Ganga
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Reading Diary A: PDE Mahabharata
My very first impression of this story was that it might be more challenging for me to keep up with simply because of how many characters there are. It seems like the Mahabharata has many more characters than the Ramayana and all of their names are much longer and harder to read so keeping up with the plot line is harder to do. To circumvent this, I have had to write down all of the names as I read along and write out what their role is so I can keep track of everything. As far as the beginning of the story goes, I find it very strange that Uparichara "dropped his semen" in to the river so that a female fish may be impregnated by it. I don't understand why he would do this and I find it very puzzling, as I have never read anything like that in a story before. Perhaps there is more insight in to why he did this and I should read about it on the internet. Something that really caught my attention was the part of the story that talks of Ganga's marriage with King Shantanu. It really strikes me that a female character has such influence and dominance over her marriage as compared to every other female character I have read of in the epics of this time period. That was very fascinating for me and makes me wonder why Ganga has such power. I really want to know the reason why she drowned her first seven children into the river before finally halting to King Shantanu's plea to stop with the eighth child. It says in the story that she gave the reason why she did this and then disappeared, never to return again, and does not explain what exactly she said her reason was. I want to do some research on this outside of the reading to figure out what she was doing. The next thing I noticed was the fact that Bhishma captured the three girls he planned on taking as wives for Vichitravirya, instead of winning them over in a contest. This is dissimilar to the style of the Ramayana in my opinion, because it seems that all of the main characters in the Ramayana are much more honorable in their ways and would not take any maidens by capturing them in battle.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Storytelling for Week 4: The Golden Bow
There once was an archer named Parashurama, and with his magical golden bow he could perform unimaginable feats. This special bow, in all of its glittering splendor, was originally created for the god Shiva, but fell into Parashurama's possession because of a wish owed to him for saving Shiva's life .
"With this bow I am completely unstoppable!" Parashurama thought to himself as he took aim at an apple hanging from a tree off in the distance. And as he loosed one of his magical arrows, it whirled through the air and split off in to three arrows that fell upon the apple like a hailstorm, bringing it hurling to the ground.
Parashurama was filled with excitement. He could not wait to show off his new bow and compete in the next Contest of the Heroes, a competition in which all of the bravest heroes of India would show off their skills in battle in hopes of winning over the daughter of the king Janaka. There was not a doubt in Parashurama's mind that he would win this contest and marry Janaka's daughter. The only problem was that this competition was many miles away and started in only a few days, so Parashurama needed to make haste and travel quickly to get there in time. With that, he gathered his belongings and his magical golden bow and headed to King Janaka's palace, where the festivities would be held.
The journey to King Janaka's palace was no easy venture. The road ahead entailed rivers and swamps and haunted forests that no man dare enter, but Parashurama had no fears as no Rakshasa could withstand the might of his bow and its magical arrows. When he was almost at the end of the last forest he had to travel through before getting to the kingdom, a horde of a dozen Rakshasas and Rakshasis surrounded him, looking greedily at his bow as if they wanted it for themselves.
"Oh, so it's my bow and arrows that you want then, huh?" Parashurama shouted at them in a mocking way.
"Well here, have some arrows then!" And a hundred arrows were sent zipping in the evil horde's direction. And with that, a dozen Rakshasas fell instantly and Parashurama carried on as if nothing happened, with King Janaka's palace in sight barely peeking over the hills in the nearby distance.
"Hey, excuse me, sir, you can't take that bow into the living quarters area. You gotta check it in at the weapons desk and they'll hold on to it for you." one of the guards explained.
"It's a new rule in place for the palace this weekend, just as an added safety precaution because of all the new faces wondering around these halls," the guard added.
Parashurama was rather understanding of the situation, so without argument he took his bow and checked it in at the weapons counter. Parashurama then went up to his comfy bed and dozed off, hoping to get some well needed rest for a few hours. Suddenly, just as he was getting comfy and dozed off, he heard a loud snapping sound and felt a heartache that had never been felt before.
"My bow!" he shouted as he jumped out of bed frantically racing towards the downstairs lobby he could sense through its magical powers that his bow had been destroyed. As he raced towards all the commotion he saw a man standing in the middle, holding one half of the bow in his left hand, and the other half of the bow in his right.
The name of the young man who did this deed was Rama, a strange-looking blue-skinned man from a village far away, and he looked so proud of his accomplishment. In snapping this magical bow, Rama thought this would surely be the type of impressive display of strength that would win Sita. Parashurama was left stunned and in horror, as he watched this Rama character from the top of the lobby staircase. Flooded with an overwhelming rage, he began to walk towards Rama with hate in his eyes.
Author's note: I took the part in the story of the Ramayana where Rama goes to King Janaka's palace to win Sita and take her hand in marriage by impressing King Janaka, and turned it into a spin-off story with a slightly different plot. I liked the idea of merging the key elements of the original plot line of the Ramayana with an entirely new plot line of my own, in which that bow belonged to one of many heroes, competing to win over the love of Sita. This story was also unique in that Rama comes off as somewhat of a bad guy, which is kind of fun to write about since he is portrayed as being so perfect and noble in the Ramayana stories. Parashurama's character is also very different in this story because he is actually good friends with the kings and royalty and does not wish any harm on them, whereas in reality, he is their bitter enemy that kills and hates them with a passion. I thought it would be fun to play out the events of the actual story where he breaks the bow, but put a different spin on how it happened and why. I also added some additional information from a different point of view to give an idea as to how Parashurama fits in. In the Ramayana version of the story, Parashurama's character isn't really explained and there is no back story on why he appears or why the bow once belonged to him.
Bibliography: The Divine Archer, by F.J Gould (1911).
"With this bow I am completely unstoppable!" Parashurama thought to himself as he took aim at an apple hanging from a tree off in the distance. And as he loosed one of his magical arrows, it whirled through the air and split off in to three arrows that fell upon the apple like a hailstorm, bringing it hurling to the ground.
Parashurama was filled with excitement. He could not wait to show off his new bow and compete in the next Contest of the Heroes, a competition in which all of the bravest heroes of India would show off their skills in battle in hopes of winning over the daughter of the king Janaka. There was not a doubt in Parashurama's mind that he would win this contest and marry Janaka's daughter. The only problem was that this competition was many miles away and started in only a few days, so Parashurama needed to make haste and travel quickly to get there in time. With that, he gathered his belongings and his magical golden bow and headed to King Janaka's palace, where the festivities would be held.
The journey to King Janaka's palace was no easy venture. The road ahead entailed rivers and swamps and haunted forests that no man dare enter, but Parashurama had no fears as no Rakshasa could withstand the might of his bow and its magical arrows. When he was almost at the end of the last forest he had to travel through before getting to the kingdom, a horde of a dozen Rakshasas and Rakshasis surrounded him, looking greedily at his bow as if they wanted it for themselves.
"Oh, so it's my bow and arrows that you want then, huh?" Parashurama shouted at them in a mocking way.
"Well here, have some arrows then!" And a hundred arrows were sent zipping in the evil horde's direction. And with that, a dozen Rakshasas fell instantly and Parashurama carried on as if nothing happened, with King Janaka's palace in sight barely peeking over the hills in the nearby distance.
Parashurama's bow
After a long and tiring travel filled with fighting, Parashurama finally made it into the palace just in time to compete in the Contest of the Heroes, which was to be held the very next morning. All of this travel and excitement had Parashurama feeling very weary and tired, so with that he headed off towards his designated guest room in the King's palace (he and King Janaka go way back so he always has a place to stay there)."Hey, excuse me, sir, you can't take that bow into the living quarters area. You gotta check it in at the weapons desk and they'll hold on to it for you." one of the guards explained.
"It's a new rule in place for the palace this weekend, just as an added safety precaution because of all the new faces wondering around these halls," the guard added.
Parashurama was rather understanding of the situation, so without argument he took his bow and checked it in at the weapons counter. Parashurama then went up to his comfy bed and dozed off, hoping to get some well needed rest for a few hours. Suddenly, just as he was getting comfy and dozed off, he heard a loud snapping sound and felt a heartache that had never been felt before.
"My bow!" he shouted as he jumped out of bed frantically racing towards the downstairs lobby he could sense through its magical powers that his bow had been destroyed. As he raced towards all the commotion he saw a man standing in the middle, holding one half of the bow in his left hand, and the other half of the bow in his right.
The name of the young man who did this deed was Rama, a strange-looking blue-skinned man from a village far away, and he looked so proud of his accomplishment. In snapping this magical bow, Rama thought this would surely be the type of impressive display of strength that would win Sita. Parashurama was left stunned and in horror, as he watched this Rama character from the top of the lobby staircase. Flooded with an overwhelming rage, he began to walk towards Rama with hate in his eyes.
Author's note: I took the part in the story of the Ramayana where Rama goes to King Janaka's palace to win Sita and take her hand in marriage by impressing King Janaka, and turned it into a spin-off story with a slightly different plot. I liked the idea of merging the key elements of the original plot line of the Ramayana with an entirely new plot line of my own, in which that bow belonged to one of many heroes, competing to win over the love of Sita. This story was also unique in that Rama comes off as somewhat of a bad guy, which is kind of fun to write about since he is portrayed as being so perfect and noble in the Ramayana stories. Parashurama's character is also very different in this story because he is actually good friends with the kings and royalty and does not wish any harm on them, whereas in reality, he is their bitter enemy that kills and hates them with a passion. I thought it would be fun to play out the events of the actual story where he breaks the bow, but put a different spin on how it happened and why. I also added some additional information from a different point of view to give an idea as to how Parashurama fits in. In the Ramayana version of the story, Parashurama's character isn't really explained and there is no back story on why he appears or why the bow once belonged to him.
Bibliography: The Divine Archer, by F.J Gould (1911).
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Reading Diary B: The Divine Archer
My first impression while reading part B of this week's reading was the part about Hanuman having to use the bridge to get to Lanka, where Sita was being held prisoner. When I was reading this part of the story on the PDE version of the Ramayana, I interpreted the beast as something evil that was trying to kill or eat him. In this version, it was very clearly stated that the serpent was only sent by the gods to test Hanuman's courage, and then let him travel on towards Lanka. The next thing I noticed was that the scene with Sita sitting in the Asoka grove was played out somewhat differently than the PDE version. In this version, instead of Ravana telling Sita that she has two months to decide if she will marry him or be killed, he initially raises a sword as if to kill her but then at the last second decides not to and walks away. Also, in the PDE version the Rakshasis are mocking and harassing Sita while in the grove, but in this story, instead of mocking her they bowed to her out of fear and left quickly after Ravana. That is because in this version (The Noble Archer), one of the Rakshasis has a prophetic dream of Hanuman's attack and of Ravana's fall and Vibishan's rise to power.
Changing the story in that way adds a pretty different effect for the reader while reading through that scene. In the PDE version, I felt sorry for Sita and she comes off as much more lonely and sad about being held captive. In this version, she seems stronger as she even commands Ravana to kill her, and instead of Rakshasis tormenting her, they fear her and leave the grove after bowing down to her! It's very interesting how even when two stories follow the same plot, they can still leave a very different feeling in the minds of the reader just by describing the little details a bit differently. It has been very interesting discovering differences like these as I read the two different versions of the same story.
Sita sitting in the Asoka grove
Changing the story in that way adds a pretty different effect for the reader while reading through that scene. In the PDE version, I felt sorry for Sita and she comes off as much more lonely and sad about being held captive. In this version, she seems stronger as she even commands Ravana to kill her, and instead of Rakshasis tormenting her, they fear her and leave the grove after bowing down to her! It's very interesting how even when two stories follow the same plot, they can still leave a very different feeling in the minds of the reader just by describing the little details a bit differently. It has been very interesting discovering differences like these as I read the two different versions of the same story.
Reading Post A: Divine Archer
Overall, this story followed the plot very closely to the online public entry version of the Ramayana that I finished reading last week. The only differences were in the minor details as the story was being told. For instance, the version of the Ramayana that I am reading this week went into detail on explaining the omens that foreshadowed Rama's supreme powers when he was a baby. In the Divine Archer, it is explained that Rama had several marks on his feet. This version also talks about the vajra, dhvaja, and ankusha, which I don't remember reading about in the PDE version. I also don't remember reading anything about Rama being able to convert back and forth between a cosmic being and baby, which is also described in this week's version of the reading. There is also nothing mentioned about the world being held up by elephants on the back of a turtle in the PDE version, which is mentioned in this week's version of the reading.
All in all, I enjoyed this version of the reading much more as it still followed the same plot line almost exactly with no deviation, but it also provided more details for the reader to learn about Rama and other parts of the story in more focus. It seems like the PDE version was just a short, simplified version of the story that was meant to make reading easy for beginners, while the book version gives more detail and makes it more fun to read for me.
All in all, I enjoyed this version of the reading much more as it still followed the same plot line almost exactly with no deviation, but it also provided more details for the reader to learn about Rama and other parts of the story in more focus. It seems like the PDE version was just a short, simplified version of the story that was meant to make reading easy for beginners, while the book version gives more detail and makes it more fun to read for me.
Parashurama
Monday, September 14, 2015
Gurus, Yogis, and Rishis: Styles Brainstorm
Topic: My portfolio will be about Gurus, Yogis, and Roshis. Possible ways to set this kind of portfolio up could be to tell a new story about the same Guru each time, and if I did it that way, the Guru I would most likely pick to tell the stories about would be Parashurama since there is so much information on him and he plays a big role in the Indian epics. I think a more fun way to set this portfolio up though, would be to tell a story about a new guru each time, so that the reader can learn more about the different Indian epics characters instead of just learning a lot about just one.
Bibliography:
Parashurama, from The Divine Archer, by F.J. Could (1911).
Shabari, from the Ramayana, University of California Press (2000).
Possible Styles
First Person. One possible way to tell these stories would be to do it from the point of view of the gurus themselves, as their dialogue is used to tell the story each time. This would be kind of interesting as you get a story told from a different perspective each time and everything feels new to the reader. The problem with this style is that it might get too cluttered going through all of the different stories being told in first person but from a different character each time, that might be way too confusing to follow. Another problem is that I tend to struggle telling stories in first person, it's hard for me to get the flow of dialogue just right for some reason.
Stories told around a Campfire. I think it would be really fun if the anthology of stories were told from the perspective of an elder, or mother/father, etc telling stories of the different mighty gurus to young children late at night around the campfire before going to bed. This way, it would be like every story comes from a new night that the parents are telling these stories to the children, and each story contains a moral so the children have something to learn and take from the story each time. This also sounds appealing because I think I could do a good job of putting together a portfolio of stories in this fashion.
Quest/Journey. Another cool way to tell the stories of the different gurus could be to tell stories of the different gurus and yogis and rishis from the perspective of Parashurama as if he is personally recalling all of these stories from past events that he personally witnessed. He would be reliving and telling all of these stories of the different heroes to someone that is accompanying him on a journey or quest as a means of passing the time. Maybe the events of the journey or quest will actually tie in to the portfolio too, or maybe it will just be entirely focused on the past stories themselves. Either way would be a really neat idea.
Yoga Class. The most creative idea I have for telling these stories is through the voice of a yoga instructor, teaching her students the history behind this art form and its spiritual importance. Maybe there is a student that starts complaining about the exercises being too difficult or maybe she starts every yoga session off with a story about different yogis and their paths to enlightenment.
Bibliography:
Parashurama, from The Divine Archer, by F.J. Could (1911).
Shabari, from the Ramayana, University of California Press (2000).
Possible Styles
First Person. One possible way to tell these stories would be to do it from the point of view of the gurus themselves, as their dialogue is used to tell the story each time. This would be kind of interesting as you get a story told from a different perspective each time and everything feels new to the reader. The problem with this style is that it might get too cluttered going through all of the different stories being told in first person but from a different character each time, that might be way too confusing to follow. Another problem is that I tend to struggle telling stories in first person, it's hard for me to get the flow of dialogue just right for some reason.
Stories told around a Campfire. I think it would be really fun if the anthology of stories were told from the perspective of an elder, or mother/father, etc telling stories of the different mighty gurus to young children late at night around the campfire before going to bed. This way, it would be like every story comes from a new night that the parents are telling these stories to the children, and each story contains a moral so the children have something to learn and take from the story each time. This also sounds appealing because I think I could do a good job of putting together a portfolio of stories in this fashion.
Quest/Journey. Another cool way to tell the stories of the different gurus could be to tell stories of the different gurus and yogis and rishis from the perspective of Parashurama as if he is personally recalling all of these stories from past events that he personally witnessed. He would be reliving and telling all of these stories of the different heroes to someone that is accompanying him on a journey or quest as a means of passing the time. Maybe the events of the journey or quest will actually tie in to the portfolio too, or maybe it will just be entirely focused on the past stories themselves. Either way would be a really neat idea.
Yoga Class. The most creative idea I have for telling these stories is through the voice of a yoga instructor, teaching her students the history behind this art form and its spiritual importance. Maybe there is a student that starts complaining about the exercises being too difficult or maybe she starts every yoga session off with a story about different yogis and their paths to enlightenment.
Parashurama
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Reading Diary B: Public Domain Ramayana
I really enjoyed reading of Indrajit early on in this section of the reading. I am very fascinated in learning more about Rakshasas and as Ravana's powerful son, he sounds intriguing to learn more about. Reading the part of the story about the great battle between the monkeys and the Rakshasas, led by Indrajit, kept me very interested. Again, I couldn't help but be reminded of one of my favorite stories of all time, The Lord of the Rings, while reading this part of the Ramayana. As the battle scene was being described, it reminded me of the humans led by Gandolf fighting in their last battle against the orks who were led by the With-king of Angmar, who also had magical powers just like Indrajit. This battle too, was fought between good and evil, and both the heroes and villains fought with magical weapons, as in the Ramayana battle. I also enjoyed reading of Garuda, the winged beast mount of Lord Vishnu. It is really fascinating reading about a hero's mount being able to do great works and save other heroes, because in most types of mythology and stories, this role generally does not get to perform such heroic feats. Again, I was reminded of the Lord of the Rings while reading of him, because in the Lord of the Rings epic battle, when the heroes were starting to get hurt and their armies were pushed back by the evil army of orks, Gandolf's allies, the griffins (winged horse with the head of an eagle), came to their rescue and began fighting the evil army to drive them back and protect Gandolf and the other heroes.
Going back to Indrajit, another thing that really fascinated me about him were his choices of weapons. The nagastra, a serpant weapon, is extremely unique to anything that I have ever read before, because it is a bow that shoots magical arrows that can turn into snakes. There was so much information and interesting topics in this half of the reading, I could write a story based off of Indrajit and his nagastra weapon alone.
Going back to Indrajit, another thing that really fascinated me about him were his choices of weapons. The nagastra, a serpant weapon, is extremely unique to anything that I have ever read before, because it is a bow that shoots magical arrows that can turn into snakes. There was so much information and interesting topics in this half of the reading, I could write a story based off of Indrajit and his nagastra weapon alone.
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Indian Epics Possible Topics
1. Possible Topic: Rakshasas and Asuras.
The idea of demons and demon warriors is so fascinating to me, so the idea of doing a project based around them sounds pretty appealing. Another thing that draws me in to the idea of doing a project based around rakshasas and asuras is the fact that they are so prevalent in the Ramayana. Ravana, king of the rakshasas, is a major character in the Ramayana and there is endless information on him and stories about him that can be found on the internet, making it easier to do the research for this project. I would like to possibly learn more about the origins of Rakshasas and how they were first created. I would also like to learn more about Ravana and read more stories about him.
Research so far: At this point, I have read lots of stories involving Rakshasas and Ravana through the Ramayana readings, so I have a little bit of background knowledge through the reading. I have also read some of the Wikipedia article on Rakshasas in general, as well as the article on Ravana, along with reading one of the past story books based on Rakshasas.
2. Possible Topic: Geography Stories: Traveling India.
My personal interests are very centered around being out in nature and enjoying the mountains, so I would be very interested in doing a project based on any of these features. I like the idea of doing a project on the Himalaya mountains due to their significance and impact on the physical geography of northern India as well as the role they play in the stories of the Indian Epics. My own personal love of the mountains draws me in to the thought of writing about this topic, as I have always wanted to some day travel to the Himalayas. I would like to learn more about how the Himalayas and Mount Kailash play in to the stories of the Ramayana. It is very fascinating when myths and stories draw on real life geographical locations that you can actually visit, it makes the connection to the story more tangible.
Research so far: I have done a little bit of reading about Mount Kailash on Wikipedia but other than that, I have not done very much research outside of what I already knew about the mountain range before entering into this course.
3. Possible Topic: Gurus, Yogis, Rishis.
To be honest, I do not know very much about gurus, yogis, and rishis at all, and that is partly what interests me in doing a project on this subject so I can learn much more. They just sound really fascinating to me, there are many different types of gurus and they are all masters in something unique and different. I would like to learn more about all of the different gurus through the storybook readings and how they tie in to Indian Epics throughout history.
Research so far: I have done some reading on the wikipedia article about the different terms used and I will scroll through the storybooks about gurus to learn a little more.
4. Possible Topic: Warriors, Battles and Weapons.
This sounds like it would be a project filled with action, which would definitely keep me interested the whole time. Battles and fighting in general both play a huge role in the stories of the Ramayana as Rama constantly has to kill enemies and fight of Rakshasas. I think there is a lot that can be one with this topic since there is so much of it involved in the Indian Epics. I am also drawn to this topic because of the magical weapons that are used by Rama, the stories behind these weapons seems really interesting and I would like to learn more about this.
Research so far: I have done some reading on the Vajra, along with the Sudarshana Chakra, but other than that I have done no other research. I intend do read Wikipedia articles about the various magical weapons and who they belonged to and how their owners came about owning them in the first place.
The idea of demons and demon warriors is so fascinating to me, so the idea of doing a project based around them sounds pretty appealing. Another thing that draws me in to the idea of doing a project based around rakshasas and asuras is the fact that they are so prevalent in the Ramayana. Ravana, king of the rakshasas, is a major character in the Ramayana and there is endless information on him and stories about him that can be found on the internet, making it easier to do the research for this project. I would like to possibly learn more about the origins of Rakshasas and how they were first created. I would also like to learn more about Ravana and read more stories about him.
Research so far: At this point, I have read lots of stories involving Rakshasas and Ravana through the Ramayana readings, so I have a little bit of background knowledge through the reading. I have also read some of the Wikipedia article on Rakshasas in general, as well as the article on Ravana, along with reading one of the past story books based on Rakshasas.
2. Possible Topic: Geography Stories: Traveling India.
My personal interests are very centered around being out in nature and enjoying the mountains, so I would be very interested in doing a project based on any of these features. I like the idea of doing a project on the Himalaya mountains due to their significance and impact on the physical geography of northern India as well as the role they play in the stories of the Indian Epics. My own personal love of the mountains draws me in to the thought of writing about this topic, as I have always wanted to some day travel to the Himalayas. I would like to learn more about how the Himalayas and Mount Kailash play in to the stories of the Ramayana. It is very fascinating when myths and stories draw on real life geographical locations that you can actually visit, it makes the connection to the story more tangible.
Research so far: I have done a little bit of reading about Mount Kailash on Wikipedia but other than that, I have not done very much research outside of what I already knew about the mountain range before entering into this course.
3. Possible Topic: Gurus, Yogis, Rishis.
To be honest, I do not know very much about gurus, yogis, and rishis at all, and that is partly what interests me in doing a project on this subject so I can learn much more. They just sound really fascinating to me, there are many different types of gurus and they are all masters in something unique and different. I would like to learn more about all of the different gurus through the storybook readings and how they tie in to Indian Epics throughout history.
Research so far: I have done some reading on the wikipedia article about the different terms used and I will scroll through the storybooks about gurus to learn a little more.
4. Possible Topic: Warriors, Battles and Weapons.
This sounds like it would be a project filled with action, which would definitely keep me interested the whole time. Battles and fighting in general both play a huge role in the stories of the Ramayana as Rama constantly has to kill enemies and fight of Rakshasas. I think there is a lot that can be one with this topic since there is so much of it involved in the Indian Epics. I am also drawn to this topic because of the magical weapons that are used by Rama, the stories behind these weapons seems really interesting and I would like to learn more about this.
Research so far: I have done some reading on the Vajra, along with the Sudarshana Chakra, but other than that I have done no other research. I intend do read Wikipedia articles about the various magical weapons and who they belonged to and how their owners came about owning them in the first place.
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