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...