Week 14: reading diary B

The story starts out with ,the sun god,  surya's prize pocession a gem . He gives it to man to keep but the man killed by lion. Jambavan then kills the lion and give the gen to his son as a gift. Krisna who knows the story has to fight for  the son's innocence. Once he proves that he did not kill the man that recieved surya's gem.  He is then given the gen along with jambavan daughter's hand in marriage after a fight with jambavan. The jewel is then transfered to satrijet who is murdered. Krishna then retrieves the gem again. The comic was good except one part. Surya's jewel went from person to person and when people were killed over it. This made it confusing on who had jewel and who wanted it.

(Gems, websource: mumsintheknow)

Week 14: reading diary A

This i read Krishna: Retold From The Bhagawat Puran.  I like the comic book style. It was a refreshing break from reading just text.  The story is pretty simple and easy to follow. I like the comic book style. It was different being able to follow along with pictures and words  The story bwings woth devaki and vasudeva. Soon after their imprisoned and give birth to a baby named krishna.  The baby grows up and battles a snake named kaliya. The story ends with him in  battle with the snake . The beggining reminded me a lot thenbirth if jesus christ because he was also codemed tk be killed by king Herald.

(Krishan, Wikipedia)

Week 13: reading diary A

This week i read Devi.Fables and Folklore. I have not attempted to read any of indian fables yet but I actual did like them. Looking at the reading Guide, it looks like a lot of reading but the fables are fairly short and pretty interesting one of my favorites was actually the very first one. It was a just a really different  take of the reflection of eye. Something I noticed in these chapters was the animals like Elephants,rabbits, dogs, frogs, and rats  occurred quite frequently. Another story that i liked was Ratnakar, the robbery thief. Ratnakar was man who worshiped Kali. He becomes a better way after a man tells him how can his wife and family approve of sins that he is doing. After a conversation with his wife he becomes better man.

(elephant, websource: worldwildlide.org)

Week 12: reading diary B

http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2014/10/reading-guide-pattanaik-week-1-videos.html

Last reading diary I said that these videos expound upon the religion which could made the epics a lot easier to understand. In Hinduism god is always limited to one form the idea of god is expressed through everything. It also within the form of three human couples: Brahma and Saraswati, Vishu and Lakshmi, and Shiva and Shakti. The males in these couples represent creation, sustaination, and destruction. It also signifies the you as an individual also known as the "observer".  While there wives represent wealth, knowledge, and power.  the wives also symbolize the observation. The Goddess Maya represents the absence of judgement and she looks at everyone on an equal plane. Man is a symbol for spiritual reality and women are the symbol for material reality. Spirituality reality is incomplete without material reality and vise versa. In the next video, it began the discussion over Shiva. Though Shiva is the god of destruction more specifically she is the destroyer of desire, death, and the three worlds.The goddess Kali helps Shiva opens his third eye so he does not destroy.  She therefore resurrects life and earth continue the cycle of rebirth that Shiva would of destroyed. The rest of the video informs us about his wife,Sati, and son, Kartikeya. One question I have above this reading is what are the three worlds? I have a couple of Ideas like karma and dharma or life, death , and rebirth.

                                                      (shiva,websource: wiki)

Week 12: reading diary A

This week I decided to change my reading and make it about the Pattanaik. Videos. Even though  im jndian, i dont  know much about hinduism since i grew up as a christian. I dod know that the names of mahor gods like krishna, vishnu, and shiva. I dof jot know that shiva was consider the GOD while others are considered lesser gods.thwre are also doeties consider local gods like kandiva who is a local god of shiva.  Ganesha is also know as a god that hindus aspire towards cause the represents power nd a good life. These videos also showed basic ideas of hinduism.  I never thought avout it but hinduism onw of the only religion that believes in reincarnation.  This causes the sense of urgency that christians, myslims, and hebrews face is absent. I noticed that another hudge topic w a s the talk about creation and desctuction. Hindus believe in a cycle so when death does unfortunatly occur it is not the end. However, it is the sign thatmarks the begining of the cycle. They give a good metapjot they say we thing death as perod in a sentence while hindusism thinks of death as a comma in a sentence. This video is amazing. It gives alot information about the hindu gods snd goddeses. Truthfully speaking, this reading wouldgreat for a week 1 reading because it inteoduces you to all the gods. This would make the characters in ramayana and mahabharata  a lot less confusing and lot easier to understand.

( hindu gods, websource indianmarks)

week 11: Reading diary

I noticed that these books only cover major parts f the story. the last one covered the tournament between the kandavas and pandavas. Book II covered the whole marriage of Arujun and Draupadi. However they stopped before a critical part. They left out that the promise from the mother to the sons. I think it basically said they would share everything. So they would have share Draupadi. The story starts off with the 5 Pandus hearing about the wedding assembly. They go and they ask the suitors, “Mark this bow, assembled monarchs, and the target hung an high,Through yon whirling piercéd discus let five glist'ning arrows fly,Whoso, barn of noble lineage, hits the far suspended aim,Let him stand and as his guerdon Drupad's beauteous maiden claim!" Aruja accomplishes the task and the story ends. Compared to the original, This story is alot more eloquent and beautiful. While it deserved in some places like the quote mentioned above, too much of it makes characters seem more distant.

(Arjuna , Websource: Quora)

week 11: Reading Diary A

Originally, I planned on reading a comic book abut Krishna but I did not have enough time to check out the book. When I first read the reading, it said "English verse" at the very top. I did not make much of it but as it continued past the epilogue or introduction, the story was writing in prose. This certain was the most interesting read i have done so far. At first it was hard to follow but as I went through it just sounded more and more like rap lyrics.  The story starts off by giving a quick rundown of scene of the epic then like the original Mahabharata by describing the Pandu and his brother. It follows the story and hits major plot points like the competition and the match between Arjun and Karna. I found that having ambient music playing the background makes the prose easier to read. I just youtubed, "Epic music" and played the first one on low. 

(Karna vs Arjun, websource: blogspot)

Week 10: Reading B

I decided to continue where I left offs since I was only a coupe minutes left over.  I started from around Arjun is morning the death of his son.  From here till the end of the movie, it stays consistently on track with the book.  Even though this movie is completely out of my genre of movies, I did like it. It was entertaining, funny, and had lots action. The biggest thing was that the story stayed on track with book which hard for a lot of movies to do.  Of course so parts had to be excluded out but it alter the course of the story. The movie did have its weird parts. Like at the beginning when Ganesh is talking to Vamikil about sex and the god is using the word “semen” a lot. It was also pretty easy to understand since they used mostly American actors. It would be cool to see a remake. With all the CGI and special effects we have now. The movie could actually do pretty well in the box office. Although a lot of the plot would have to be excluded since it is around 5 hours long and nobody wants to sit in the theater that long.  

(peter brooks, web source: Cinemagia)

Week 10: reading A

I rewatched the parts for this reading anf stopped arpund 4:16:23. In my opinion,  the movie is storying pretty consistant with the story. I never thought of this during the reading of mahabharata  but there are alot of sexual implications. I noticed it in reading 1 and first lart of this week but the story is very R rated in language. It is not very balant. Though it is not as aparent as it was in week 1. However the movie doesnt show much nudity, it does imply heavily that thinga are happening in he story.  The movie finally gets into the war between pandavas and duryodhana. The war is actually pretty well done. The scenes are not very confusing thlugh they can be wierd. However, it is not overdone so you can still follow the chacters.  Like week 1 readings some parts from the book were left out. These parts were not really that sognificant to the story so there absence doesnt change any major evenst or introduce plot holes. One thing that i noticed this time read was the qouality of the movie. Even though the movie was made in the late 80s, mobie aged pretty well so the quality is not really an issue.

(Abhimaru, websource: wiki)

Week 9: Reading Diary A

Peter Brook's movie Mahabharata reminds me of the old biblical movies about Moses and Jesus Christ. The movie starts out with Ganeesh, Valmikil, and a child. It starts off like the reading however instead Ganeesh reading its Valmikil. What i like most about this movie is that they did not try to get Indian actors. Coming from an Indian background, An Indian accent with English can sometimes be hard to understand. Using actors of various races makes it easier to listen too. There is one actor though I Think plays multiple parts or has a brother who also in the film. They incorporated the time skips well too using dialogue between Ganeesh and Valmikil to explain whats going on. Peter brooks stayed pretty close to the books rarely ever straying far from it. One example would be the scene of Valmikil, Krishna, and the child.  You can see many stories in Mahabharata being incorporated in the story. Like the gambling match around  1:21:43 when Draupadi is gambled away or around 2:41:25 you can see Draupudi worry about her life because Arjuna has become a dancer and the rest of her husbands are washing rice. One thing I did not like was that in some scenes that stayed consistent in the story should be done differently. There fight scenes where the aggressor would be talking while he is attacking. I think it would been better done if it was narrated so it did not look so awkward. I decided to stop at  2:45:00 because I accidentally went over the week 1A reading.

(Peter Brook's MAhabharata, Websource: Wikipedia)

WEEK 7; READING DIARY B

The Wilson's version of Mahabharata is depiction of a battle go a dived royal family rather than a battle like the original. As we know Pandu was the king before his blind brother Dhritarashtra. After panda dies his brother takes the throne and the Pandu's are hated by Duryodhana. The princes are trained by drone. Struggle between the two faction show, while Arjuna one of the Panduavas archery skills are shown. Arujuna and Karna meet. As you can the seed the Wilson summarizes the version pretty well and focuses on the interaction between the characters. I liked the version better than the original Mahabharata because It was easier to read. His version cut out a lot of the backstory of some characters but that also made it less confusing. Like in Ramayana , there were too many characters in the original. He cut it down to the basic characters the Pandavas, Duryodhana, Draupadi, and Drona which added to the easier reading.  However he does forget to mention some major events. At the end the death of Krishna by the hunter and that the Pandavas and Raupdi choose to give there thrown to the grandson of Arujuna.  Also by cutting out things some acts like oath of revenge for Draupadi after the gamble match aren't as serious as they are in the original.

http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2014/05/guides-guide-wilson-mahabharata.html

(Pandavas and Draupadi, Websource: iereadingguides.blogspot)

Week 7: reading Diary A

This whole reading covers the battle between the Pandavas and the kuradavas. It beginning with first with the Amba vow for Bishma death however he will not die until the very end of the conflict. Drona ends up becoming commander of Duroyodhanas armies. Arjuna's son Abhimanyu dies behind enemy lines along with Ghatokacha, Bhima's son. To kill the commander of Duryodhana's army the Pandavas use tricks to end Drona's life. Karna then takes command. Bhima then seeks revenge on Duhsana. Arujna and Karna confront each other and a fight ensues that whole battle field watches. Karna is slain and in the midst of this we find out that Duryodhana is still alive but is hiding beneath the lake. Bishma falls in battle but he had the ability to choose the moment of his own death. He waits to tell the surveyors of the battle how to rule whatever is left of the world. A horse sacrifice takes place so that Yudhisthira can claim his thrown as king. Krishna is then killed by hunter who mistook him for a gazelle and sit him in his only vital spot his foot. The panda vas and DRauapdi decide it time to leave earth and give the thrown to Parikshit.

(Krishna, Websource: Wikipedia)

Week 6: reading Diary B

During the the Pandavas exile, there are visited by many sages and even krishna who tell them of stories and give them wisdom. Krishna said that revenge will brought upon the men who sent them into exile. During this Arjuna is in his own exile, while on his adventures he meets Shiva. Shiva then grants him a power divine bow called Gandiva which should only be used in dire circumstances. Arujna then travels to his Hiranyapura. There Indira , his father, praises him for conquering many obstacles so far and gives him a chaim of gold and a war shell. The remaining Pandivas and Draupadi decide to travel to the himalayas and meet Arjuna along the way. Kama is born and if given vasava from Indra. It allowed him to slay one powerful foe. During Duryodhanas attack on King Virata, The Pandavas come to his aid.Now that exile for the Pandavas is over. Vows of revenge are bound to take place. In an attempt to make peace krishna intervenes between the factions to avoid conflict. He later attempts again in form of Vishnu both War is till inevitable. Krishna then tells Karna of his origin and he then returns to the Pavadavas as there elder brother. Karne decides to remain loyal to Duryodhana and acts as general. There are two sides, Duryodhana and the Kauravas or for Yudhishthira and the Pandavas.

(pandavas, websource: indiaopines)

Week 6: Reading Diary A

Prince Vidura warned his mother and brother thay Prince Duryodhana wants to burn them. The house ended up burning down causing the men of Varanacata weep for the family. This caused Prince Duryodhana and King Dhritarashtra  to believe that queen Kunti and Pandavas had burned. They ended up escaping and enter a forest with many beasts. Bhima and the rakshasi Hidimbi have a love affair..After he defeats the rakashi in battle he now faces a new foe an asura named Bakasura. At thus point The Pandavas are still hiding but this time they are disguised as brahmins. Arjuna ended up winning Draupadi as his new wife under her mom's one condition that all five pandavas will be come Draupaid's husbands. Arjuna is then exiled because he violates the established living arrangements between Draupadia and the other four Pandavas. The recently exiled arjuna meets the Naga princess Ulupi. Arujuna then goes on to meet Chitra. They get married and have son. However, his son stays his wife's city of Manipur to become the king there. Arjuna then goes on to marry another women named Subhadra who is the sister of Krishna. Arjuna and Krishna then meet the Maya the Divine

(Maya, Websource:IrisMaya)

Architect of the gods. The Mayasura then builds A grand palace for the Pandavas.Prince Duryodhana thenw ins a bet which Draupadi to be his vassal and slave in his palace. Bhima then makes a oath to seek revenge on Duryodhana.

week 5: reading diary A

The epic starts with Valmiki telling the story to the elephant headed god Ganesha. The main character Devavrata  also know as Bhishma is human a man with the vast power of the Vasus which is eight gods. He born and thrown into the ganges by a goddess. His father Shantau Abandoned his first wife Ganga and meet a new women called Satyavati. Devavrata then makes a terrible oath and is renamed Bhishma. He then battles for three princess of Kashi to be brides for son of Satyavati and his father. However only two women will be the wives of VIchitravirya, Devavrata step brother. He then dies before he could bare any children and Vyasa is called to be heir. Karna who was the son of Kunti was introduced. We learned about a feud between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Kunti who has been recently widowed then goes to Dhritarashtra who raises her five Pandu sons as Kauravas. Bhima then faces a scheme by Duryodhanas. He then travels to the underworld and faces the nagas. He returns a man who has becomes super strong.  Dronas a teacher of the Pandavas and the Kauravas is best friends with Kig Drupada. The Pandavas grow strong uner Drona and jealous of Duryodhana grows . Now both family had become great warriors and wanted to display there new skills in a tournament.  In a  practice fight between Bhima and Duryodhana, Duryodhana takes things a little to far. arujuna then shows off his skills and meets Karna. he is Arjuna brother as they both sons of Kunti. However Arunjuna does not realize this because Karna was casted out. Pavadava then succeed in getting revenge agianst  Drupada.

(Vyasa, websource Wikipedia)

Week 4 - Reading Diary B Sita Sings the Blues

This week we had a different type of reading. Out of the list, I picked to watch Sita Sings the Blues. This movie is basically a broad summary of what happened throughout the Epic. It starts off with King Dasharatha having his four kids. Rama is the incarnate of Vishnu. He then marries Sita who is then kidnapped by Ravana. Rama then rescues Sita and kills Ravana. Rama then accuses Sita of cheating, Sita then goes her trials while Rama still retains he doubts. He then banishes her and sixteen years later he comes in contact with his two sons. Sita then returns the earth.

The movie included three narrators, animated musical shorts, and an animated version of the story. It followed the story pretty well. It did leave out stuff like I liked the movie. At first I thought it would be dull and boring . However the bickering of the narrators over the story keep the movie interesting. I thought the some scenes in the film were "trippy". Other scenes were kinda of weird. They had one were there was blood splitting out the necks of Rakshashas and Rama and Sita walked under it. There were other parts that had me laughing like when Sita said to Ravana, "Your ass is grass."

(Sita, Source: Atomkarinca.wordpress.com)

Week 4 - Reading Diary A

After the God of the Ocean caused havoc in the seas. Rama went to Nala for help. Nala ended upcreating a bridge called Rama's bridge. After indrajits destruction and illusion he was finally slayed by Lakshmana. Lakshmana is then almost killed by ravana. Seeing how the battle is progressing, Rama receives help from indra and Agastya a sage they met long ago. Rama then slew Ravana but cleaving him in half using a flaming weapon created by Brahma. After Ravana's funeral, Rama then accuses Sita of cheating on him. Sita then does a test through fire to show her valor. Rama and Sita then return from there 14 year exile just be fore Bharata Kills himself. Rama is then crowned king. Rama then banishes his wife still believing that she had laid with another man. Sixteen later he finds out that Sita has bore 2 sons right after she was banished. Sita then returns to the earth and Lakasham and Rama return to the gods.

(Sita, Websource Wikipedia)

I loved Rama at the beginning but i disliked him at the very end. Even though his wife, Sita, went through fire in front of the gods he still had his doubts. Then he had nerve to cast his wife out for 16 years. i just think it is crazy how a man who fought a war for his wife and just not trust her like that,

Week 3 - Reading Diary B

Rama and Lakshmana meet Hanuman the monkey god, After Lakashama tells him their story, Hanuman is overjoyed and joins them in helping find Sita. However first he takes to Sugriva to help him retake his kingdom and find his wife.

(Hanuman. Websource: Wikipedia)

Sugriva then tells his story about a misunderstanding between between him and his older brother. Vali ended up fighting a death battle with Sugriva. They both held their own until Rama interfered and shot Vali. Tara and Sugriva both weep for Vali. Sugriva says he will help Rama once it stops rainy. Since Rama is still one exile he impatiently sits and waits until he can enter the city. While waiting Rama finally get irritated and reminds Sugriva of his promise. After rainy season ends Sugriva tells Rama that Sita is in Lanka. Hanuman enters the city lanka and find Ravana sleeping but he still cant find Sita. Hanuman then dins out that Ravana is trying to convince sita to leave rama. Hanuman is soon captured by Indrajit and brought to Ravana. He escapes and returns and Rama. From there they march to Lanka with their army. Meanwhile in Ravanas court they are deciding to give back Sita to please Rama. Vibhishana , Ravana's Younger brother argues for return Sita. After angering Ravana, Vibhishana then leaves to join Rama's Army's.

What surprised me most in this reading was the conflict among brothers. First the misunderstanding between Sugriva and Vali and how it escalated to a fight to the death. In  the conflict between Ravana and Vibhishana , His younger brother values his moral than his family. It really made me think better of Vibhishana.

Week 3 Reading Diary B:Public Domain Ramayana

While reading A focused more on Rama and his ascension to the thrown, reading B started showing how much Rama loved Sita. This reading was also more action packed than reading A. This action helped keep the chapter more interesting. Part B also relied less on the story building aspect that part A had. A lot of the chapters focused on different stories of Rama slaying Rakshasas which are demons. With each demon he slayed, Rama would "level up" by getting his hands on a new weapons, I feel like this little side stories help keep the reader interested in the story. Ravana his brother then convinces Maricha to turn into a golden deer in order to lure Rama and Lakshama. Ravana fought Jatayu a bird who was trying to protect Sita.

(Golden Deer, Source: Wikipedia) 

After Jatayu failure in protecting her, Ravana kidnaps Sita but doesn't notice the trail of jewelry she left behind. In the search for Sita, they meets Shabari who reaffirms Rama's destiny before dying. One thing that confused me was when the author reintroduced older characters like Maricha or brought in characters like Jatayu.Another thing i noticed was that other than  Rama's loved being showed, his character stops developing. I liked this because I feel like in the future we can get deeper into Rama's Adventures.