Indian Epics

Sita: The King-Farmer is called "Rishi" which is also the name of the narrator of my storybook, so that's cool He finds a baby girl in a pitcher and adopts her Kind of neat because he gives her the power to pass on his name The King then has three more daughters by his queen, Sita is the most beautiful Sita and Rama make eye contact and it is love at first sight Sita's sisters marry Rama's brother in a record breaking four-way wedding Sita's father tells Rama to "guard his treasure well and never forsake her" King Janaka has a sinking feeling that Sita will not be happy  This is an interesting tidbit that isn't included in the previous readings of Sita and Rama's love story Sita was the center of Rama's life. The author says they had one life and one soul Fast forward to Ravana disguising himself as a yogi and tricking/stealing Sita Sita is terrified and begs to be let go The normal events happen and Sita is exiled...

The Divine Brothers The seven wives of a farmer's seven sons take a bath together They discuss their wishes The youngest of the seven doesn't have a family aside from her husband's Lahana (the youngest) wishes for koi to eat, she finds them, but they are not koi, they are serpents She keeps them as pets and feeds them When the serpents return to their house, they ask their mom to adopt the youngest sister A serpent son of the goddess kills Lahana The goddess resurrects Lahana but sends her home Lahana obeys the goddess twice and is rewarded by being adopted by the king Snatched From Death A king has a daughter and she is allowed to choose her own husband She falls in love with the son of a hermit Turns out he is cursed to die within a year of his marriage The princess desires that she would rather have him for a year than not at all He dies and the god of the underworld comes to take his soul The princess will not let him go without going with him ...

Reading A 1. The first Jataka is similar to the earlier one we read about a crocodile wanting to eat a monkey's heart. One difference is that in this story, it is a crocodile mother and son instead of a wife and husband. As in the first story, the monkey tricks the crocodile. 2. This is a retelling of when the turtle tricks the king and his court to be thrown into the water. 3. The third Jataka is about two merchants. One is fair and another is greedy. The needy merchant tires to swindle an old women for her golden bowl, but his efforts are thwarted by his own arrogance and the honesty of another merchant. 4. This is another retelling of the Jataka tale about the turtle who is carried by the geese, but plummets to his death because he cannot keep his mouth shut. 5. This is a story of an ox and his owner that teaches the value of treating one another with respect. 6. In this tale, a band of travelers discard of their water because they think they are nearly out of the desert. ...

There is a tyrant king names Kansa and a prophecy to destroy him The 8th child of the king's sister and his best friend will kill the tyrant king So Kansa casts the two into the dungeons of his palace and kills all of their children Their child, Krishna, is a version of Vishnu The father of Krishna sneaks out and replaces Krishna with a cowherd's daughter The cowherds rejoice that their daughter has now become a son (this is sexist) The king knew he had been foiled and sent out messengers to kill all newborn babies He sends demons Krishna kills the demon sent to kill him with one touch Krishna kills another demon Krishna kills another demon, this one took the form of a hurricane Krishna is a mischievous child so his father ties a long rope around him to keep track of him He accidentally tears down two trees, releasing the spirits trapped in their trunks Krishna is loved by all Krishna comes across a cave that has swallowed all of the cows and his friends ...

The first story is very clear and easy to understand Duryodhana is jealous of the Pandavas I didn't realize Draupadi has emerged from a sacrificial fire Story varies slightly from the first version I read Story of Hidimbi is always told differently Draupadi becomes the wife of all of the Pandavas Arjuna is exiled and goes on many adventures Bhima kills Jarasandha in the wrestling match by tearing him in half and then frees the captive kings. Yudhishthira is fond of gambling, but unskilled, while Shakuni is a skilled gambler. Yudhishthira will not be able to refuse a challenge to play.  King Dhritarashtra grants Draupadi a boon. She asks that he free Yudhishthira. He grants her another boon, and she asks for the freedom of Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. Dhritarashtra also returns all that Yudhishthira lost in the gambling match, which outrages Duryodhana Again, Yudhishthira cannot refuse, and again he loses, so the Pandavas must go into exile in the forest. Did no...

Yudhisthira prays to the sun god Surya He gave them a copper pot that filled with food to feed the Pandavas and the holy brethren of the forest Arjuna goes to the mountains Shiva gives Arjuna divine weapons Arjuna goes with his father, Indra, to his celestial kingdom A nymph, called an aspara, falls in love with Arjuna. When she is rejected, she curses Arjuna Bhima meets Hanuman Karna swears to kill Arjuna Indra gives Karna a dart in exchange for his armor and earrings Indra is worried about Arjuna and Karna's inevitable fight Draupadi is stolen At this point she has to be like 40.. so she must still be looking great Bhima takes her back tho Yudhisthira answers a bunch of riddles at a pond The voice at that pond is Dharma, Yudi's father & god of wisdom The brothers and Draupadi are disguised in their 13th year of exile and serve in the court of a king Prince Kichaka tries to rape Draupadi And ummmm excuse me... she flees BLEEDING to the king ...

Ganesha agreed to become the tribe of the Mahabharata, but only if his pencil never stopped moving The story of Vyssa's birth is ~wacky Devavrata (Bhishma) Ganga, his goddess mother, gives him 1/8 of the power of each of the 8 V asus The king falls in love with Ganga but she makes him promise to do whatever she wants if she is to marry her, she agrees She "kills" 7 of her babies (reincarnated Vasus) When she tries the kill the 8th the king stops her and she leaves him  She returns to give the king a son, Devavrata The king wants to marry Vyssa's mother but cannot But Devavrata promises not to marry or have a son if Satyatvati is given to his father as his bride King Shantanu and Satyatvati have 2 sons The first is an arrogant ruler and dies in battle The second is young when he takes the throne Bhishma wins 3 maidens for his brother ( the young king) at a contest Amba, the oldest of the maidens, loves another man so she is permitted to leave Amb...

For this week's reading, I decided to watch Sita Sings the Blues. I love movies and the animation looks fun. I'm excited to see the story of the Ramayana through a different perspective. To begin, I can already tell that I appreciate Nina Paley's sense of style and humor. Her opening credits give attention to "Your money" and "Your name".  I love the bright colors and abrupt actions When I think of Indian culture I think of beautiful patterns and colors The cosmic intro gives an homage to Rama and Sita's heavenly background The animation changes abruptly when it switches to San Fran, CA This film provides context by tying it to Ayodha The mismatched video style reflects the various writing styles of the online version I read Perhaps this is symbolic of the oral tradition of the Ramayana Mentions Sita's different names I like the commentary included because it shows how multi-faceted the story is and how many translations/versions ...

Rama and Lakshmana visit Sugriva  Sugriva sends his servant Hanuman in the disguise of a beggar to find out R & L's intent Hanuman trusts the two brothers and leads them to his king, who was also exiled and had his wife stolen from him Sugriva accidentally trapped his older brother in a cave, so his brother stole his wife and banished him Rama helps Sugriva kill his brother.. but he is deceptive about it Sugriva agrees to send his armies to aid R & L in their recovery of Sita, but he is slow to act Hanuman is reminded of his patronage and upbringing Sita is being held in a grove of Ashoka trees with demons guarding her Hanuman sees Ravana try to seduce Sita, but Sita refuses. Ravana then tells Sita that she has 2 months to sleep with him, and if she refuses she will be tortured and slain Hanuman reveals himself to Sita, she is frightened Hanuman decides to ruin the grove where Sita is harbored, and he is captured by Indrajit (Ravana's son) Ravana sets Han...

Reading A Setting: 2 Kingdom Koshala with King Dasharatha and son Rama Mithila with King Janaka and daughter Sita In the beginning King D struggles to have a son He sacrifices a horse and is promised 4 sons Meanwhile in the heavens, Ravana, the king of the rakshasas is running rampant. However, the gods do not have the ability to kill him. He must be killed by a human or monkey. The gods beg Vishnu, the Preserver, to help them. Vishnu agrees and descends in human form as the baby Rama, son of King D. Now that King D's sons are grown, a prophet asks for the help of Rama. Two demons, Maricha and Subahu, are destroying his sacred fires and sacrifices. This request saddens King D because he fears for Rama's life. He agrees, but also sends his other son, Lakshmana. The two brothers fight the mother of the rakshasas in a dark, gloomy forest by cutting off her nose and her arms. She becomes invisible, but Rama uses the power of sound to sink an arrow that kills her The...

My summaries and notes for the following stories in the anthology: The Foolish, Timid Rabbit A rabbit is spooked by a falling coconut and believes the world is ending. This rabbit then begins a panic among the other rabbits that spreads to the deer and the elephant. The lion stops the stampede and interrogates the first rabbit. They go to the place to see where the earth was breaking and lion sees the coconut and realizes the rabbit's foolishness. This is the Indian version of Chicken Little. Two Turtle Jatakas Two young princes are scared of a turtle. To kill the turtle, they decide to throw it into a river. (Very ironic). In another tale, a turtle is holding on to a stick that is carried by two sticks. He talks which results in him falling to his death The Cunning Crane and the Crab A crane tricks fish into letting him eat them. He tries to trick a crab, but the crab has more sense and instead tricks the crane, resulting in its beheading. The Crocodile and the Monkey...

I am excited for the readings that are a part of this course. On a shallow level, I am vaguely familiar with the tales of Indian culture. I look forward to delving in deeper and learning more about the characters of these famous tales. For this assignment I decided to browse the Amor Chitra Katha Comic Books. The first character I notice is Ganesha . I'm interested in this character because his story seems unique and I've read a few storybook projects based off of him. I am also interested in the Ramayana comic, Ghatotkacha: The Chivalrous Demon . I like this title because it is an oxymoron. The summary of his story is very interesting because he is half human, and half demon. In this collection, the story of Shakuntala  is also intriguing. I enjoy the artwork of the comic and her epithet: The Forgotten Wife. The Woman and Prince Siddhartha. Web Source.