts could be seen merging with the West scouts. As they came in they brought no word of Sita. Laka’s heart dropped. He was loosing hope of ever finding her. His brother was looking confident, “We will find her” he said to Laka, giving him hope. Even though his heart was heavier than Laka’s could ever be, “the South has not come back yet”. It was true, there was no news of the Southern scouts yet.

Three hours had past and it was getting dark, and still no word of the Southern scouts. “Look” shouted a guard on the wall, “Kong is returning”.

 Laka was looking around the ground confused. “Where is he? I see nothing”

“Look up” yelled the guard to Laka. Looking up, Laka was stunned, he saw Kong the giant ape seemingly flying through the air to the city. He had heard myths of Kong the flying monkey but never believed them, and now he was seeing it with his own eyes. Though Kong could not claim that he could fly but instead that he could only jump 10’s of miles at a time. As Laka was watching him come in closer and closer to the city he was baffled at him coming in. 

Kong landed at the city walls and walked to the King Sugriva and Rama he said to them, “I have found her”. 

\

The Burning of Lanka

Link to Photo

Link to Story. 

Sources used: M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder

Authors note:

For my story I wanted to continue to look at it in the eyes of Lakshmana. So I wanted to make the majority of the story in this point of view. I decided to change some names because, since I started hearing about Hanuman, I have thought that he was like King Kong, so I wanted to reflect that in my story and also to make it just a little more exciting. I wanted to end it with a cliff hanger, because that is one of my favorite things that authors and films do.