Week 10 Reading Diary B

Kshatriya is a caste

They formed their troops in the shapes of animals, one animal was chosen by one side and the other side would form an animal that would eat it

Duryodhana told his brother Bhishma to off himself just so Karna would join the fight

I’m still confused as to who’s who

The author’s notes are very helpful, especially since I haven’t done all of the readings

Bhima defended himself with horse legs

Bhima ripped Dussasana’s hand off like it was nothing, then sucked all of the blood out of his body

Duryodhana has the power and desire to hide at the bottom of a lake

Gandari curses Krishna to die alone after all of his kinsmen

Storytelling options on pages 180, 181

“I do not want to be called a Kshatriya if slaughter alone is the rule of life”—Yudhistira page 181

“Religious activities, pleasure, enjoyment, and every fulfilment of life proceed from wealth…. It is from fighting that glory is earned and from glory proceed all the good things of life…. We can never see wealth acquired without some harm or injury to others.”—Arjuna page 182

Arjuna is aware of microorganisms

Week 9 Storytelling: Satisfying Agni

I am Agni, God of Fire. Like everybody, I get hungry sometimes. Unlike most people, though, I can’t just decide to kill something and eat it. No. I can only eat those creatures that lose their lives in a fire I do not start. Most people don’t intend to start fires, though. So I don’t get to eat too often. 

Not too long ago I had grown quite hungry. It had been several months since any fires that claimed lives had been set. 

A man named Arjuna heard of this. He desired to win my favor, so he set out to start a fire. “How should I go about properly satisfying Agni?” he asked himself out loud. “No ordinary fire will do. I must get him plenty to eat!”

He went on talking to himself for quite a while before he settled on setting the Khandava Forest aflame. “The Khandava Forest is so big and full of life. All of the animals in there shall do!”

So he went to the edge of the forest. “How can I make sure that all of the animals go to Agni? And how can I make sure no men or women in there die?” he wondered to himself. “I know! I’ll cast a spell over the forest trapping in all of the creatures except for humans!”

Forest Fire Source

He cast a spell blocking off all of the exits to the forest. Only humans could cross the barrier. Then, he set fire to the forest. 

The trees went up in flames. The smoke billowed into the sky and could be seen hundreds of miles away. Animals and hermits rushed to the edges of the forest, but only the men could get through. 

All of the animals were trapped inside and eaten up by the fire. They went to nourish me. Oh, there were so many of them! Thousands of little squirrels and opossums and deer! I could barely eat them all!

At the end of the fire, all of the lives in the forest had been consumed. I was so full! I can’t remember a time when I was more satisfied!

Now it will be quite a while before I hunger again. 

To show my gratitude towards Arjuna, I blessed him with gifts. I gave him the great bow Gandiva and a quiver that never runs out of arrows. This has made him nearly unconquerable to his enemies.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author’s note:  This story was inspired by Narayan’s 1978 version of the Mahabharata. I’m not a huge fan of the moral of this story, but I couldn’t think of a way to change it without changing the story too much. The situation that plays out here reminds me of the meat industry in this country. People want to eat lots of meat as long as they don’t kill it themselves. I thought about telling a modern-day version in this setting, but couldn’t think of a good reward for the meat producers.

Week 9 Reading Diary B

“He had no mind of his own, and was in a perpetual conflict with his better instincts.”—about Dhritarashtra, page 60

“I know what Arjuna can accomplish. I know Drupada and his growing might…. They are building up an invincible camp. Many others will be joining them soon…. Krishna by himself will be chief support soon…. Don’t let your past error continue and take you down the path of annihilation.”—Drona to Dhritarashtra, page 61

These names are very hard to keep up with, only made harder by the fact that I didn’t get Reading A done…

Citizens and traders from Hastinapura moved to Indraprastha because of convenience—why was it convenient? Page 63

Brief description of the story of Sunda and Upasunda, brothers who fought over same woman—potential storytelling topic, page 64

Ulupi picked up more wives while in exile, page 64 why didn’t he have to share them, too?

Arjuna’s bow—gift from Agni—potential storytelling post, page 66

Vidura the messenger doesn’t seem too loyal to his king, page 70

What is a “kshatriya”? page 71 why are they required to accept a challenge?

Yudhistira has a gambling problem, page 73

Sakuni never placed a counter-bet, page 73

“It seems to me that men can never survive in this world by merely praising tolerance.”—Draupadi, page 94

Potential storytelling topic page 99

Week 8 Reading Diary

In the instructions, it is suggested that you write three or four paragraphs summing up your thoughts or make a list of bullet points describing a character or situation. I haven’t been doing this. Part of the reason why I haven’t is that when I started, I didn’t know what was noteworthy and what wasn’t. Also, at the beginning, I didn’t find much to comment on. The Reading Guides covered the big things and the little observations I made would be hard to organize into paragraphs. I take notes as I read and include quotes that stand out to me. I then publish these notes. They feel somewhat disorganized as I read over them, but I feel like that would be a little different if I covered the plot in my notes.

When I went to review my Reading Diary posts, I started with week 2 and moved closer to the present. The first thing I noticed was that I took a lot more notes at the beginning than at the end. The second thing I noticed was that many of the things I took note of at the beginning don’t really seem to matter now. Either I took note of something that was completely irrelevant (it had no effect on the story, its meaning, or my perception of the culture) or something that became so obvious and important later in the story that I didn’t need to take not of it (example:  “Rama cared about the people of Ayodhya”). I also wrote down more quotes at the beginning, but I think this is because I like Narayan’s storytelling style better. I also took more notes about foreshadowing in the beginning than I have lately; this may be because of Narayan’s storytelling style, too. The first week I didn’t add any page numbers. I wish I had. Starting week three, I gave page numbers with quotes, but not general notes. I continued to do this in most posts that followed. I wish I had given page numbers for each observation. I remember that when I wrote many of these notes, I would compare them to the Reading Guides and delete any notes that were just explaining plot. I wish I had thrown in a few notes on the plot so that now when I’m looking for specific stories I have the option to find them without going to the Reading Guide first.

I like the average length of posts I’ve made. I feel like it gives me enough information to relive what I was thinking, but not too much to weed through. I do need to start making bullet points or putting a space between notes. Sometimes just glancing over it can be hard to distinguish whether it’s a new note or the continuation of a note.

Sometimes I use my diary posts to write my storytelling post. I don’t really use them for much more. This past week I consulted my diary posts to try to find stories about the vahanas and they did not help me at all (I should probably start noting when I find a vahana story in my reading diaries).

I guess I’ve been doing okay with the reading assignments. I’ve gotten all of them done. Some are harder than others because I’m tired or that section of the book isn’t the most interesting, etc. Like in other classes, I’m really good at getting a gist for what the reading says. I’d retain more information if I listened to someone tell me the story.

Week 7 Storytelling: The Lovers' Reunion

This was it. After months and months of separation, Sita was finally going to see her beloved husband again.

She had spent that time a prisoner. A cruel king had kidnapped her and tried to coax her away from her husband to join him. He was a terrible man. He had ten heads with large fangs and blood-hungry eyes on each of them. He went to her each day of her captivity and tried to scare her into loving him.

The beautiful Sita was ever faithful to her husband, though. She thought of no one else. For all the months that she was prisoner, she refused to eat, dressed in poor clothes, and gave up all beautifying practices. Her days were spent in meditation under a large tree. All she wanted to think about was her dear husband. Why did he take so long to come for her? She still loved him. Surely he still loved her.

One day when Sita was growing weary from waiting so long, a new character, someone other than the demons who guarded and tormented her, came and greeted her. She came out of her meditation to speak to this new person. He said that her husband was on his way! He would soon be there to destroy the king who had kidnapped his beloved! Oh, Sita was so excited!

Sita gained confidence in her husband. He did love her! He’d never forgotten her! She dove even deeper into her meditation, praying for her husband’s safety and speed.

She meditated so hard that she did not hear the war just outside the city walls. It lasted four days and nights and she heard none of it except the last war cry, the cry of her husband as he slayed the terrible king.

“My Lord will be calling for me soon,” she thought as she opened her eyes. “I must prepare myself.”

Hanuman's Visit

So she quickly bathed and dressed in the robes of a queen. She put a ribbon in her braid. Fragrant oils kissed her skin for the first time in many months. She decorated her eyes and cheeks for her love. Sita was the most beautiful creature in the world that day; she had the glow of a bride on her wedding day.

“Oh, it has been way too long! What if he has grown cold? What if he doesn’t trust that I was faithful to him? Oh, my love, only the thought of you has kept me alive these past months! How can I go back to living if you do not love me still?”

As Sita began to fear that her triumphant husband would never come and get her, the same messenger that had appeared to her earlier approached. “Beautiful Sita,” he said with a bow, “your husband calls for you.” He led her out to the camp of the army who had helped to defeat her captor.

As they walked, Sita was all emotion. She was joyous, for she was about to see her love for the first time in months. She was nervous, for she had spent those months in the house of another man, an act inexcusable for any respectable woman. She was full of compassion, for she knew her husband must have been upset and worried for her. She was relieved, for she no longer had to face the terrible king or his demon guards. But most of all, she was excited, for her love was waiting for her only yards away.

There was a large gathering in the camp and, as Sita and the messenger approached, the crowd parted, making a path to her husband. Sita saw her love and ran to him. She held him tight in a warm embrace and planted kisses all over his face and hands. Something wasn’t right, though. He wasn’t holding her or kissing her like a lover at the end of a long separation should.

The god of fire was aware of their worries about her reputation and came down to the camp. He said, “These many months I have watched you. I listened to your hearts. Sita, I know how faithful and devoted you have been to your husband. May you walk through my fire and be protected from its’ heat if I speak the truth.” So Sita walked through the fire and came out unsinged.

“Now he cannot have doubts about my love for him!” she thought. This time he ran and embraced her and planted a thousand kisses on her face and hands. They were so infatuated that they didn’t let go of each other for ten thousand years.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author’s Note:  this is based on William Buck's 1976 Ramayana. I changed the story quite a bit, leaving out several big scenes such as when Ravana brings what appears to be Rama’s severed to Sita. In this version, Vibhishana doesn’t bring Sita to Rama, Hanuman does. I did that because I felt that two different messengers would complicate this story too much. I didn’t have enough time to properly introduce both of them. I also left out all of the names except Sita’s. This story isn’t about the others. It’s about Sita. One other thing I did differently was that I emphasized Sita’s meditation; I wanted to show how devoted to Rama and pure she was. 

Image:  Hanuman's Visit, in bazaar art with Marathi caption, early 1900s Source