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
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
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.
Monday, October 6, 2014
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Reading Diary A, Week 7
The battle rages on between the followers of Rama and Ravana's demons. Jambavan is a beast when it comes to fighting, no one can really stop him. Ravana's magicians try to stop him but they are killed by Sugriva and Hanuman. The hawk notices that the city of Lanka is in despair and is losing hope in winning the battle.
Ravana and Rama prepare to battle one another in the final battle. Ravana drives his own chariot because he has so many hands and heads. Rama is given a special chariot by Indra and it is driven by Matali. The two battle in the air for a while and then move to the ground. Finally Ravana is defeated by Rama. Buck adds an interesting letter into his version of the story. It is a letter written by Ravana for Rama at the occurrence of his death. The letter tells Rama to take Sita back. Rama makes Ravana's brother, Vibhishana, the king of Lanka.
Sita and Rama are reunited and the fire god agni testifies to her innocence. Rama takes her bake and trust that nothing occurred with Ravana. Rama must now return home because his exile is soon to end and Bharata vowed to kill himself if Rama didn't return. Everyone heads to the coronation of Rama.
Ravana and Rama prepare to battle one another in the final battle. Ravana drives his own chariot because he has so many hands and heads. Rama is given a special chariot by Indra and it is driven by Matali. The two battle in the air for a while and then move to the ground. Finally Ravana is defeated by Rama. Buck adds an interesting letter into his version of the story. It is a letter written by Ravana for Rama at the occurrence of his death. The letter tells Rama to take Sita back. Rama makes Ravana's brother, Vibhishana, the king of Lanka.
Sita and Rama are reunited and the fire god agni testifies to her innocence. Rama takes her bake and trust that nothing occurred with Ravana. Rama must now return home because his exile is soon to end and Bharata vowed to kill himself if Rama didn't return. Everyone heads to the coronation of Rama.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Storytelling, Week 6: The Story of Mankanaka: Final
When almost always surrounded on all sides by the eruption of lush green grass, why is it then that we just let it lie and leave it to be consumed by animals? One would think that such a resource ought to be utilized by the likes of men. However, there once was a man who only indulged himself with heaping piles of grass, never straying from the consumption of the sweet savory stalks. This is the story of Mankanaka and his power over the world.
Mankanaka was a common man, choosing to live a spiritual life within the forest, always trying to find a path towards enlightenment. From a young age, Mankanaka believed that the best way to achieve his goal was to truly become one with nature, never taking the life of another and only eating what the Earth provided to him. This idea started off well for him, but after some time the man developed a taste for only one item in the world. He loved the taste of grass and the spirituality that he believed it brought to him. In the spring the grass was a vibrant green, tasting sweet and succulent. In the fall it began to brown, giving it more of an earthy quality in both taste and appearance. In the winter Mankanaka had to find ways to rejuvenate the grass that was now dried out and brittle, most often stewing it back to life. The changes in seasons continually kept Mankanaka on his feet, never growing tired of the taste of grass. One day while he was in a field of tall grass, harvesting his lunch, Mankanaka accidentally swung his sickle a little too far and gashed his left arm. Expecting to see a red gush begin to flow, he was quite surprised when instead of red, a green fluid began to drip out. Wondering what exactly was occurring, he dipped the tip of his finger into the substance and tasted what lay below. To his amazement, the substance tasted exactly like the grass he was surrounded by. He became enamored with this realization and began to dance around in pure bliss, believing that he had finally achieved true enlightenment. Other creatures and people began to notice Mankanaka's happiness and followed in the pursuit of his joy. All began to dance and all became enthralled with joy. As this occurred, the gods began to notice what was happening down on Earth. The world was beginning to spin violently out of control and the only hope of stopping it was to end the dancing of Mankanaka. Shiva was sent down by the gods to do so.
As Shiva approached Mankanaka, those around him began to stop dancing, enchanted by the beauty and power of the god. Mankanaka, however, didn't even notice the presence of Shiva and continued to rapidly spin round and round. As with a coin spinning on a table, Shiva quickly and abruptly placed a finger atop the head of Mankanaka and stopped him in his tracks. As he looked the god in the eyes, he knew that he had created trouble in this world. Shiva explained to him what it was that he was doing and that if he continued his dancing, the end of the world would come at the movement of his feet. Then, just as quickly as Shiva had appeared, the god was gone and all eyes were on Mankanaka. He told all to go away and he returned to his quest for enlightenment, only sometimes indulging in his favorite feast of springtime grass.
Author's Note: This is based off of The Story of Mankanaka, a tale in the Mahabharata written by Buck. In this tale, Mankanaka only eats grass, which causes him to bleed a green substance. This causes his happiness and continual dancing that disrupts the Earth. His dancing threatens to destroy the world so the gods send Shiva to attempt to stop his actions. Unlike the original story I have Shiva come to Mankanaka in his true form because I believe it better conveys the seriousness of the issue and his power to those dancing. Also, in the original story it is ash that flows from Shiva's veins when he is cut to show his power to Mankanaka. I thought that having the grass ooze out from Mankanaka better exemplified the connection he had to nature and the amount of grass he had consumed. I chose this story because it revolves around food, a very common topic within the Indian epics. I plan to continue finding stories with aspects of food lying within them and further elaborating on this topic. I will also begin to add various recipes for Indian dishes that I have found along the way well researching this topic. Food, as in most cultures, plays an important role in not only to the history of India but also because of the impact it plays religiously. As I continue on with this story theme I would begin to add various culture tips and/or fun facts regarding their food culture. The Story of Mankanaka was a very basic start of the stories that I hope are to come continually improving on the content and knowledge that will be passed unto the readers.
Buck, W. (1973). Mahabharata. University of California Press.
Mankanaka was a common man, choosing to live a spiritual life within the forest, always trying to find a path towards enlightenment. From a young age, Mankanaka believed that the best way to achieve his goal was to truly become one with nature, never taking the life of another and only eating what the Earth provided to him. This idea started off well for him, but after some time the man developed a taste for only one item in the world. He loved the taste of grass and the spirituality that he believed it brought to him. In the spring the grass was a vibrant green, tasting sweet and succulent. In the fall it began to brown, giving it more of an earthy quality in both taste and appearance. In the winter Mankanaka had to find ways to rejuvenate the grass that was now dried out and brittle, most often stewing it back to life. The changes in seasons continually kept Mankanaka on his feet, never growing tired of the taste of grass. One day while he was in a field of tall grass, harvesting his lunch, Mankanaka accidentally swung his sickle a little too far and gashed his left arm. Expecting to see a red gush begin to flow, he was quite surprised when instead of red, a green fluid began to drip out. Wondering what exactly was occurring, he dipped the tip of his finger into the substance and tasted what lay below. To his amazement, the substance tasted exactly like the grass he was surrounded by. He became enamored with this realization and began to dance around in pure bliss, believing that he had finally achieved true enlightenment. Other creatures and people began to notice Mankanaka's happiness and followed in the pursuit of his joy. All began to dance and all became enthralled with joy. As this occurred, the gods began to notice what was happening down on Earth. The world was beginning to spin violently out of control and the only hope of stopping it was to end the dancing of Mankanaka. Shiva was sent down by the gods to do so.
As Shiva approached Mankanaka, those around him began to stop dancing, enchanted by the beauty and power of the god. Mankanaka, however, didn't even notice the presence of Shiva and continued to rapidly spin round and round. As with a coin spinning on a table, Shiva quickly and abruptly placed a finger atop the head of Mankanaka and stopped him in his tracks. As he looked the god in the eyes, he knew that he had created trouble in this world. Shiva explained to him what it was that he was doing and that if he continued his dancing, the end of the world would come at the movement of his feet. Then, just as quickly as Shiva had appeared, the god was gone and all eyes were on Mankanaka. He told all to go away and he returned to his quest for enlightenment, only sometimes indulging in his favorite feast of springtime grass.
Shiva, The Savior of Mankanaka
Source: Wikipedia
Author's Note: This is based off of The Story of Mankanaka, a tale in the Mahabharata written by Buck. In this tale, Mankanaka only eats grass, which causes him to bleed a green substance. This causes his happiness and continual dancing that disrupts the Earth. His dancing threatens to destroy the world so the gods send Shiva to attempt to stop his actions. Unlike the original story I have Shiva come to Mankanaka in his true form because I believe it better conveys the seriousness of the issue and his power to those dancing. Also, in the original story it is ash that flows from Shiva's veins when he is cut to show his power to Mankanaka. I thought that having the grass ooze out from Mankanaka better exemplified the connection he had to nature and the amount of grass he had consumed. I chose this story because it revolves around food, a very common topic within the Indian epics. I plan to continue finding stories with aspects of food lying within them and further elaborating on this topic. I will also begin to add various recipes for Indian dishes that I have found along the way well researching this topic. Food, as in most cultures, plays an important role in not only to the history of India but also because of the impact it plays religiously. As I continue on with this story theme I would begin to add various culture tips and/or fun facts regarding their food culture. The Story of Mankanaka was a very basic start of the stories that I hope are to come continually improving on the content and knowledge that will be passed unto the readers.
Buck, W. (1973). Mahabharata. University of California Press.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Reading Diary B, Week 6
Rama uses the abilities of the monkey Nala to build a bridge across the sea to Lanka. Vibhishana, the brother of Ravana urges him to give Sita back to Rama to avoid a war. Ravana doesn't appreciate the advice of his brother and kicks him out of Lanka. Once he is kicked out of the city, Vibhishana and his 4 loyal guards fly over to the camp of Rama and meet up with Hanuman. Most of the camp wishes to turn away Vibhishana but both Rama and Hanuman trust his intentions and allow him to join them.
They cross the bridge to Lanka and make camp on the hill. The group is watched by Ravana's spies, first by Shuka who Angada captures but is let go to return a message to Ravana. Second by two of Ravana's best spies who take the form of monkeys in order to mingle within the camp. Both are spotted by Vibhishana who is able to look through their disguises and then captured.
Ravana attempts to trick Sita with the use of illusions in order to gain her love before the war even begins. He has his magicians create a bow identical to Rama's and his head parted from his body. Ravana brings these items before Sita, claiming that his general raided them during the night and killed them all. Sita begins to breakdown but is consoled by Trijata and told the truth.
First battle: During the day which weakens the strength of the demons. Rama and his men defeat the first wave and cause Prahasta's retreat. The demons then attack at night and are once again defeated. During this second battle Prahasta is killed.
Kumbhakarna, Ravana's brother is awoken from his sleep and consults with Ravana about the war. He suggests that Ravana return Sita to Rama just as Vibhishana did. However, in the end he aggress to join the battle and face Rama. Rama is able to destroy the giant with well placed arrows.
Indrajit basically kills everyone but they are all revived after medicine hill is brought over. Rama tries to get everyone to leave him because he realizes that he is placing them in a lot of danger. However, none of his followers will leave and stay by his side. More illusions that don't work. Indrajit and Lakshmana go into single combat and in the end Lakshmana is the victor. Ravana now must go to battle for himself.
They cross the bridge to Lanka and make camp on the hill. The group is watched by Ravana's spies, first by Shuka who Angada captures but is let go to return a message to Ravana. Second by two of Ravana's best spies who take the form of monkeys in order to mingle within the camp. Both are spotted by Vibhishana who is able to look through their disguises and then captured.
Ravana attempts to trick Sita with the use of illusions in order to gain her love before the war even begins. He has his magicians create a bow identical to Rama's and his head parted from his body. Ravana brings these items before Sita, claiming that his general raided them during the night and killed them all. Sita begins to breakdown but is consoled by Trijata and told the truth.
First battle: During the day which weakens the strength of the demons. Rama and his men defeat the first wave and cause Prahasta's retreat. The demons then attack at night and are once again defeated. During this second battle Prahasta is killed.
Kumbhakarna, Ravana's brother is awoken from his sleep and consults with Ravana about the war. He suggests that Ravana return Sita to Rama just as Vibhishana did. However, in the end he aggress to join the battle and face Rama. Rama is able to destroy the giant with well placed arrows.
Indrajit basically kills everyone but they are all revived after medicine hill is brought over. Rama tries to get everyone to leave him because he realizes that he is placing them in a lot of danger. However, none of his followers will leave and stay by his side. More illusions that don't work. Indrajit and Lakshmana go into single combat and in the end Lakshmana is the victor. Ravana now must go to battle for himself.
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