Week 7: StoryTelling

As swords clashed and arrows flew men were slain one by one. Each side suffered their own losses. I had lost my son and my brother had lost his too. They lost there commander Drona. When I saw my son die. I did not care about the outcome for the war. All i wanted was revenge. How could a great warrior such as him fall in such a away. I swore to myself that the only way to avenge my son was to stain the battle field in those bastard's blood.

So he did. Arjuna slayed thousands of men. Each one fell in one swing. The land was soaked. Everywhere he stepped the ground felt like mud. Even though it has not rained water in weeks.

Then i saw him....Karna stood in the midst of the battlefield.Thinking of only his son, Arjuna fought his way towards him. Finally no man stood between the two. The only way for him to truly avenge his son was to beat him in a duel.  "You know why I am here. Instead of killing you outright. On my pride as warrior, Let us have a fair fight to the death,". I said. Instead of exchange words Karna accepted by drawing his bow.

It seemed as if the battle field stopped. There were no clashing of swords, no whizzing of arrows through the air, Even the screams of men had stopped. The only thing on Arjuna's Mind was his son and the vengeance he swore. Each warrior shot countless arrows at each other. The sky grew dark with the arrows. Both men took blood and bleed themselves. It was then that one of Karna's arrow struck Arjuna's Gandiva bowstring. Arjuna stood there with no weapon. Karna noticed a took a paused for instant. As proud warrior, he thought Karna would give him the chance to restring his bow so they could fight fairly. Instead Karna started to relentlessly. Arjuna was struck many times but manage to restring his bow. Once restrung he manage to fire an arrow that pierced straight through Karna's foot and into his Achilles tendon. Karna fell down dropping his bow. Arjuna like Karna paused. "Can I really shoot a defenseless warrior? What kind of man would this made me?" Then he remember what happened. How his son was killed. How his wife was treated. He armed his bow and shot one single arrow that pierce though Karna. Even though he had abandoned is pride as warrior or that fact that he was in midst of war, he felt a slight bit of relief and happiness. '

(Arjuna, Websource: Wikipedia)

Author's Note:
I wanted to capture Arunja's mindset when fighting Karna. I felt that a man who has seen his son slain and his wife abused would be good thing to right about. After all he had lost something that was very dear to him.  I tried using a little bit of narration in the story too but that something new I am trying,
Hopefully it does not make it confusing.

Bibliography:
"PDE Arjuna and Karna" (2013) by Laura Gibbs, Websource:ouocblog.blogpsot.com

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)