Reading Diary B: The Pandavas are sent away from Hastinapura

Dhritarashtra sends the Pandavas and their mother Kunti away

• Duryodhana, of course, makes a plan to build them a house that will be easy to burn down
• Vidura warns the Pandavas of the plan
• The Pandavas build a tunnel under the house to escape
• They leave 6 corpse to burn in their place so that Duryodhana believes they are dead
• The Pandavas flee to a village
• The village has to send yearly sacrifices to the demon Vaka
• Kunti sends Bhima to destroy him even though he is weak from hunger
• Vyasa arrives and takes the Pandavas to win the daughter of Drupada 
• Arjuna wins her by showing his strength with Shiva's bow 
• Krishna is present and congratulates Arjuna
• Krishna remembers Arjuna from another life
• Dhrishtadyumna brings the Pandavas to marry his daughter, Draupadi
• Dhritarashtra is glad to learn the Pandavas are still alive--> gives them Khandava to rule
• Arjuna goes to visit Krishna and falls in love with his sister, Subhadra
• The fire god, Agni, comes to Krishna and Arjuna and tells him he is hungry and he needs to burn the forest to regain strength
• Agni needs Arjuna's and Krishna's help to defend Indra while he "eats"
• Agni gives Arjuna the bowl Gandiva and Krishna his iron chakra (discus)
• The gods watch Arjuna and Krishna take on Indra
• Arjuna comes to the rescue of the asura, Maya, the heaven's architecture
• Maya builds the Pandavas' an unbelievable palace as a thanks
• Duryodhana visits the palace
• He is fooled by one of the illusions and someone laughs and he thinks they are mocking him
• Duryodhana goes to Yudhisthira and demands an apology but he denies this request
• So Duryodhana challenges Yudhisthira to a game of dice
• Vyasa goes to his mother and takes her, Ambika, Ambalika, and Vidura's mother to safety from the events that he forsees

 

(Image Source: Arjuna wins Draupadi by Ramanarayanadatta astri)

Reading Diary A: The beginning

The book starts out being told by Pandu's grandson

Then the poet Vyasa tells the story of Mahabharata while Ganesha, the scribe, writes it down

Before the sea turned to salt water it was milk

Takshaka disguises himself as a beetle on the last day of the king's, Parikshit, death curse time limit

Parikshit tries to show that he is no longer living in fear by putting the beetle on his neck whenever Takshaka turns into a snake and bites him

Parikshit's son takes over the kingdom and plans to hold a sacrifice to kill Takshaka

(Image Source: Satyavati, the girl born out of a fish by Tropenmuseum) 

Mahabharata finally begins

• Ganga falls in love with the king
• has 7 kids and drowns the first 6
• Bhishma is spared because the king finally says stop
• semen in a fish--> fish smelling man (Vyasa) 
• Chedi renounces his kingship and gives it to Santanu
• Santanu and Satyavati have a son named Vichtravirya 
• Vichtraviyra is given 3 wives by Bhishma
• One of them is sent away because she already gave her heart away (Amba)
• Vichtraviyra dies before he has kids
• Satyavati summons her son Vyasa to have kids with the two wives
• Dhritarashtra (blind), Pandu(pale), and Vidura (normal)
• Pandu marries Kunti and Madri
• Kunti has a mantra that she can make love with gods
• Kunti tried it first with the sun god, Surya
• Kunti sent the baby up stream --> Karna
• Dhritarashtra marries Ghandhri and becomes king
• Ghandhri is pregnant for 2 years and has 100 babies
• They have to incubate for 2 more years in jars full of butter
• Pandu is cursed and can't make love 
• Kunti uses her mantra and has 2 kids when Madri wants to have kids and she uses the mantra to have 1 more child and twins
• Pandu can no longer resist and makes love to Madri and dies and Madri does too
• Drona marries Kripi and is so poor he can't even afford milk for their child
• Drona asks Drupada for help but Drupada denies Drona's friendship and calls him his enemy
• Bhishma makes Drona the trainer for all the Pandava and Kaurava princes
• Kripa became archery teacher
• Arjuna is the best bow person until Karna arrives and shows his skills and is named king (everyone wonders who exactly he is--> son of gods?)
• But he is the son of a chariottor--> found him when Kunti sent her baby up stream and raised the boy

Famous Last Words for Week 10

Well, here we are again. I have so much to do this week. I hope I make it though it alive. No, I'm sure I will, but it is going to be absolutely crazy. I am ready for summer. Actually, I can't stand presentations. So, if I didn't have a presentation this week, I don't think I would be so nervous about it. I just hate all of the eyeballs, but get this over with and I don't have to do that anymore this year. Woohoo!!

This weekend, I took my puppies and we went to the midevil fair! It was a blast. My little corgi thinks she is hot stuff, and tries to show her guns. However, she has none to back her up. It is hilarious! My boyfriend has a pitbull, so I think my corgi thinks oh I've got this and if I don't he's got you. Funnily enough though, my little pitbull is a fat baby. He is the one that would bark really loud and be scared by his voice and run behind me. It's hilarious. I love him!

(Droseph at my house taken by me)

The Mahabharata was a crazy book. There was so much going on! It was hard to keep track. I really had to use the reading guides in order to keep track of every single event that happened. It was all over the place, but those guides were extremely helpful. I hope that you guys like my story this week. I struggled when choosing what to write about. 

My mood has just been so much better now that I think we may have finally survived winter, but of course with that means it is tornado season. I get so scared that I am going to die because I live on the second floor in an apartment, and if a storm blows over my place I am for sure a goner. That's a scary thought! However, I guess because I am from Oklahoma this is what makes the spring sort of exciting.

Have a good week!

Storytelling for Week 10: Dhritarashtra Gets Revenge

Once the war was over, the Pandavas decided to return to the city of Hastinapura to inform king Dhritarashtra and his queen of their loss. Yudhistira was the one strong enough to tell Dhritarashtra of the dreadful news. Unlike their cousins, the Pandavas were upset about having to kill their own family members in order to receive justice. Yudhistira tried to tell his uncle of the events of the war as sympathetically as he could. Finally, he concluded with the news about the story of the death of Duryodhana, Dhritarashtra's eldest son. However, he didn't mention the part where Bhima stomped on his body while he was lying on the ground about to die. Unfortunately, Dhritarashtra didn't need to be told about the events because Sanjaya narrated the war as it happened so Dhritarashtra already knew what Bhima had done to Duryodhana. Furthermore, he wanted revenge on Bhima for what he had done to his son! 

Once Yudhistira was done speaking, Dhritarashtra spoke. "I see! And where is Bhima now? I should apologize to him on my son's behalf."

Yudhistira immediately muttered without suspicion, "Well, he is righ...."

Krishna figured out Dhritarashtra's deceitful plan and interrupted Yudhistira. He then presented a statue that he had quickly created that exactly resembled Bhima. 

Dhritarashtra, being that he is blind, embraced the Bhima figure without hesitation and exclaimed, "Alas, I shall kill Bhima once and for all! You fools!" 

With this, Dhritarashtra squeezed Bhima with all his might and left the figure crumbled into millions of tiny pieces on the floor. Moreover, Duryodhana's mother, Gandhari, and Dhritarashtra rejoiced in the thought of revenge for their son's death!

The other Pandava brothers were unaware of the illusion Krishna had presented. They began to weep for all they had experienced had finally been too much for them to bear! The Pandavas grieving only furthered Dhritarashtra's and Ghandri's sweet revenge celebration.   

However, as Bhima watched the spectacle at a distance in the shadows, he was shocked by the actions of his uncle. He couldn't believe his uncle wanted him dead. It broke Bhima's heart as Dhritarashtra celebrated what he had thought was the end of Bhima. With this feeling festering inside him, Bhima abruptly emerged to Dhritarashtra wiping his revenge smirk off his face.

Bhima shouted, "How dare you praise my death, uncle! You traitor."

Bhima attempted to attack Dhritarashtra, but his brothers stopped him. As Bhima was so strong, it took several brothers to actually prevent Bhima from hurting Dhritarashtra. 

While attempting to stop Bhima, Arjuna whispered in Bhima's ear, "Don't waste your time on him. We have already won, brother!"

Bhima grinned and told Dhritarashtra, "Your actions have betrayed us, and therefore, your karma has caught up to you. You failed, and now.... now your kingdom is ours! You have failed once and for all!"

Finally, the Pandavas cheered! They shared hugs and smiles. Dhritarashtra had betrayed them and he deserved to be stripped of his crown. Once Dhritarashtra had failed at his last attempt at killing a Pandava, there was a ceremony for Yudhistra's coronation. Hastinapura's people were actually relieved to have the Pandavas as their new rulers as they were more just.  At last, the Pandavas ruled the kingdom for many years to come without any problems from Dhritarashtra.

(Image Source: Bhima and Duryodhana)

Author's Note: I wrote this story because when Bhima finally defeats Duryodhana it is my favorite part in the book. However, it is ironic how Dhritarashtra wants revenge on him when the entire audience is happy that the evil cousin is finally dead. Furthermore, Krishna plays such an important role in the war between the cousins. However, when choosing between Krishna or one million troops, Duryodhana thought that Yudhistira was silly for choosing him over the numbers. This tale illustrates yet again another moment that Krishna was an asset to the success of the Pandavas. Krishna uses his wise judgment on Dhritarashtra and protects Bhima one more time! Throughout the book the Pandavas are always stunned at the way their cousins and uncles treat them. I used this to display how I thought Bhima would respond to seeing his uncle think he crushed him to death. Furthermore, Bhima is utterly shocked. However, the Pandavas have better characters than their cousins, so they finally rejoice in their victory instead of killing Dhritarashtra as well. I chose this picture because I think this is the main reason why Dhritarashtra wants to crush Bhima, and he doesn't try it with the rest of the Pandavas.  

Bibliography: 

• Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.

Reading Diary B: The Pandavas win!

(Image Source: Arjuna slays Jayadratha by Ramanarayanadatta astri)

The Pandavas attempt one last peace offering with the Kauravas

• Krishna is sure of his abilities to escape the Kauravas so he goes to them as the messenger--> shows that he is actually a God
• However, the Kauravas do not accept
• The Pandavas prepare for war

The war between Pandava and the Kauravas begins

• The Pandavas slaughter all 100 of their cousins
• Arjuna and Bhima do most of the killing
• Arjuna kills Bhishma and Karna--> which he later learns was his brother
• They win their kingdom back

Yudhistira has a pitty party about all the slaughtering of his family

• But he comes around and has his coronation for king

Epilogue

• Yudhisitra's physical body goes to the heavens while the other brothers closely follow him in spirit.
• Krishna dies the way he thought he would by the river.
• Dhistira lives out his life in the kingdom for 36 years after and then takes Kunthi and an adopted son into the forest to be left alone for the remainder of his life

Reading Diary A: Pandava's exile is over

(Image Source: Cattle Reid by Ramanarayanadatta astri)

The Pandavas finally make it to the end of the first 12 years

• They are dying of thirst and the youngest finds a lake and rushes to it
• However, there is a voice that tells him to answer his questions before drinking his water
• Nakalu disobeys and drinks the water because he is so thirsty
• Arjuna and Bhima behave similarly
• Yudishitra arrives at the lake and see his dead brothers and listens to the voice and does as he is asked to do
• He answers so well that the other brothers are revived
• It was a test by Yama, and Yama now promises to keep them incognito for their following year

The Pandavas hide in plain sight in the town of Maysa

• While in Maysa, the 5 brothers have disguise jobs along with their wive Draupadi
• The entire year almost goes smoothly when finally the Prince discovers Draupadi's beauty
• The prince tries to make a move at Draupadi and Bhima had to resort to killing him while creating a cover story for the king
• The Kauvas hear of this and find the cover story peculiar.
• They "attack" Maysa in hopes of discovering the Pandavas to place them in exile for another 13 years
• Arjuna secretly attacks with the help of Maysa's lazy "hero" (claims tremendous fighting skills)

The Kauvuas plan does not work

• The Pandavas are freed from their exile (they make it to the end of the 1 years without being noticed)
• They want their share of their kingdom from Duryodhura
• Peace is negotiated, but war is likely inevitable 

Famous Last Words for Week 9

Wow! So this week did not start as planned. That video presenting itself, unfortunately, did not surprise me. This is not to say that I think all frat or sorority people are racist. I just have been to a couple of these houses and have heard things I did not want to hear.

I am a firm believer of equality, but most importantly I believe in Christ. Now take a step back and think about what it really means to say that. To me that means to treat everyone as Jesus did, and to call on God in every aspect of your life. Well it actually encompasses so much more, but this is what I want to talk about right now. How can you call yourself a christian and then say or do things such as this? I really struggle with this question. Not that I am saying that if you make a mistake you aren't a christian. NO! NOT AT ALL. However, claiming to be a christian, a person needs to remember to love thy neighbors and to act like christ. Okay I am done ranting. This video has just hit me harder then I expected them too.

This week has also been hectic in school. I had so many quizzes and assignments due. Geesh, these teachers don't care about letting up, do they? :D But I did! And now it is time to celebrate!!!!

Finally! Spring break has arrived! I have been so busy this week trying to complete all of my work so that I can just relax the rest of the week. Well guess what! The time has finally come. I AM DONE! Yay!!!!! I hope every one has a great week, just relax and have some fun, but most importantly be safe! Happy vacationing yal!

(A photo of Oklahoma skies I took one year!)