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

Week 6 Lab: Testing Twine

Using twine to create a small story was a ton of fun.  It added a lot of excitement to they story writing process.  I could definitely see myself using Twine to create a story this semester.  One thing that I really love about it is that it gives the reader a change to determine the outcome.  If they do not like the outcome, they can go back and chose a different one.  In some ways, it is like telling more that one story at the same time.

It could also use twine to create a game to play with family or even a biology study tool.

Disney Murder Mystery  Check out my Twine here!

Image Information: Cinderella's Castle: 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