Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata Part C

• Duryodhana's kinda being a pain
• He still has a vendetta against the Pandavas and caught a whiff of Arjuna's new weapons, so he decides to make a royal camp near them in order to shame/humiliate them
• The gods aren't having any of that; they send a gandharva who provokes Dur, and during the following battle they take him captive
• The Pandavas free him cause, apparently, they're not as petty. Unfortunately, that means Dur's plan has entirely backfired.
• The voice in the lake
• The Pandavas are living in a forest
• They are approached by a desperate brahmin who has had his staff and sacrificial kindling stolen by a mysterious giant deer
• They chase the deer, but to [no one's] great surprise - they can't catch it
• They're thirsty after actually putting some exercise in, so they look for water
• Nakula finds a lake, but a voice tells him that before drinking he must answer some questions. He ignores the voice, drinks, and dies.
• It must run in the family, cause one by one Sahadeva, Arjuna, and Bhima all do the same
• Yudhishthira comes up to find them all dead. He learns it was a test by his father Yama (god of death and Dharma) and the brothers come back to life and receive the "gift" (?) of unrecognizability for their 13th year of exile
• Stealth Mode
• For their 13th year of exile, they hid in the court of King Virata
• Yudhishthira was the king's companion and dice buddy, Bhima was a cook, Nakula was a stable boy, Sahadeva was a cowherd, Arjuna (now going by Brihannala) was a eunuch in the women's quarters, and Draupadi (now dubbed Sairandhri) was Queen Sudeshna's hairdresser
• Draupadi was raped by Kichaka (Queen Sudeshna's brother) so Bhima avenges her by squeezing Kichaka to death

The Pandavas and Draupadi (Wiki Commons, link)

Microfiction: Mahabharata Minis

6 Word Story


The Curse of Pandu

Here Lies Pandu

Loved to Death

(A Part 2)

Also Madri;

Couldn't Live Without Him

25 Word Story

Krishna Defends Draupadi's Dignity

Gambled away by her husband, Draupadi is dragged out and physically stripped in front of a crowd; by Krishna's power another sari appears on her.

Madri on Pandu's Pyre (Uncle Katha, link)

Author's Note:

I had a bunch of ideas for the 6 word story but the format really lent itself to an epitaph or tombstone. Thus, I abbreviated down the death of Pandu, who died making love to his wife Madri due to a curse placed on him by a celestial being, and then I included Madri's as well because she climbed onto his funeral pyre with him and died too. Tombstones don't really require a lot of detail, and the 6 word stories do not allow for much so I'm pleased with the way these turned out.

I was really thriving on the as-few-as-possible word count stories, so I next tried out the 25 word story. This was a very short version of Yudhishthira gambling away his brothers, himself, and finally their wife, who was indeed seized and stripped but prayed to Krishna to preserve her. This one was a little more difficult as I had to shuffle and adjust the words quite a few times to make a cohesive sentence but stay at 25 words.

Bibliography:

Narayan's Mahabharata Reading Guide, by Laura Gibbs (link)

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata Part B

• The Pandavas are still alive
• Everyone's fighting about what to do with them, but finally Dhritarashtra gives them part of his kingdom
• They build a city called Indraprastha
• The sage Narada visits the Pandavas to warn them about possible conflicts that could happen since they're sharing Draupadi as their wife
• For example, Arjuna intruded on Yudhishtira and D during the year they were exclusive (essentially,) he goes into exile for 12 years...and finds two more wives, Ulupi and Subhadra, so don't feel too bad for him
• The Dangerous Dice
• Shakuni suggests to Duryodhana that they can get revenge on the Pandavas via a game of dice
• Shakuni is really good; Yudhishthira (crowned the king of Indraprastha) is not.
• Vyasa visits the Pandavas and warns them of the bad omens incoming
• Vidura comes to invite them to Dhritarashtra's newly built Crystal Palace for a game of dice, and Yudhishthira cannot refuse the challenge so they go to Hastinapura
• Game 1
• Shakuni plays in Duryodhana's place; Yudhishthira loses everything he owns
• Vidura urges Dhrit to put a stop to the game, but it keeps going
• Yud gambles away his brothers, then himself, then their wife
• Wifey Draupadi is NOT happy about this, wanting to know how it is possible for Yud to gamble her away if he had already staked himself and lost. Plus, she is on her period and doesn't want to be seen in public
• She is dragged into the assembly hall and is ordered to undress, so she desperately prays to Krishna. As her sari si pulled off, another replaces it
• Dhritarashtra gives Draupadi a wish (why? we don't really know) so she wishes that Yud be set free. He gives her another wish which she uses to free her other 4 husbands. She declines the third wish. So Dhrit gives back all the Pandava's posessions and sends them home in peace
• Weapons from the Gods
• Krishna pays Yud a visit and promises that Dury and his allies will be punished.
• Draupadi and Yud are having a bit of a quarrel about forgiveness and patience
• Vysas teaches Yud a mantra that makes it possible to get weapons from the gods
• Also teaches it to Arjuna (who's back from his exile)
• Arjuna rejects an apsara named Urvashi who fell in love with him, so she cursed him to live among women as a eunuch. However, Indra is impressed by his self-control so she tells him his curse will be a blessing later on.
• Reading Guide for Narayan's Mahabharata Part B, Laura Gibbs (link)

The Ill-Fated Game of Dice (Wikipedia, link)

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata Part A

• Shantanu and Ganga
• Shantanu is the ruler of Hastinapura
• Meets a mysterious woman by the river and falls in love with her
• She agrees to marry him, but he is never allowed to question her actions
• So, she drowns their babies in a river as they're born
• He can't take anymore by the 8th child and protests, so she explains she's the river Ganga reincarnated as a woman to give birth to eight gods, the Vasus, who are now trapped as humans as punishment for stealing a cow, but by drowning them she is returning them to heaven
• Shantanu Part 2: Satyavati
• She's a fisherman's daughter
• Shantanu wants to marry her of course, but her father protests because S already has an heir (Bhishma).
• Bhishma, being a very good son, renounces his claim to the throne AND the possibility of having children
• S and S have two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya
• V ends up ruling and marries Ambika and Ambalika
• But he fathers no sons
• Heirs
• Stayavati begs Bhishma to father sons with the widows, but he won't because of his vow of celibacy
• She had another son from a wild story with a rishi named Parashara, named Vyasa (...who looks weird)
• Ambika closes her eyes because he looks gross, so their son Dhritarashtra is born blind
• Ambalika blanches from fear so their son Pandu is very pale
• Then Ambalika has her maid sleep with Vyasa instead, and because she liked him and reacted to him positively, their child was born normal
• Pandu's curse
• He has two wives, Kunti and Madri
• He was out hunting and shot a deer as it was having sex
• It was actually a celestial being in disguise, so it curses Pandu so that he will also die during sex
• Kunti has a mantra to summon the gods and have children by them, so they have 5 sons, called the Pandavas
• But, Pandu thought with his little head and could no longer resist Madri, so he dies during sex with her. She climbs onto his funeral pyre with him, so Kunti is alone to raise their 5 children
• Narayan's Mahabharata Reading Guide, by Laura Gibbs (link)

Satyavati and Shantanu (Ravi Varma, link)

Storybook Plan

A lot of the information from my Topic Research was pretty spot on, so at the risk of being redundant:

Story Sources

• The Jataka, Vol. II by W.H.D. Rouse (link here) for the Story of Kama-Vilapa-Jakata

• Tales of the Sun; or, Folklore of Southern India by Kingscote and Sastri (link here) for the Brahman Girl and the Tiger

• The Panchantra by Bidpai (link here) for the Mouse Who Was To Marry the Sun, along with a Chain Anthology (link here)

Each story will be an episode, and they will either be told from Kama's point of view, or possibly by a nameless narrator who can connect that story and what Kama does for it. These will be separate stories, but linked by Kama and probably the same storytelling styles.

The main idea would be how Kama influences love (or lust, according to some translation,) and I would like to convey how much of an impact love makes in every story.

Comment Wall

Kama, God of Love (Tanjore Heathen Gods, link)

The link to my Storybook: https://sites.google.com/view/talesoflove/home

Week 5 Story: Brother's Business

"Hey bro, wanna come watch my back while I kick some dude’s ass?”

Sugriva read the text from his older brother Vali and sighed. He had better things to do than be engaging in another one of his brother’s fights, but being younger he often got dragged into his brother’s problems anyway. He begrudgingly throws on a hoodie and meets his brother outside in the quickly darkening twilight.

Sugriva is stationed outside a drugstore by the place where Vali planned the confrontation, to be a lookout and emergency backup. He yawns and pulls out his phone to check SnapChat while waiting for his brother to take care of business. He idly clicks through SnapChat stories, only really paying attention when Vali’s girlfriend’s pictures popped up…he thought she was really hot, but obviously his brother had pounced first…as usual. He grumbles to himself as a text from his brother pops up on his phone.

“Lil bro, I chased this jackass into a dark alley. Come stand guard at the mouth of it until I come back.”

Why did Vali have to be so bossy? Sugriva drags his feet but, unable to say no to his big brother, shuffles to the alley and waits. He expected Vali to come swaggering out, wiping sweat off his face in twenty, maybe thirty minutes tops. But Vali doesn’t come. Sugriva waits an hour, then another, then another, until the sun starts to rise and early morning runners begin to give him suspicious looks as they jog by.  He decides to text his brother…what was taking so long?

“Dude, where are you?”

                                No answer.

“It’s literally already morning, people are looking at me like I’M gonna drag them into the alley and beat them up. You done yet?”

                                Still no answer.

Sugriva decides maybe a phone call will make the matter seem more urgent. He dials Vali but the phone rings and goes to voicemail.

               

Tuesday. 9:30 a.m. “Dude, It’s been a whole day. I’ve gotta go home…I mean, I assume you’re okay? If you are you should pick up my freakin’ calls.”

                

Wednesday. 8 p.m. “Vali this isn’t funny anymore. Come home, your girlfriend’s worried…and, um, I guess I kinda am too. Never thought I’d miss your annoying ass.”

                

Friday. 12:45 p.m. “Dude I don’t know what the hell kinda stunt you’re pulling, but your girlfriend’s really upset. I’ve been spending a ton of time with her…comforting her…um, anyway, sorry I dipped when I was supposed to be guarding your back. I kinda figured you’d come back later…”

               

Monday. 9:25 p.m. “Vali…you’re not coming back, are you. PLEASE answer me. Tell me I’m wrong.”

               

Thursday. 10 a.m. “I don’t know why I’m still calling your voicemail…I guess it kinda makes me feel better, since I know I’ll never REALLY talk to you again. I, uh, started dating your girlfriend. She was really upset and missed you and I kinda stepped in to comfort her…so she’s mine now. Hope you’re doing okay wherever you are big bro…rest in peace.”

Missed Messages (Stephen Krow, link)

Author’s Note: This was an adaptation of the story of Sugriva and Vali, where Vali went into a hole to fight an enemy; after a year Sugriva assumed he was dead and went home to take over his brother’s kingdom (represented here by Vali’s girlfriend.) Vali returns eventually and exiles Sugriva. It's set in a modern context emphasizing modern technology, which probably should have improved their communication skills (but did not.)

Source: Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India by Romesh Dutt (link)

Reading Notes: Sita's Story (Ramayana Continued)

• Sita's Birth
• Janaka Rishi: a pious man (and Maharajah) who lived as a simple farmer
• The King-farmer was ploughing his fields when he encountered a gold pitcher buried in the ground
• It contained a baby girl, who he promptly and happily adopted as his daughter
• Her name Sita comes from the furrows she was found in (sitas)
•  He mother gave birth to another daughter a year after Sita was found, named Urmila
• Adolescence
• Sita was a Goddess of Beauty, apparently. She also believed that Janaka and the Queen were truly her parents.
• At the age of 14, many suitors were asking for her hand, and the Maharajah (likely being bad at decision-making) proposed a test instead
• The bow of the Brahmin Parashurama
• In a slight deviation from the usual story, apparently Parashurama said that Janaka should have Sita marry whatever man could break the bow
• As we know, Prince Rama (age 16) snapped it in half
• They were married: the Sun-Prince and the Moon-Princess
• Marriage
• Sita and Rama were surprisingly happy, considering the circumstances
• "Rama with his deep and loving voie was filing her heart...A dark handsome face, and a pair of love-illuminated eyes gazed into her own making the world a place of sunshine, which was heaven itself for her."
• Rama takes her home to meet his mother, who pulls them aside after the ceremonies are through and speaks to them with a mother's affection and pride, and cries tears of joy. 
• She loved Sita, eventually as much as her own son
• But while celebrating their wedding with Rama's people, he notices a drop of blood on Sita's forehead
• He removes the crown to find a big thorn in it, and the author foreshadows it to be her throne of sorrows

Sita and Rama (Pinterest, link)

Reading Notes: Ramayana Online Part B (Catching up)

• Bharata doesn't want the throne
• He gets home, finds out his father Dasharatha is dead and his brother Rama has been exiled...sad day
• His mother proudly tells him that she secured him the throne
• But he doesn't want it and vows to get Rama back and never sit on the throne himself
• Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (link)
• Bharata and Rama
• They meet in the jungle of Chitrakuta; clearly there are no hard feelings because they hug and cry for their dead father
• Bharata tells Rama that he is passing on the kingship (the raj) to him, but Rama insists that their father gave it to B and therefore he cannot take it
• B tries to trade Rama and stay in the jungle for 14 years so Rama can return to Ayodhya and be king, but Rama won't
• Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (link)
• Battle with Khara
• Rama had driven back Khara once before, but Khara is back for revenge
• The world was freaking out too, with animals screaming, a blood-red sky, and an eclipse
• Rama sends Lakshmana and Sita to a secret cave in the mountains to hide and be safe so he can battle the demons alone
• Rama geared up with his glowing armor, celestial bow, and many arrows
• The rakshasas were afraid to attack him but Khara pushed through 
• Nonetheless, Rama and his flaming arrows killed countless rakshasas, then Kahara's brother Dushana, then Khara himself
• Sita comes back from the cave and kisses her husband
• Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie ( (link)

Bharata Asks for Rama's Sandals (Wikipedia, link)

Topic Research: Kama and his Work

• Three Possible Stories: Kama's Involvement In
• The love story of Rama and Sita
• Kama-Vilapa-Jakata
• A story about a man being killed who is pining for his former wife, and worrying about her more than the fact that he is about to die
• The Brahman Girl that Married a Tiger
• A girl fell in love with every boy she saw, so a tiger transforms himself into a boy, makes her fall in love with him, and then kidnaps her to cook for him
• The Mouse Who Was To Marry The Sun
• A mouse is transformed into a girl, but when her adoptive father is trying to marry her off she rejects every powerful deity except the mouse king, saying he was one of her kind and asking to be turned back into a mouse
• Style
• Will storytell as Kama looking down on the stories and either intervening in them or detailing how he had already affected the storyline

• Sources
• Inside the Drama-House; Rama Stories and Shadow Puppets in South India by Stuart Blackburn (link here)
• Talks about Rama and Sita and in chapter 4 introduces "kama" as "sexual desire" (food for thought)
• The Jataka, Vol. II by W.H.D. Rouse (link here)
• Story of Kama-Vilapa-Jakata
• Tales of the Sun; or, Folklore of Southern India by Kingscote and Sastri (link here)
• For Brahman Girl and Tiger
• The Panchantra by Bidpai (link here)
• For Mouse

Kama, God of Love (Tanjore Heathen Gods, link)

Reading Notes: Ramayana Online Part D

• King of the Ocean
• Rama wants to pass over to Lanka, so he performs sacrifices to the God of Ocean...but those didn't work out
• He grabs his bow and shoots celestial arrows into the ocean, causing the earth and sea to convulse, darkness to cover the heavens, lightning and thunder, and mountains began to break into pieces.
• He grabs another fiery arrow and threatens to dry up the waters of the sea
• The King of Ocean makes his grand appearance (literally, dressed in splendour, serene, attended by shining water snakes)
• He's very polite, telling Rama reverently that according to ancient laws that he "must remain unfordable"
• Does, however, recommend that he go find Nala son of Vishwakarman (the divine artisan) to build a bridge so the armies can cross
• The King vanishes under the waves again and the heavens brightened
• Nala was called: this green vanar and his workmen constructed a causeway of rocky islands between the mainland and Lanka (to this day called "Rama's Bridge"
• Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (link)
• The point of the entire story: The Death of Ravana
• Remember, Rama was literally born as the incarnation of Vishnu TO slay Ravana; this had been the gods' goal all along
• Rama used his bow to shoot off one of Ravana's ten heads, but another one regrew immediately, and Rama realized that wasn't going to work
• So, he takes the "flaming weapon" which Brahma had created for the protection of the gods, and threw it [shot it?] and it pierced the iron heart of the demon
• Ravana roars...falls over...dies.
• The heavens are really happy; there's celestial music and flowers fell onto the earth, and a voice declares that Rama's task is now ended 
• Ravana's brother Vibhishana burns his dead brother's body and performs the funeral rights, then takes the throne as King of Lanka
• Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (link)

Building Rama's Bridge (Dinodia Photos, link)

Reading Notes: Ramayana Online Part C

• Sugriva
• Monkey king; now living in exile
• "the high-souled, heroic, and virtuous monkey who journeyed the world" sorrowfully because Vali (his big brother) had driven him away and stolen his wife
• Encountered by Rama and Lakshmana
• Sent Hanuman (his messenger) disguised as a beggar to scope out what they were doing
• Asked them to help Sugriva win back his kingdom and find his wife
• Rama and the Monkeys by Geraldine Hodgson (link)
• The Explanation 
• Vali was chasing an enemy and followed it down a hole under the earth, leaving Sugriva to guard the hole until he returned
• Sugriva waited for a whole year...until he stopped hearing his brother's voice and saw blood come out of the hole, and assumed Vali had been killed, so he returns to Kishkindha and rules his brother's subjects
• Herein lies the problem: Vali had NOT been killed. He destroyed the enemy and popped back up to the surface, but Sugriva had filled in the hole with the top of a mountain. Made it pretty hard for Vali to get out
• Understandably, this made him pretty mad so he refused to believe Sugriva's tale, ousts him and takes back control of his kingdom. Furthermore, he takes Sugriva's wife and and exiled him with only a single cloth
• ...Vali sound pretty justified; but the older sibling is always blamed for everything.
• Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India by Romesh Dutt (link)
• War!
• Sugriva came back and challenged Vali, backed by Rama and Sugriva
• Vali was ready to stack bodies (kill) but his wife Tara calms him down
• Nonetheless the engagement begins, and Vali is kicking Sugriva's ass
• Rama steps in and shoots Vali, knocking him from the sky and killing him
• Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India by Romesh Dutt (link)
• Everyone grieves over Vali's death: Tara his wife, the mahamatras (high officials of the monkey kingdom,) and even Sugriva
• Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India by Romesh Dutt (link)

Fight of Vali and Sugriva (Stone bas relief in Cambodia, photo by DoktorMax [link])

Feedback Strategies

Feedback is critical to the development of people in every profession, yet so often it can be hard to give out, hard to accept, or even avoided because of the previous two reasons. A generic “good job” can smooth over any hurt feelings and try to convince everyone they are doing fine – but that isn’t always fine. It leaves people in a rut, satisfied with their performance when, in reality, it was probably at best mediocre and could easily be improved. That is why effective feedback is so important, to help people reach their fullest potential instead of letting them sit comfortably in mediocrity.

            

In Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback, (link here) the author Marshall Goldsmith emphasizes the importance of making suggestions for improvement in the future. It takes what the person has already done and without even needing to affirm it, shows them how to be right (or even more thoroughly right) in the future. He says that people tend to take this approach much less personally because it does not involve showing them or “proving” to them that they were wrong, and is therefore not viewed as an attack but as genuine advice.

            

In The Trouble with ”Amazing”: Giving Praise That Matters, (link here) author Jennifer Gonzalez writes about how generic praise is absolutely useless. Sometimes it makes people feel better about themselves, but if they know that was not truly an “amazing” performance or they are looking for true critiques, it is a waste of time. People crave “actionable” feedback, which gives them somewhere to go, concrete improvements to make, and a purpose instead of just empty affirmations.

In the Army, we are trained to a certain degree on how to correct peers and subordinates, but also we have to figure a lot out for ourselves. Some are rough and never give out compliments, so the rare declaration that someone is “not sucking” carries a lot more weight. This is why drill sergeants are so effective (beyond having the ability to physically punish you when necessary): they constantly deliver critiques with specific action points for improvement, and if they say "good work" you know you must have truly done an outstanding job. Others constantly pour out affirmations, so you know to go to them if your feelings are hurt but not if you need actual critiques. I personally tend to give out affirmations where they are due, reassurances as they are needed (and they so often are,) but I can always work constructive criticism into the affirmations in the form of “next time it will be even better if you…” The authors of the articles I read have fairly similar views to this approach, which has proven over decades to be effective.

Drill Sergeant "Giving Feedback". (link)

Topic Brainstorm

1.  Weapons of the Gods

Being in the army, I have a certain practical fascination with weapons, and that does not exclude magical, mystical weapons from folklore. Each weapon has a story, just like each person, starting with its creation and life and occasionally ending with its “death.” The only previous knowledge I have is from reading other students’ stories that involve weapons (like Sita’s bow) but I would like to learn about any more. The stories could be told from the weapons’ point of view (personification is always fun) or from the viewpoint of the owner, or even a casual bystander. This source looks like it would be helpful.

2.     

  2. Rama and Sita

Everyone loves a good love story, and I was initially fascinated by that of Rama and Sita, as it was one of the first works I read from this class during Orientation Week. Once again that is all the previous knowledge I have, but I keep seeing that there are different and conflicting versions of the same story which would be interesting to read, compare, and maybe even contrast. Like any other love story there is a multitude of ways this story could be flipped and retold, such as a gender swap, a plot twist, or cancelling the happy ending to explore an alternative. It could also be placed within a popular book or TV show setting to make it more interesting to a contemporary audience. There is plenty of information to be found but this source  is a good start.

3.       

3. Kamadeva, God of Love

Like I heavily implied above: I really like love. And with Valentine’s Day approaching, it provides a pretty natural segue into the topic of Kamadeva. This topic definitely has a finger in many of the other topics and stories, as humans have highly valued love in every culture for all time. I scrolled through several of the past works in this topic and was really intrigued by the stories that introduced Kamadeva as a love and relationship therapist, or compared him with other love gods from different cultures. These are a couple great ideas for reformatting the story, and I’m sure there are many others to mix up the narrative. A possible source is here which also references a written book by William Buck.

4.      

4. Elephants

I really like elephants! I’ve known that they are a very prominent image of Indian culture, but wasn’t really sure why before a little research for this class. Apparently they are very effective in war (which my army background appreciates) and often represent wisdom, deity, and royal power. They are especially relevant because of the elephant-headed god Ganesha (who could use some more research.) This story could be told about different specific elephants through history, or possibly just the effects of different time periods on the connotations of elephants throughout ancient Indian lore. The narratives could also come directly from the elephants, from a nameless narrator, or maybe a king or god who oversaw the events. A starting source is this which also heavily sites William Buck’s The Ramayana.

Ancient Elephant Portrait (By Bichitr, link)