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

Week 7 Story: Framed

Updated Story

2:00 am.  What do you picture when you think about 2 am?  What you see in your head is exactly what the Hastinapura Palace courtyard looked like on this chilly February night.  The town and palace were pitch black and silent.  King Hastin was out after a long night of well.. whatever you do at 2:00 am.  He came through the courtyard with his carriage and six horses.  Too tired to bring the horses back to the stable, he got out of the carriage and went to bed in his castle.

The only other creatures awake at this time were the palace dogs.  After a lifelong spell of obedience to their king, they were itching to break the rules for once.

One of the palace dogs whispered, "This is our chance to have a little fun.  Lets go chew up the leather straps and harnesses of the king's carriage."

The dogs tip-toed into the courtyard, tore up the straps, then slid back into the shadows.

Morning, well, later morning came around and the king woke up.  He ventured into the courtyard to see the carnage.  He yelled, "Who did this?!"

A man, who was part of the royal guard, said, "I saw some dogs sneaking across the courtyard last night.  It was probably them."

In utter rage, the king exclaimed, "I want all of the dogs in the city put down before sundown!"

There were over 700 dogs in the city.

The leader of the city dogs, Arjuna, heard about the king's demand and said, "I will find a way to fix this."

Arjuna knew it was unfair that 700 dogs were sentenced to death for the offense of a few.  He began to investigate.  As he walked around the city talking to different dogs, he realized that the palace gate is always closed.  At this moment, he knew exactly who committed the crime.

Arjuna walked through the streets and up to the palace gate.  The king's men who were out to kill dogs left him alone because they could see his character through his eyes.  They knew he was full of love and innocence.

The palace gate keepers let him through the palace gates for the same reason.

Arjuna stood before the king in the throne room and testified for all of the city dogs.  He said, "Your highness, the palace gates are always closed.  There is no way any city dogs could have entered the palace courtyard last night because the gates and walls are too high.  The palace dogs must have destroyed the straps and harnesses to your carriage."

The king, realizing his mistake, apologized to the dogs of the city.  He also began to show kindness to them.  This kindness was unlike any kindness the king had shown before.

The palace dogs, with their tails between their legs, came into the throne room.  King Hastin said to them,  "You served me well for years, how could you go against me like this?"

The palace dogs were too embarrassed to respond.

The king then banished them from Hastinapura for life.

Author's Note

This story is a retelling of The Guilty Dogs by Noor Inayat.  I really enjoyed the original story and wanted to stay as true to it as I could.  The original story however, did not name any of the characters.  To make the characters a little more personal, I gave them names.  I used the names King Hastin and Arjuna from the Mahabharata even though their personalities in this story are much different than their personalities in the Mahabharata.  King Hastin was a good king, and Arjuna was not a dog but a great archer and the central character in the Mahabharata.  I guess that is why I chose the name Arjuna over the other character names from the Mahabharata.  He possessed the heroic quality that I wanted the leader of the dogs to have.

Bibliography

The Guilty Dogs from Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat

Drona in Command from Mahabharata, Epic of the Bharatas by Romesh Dutt

King Shantanu and Ganga from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie

Image information: All personal pictures of my dogs

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