Hannah's Indian Epics Blog

Image Credit. Goddess Ganga. Source: Word Press .        It was around midday and the goddess Ganga was lounging on a raft made of lily pads. She was humming as she floated along peacefully. All the people along the river were struck immediately by Ganga's beauty and admired her as she floated by. King Shantanu was sitting out on his balcony and saw something in the river and was intrigued. He ran to the edge of the balcony and laid eyes on the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He called his servants by the river to see if they could get the woman to stop and come in the palace.      Ganga would not come up by invitation of the servants so she lounged and waited for the king himself. When Shantanu finally made his way down Ganga was still waiting for him. They spent the evening talking and eating and slowly began to develop feelings for each other. They decided to be married but Ganga had a few stipulations for her soon to be husband. Shant...

Image Credit. High Five for Draupadi. Source: Times of India .      I am glad that Queen Kunti and her sons, the Pandavas, are still alive and the plan of Prince Duryodhana and King Dhritarashtra was foiled even if they do not know it. Kunti and her sons have moved to the wilderness. It seems that when a character in an Indian Epic is living in the wilderness the rakshasa find them. The rakshasa have shown up in many of the sections of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. They make good villains and are comparable to bad guys in most superhero movies.     Draupadi's swayamwara is a particularly dramatic part of reading B of the Mahabharata. She really dismissed Karna very harshly before accepting Arjuna warmly. I am happy that her father got what he wanted even though he never spoke of his wants out loud. This story would be fun to recreate because of the dramatic scene that unfolds here. I like that a princess took charge of her own destiny and that everyone, b...

    Image Credit. Kauravas. Source: Ancient History Encyclopedia .       Vyasa seems to be a very important person to and in the Mahabharata. I think that it is very cool that he is both an author and a character. His birth story is very interesting but I think Satyavati is the star of this origin story. I really like how she maneuvered and worked to get what she wanted. I hope that she and Vyasa play a large role in this story as a whole.       The story of the goddess Ganga is one that I can see myself coming up with a retelling. I really like how she married but would not tolerate harsh language from her husband. I feel like she should have been more open with him about what was happening and who she was and they would not have had a problem. I was happy that she introduced him to his child later on though.      I am very surprised at the vow that Devavrata took and also his name change to Bhishma. I wonder if his mo...

Image credit. Rama and Sita by Eliza Alys Young. Source: Amor y Sabor .       Sita was walking across her garden with her maid following behind her. "Sita do you want to go down by the fountain and pick some flowers?", her maid asked. "Yes let's go down there", Sita replied. As the two ladies walked the path to the fountain they were spotted by two men who were roaming around the palace. One of the men, Rama, thought that the princess was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He knew that he had to get to know her, but he was not sure how. Sita did not see the two men and picked her flowers and returned inside the palace for her evening meal.      Later that night Sita was in her room reading scrolls about her father's kingdom. She heard a loud noise out on the balcony and was slightly frightened. She called for her maid immediately, but unusually there was no one there. She was unsure what to do so she tried to remain calm. She tried to be ...

Image Credit. The Divine Archer. Source: Blogspot .       I am reading The Divine Archer by F.J. Gould for this weeks reading assignment. So this starts as the other Ramayana does as well. I do not remember Shatrughna in the other Ramayana. I like this style of writing better than the other Ramayana so far. It is more like a story where the other one seemed more poetic. I liked the scene where he sees Sita for the first time. Sita remains my favorite character of the Ramayana. I hope that the ending of her story is better in this book than in the other Ramayana.      This book portrays Rama and Sita falling in love very well. I like the scenery and dialogue from Rama expressing how he feels about Sita and how he broke the bow in order to win her over. It is interesting that Rama and all of his brothers are married on the same day. I do not remember it in the PDE Ramayana. Queen Kaikeyi is very dramatic and has yet again used her two wishes to m...

Gandhari receiving boon from Vayasa. Source: Wikipedia .  Sources/ Stories to Include: To create my storybook I am focusing on the stories of Uloopi, Sita, and Gandhari. They are three interesting stories that include common elements. These common elements will make it easy to keep a seamless theme throughout my storybook. Uloopi is the first story I think I want to include. I have not read her entire story but here is a link to the book: Uloopi's Story . Secondly, I want to include Sita's part in the Ramayana. I also want to include something about her origin story. It was briefly mentioned in the reading guides for the PDE Ramayana and I would like to learn more about it. Here is a link to some information on Sita: Sita's Wikipedia Page . Thirdly, and perhaps the most interesting is Gandhari's story. Gandhari is a very selfless woman who gives up her sight on her wedding day because her husband is blind. She also is the mother of a hundred sons so I believe that...

Gandhari. Source: Quora  Quora . Click here for a link to my storybook.

Image Credit. Shri Rama and Maa Sita. Source: hindufaqs.com .      Sita was finally at peace. Rama had finally come to her rescue and he was crowned King. Sita had rejoiced at seeing the crown, that had been stolen from him so long ago, finally on his head. It was a beautiful morning. She was lounging on a sofa in one of the castles tall towers which had a huge window and overlooked the garden. Tylindi, her head maid, had gone to get some mango for her to snack on. When she heard the door open she thought it was Tylindi, but, to her surprise, looked up to see her handsome husband Rama.    "Rama, my love, what are you doing here?", inquired Sita. He looked very troubled and Sita could tell that whatever he said next would not be good. "Oh, Sita, some of my advisors question the time that you were in Ravana's custody. They want me to send you away and find another queen who cannot be questioned". At this Sita fell to the floor in shock. How could the advisors...

     Image Credit. Sita Returns to the Earth. Source: Blogspot .       Rama's encounter with the god of the ocean was a great way to kick off this portion of the reading. I like that even though Rama was clearly frustrated they were able to reach a compromise and both were able to get what they wanted. Ravana is yet again being cruel to Sita in this portion of the reading. How terrible would it be to see the head of your beloved! I am glad that she did not have to spend a long time believing that Rama was dead. Garuda was just the pick-me-up that Rama and Sugriva's army needed. I like that Garuda is able to fly over the armies. Hanuman is truly the hero at the point in the battle when he hoists up the entire mountain. I believe that without him here Rama's forces may have been destroyed.      It seems as though Ravana only has one trick up his sleeve: making people appear dead when they really aren't. Ravana is very upset about ...

      Image Credit. Ravanna. Source: Ancient History Encyclopedia .        Hanuman is a very interesting and humble character. I really like that he is willing to help Rama and that he can turn into a monkey. Vali is a classic villain of the story. He and Sugriva remind me a lot of the brothers Scar and Mufasa of the lion king. I like Sugriva's character and his willingness to help Rama also. I am glad that Sugriva and Vali are going to fight. I agree with the intro that Vali's death is very controversial. Rama is so powerful. I wonder why he didn't just meet Vali in open battle and help Sugriva win. I am glad that even though Sugriva and his brother had differences that he still mourned his brother's death.    Rama is heartbroken to wait until the rainy season ends. It is quite heartbreaking honestly. He has finally found someone to help him rescue Sita but now he has to wait. Okay, Sugriva needs to get a move on because Rama has been...

Image Credit. Helping Hands by Bob Sambol. Source: Flickr .       Feedback for me is good when it is concise, constructive, and specific. I like knowing where I excelled and where I fell short. I think that feedback is a necessary part of improving. If you do not know what to fix, how can you fix it? Negative, harsh, or degrading feedback can be counterproductive. When giving feedback it is important to stay constructive and make sure that the comments you are giving are helpful and easy to understand.       The first article I read was  Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters A Growth Mindset  by Gravity Goldberg. The advice this article gives goes along with most of what I said in the intro. It mentions taking yourself out of the feedback which I think is extremely important and something that most people find difficult to do. If you stay more focused on who you are giving feedback to and strive to think less about wha...

Image Credit. Dhritarashtra and Gandhari. Source: BlogSpot .      Originally I thought that I wanted my storybook project to be over women in the Ramayana. However, while researching my project I came across the story of Uloopi. Uloopi's story is one that I want to look into more. So I have decided to make my storybook project over women in Indian epics. Here's a  link  to women in Indian epics.       Firstly, I want to do a section over Uloopi. Her story seems complex and action-packed which should make for a good read. Uloopi is a princess and I want that to be a common theme for the stories in my storybook. The key aspect of Uloopi's story that I want to use is that she saves her husband Arjuna and brings him back to life.  Click here  for a link to Uloopi's story. Also here's a link to  Uloopi's Wikipedia page .       Secondly, I want to do a section over Sita. Sita has been a very intriguing ...

  Image Credit. Jatayu World's Largest Bird Sculpture. Source: Modern Met .       Jatayu was sitting proudly upon the tallest tree in the forest. He heard a scream from the North and immediately turned to see what it was coming from. He then saw Ravana carrying a handsome man through the air. The man was unconscious and it seemed that he had been hit over the head and knocked out. Jatayu started to follow Ravana but then he heard a faint but urgent yelling. He turned and flew as fast as he could towards the sound. As he got closer he could tell it was a young woman crying. He had to search for a few minutes to find her because the jungle was full of thick branches and she was on the ground. After spotting her he landed on a sturdy branch above her. The woman, Sita, saw the big vulture sitting on a limb above her and immediately a plan sprung to her mind.    She asked the vulture if he would be kind enough to help her for her husband, Rama, had j...

Image Credit. Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana by Unknown. Source: Wikipedia .       The beginning of reading B is very dramatic. I really like Bharata's loyalty to his father and brother. He despises his mother for what she has done. The death of Dasharatha has really shaken his family and his kingdom. Ten days of lying on the floor mourning definitely show the reader how much these people cared for their king. Rama is loyal, like his brother Bharata, to their father. The fact that he is contemplating remaining in the jungle even though his father is death shows the level of respect that he has for him. I think that Dasharatha banishing Rama to the jungle is a dramatic part of the story that has caused a lot of strife for everyone involved. Taking Rama's sandals back to the city in his place seemed a bit underwhelming. I was hoping that Bharata would be able to convince Rama to return.      Sita's birth story is very strange. I like how at the end of ...

Image Credit. Rama and Sita by Indi Samarajiva. Source: Flickr .  The beginning of the Ramayana is very interesting. There are many characters and deities. It is hard to keep track of them all. I think that the four sons born to Dasharatha will be very special since they are Vishnu divided into fours. It seems that Rama will be the greatest of the four brothers. Even early on there is more talk of him and more description of what he is doing. So far I like all the magic and mythical creatures but I wish the setting was more descriptive. I am enjoying the love between Sita and Rama that is beginning. I like that Sita's father had a task set that any suitor would have to pass before marrying his daughter. Rama proved himself and now he and Sita will be married. The character of Rama seems to be a classic hero and Sita a classic princess but we will see how their characters change throughout the story. Everyone knows having four wives will lead to some jealousy eventually. I w...