Hannah's Indian Epics Blog

Image Credit. Gandhari. Source: Wikipedia .       It was around noon as Gandhari was walking through the castle of her new husband Dishtra. She was practicing walking with the blindfold that she had put on the moment she and her husband were married. It was new to her always seeing the blackness but she had known the sacrifice she was making. She heard someone approaching and turned towards the sound.  "Mistress, what are you doing out of bed? You and the baby need rest," said Lakriti her handmaiden.  You see, Ganhari was 9 months pregnant and was supposed to be in bed. However, she had grown restless and wanted to explore the castle so that she was completely familiar with it when the baby was born.  "I am going back to bed Lakriti. Do not worry about me."  As Gandhari walked back to her room her water broke. She had delivered the baby by the morning, but was silent the rest of the day. The king and her handmaidens had star...

Image Credit. Kunti. Source: GoogleImages .       One morning a visitor had come to visit the kingdom that was home to young Kunti. This visitor was a sage who was known around the world for cursing those who cross him. Kunti, however, recognized how lonely this must make life for the sage. She set out to be a friend to him. He was sitting outside in the courtyard on the edge of the largest fountain when she first approached him. "Hello, sir! I am Kunti. How are you this morning?" The sage was taken aback by her friendliness and carefully said, "I am well, Kunti. Why are you speaking to me? Are you not afraid that I may place a curse on you like all the others?" Kunti realized that the sage knew his reputation but let his intimidation roll off of her. "No! I am kind, clever, and fun! I do not set out to cross you at all and now that you know my intentions you have no reason to curse me!"    The sage agreed that by knowing she only had good inten...

Image Credit. Elephant Species. Source: GoogleImages . The white elephant was roaming through the forests looking for some good bamboo to eat. He had finally found some that looked delicious but then was frightened by the ground shaking. Then he looked up the hill and saw thousands of people walking down it. He was not frightened after he saw that these people looked very harmless. He saw that the people in the front of the line were walking very slowly and did not seem healthy at all. He walked up to the people and noticed that their leader was in the front of the line. The elephant approached the people cautiously seeing what they would do before he spoke.  "Hello, I am the white elephant in charge of this part of the forest. What are you doing here?"  The leader spoke up and said, "We have traveled far to escape an unfair leader in our land. However, we did not plan accordingly and are dying along the trip." The elephant was distraught for the pe...

Image Credit. ORRA Diamond Necklace. Source: ORRA .      There were once two jewelry stores in the town of Seri. One owner was very humble, kind, and gave fair prices to all his customers. All of his customers returned and bought more jewelry from him because he had become their friend. The other jeweler was a spiteful, wicked man who always tried to get the top price he could for each of his jewels and never tried to form relationships with his customers.     A woman whose name was Maureen entered the spiteful jeweler's store hoping to get an appraisal on her favorite necklace. Maureen was a woman of few possessions. Her necklace was one of her prized possessions. However, it was Maureen's oldest granddaughter's 18th birthday and she wanted to make sure that the day was incredibly special for her granddaughter. The spiteful jeweler took one look at Maureen's diamond necklace and could tell that the woman did not know the worth of it. He quickly told her,...

Image Credit. Pegasus. Source: GoogleImages .         One day Krishna was sitting in his lovely palace admiring the countryside when he was visited by the God Indra. Indra was seeking help in order to recapture his home: the palace Pragjyotisha. Indra's home had been taken over by the demon Muru who was very fearsome and clever. Muru had placed large walls 10 feet thick surrounding the perimeter of the city. There was also a large moat filled with alligators and venomous snakes. Muru made sure to conjure up an army that could match his ferociousness. There were over 50,000 foot soldiers, 10,000 archers, and a calvary of 5,000 horses and men. Krishna knew the terrible odds he would be facing but agreed to help Indra get his home back.      Krishna immediately called for his pegasus, Myriad, and explained to him that they were headed to recapture the city of Pragjyotisha. Myriad was a loyal pegasus and flew as fast as he could to the city he knew...

Image Credit. 5 Nagas and Their Role in Hindu Mythology. Source: Google Images . One day a man was swimming along in a river when a group of snakes attacked him. They did not bite him but wrapped around him and pulled him into very deep waters to drown him. The King of the snakes saw what they were doing and commanded them to let the poor human go. The little snakes obey his command and released the man. When Bheem woke up he looked around in awe of what he saw. He was in an underwater castle and was surrounded by snakes and he could breathe under the water. His memory came rushing back to him and he sprang to his feet. He knew that these snakes were a threat and did not plan to be caught by surprise again. "Calm down Bheem. I am Vasuki, King of the Snakes, and they have been commanded not to harm you." "Vasuki? King Vasuki I mean. Thank you so much for sparing my life!" The king threw a feast in honor of Bheem. He had a wonderful time at the feast and...

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. 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. 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. 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. Fairies by Terretta. Taken September 2008. Source: Flickr . Once upon a time, there was a city, Anfairem, where faires ruled with great might. All the faires were females and if any males, human or fairy, ventured into Anfairem they were not alive long. The women fairies would have the men complete work or chores but would tire of them quickly afterward and kill them.  There was a huge airplane flying across the sky directly over Anfairem. The fairies used their powers and found out that there were male humans and fairies in the aircraft. The female fairies shot down the plane, but at the last minute used their powers to bring it safely to the ground. The men in the plane thought that a wind storm had knocked their plane out of the sky and were very thankful to the women for saving them. The women of Anfairem were very inviting to the men and made them a huge meal for celebration. The men were convinced that they should stay in Anfairem with the good women ...