Week 12 Extra Reading Notes: The Forest Fire

The Forest Fire

There was a mother and a father quail who had seven baby quails.
The mother quail instructed the chicks to be good.
If they were good, she and the father would bring them back worms, insects, and grass seeds to eat.
Every time the mother and father brought back the food six of the chicks at the insects and worms while the same one chick only ate the grass seeds.
As a result the six chicks grew strong wings while the one who ate grass seeds wings did not grow at all.
One night, while the family of quails was sleeping, they heard a loud cry from deep in the forest.
They peeped their head out of the nest to see what made the sound.
In the distance they saw red clouds of smoke rising up from the trees.
The little birds started crying as the red clouds made crackling and hissing noises.
The littlest of the baby quails said, "See, Father, its a fire in the woods."
The fire was drawing nearer. It was destroying all the bushes and trees in its path.
The mother, father, and the six chicks with strong wings flew away.
The seventh chick got left behind.
The flames and smoke danced around the nest.
Somehow, the little bird was not afraid.
Instead he stared at the fire approaching and started talking to it.
He said, "I am small and have no wings. Why do you come to this wee nest where I am left alone.  Go your way mighty flames; there is nothing here for you."
The raging fire went away and the woods become quiet.
Voices started emerging from the trees as animals began to talk to each other.
The moon became visible again.
The little quail had a smile on his face.  He was happy and remained happy in those woods for the rest of his life.

I enjoyed this story but I am not exactly sure what it is trying to teach.  Is it a story about bravery?  Is it a story about not leaving a family member behind?  I am not sure.  It was a fun read though.

Bibliography

The Forest Fire from Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat
Image Information: What the little bird faced: National Park Service

Reading Notes Week 12: Seven Secrets of the Goddess B

Seven Secrets of the Goddess

In the stories of Yami and Yama, two common themes occur.
One is the association with women and sexual pleasure.
The other is about war.
Yami is the sister while Yama is the brother.
Yami approaches Yama but Yama refuses her.
Yama then dies with no offspring in the mortal world.
He gets trapped then in the world of the dead.
His rejection of sex turned him into the god of death.
Yami is very sad and turns into the goddess of the night.
She is now called Yamini.  She also is the dark river Yamuma.

There is a similar story in Polynesian mythology where Maui tries to go inside Hine, the goddess of death.  He does this to try to gain immortality.
Hine wakes up and realizes what Maui is trying to do so she bites him.

Because of these stories, men started associating women with immorality, misery, and vulnerability.

Rejection of women can be found in the Bible (reason is completely different than this argument though).

It is also found in Buddhism as Buddha rejects women to find freedom from suffering.

Women started to get looked at more like an object than a human.
They were bought and sold.
They were put into slavery.
They were abducted.
We even see this happen in the Mahabharata.
Because women became something one could own women also started selling themselves.
This is when prostitution started.
Men took over the economic world and women had nothing else to sell but their bodies if they did not have a husband.
The women became the property of the men in their life (father, brother, uncle, son).
The father would choose who his daughter married.

Learning about all of this is quite sad.  I feel bad for all the things women endured through history and how poorly they were treated.  The world is so sex saturated.  Sex, meant for bringing two people together in intimacy, seems to have lost its value.


Bibliography

Seven Secrets of the Goddess by Pattanaik
Image Information: Yami and Yama: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes Week 12: Seven Secrets of the Goddess A

Seven Secrets of the Goddess

Gaia is the earth mother in Greek Mythology
Her children were Uranus, who clung to her, Aphrodite, goddess of love, and the Erines, goddesses of retribution.
Kronos, their father ate all of his children so that they could not overpower him.
Gaia saves one son named Zeus.
Eventually Zeus attacks and kills Kronos.
Zeus then calls himself the god of men and takes his position at the throne of Mount Olympus.
Gaia stays respected but she is distant.

Adya is the mother god of India.
She took form as a bird and laid three unfertilized eggs.
These ended up giving rise to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.
Adya wished to unite (marry) with the three male gods she created.
Brahma refused because he only saw Adya as a mother.  Adya then cursed him so there would be no temples or shrines in his honor.
Adya found that Vishnu was too shrewd for her.
Shiva agreed but only if Adya gave him her third eye.
Adya agreed and gave Shiva her eye.  Shiva in return used the eye to set her on fire and turn her to ash.
Three goddesses rose from the ash.  These goddesses became the wives of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.

One thing that I really love about this video series is that it not only covers the history of the gods in India but also the gods from other cultures.  Many of these gods are very different from each other while others are quite similar.  Details are often different, but overarching themes are often the same.
The images used in the videos are also great.  I'm sure it took a lot of time and hard work for the writers to find these.

I was surprised that in many ancient cultures, there were periods of time where women had more authority than men.  This is just the opposite of what I have learned in world history books.

Bibliography

Seven Secrets of the Goddess by Pattanaik
Image Information: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva: Wikimedia commons

Reading Notes: Jataka Tales, Babbitt Part B

The King's White Elephant

The bank of a river located in a large forest was home to many carpenters.
These carpenters traveled on the river in boats looking for trees to turn into lumber.
One day while they were out, and elephant came to them limping on three legs.
The fourth foot that was in the air was swollen and sore.
This was due to a large splinter.
The carpenters pulled the splinter out of the elephant's foot.
They also washed the elephant's foot so that the wound would heal quickly.
The elephant was thankful for the nice act that the carpenters had done.
He wanted to return the favor.
The elephant helped the carpenters pull down trees and carry goods.
All the while, the carpenters gave the elephant food to eat.
The elephant had a son who was young, strong, and white in color.
The elephant was growing old and knew that soon he would no longer be able to help the carpenters.
The elephant decided to bring his son to work so that his son could learn what he does.
That way his son could continue to help the carpenters.
The elephant told his son how the carpenters treated him well when he was injured.
So the son helped the carpenters and they fed him just like they fed his father.
The carpenters sons and the elephants son became good friends.
One day after work, they all played in the river together.
The young elephant would pick up the kids with his trunk and put them in trees or on his back.
A king came through the forest one day and say the beautiful elephant working for the carpenters.
He wanted the elephant so he paid them a good price for him.
The king treated the elephant well for as long as they both were alive.

I guess this is a story for how elephants came to live under human captivity.  Kind of cool!

Bibliography

Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt
Image Information: The King on His White Elephant: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Jataka Tales, Babbitt Part A

How the Turtle Saved His Own Life

A king had a lake put into the courtyard of his castle.
This lake was for his daughter, the young princess, to play around in.
One day the king asked his boys to put fish in the lake.
The boys went and found fish, but with the fish was a turtle.
None of them had ever seen a turtle before and ended up thinking it was a demon.
The returned to the king crying a told him that there was a demon in the lake.
He told the boys to bring the demon back to him.
The boys got the turtle planned to kill it.
They kept coming up with plans.
An old man told them that they should throw it into the part of the lake that is flowing over a bunch of rocks.
The turtle begged them not to and said that this was the worst punishment of all.
He knew that the boys wanted the worst for him so he told them not to do the one thing that he actually wanted them to do.
The boys threw him in the water and he traveled safely home.

The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking

A Turtle who lived at the bottom of a hill met two Geese one day.
After a short amount of time they became good friends.
The Geese wanted the Turtle to come home with them
The Turtle asked how he could go with them because he has no wings.
The Geese offered to take them as long as he didn't tell anybody about it.
The Geese grabbed a stick and held it between them.
They told the Turtle to bite the stick and hold on.
The Geese and Turtle flew over a village and the children made fun of them.
The Turtle, defending himself said, "Well, and if my friends carry me, what business is that of yours?"
He fell to his death at the feet of the children.

Bibliography

Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt
Image Information: The Falling Turtle: Wikimedia Commons

Week 10 Reading Notes: Epified Krishna B

Epified Krishna B

Krishna and his cowherd friends were hanging out one day and eating off of the same plate.
Brahma, the creator of the universe was curious as to why they were doing this.
Brahma then decided to test Krishna's divine power.
Brahma then disappeared with the cows that Krishna and his friends were watching over.
Krishna went looking for the cows and found that Brahma had taken them and his friends.
Krishna, to teach Brahma a lesson, played a trick on him.
He created the lost cows and cowherds out of himself.
No one could tell the difference when he returned home.
Brahma kept the cows and cowherds for a whole year but life went on normally in the village.
The parents of the cowherds could not even tell that their children were not real.
When Brahma went to the village to find all of this, he used his powers to find that all the fake cows and people were actually Krishna.
Brahma fell to his knees and acknowledged Krishna's divinity. He also thanked him and gave back his friends and cows.
Krishna went back out with his cowherd friends and told them that he wanted to become strong enough to punch the bull Hastin.
Hastin was the strongest bull in the village.
He was the source of all the cows in the village.
The whole village was scared of Hastin because he was so violent.
Killing the bull was not a good deed so he told everyone that he would ride it.
Nobody believed him.
Krishna played the flute in front of Hastin every night for a month.
By the end of this, Hastin became docile.
Krishna then rode Hastin and the village was shocked.
In this Krishna taught the village a lesson of kindness.
Kindness is the ultimate strength.


Bibliography

Krishna by Epified TV
Image information: Krishna Riding Hastin: Wikimedia Commons

Week 10 Reading Notes: Epified Krisha A

Epified Krishna A

Krishna was a boy that had enemies before he was even born.
Many tried to stop his birth from happening.
When he was born, they did everything they could to keep him from growing up.
As a result, Krishna's childhood was filled with people and other beings attacking him.
He survived however and became a king and much more.
He made powerful allies and was a friend to those who needed help.
He made enemies of those who tried to harm his loved ones.
While many were involved in the life of Krishna they never understood that he was not a part of their world but that they were part of his world.
Krishna was destined to guide the Pandavas into war and bring about a new age.
There was a cruel king of Mathura named Kams who was told that his cousin's 8th child would be his heir.
Furious he tried to go kill his cousin (Vasudeva) and his cousin's wife (Devaki).
His sister however kept him from doing so.
He ended up throwing his cousin and cousin's wife in prison.
He killed the first 6 of his cousin's children.
The 7th child was transported from the mother's womb by the goddess Mahamaya to the womb of Rohini, the cousin's first wife.
Kans was happy because he thought Devaki had suffered a miscarriage.
Then she gave birth to her 8th child, the 8th reincarnation of Vishnu as a bright light shone from the heavens.
The whole world and all of the animals could feel the happiness.
Word reached Kans about the birth of his slayer.
The gods went to sleep and Vasudeva was able to leave prison with his son.
He traveled to the Yamuna river so he could cross it.
The river was so large he knew he would not be able to make it so he surrendered to the river and asked it for help.
A serpent with a hood came from the river and guided him across the river.
He reached a camp of gypsies, the people of Nand which was his destination.
There he found Yashuda who gave birth to Maya on that same night.
He left Krishna with Yashuda, took Maya, and left the camp.
He was sad but knew this is how his son would be safe.


Bibliography

Krishna by Epified TV
Image information: Vasudev, Krishna, and the Serpent: Wikimedia Commons

Week 9 Reading Notes: Animated Mahabharata B

The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution

King Shantanu passed away.
Bhishma then acted like a father to his two half brothers, Chitrangad and Vichitraveerya.
He taught them statecraft and how to be good administrators. 
Chitrangad battled Gandharva and was killed.
Vichitraveerya who was not healthy became king of Hastinapur.
Bhishma decided to get his brother a wife just in case something happened to him.
He kidnapped three princesses, Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika, from the court of Kashi.
The oldest of the three sisters, Amba, begged to go marry king Shalva her love.
When she got to king Shalva, he rejected her because she was taken by another man.
He told her to return to Bhishma and marry him.
She went back and begged Bhishma to marry her but he stayed true to his vow.
Amba became angry and blamed Bhishma for all of her.
She declared she would not rest until she punished him.
Amba looked tirelessly for one who would stand up for her, but know warrior dared to attack the son of Ganga.
She finally went to sage Parshuran who was supposedly an avatar of Vishnu.
Parshuran said he would convince Bhishma to marry her.
He said no again and then Parshuran challenged him to a fight to the death.
They beat up on each other for 23 days with no winner.
Finally Parshuran gave up and Bhishma won.
Vichitaveerya died and Hastinapur was kingless.
There was also no prince.
The Queen mother Satyawati decided Bhishma needed to marry.
She ordered Bhishma to father the children of Ambika and Ambalika.
Bhishma remained steadfast.
Satyawati then was forced to tell Bhishma a secret she had been keeping from him for all his life.
She had a son before she had met king Shantanu.
The father was a sage named Parashar.
The son was Vyas, who was destined to be the greatest poet the world has ever seen.
Vyas made a promise before he was sent away that he would appear whenever she summoned him.
She then called him, and he came.
She asked him to father the children of Ambika and Ambalika.
Vyas was not good looking and Ambika and Ambalika were afraid of him.


Bibliography

The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by Epified TV
Image Information: Hastinapur Temple: Wikimedia Commons

Week 9 Reading Notes: Animated Mahabharata A

The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution

Ganesha is the lord of beginnings.
Story of kings and queens.
Story of heroes and villans.
Story of a war that swallowed the continent.
Temple building became an art from in India at the time of the Mahabharata.
It is a epic that shows how karma functions.
Shantanu fell in love with the princess Ganga and they got married.
The lovestruck king agreed to her harsh terms to never question her decisions.
Queen Ganga drowned her first 7 children.
Shantanu finally questioned her when she had the 8th.
Then she told him about the Vasus she agreed to set free from the mortal world.
She left him and took their only son.
He found his son Devavrat shooting arrows into the Ganges river.  He was overjoyed.
Devavrat had learned the art of war from a sage.  He also acquired great knowledge.
Shantanu brought his son back to the kingdom to be the new prince.
King Shantanu fell in love with a new woman.  She was a fisherman's daughter named Satyavati.
He asked her to marry him but she said no because her sons would never be king because of Devavrat.
He suffered and started negleting his kingdom.
Devavrat went to the fisherman and tried to reason with him to sooth his father's pain.
The fisherman said no no matter what Devavrat said.
Devavrat spoke a vow that he would never marry.  This would eventually lead to a gigantic war. This was for the sake of his father's happiness.
Devavrat from then on became known as Bhishma.
The fisherman then let his daughter marry the king.
Bhishma went to his father thinking that he would be happy but he was not.
The good thing that came out of this was Bhisma was able to decide the time of his death.
Death could not come whenever it wanted to.  It was his choice.
Bhishma kept his promise and Hastinapur remained peaceful under his watch.


Bibliography

The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by Epified TV
Image Information: A man who will never marry: Max Pixel

Reading Notes: Banyan

Banyan

Banyan was the king of the deer.  He was the golden deer.

His eyes were described as jewels.

His antlers were described as silver crescents.

His hooves looked like pears.

If I saw this deer idk what I'd do.  I would probably freeze, memorized by its beauty.  As someone who likes to deer hunt, I have gained an appreciation for the animal.  They are quite beautiful creatures to begin with so I Banyan must have been stunning.

Banyan was not the only deer king.  There was another named Branch.

They both ruled over 500 deer.

The king of Benares was a big deer hunter.  He went out every day.

The king and his men trampled many crop field while riding their horses to the hunting areas.

The peasants who worked these fields begged them to stop.

They came up with the idea to push the deer into the into the kings garden so that he would no longer have to travel to hunt.

These men surrounded the forest with sticks and spears making sure to cut off any escape route for the deer.

They then chased the deer out of the woods and into the king's garden (which was actually another forest across from the other forest, the crop fields separated them).

They shut the gates behind the deer so that none of them could escape.

The peasants came to the king an told him what they had done.

They said he no longer needed to pass through their fields to hunt.

The king was thankful.

From then on he just hunted in his forest.

He told all of his men that the two golden deer must not be killed.

Many deer were wounded many times before being killed.  (This is exactly what you do not want to do as a hunter)

Branch came to Banyan to propose a solution.

One deer under Branch would give itself up every other day.  On the other days, one deer under Banyan would give itself up.

These deer took turns.

It became a doe's turn but she had a fawn that she did not want to leave behind.

Banyan went and took her place.

The king seeing this act of kindness decided to never kill any more deer.

As a matter of fact, he never killed any more animals.

Bibliography

Banyan from Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat

Image Information: Spotted Deer Native to India: Wikipedia

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Part D

Drona in Command

The Pandev warriors were struck with fear when they heard that Drona was leading the Kuru forces.
Drona was out to get Yudhishthira and even vowed to bring him back as a prisoner to Hastina.
Arjuna, Yudhishthira's brother, would not allow for this.  He is faithful and virtuous.
Arjuna prepares to fight Drona.
Drona was Arjuna's and Yudhishthira's teacher.
Arjuna does not really want to fight his teacher, but he will do whatever it takes to protect his brother.
Other chieftains under Yudhishthira gathered around him to protect him.
Then the battle begain.
A warrior named Abhimanyu dragged a man named Paurava by the hair as he rode in a chariot.  This sight was compared to a lion dragging away its meal.
Arjuna knows there is no one better with a sword and a bow than his teacher.
Despite this he will fight for his brother.
Abhimanyu went forth and fought Jayadratha.
All men watched as the two battled.
Jayadratha pierced Abhimanyu's armor but his sword broke.
Weaponless he ran back to his car and escaped death.
Shalya was there to rescue him.
Then all of the fighters went at it.  Mace to mace, sword to sword.
It was a brutal battle.
Blood was shed and thrown everywhere.
The warriors looked like tigers, lions, or eagles fiercely fighting with reddened paws.  The paws being their weapons.
It appeared no one was winning.  Each side was just beating up on the other.
The heroes of both sides came closer together as the battle went on.
Drona was making easy work of the men that tried to fight him.
The twin brothers finally met Drona.
Drona ended up capturing Yudhishthira like he planned.
Drona went on to slay many noble warriors.
Despite Arjuna's promise to protect his brother even to his death, he was unable to chase down and attack Drona.

Laying down ones life for another is one of the greatest demonstrations of love one can show.  Many men died for Yudhishthira.  He was greatly loved.

Bibliography

Drona in Command  Mahabharata, Epic of the Bharatas by Romesh Dutt
Image Information: Lion vs. Tiger: Wikipedia

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Part C

Bhima and Hanuman

Bhima was getting lotus for Draupadi when he found a monkey along his path.

The monkey was immovable.

Bhima tried to lift up its tail with all of his might but could not do it.

On his path, just for fun, Bhima killed elephants, lions, tigers.

He even was able to pick up dead elephants and use them as a weapon against other animals.

This monkey was no normal monkey.

Bhima demanded that the monkey to reveal his identity.

The monkey said he was Hanuman, fiend of Rama.  He told Bhima some memories he shared with Rama.

Bhima repeatedly asked Hanuman to show his full, huge figure.

Hanuman eventually did it.

He said, at the beginning of time there was no performing religious acts, no malice or pride, no sin, and no gods or demons.

There was no caste system as everyone was a Bhramin.  All were created equal.

He said that men became divided when men wrote the sacred books.

He said this books were made in passion and feeling.  They distracted people from the truth.

When they fell away from the truth, evil came.

Disease and selfishness came about at this time.

True virtue was lost.

Now evil, famine, disease, sloth, and anger prevail over what is good.

The Brhamin became religious leaders.

The Vaishya became the farmers and business people.

The Kshatriya were the worriers.  Their job was to protect.

The Shudra was the working caste.

The fact that Hanuman is never to leave the Earth until the Ramayana is no longer being told gives endless possibilities of stories.  Where was he during during the Roman Empire, the British Invasion of India, WWII?  Tracking Hanuman through this times in history could be really cool.  I could even write a story about Hanuman in the present day.

Bibliography

Bhima and Hanuman from The Mahabharata, A Summary by John Mandeville Macfie 

Image Information: Hanuman in his total form: Pixabay

Reading Notes:The Guilty Dogs

The Guilty Dogs

This is my third Jataka tale to read as extra credit.  I just love these stories.

A king, in a chariot pulled by six white horses, enters a city.
He returned the horses to the stables.
He left the chariot and harnesses in the courtyard of the city.
It was a rainy night and everyone was asleep.
Some dogs saw the leather harnesses in the middle of the courtyard and got excited.
They were going to play with them.
They sneaked quietly into the courtyard, chewed up the harnesses, and left before anyone even noticed they were there.
The stable keepers where furious when they found these shreds of leather that were once harnesses.
They were scared to tell the king what had happened.
They told the king and accused the dogs of tearing up the straps.
The king told the stable keepers to kill all of the dogs in the city.
There were 700 dogs in the city.
The leader of the dogs said that the guilty dogs should be killed but the innocent ones should keep their lives.
Nobody could kill the leader dog as he approached the king's gates because of the love that was in his eyes.
The guards even let him through the palace gates.
The leader dog spoke on behalf of the dogs of the city.
He asked the king why so many innocent dogs should pay for the crimes of a few.
You see, the only dogs that the king was going to let live was the royal dogs.
The leader dog argued that the dogs of the city could not have entered the palace gates.
Therefore, it must have been the palace dogs that chewed up the harnesses.
The palace dogs were then brought before the king at the court of justice.
When they were given food, they ate.
When they ate, pieces of leather fell out of their mouths.
The palace dogs were proved guilty.
The city dogs were given rich food and were cared for for the rest of their lives.

Bibliography

The Guilty Dogs from Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat
Image Information: A Guilty Dog: Flickr

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Part B

The Pandavas Victorious

The Pandavas were very powerful.
Yudhishthira was the eldest son and was ready to perform his Rajasuya sacrifice.
This would display that he was incredibly powerful.
Krishna who was an avatar god of Vishnu came to Indraprastha and let the people there know that there was one more rajah that needed to be destroyed.
The name of this rajah was Jarasandha who ruled over Magadha.
Jarasandha had unmatched bravery and strength.  No human nor god could kill him with a weapon.
He had two mothers in a miraculous birth.
To go take out Jarasandha, Krishna, Arjuna, and Bhima dressed up like Brahmins and went to Magadha.
They brought Jarasandha flowers.
Krishna was the only one who spoke.  He said the other two were observing vows and wouldn't speak until midnight.
When midnight came the two revealed themselves as warriors.
Jarasandha was confused because he had never done anything against them.
The three challenged Jarasandha to a battle unless he let all of the other rajahs free from his dungeons.
Jarasandha does not let them go because he plans on sacrificing them to Shiva.  He made a vow to do this.
Bhima then broke Jarasandha's back with his knee.
The word got out to Yudhishthira that Jarasandha had been slain.
He sent four armies to reach all of the rajahs in the world assure their loyalty to him.
These rajahs were tracked down.  They all joined the Pandava force.
Krishna gave a lot of money and an army to Jarasandha at the ceremony.
Arguments soon broke out between the rajahas about who was the greatest.
Bhishma said that Krishna was because he was the reincarnation of the creator god.  Therefore, Krishna was everlasting and unable to be understood by man.
Another rajah named Shishupala said that Krishna was neither of the things.
Shishupala hated Krishna for taking away his fiance a little while back.
Krishna slayed Shishupala in front of all of the rajah's.  He threw a discus that severed Shishupala's head.
All were amazed at this great show of power.


Bibliography

The Pandavas Victorious from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie
Image information: Krishna Playing the Flute: Wikipedia

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Part A

King Shantanu and Ganga

King Bharata had King Hastin who had King Kuru who had King Shantanu
King Hastin built the great city of Hastinapura.
King Shantanu was a good king. He was just.
He married the goddess Ganga.  She was goddess of the Ganges River.
There were 8 celestial beings called the Vasus who were cursed to human form by the sage, Vashishtha.
They came to Ganga and asked her to be their human mother.  They wanted to be cast into the Ganges river so that they could return to their celestial from.
Ganga became their human mother.  Maybe could write about adoption of some sort.
There were strings attached though.  Ganga would only do what the Vasus wanted if 1/8 of each of their power was given to her real son.
This would mean that her son would have the power of a full Vasus.
Her real son was to be alive for a long time but never have any offspring.
King Shantanu was walking along the Ganges when he saw Ganga.  He fell in love and asked her to marry him.  She said yes, as long as she can leave him if he ever becomes harsh or asks her to do something she doesn't want to do.
She gave birth to a son and immediately threw him into the Ganges River.
Shantanu was horrified but was afraid to speak because she could leave him.
This happened with 6 more babies.
The 8th baby was different though.  King Shantanu finally spoke up in rage.
Ganga revealed who she was and why she cast the Vasus into the river.  Then she left with the 8th child.
She returned years later with their son Devavrata.  She dropped him off and never came back.

Ganga was smart in her plan of marriage.  She knew King Shantanu was moral and would not stand for what she was doing.  Here scheme gave her an easy way out of the marriage.  I am curious though why she brought Devarata back to Shantanu.  I do not know her motivation for her wanting him to have the power of the Vasus either.  Maybe I will see by the end of the epic.

Bibliography

King Shantanu and Ganga from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie
Photo Information: Ganges River Sunset: Pixabay

Reading Notes: Well Actually Movie Notes pt. 2

Sita Sings the Blues

Rama finds out Sita was pure after all
The woman in the present day gets her heart broken by her husband.
After this a song plays for a couple minutes.  The song sounds like a modern song, I wish that the lyrics were included in subtitles.
Sita becomes pregnant.
She gains a bad reputation for staying in Ravana's house for so long.
This brings shame upon Rama.
This is a big cultural difference between the United States and India.  The United States is a guilt culture while India is a shame culture.
Rama tells his brother, Lakshmana, to take her to the forest and abandon her there.
Rama was king and needed respect from his people.  It is not that he necessarily thought she was unpure, he just wanted to gain favor with people and set an example.
In the forest Sita says that she must have committed terrible sins in the previous life.  In reincarnation, it seems that you pay for your sins in your lives to follow.
She meet Valmiki in the woods and tells him her story.
Valmiki then goes on to write the Ramayana.
Sita has twins.
Valmiki taught the two kids how to sing praises of Rama.
The song that was sung praised Rama but felt a bit sarcastic because it talks about how perfect he is and how he kicked Sita out of his house.
Sita loved Rama despite how he treated her.
Rama goes to the forest and hears two boy singing. He doesn't know who they are, but he is curious.
He learns that the two boys are his sons and tells them to come back to Ayodhya with him.
He sees Sita and asks her to do another trial.  Instead of trial by fire he asks her to do a trial by water  to prove her purity.
If she sinks she is unpure, if she floats she is pure.
Sita asks the gods if she is completely pure, let Mother Earth take her back into her womb.

One of the things that I find really interesting about this version of the Ramayana is that the narrators argue a bit over what actually happens.  This just shows how many different versions have been passed out.  It is likely that each of these narrators heard the story told different ways growing up or throughout their water.


Bibliography

Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley

Image Information: Valmiki Writting the Ramayana: Flickr

Reading Notes: Well, Actually Movie Notes

Sita Sings the Blues

Sita has dark hair, green eyes, and four arms.
The beat during the intro credits is kinda fire.
Two gods, the sun god and the moon good riding on chariots. The sun god was pulled by four horses, while the moon god was pulled by two deer.
The earth was portrayed in a large woman's belly.

A long time ago B.C. in Ayodhya
Dasharatha had 3 wives, 4 sons
Sita's father was Janak
Janaki and Veidehi are other names for Sita
Rama was about to be crowned king
Dashratha was sick and was nursed back to health by Kaikeyi.  Dasharatha said he would do anything for her.  She said to exile Rama for 14 years.
Rama is described as noble, good, the embodiment of righteousness, a brave warrior prince, joy of heaven and earth, the ideal man.
Rama was not upset.  He said if that is your wish father, I will go.
Sita towards Rama "I cannot live without you."
Sita starts singing the blues because she is with Rama in exile.
Rama slayed monsters with ease in the forest.

Ravana was the king of Lanka.
Ravana kidnapped Sita.
Soorpanaka is Ravana's sister.
She told Ravana about Rama slaying his monsters in the forest.  She tells him to take revenge.
Ravana was told that Rama was powerful
He tells his sister to not come to him with petty requests.
She tells Ravana about Sita, the most beautiful woman in India, and Ravana changes his mind.
Ravana sends his servant to go as a golden deer to attract Sita.  She sends Rama to get the deer.  While he is out, Ravana takes Sita.
Sita drops here Jewelry on the way to Lanka.  This is how she was to be traced to Lanka.
Hanuman is an incarnation of Shiva: He was born to meet up and help Rama.
Hanuman locates Sita in Lanka.
Sita cries and prays to Rama.
The monster guards are impressed by her devotion.
Then Ravana tries to tell Sita to be his instead of Rama's
She stays devoted and tells Ravana to get lost basically.  She says Rama will come and save her.
Ravana tells her she has two months to marry him or he will kill her.
Rama and the monkey army slay the monster army.  Rama shoots Ravana with and arrow.

No kissing in public in India (fun fact).

Rama was cold to Sita when he first saved her.
He was cold because she had lived in Ravana's house for a long time.
She says she cannot bear to live without him.

Bibliography

Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley

Image Information: Sita and Rama as portrayed in the film: Flickr

Reading Notes: The Great Sacrifice

The Great Elephant

The story take place at an oasis in the desert
The elephant that lives in this oasis is describes as a hermit.  He lives alone and is beautiful.
Even though he was alone, he was happy.
He ate fruit from trees and drank water from a stream.
He loved to dance.  If only he had someone to dance with.
The elephant was dancing one day when he heard the sound of men.  The seemed unhappy.
These men where not in the oasis, but in the desert.
The elephant went go see them and he found them all "huddled together at death's door."  I am not sure if this is literal or not.  They are either almost dead or there is a literal death's door.
This was the first time the elephant experienced sadness. He cried.
The elephant asked the men if he could help them.
The men were oh so happy to see him that they fell on their knees.  They even addressed him as "beautiful one."
These men where exiled from their home by their king.
They were wandering in the desert for days with no food and water.
The men said that they used to be a thousand strong, now there is only a few of them.
The elephant looked upon them.  They were in desperate need of water and nutrients.
He told the men to run to the hill he was pointing to.  There they were to find a large elephant that well provide them with food and point them to a stream of water.
Then the elephant booked it in the direction of the hill he pointed to.  He went quickly but did not go the way he came.
The men were confused.
The elephant climbed to the top of the hill and jumped off the fell with a crash.
The men went to the landing spot of the elephant to find their new friend.
There they found him dead.  He had sacrificed himself so that the men could eat him.
The debated among themselves whether they should eat him or not.  They did not want to eat the elephant that was so good to them, but they also did not want to waste the sacrifice.
The men ate the meat with tears in their eyes.
The had no more troubles after that day.

Bibliography

The Great Elephant from Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat

Image Information: The Elephant's Sacrifice: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana Part C

Rama Shoots Vali as Sugriva and Vali Fight: Wikipedia 

Sugriva's Story

Sugriva's older brother Vali was fighting a demon when he went down into a hole in the Earth.
When Vali went down there, he told Sugriva to wait at the opening until he returned.
Sugriva was faithful for a whole year.  He stood by the hole for a year and Vali never came out.
Thinking that his brother was dead Sugriva, he placed a mountain over the hole and left for Kishkindha.
Vali was not actually dead.  When he killed the demon, he came back to the hole to find it covered by a mountain.
It took him a while to get out.
Vali thought that his brother turned against him by trying to trap him so that he could take his throne.
He came at Sugriva with anger and Sugriva tried to explain what he was really thinking.
Vali did not listen and took Sugriva's wife.
Sugriva reached out to Rama to come help him get his wife back.  Rama also knew what it was like to lose his wife.  He knew the pain and was glad to help.
I could definitely use the elements of revenge from this story in my own story as well as the unbelief of Vali in Sugriva's truth.

Sugriva and Vali

Vali's wife Tara hears that Sugriva has teamed up with Rama.
She knows that Rama is powerful yet good.
She begs her husband to not fight.
She asks him to bring Sugriva back into the family
This story was written in the form of a poem.  The line that stuck out to me was

"Make thy peace with young Sugriva, nearest and thy dearest kin;
Brother's love is truest safety, brother's hate is deadliest sin!

Brothers are supposed to be there for each other.  Brothers are made to protect and strengthen each other.
Vali is stubborn and does not listen to his wife.

Vali's Death

Pride leads to the fall.
The brothers fought relentlessly as enemies.
This fight was brutal.  Midway through, Sugriva was losing.
Rama, who was hiding in the shadows, felt bad for his new yet close friend.
Rama shot an arrow fast and low while hidden.
The arrow struck Vali with a fatal blow.
This story, like the last one was written as poetry.  This might be a style I try this week.  It is definitely a more difficult style of writing.  If it goes poorly, I can write normally.

Bibliography

Sugriva's Story from Rama and the Monkeys by Geraldine Hodgson
Sugriva and Vali and Vali's Death from Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India by Romesh Dutt

Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana D

Hanuman and the Mountain

Indrajit promises his father, Ravana, that he will kill Rama and Lakshmana.

He sacrificed a goat to the Fire-God.

The Fire-God who had a flickering tongue gave him a weapon called the Brahma-Weapon.

With this weapon, Indrajit killed many of the monkeys in the army.

Many of the monkey cheifs, including Sugriva, Angada, Jambavan, and Nila went into hiding.

Somehow, during this mass killing, Indrajit was invisible.

Rama did not know what to do because he could not attack someone he could not see.

Indrajit went back to Lanka with a battle won.

Lakshmana and Vibhishana walked around the field when the battle was over.

It was a horrid sight as their were slain monkeys everywhere.

They found Jambavan, the king of bears, barely holding on to life.

Jambavan was also overjoyed to see that Lakshmana was alive and well after the gruesome battle.

Jambavan speaks to the Wind-God's son and asks him to protect the bears and monkeys because only he could.  He asks him to visit the Himalaya, king of the mountains, to find herbs for healing.

Hanuman goes and finds Himalaya and looked for herbs but could not find any.

He rooted the mountain and was able to acquire the medicine.

He brought it back to Lanka, and the monkey army rose to full health.

Then Hanuman brought the mountain back to its original position

Pushpaka

Rama is taking Sita to Ayodhya on a Pushpaka cart.

He recaps their entire journey together.

He talks about all the people he met.

He talks about the friends he acquired.

He talks about all the monsters he's slain.

He talks about all the places they've been

I think it would be cool to write a story blending these two together.  I would focus on the Brahma-Weapon.  I would talk about where the materials for it were gathered, how it was crafted, and all the times it was used.  It seems like a crazy powerful weapon that needs a backstory.  A little like the ring or variety of one of a kind weapons in Lord of the Rings.

Bibliography

Hanuman and the Mountain from Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nevidita

Pushpaka from Ramayana, Epic of Rama, Prince of India by Romesh Dutt

Image Source: Rama and Sita on the Pushpaka Cart: Wikimedia Commons