Reading Diary B: Week 10

Key Points-

• Krishna plans to make one last plea for peace and visits Duryodhana
• Duryodhana plans to take Krishna prisoner but realizes this will be impossible 
• The battle is to occur
• Arjuna is worried about fighting his teacher and his own family but after speaking with Krishna (in his true form) he is ready to fight
• Bhisma is killed by Arjuna and now Karna joins the battle 
• Arjuna's son is killed, Arjuna vows to avenge him and Krishna is able to use his discus to hide the sun drawing out the man who killed his son, he slays him. 
• Krishna plans to trick Drona using the love of his son against him 
• Yudhisthira tells Drona his son had been killed while whispering the truth under his breath, as Drona falls to his knees he is killed
• Karna and Arjuna battle one another, Arjuna is victorious 
• Duryodhana is killed
• Yudhisthira becomes king 
• Yudhisthira is the last of his brothers to pass, the son of Arjuna becomes king and continues the Pandavas rule 

Reading Diary A: Week 10

Key Points-

• Camp is made near the Pandavas
• Duryodhana is captured by the gandharva's then freed by the Pandavas (Plan=Failure)
• The bothers help a brahmin find a giant deer who stole his staff
• First 4 brothers drink water from the lake without answering the questions and die
• Yudhishthira is last to drink but answers questions
• Was a test by their father Yama and the other 4 brothers return to life
• 13th year of exile (year in disguise)
• Court of King Virata
• Draupadi is raped and Bhima kills the general who did it 
• Cattle raid is attempted, Susharman is captured
• Arjuna goes into battle as a charioteer for Virata's son but ends up fighting 
• The king finds their true identity but is not mad, gives his daughter to marry Uttara (Arjuna's son)
• A war is to occur between the Pandavas and Duryodhana
• Krishna fights with the Pandavas while his 1 million soldiers fight with Duryodhana 
• The Pandavas attempt to avoid war (5 villages requested, 1 for each brother)
• Dhritarashtra wants to switch sides but is drawn to Duryodhana when he is around, told this war will be his downfall 

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Storytelling: Week 9, Ganesha the Bottomless Pit

Kubera, the god of wealth, one day travels to Mount Kailash in order to request the presence of Shiva, the supreme god, in hopes of gaining the darshan or vision of Shiva. As he arrives, Shiva's handmaiden escorts him to the chambers of Shiva where they begin to sit and discuss his travels and future plans. It is at this time that Kubera invites Shiva to a large spectacle that he will be holding in his city the following day. Kubera does so in order to show Shiva the wealth he possesses and hopefully gain his approval. Shiva is uncomfortable with such an idea and decides that he must decline the invitation. However, he presents to Kubera the idea of allowing his son Ganesha to go in his stead but warns of his voracious appetite. Kubera shrugs off such a comment, believing that his wealth could feed all of the gods for a lifetime and accepts Shiva's proposal. The following day, Ganesha accompanies Kubera to the city of Alakapuri, arriving just in time for the beginning of the banquet. As the serving of the first few dishes begins, Kubera starts realizing that he may slightly be in over his head. Ganesha not only eats the plates set in front of him but also those of the guests around him. He now even begins walking down the lengthy table, grabbing and guzzling the plates of all those in sight. Kubera orders all of his servants to bring out as much food as they can possibly carry and only serve it to Ganesha. This action was moot, for as Kubera turns his back to tell them this, Ganesha makes his way to the kitchen and polishes off every piece of food in sight. As he reenters the dining hall, Ganesha even begins to consume the plates, cutlery, and now even a few of Kubera's esteemed guests. Knowing that things can only get worse, Kubera immediately leaves the city, frantically making his way toward Mount Kailash. As he arrives back at the mountain, Shiva is awaiting him at the base.

Shiva laughs to himself saying, "I told you the boy had quite the little appetite, did I not?"

Kubera stares awestruck at the god, not knowing whether to laugh at this statement or return to his city in hopes that it may still be standing.

Shiva once again snickers and says, "I will give you the one solution to your problem if you promise that you will always be loyal to my son and me."

Kubera agrees to the terms presented by Shiva and in turn Shiva hands him one single laddoo, a traditional indian sweet. He wonders to himself how such a small item can possibly fill the appetite of that boy but he doesn't question the actions of Shiva. He bows his head in thanks and then dashes back to his chariot, hoping that upon his return the walls of his city may still be standing.

As he pulls up to the city gates, nearly half the city has already been destroyed and Ganesha is on the path to finishing it all off. Kubera finally finds Ganesha within the ruins and kneels at his feet. He dare not make eye contact with the ravenous boy yet he extends his hands with the offering tucked neatly between them. Ganesha takes the laddoo, tosses it up in the air and scarfs it down just as he had everything else that night. However, at this point, he takes a seat next to Kubera, places a hand on his bulging stomach and exclaims, "What a meal! I haven't eat like that in ages. I don't think I ever could again." At this comment he regains his feet and begins to strut out of the city as if nothing has happened, returning to his father's side and offering to always take his father's spot at dinner parties whenever Shiva feels that it is necessary.

Ganesha holding a plate of laddos

Wikipedia

Author's note: This story comes from the Puranas, a set of ancient Indian texts that discuss all of the well known Hindu gods. I have tried to maintain a theme of food within my portfolio stories so although many of you will have never read the original, I figured this would be better suited for that purpose. I have also included a laddoo recipe for anyone who is interested in trying the Indian sweet. The original story uses the same setting that I used and includes the same characters. Basically Kubera hopes to have Shiva attend his grand feast but in turn gets the presence of Shiva's son, Ganehsa. Ganesha is said to be quite the voracious eater but Kubera assumes that his palace will be able to handle any appetite. As the feast commences Kubera begins to realize that Ganesha cannot be satisfied and that if he is not quickly stopped, the entire city will be consumed. He travels back to speak with Shiva and is given grains of roasted rice to give to Ganesha. He cannot believe that such a small offering could possibly fill the boy but he knows he must trust Shiva's advice. Once the grains are given to Ganesha in true humility, his rampage ceases and he is full at last. I chose to change from the rice grains to the laddo in order to incorporate a traditional Indian sweet. By doing so, I was able to include a recipe for the preparation of laddos and hopefully expand the knowledge of the class. I really enjoyed this story and the message that is intertwined throughout.

Laddoo Recipe and Cooking Instructions

Wikipedia: Ganesha

Reading Diary B, Week 9

The Pandavas and Dhritarastra make peace and part of the kingdom is given to them. The Pandavas build the city of Indraprastha. They are warned of the conflicts that may come from the issue of sharing a wife. Duryodhana is enraged with the Pandavas and seeks revenge on them. He invites them for a game of dice knowing that they are bad players and that he and Shakuni will win.

During the game of dice, Yudhishthira loses everything and in turn gambles away himself, his brothers, and their wife Draupadi. Then for some reason it is all given back and everything is forgotten, not exactly how gambling works but ok. The idiot brothers are invited back for a second game and still accept the offer even after what happened last time. They lose and are sentenced to 13 years of exile. The are taught a mantra to get weapons from the gods and told that all of their enemies will be killed in battle.

Reading Diary A, Week 9

Shantanu seems to fall quite easily in love, having two different women within the first few pages of the book. The first he meets by the river and she agrees to marry him as long as he never questions her actions. They have 8 children whom she continually drowns one by one. On the 8th child Shantanu speaks up and the women informs him that she is the river Ganga reincarnated to punish these 8 children. The 8 children are actually gods who have been reincarnated in human form because of the theft of a cow. The 8th child is still drowned but is returned to Shantanu later on in life.

Shantanu then marries again with the help of Bhishma who renounces his claim to the throne. Shantanu then has two more sons Chitrangada and Vichitraviyra, the first who becomes king for a short period of time and then dies. Bhishma rules in his stead and acquires 3 wives for Vichitraviyra one of which who was already promised to another man. Vichitraviyra dies so Vyasa is brought in to sleep with his widows in hopes of fathering children. Two sons are born both having oddities to them because of their mothers reactions to Vyasa. He also sleeps with a maid who had no issue with his presence and their son is completely normal. Pandu cannot have sons because of a curse so he must summon the gods and have sons through them. Pandu has 5 sons knowns as the Pandavas. Drona trains the sons of both brothers. Draupadi will marry all 5 of the Pandavas because they share everything they have 

Reading Diary Week 8

Basically all of my reading diaries tend to be in the same format which focuses on summarizing the material. This way seems to work best for me and the one week I tried to focus on important aspects for my post is a section of the book that I remember the least of. I usually read through the required pages completely and then return to do my diary post. I tend to take in a lot of the information while I am reading so I think that trying to do my post while reading would only slow me down. I think my diary posts are the perfect length to easily summarize the content while also including necessary details. After reading back through them I could easily explain both of the two books and the major differences between them. One aspect that I might change for the second half of the semester is the addition of quotes into my diaries. I really like this idea and may begin to highlight quotes that I like so I can come back and add them in while I am writing my diary. I don't tend to use my diary posts as a reference throughout the week but I think I will start to do so. I think this will help me to come up with storytellings more easily and jog my memory a bit before I begin to rewrite the sections. I also think I will try to start tying in outside sources that are relatable to the readings. I often think of other books, movies, or shows that have common themes or events but I never actually put those thoughts into word. I think I will continue with my overall same style of reading diary while incorporating the new aspects spoken about above.

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Reading Diary B, Week 7

Rama and the group head back to Ayodhya while making a few stops on the way. Hanuman is sent ahead to find Bharata and tell of Rama's return. Rama show Sita of all the places that big events happened at during his search for her.

Rama returns to Ayodhya and embraces Bharata and his sandals are returned to his feet. The plans for the coronation are put into action. Someone how the story skips 10,000 years and Sita has now become pregnant. Everyone is gossiping about the decision of Rama to take back his wife after she had been living with Ravana. Rama decides that he will abandon Sita when she goes to the Ganges river. Vibhishana hears of this plan and makes sure that Valmiki will help her when she is in need.

Sumantra believes that Sita is banished from the past happenings of the life of Vishnu. There was a war with the drought demons in which Rama's father fought in. Vishnu got involved and killed an innocent mans wife for protecting the demons. He was then cursed to later be reborn on earth and be separated from his wife as retribution for his deeds.

Sita is left at the Ganges were Valmiki comes to her and invites her into his home. She has her two sons there, Lava and Kusha. There is a year long festival at which Rama's sons continually sing. After a while Rama realizes that the boys are his sons. Sita comes to Rama and asks to poor that she has always been faithful to him. She asks the Earth mother to test her and in doing so disappears for 1,000 years underground. Rama meets with time and is interrupted by Lakshmana so he must die. Rama and his followers go to the river, jump in, and are escorted to heaven.