Week 11, Reading Diary B: Buck's Mahabharata

• The fight with the Pandavas continues with Duryodhana building a fire pit under their house.
• They are warned by Vidura and then fake their deaths and escape.
• The Pandavas and Kunti end up staying in a village which is plagued by a demon. 
• Bhima ends up fighting and killing the demon.
• Drupada poors two cups of butter into a fire and a son Dhrishtadyumna and Draupadi a daughter were born.
• Arjuna wins Draupadi in an archery tournament.
• She ends up marrying al five Pandava brothers.
• The Pandavas rule the area of Khandava and build the city of Indraprastha.
• Arjuna marries Subhadra, Krishna's sister.
• The Khandava forest is burned down/eaten by the fire god Agni.
• A war with the Pandavas is brewing again when a game of dice starts up.   

Week 11, Reading Diary A: Buck's Mahabharata

• Ganesh had his head ripped of by Shiva and had it replaced with an elephant head. 
• Ganesh then writes down the Mahabharata recited to him by Vyasa.
• Vishnu, the devas and the asuras got together and churned the milk ocean in order to get the nectar of immortality. 
• The nectar was produced but so was Lakshmi, Rambah, the apsaras, Indra's vahana, and a lucky cow.
• Poison was also produced but Shiva swallowed it to save the earth.
• Ganga marries Shantanu after his fathers death and he becomes king.
• She gives birth to seven vasus which she kills but after being begged to keep the eighth she does. This little guy becomes known as Bhishma.
• King of Chedi knocks up a fish witch gives birth to Satyavati.
• Satyavati has a child with a sage, Parashara. The child is then named Vyasa.   

Story Telling Week 10,Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.

As the wisps of smoke began to curl around my motionless body and the flames started to lick my burial gown, I truly started to feel alone. While being in this spirit form has been peaceful, it is depressing being invisible and unable to offer my support to those taking my death so hard. Soon though, I will move onto the next leg of my journey  and start a new life. Though now, standing here on the bank of the Ganges where it all began so many years ago and now being here where it ultimately is coming to an end makes this even more difficult to watching my own cremation. I suppose life really is just a circle. I caught myself gazing deeper and deeper into the growing flame eventually becoming completely entranced. I didn’t even realize the beautiful woman in waving blue silk robes standing next to me was not actually staring at my burning body but rather directly at me, spirit me. She called my name “Bhishma” in a soft gentle flowing manner. “Yes?” I replied a little startled. “I am your mother, Ganga, and I am here to help you continue over to the other side.” I could hardly believe my eyes, my mother that I hadn’t seen or heard of for so long is now standing in front of me helping me with my last few moments on earth. She had helped me prepare for this world when I was younger and now once again she’s back to help one last time. I had to ask her why she had not tried to contact me over all these years. She simply replied that she did not need to get in my way once she had returned me to my father Shantanu. Apparently the time she had spent with me as a child was all the nurturing I needed. I was to be a hardened leader and warrior and one in which would take the extreme oath of celibacy. She assured me that I had lived out my mortal life better and more noble than she could have ever imagined. Ganga then put her hand on my shoulder and told me it was now time for me to make my way into the realm of the gods where my devious seven other brothers are waiting. I then took Ganga’s hand and walked back into the water where I had once walked with her so long ago.

Bibliography: Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.

Authors notes: I chose this story because I really liked the idea of Bhishma’s life completing a full circle in that he came out of the water and ultimately ended up back in the water with his mother.  

Raja Ravi Varma, Ganga and Shantanu (1890)

Picture found here

Week 10, Reading Diary B. Narayan's Mahabharata

•   After a long talk over if a war is necessary, war preparations are made.

•   Draupadi is made commander of the troops.

•   Arjuna is the only son of Kunti's that Karna will attack in the battle.

•   Krishna preaches the song of the lord in order to calm Arjuna and prepare him for battle.

•    Karna joins the fight after Bhishma is killed by Arjuna.

•   Arjuna's son, Abhimanyu, is killed after breaking through the enemy's formation.

•   Arjuna kills Jayadratha in revenge for the death of his son.

•   Drona is killed by Dhrishtadyumna when he is stunned by the idea of his son being killed.

•   Once the battle is over, all the Pandavas go to Hastinapura.

•   Karma is blamed when looking back at how Karna killed a hermits cow and then in battle had his wheel stuck in the mud causing him to get killed.

Yudhishtira becomes king.

Week 10, Reading Diary A, Narayan's Mahabharata

• Dhritarashtra has his spies inform him of the Pandavas actions.
• He is informed of the weapons they acquire. 
• Once captured by the gandharava, the Pandavas then rescue him.
• Nakula dies after drinking water from a mystical lake.
• Sahadeva, Arjuna and Bhima all die after drinking the water.
• Yudhishthire answers the mystical lake and in turn revives his brothers. He then finds out it was his father death.
• Arjuna defeats Karna in battle. Arjuna wants to keep the Pandava's identity secret so he tells Uttara not to say anything.
• In a misunderstanding between Virtata throws dice at Yudhishthire which draws blood. Virata gives his daughter for marriage to Yudhishthire's son in return.
• A war begins to brew between the two factions. It is proposed that this war will be the end of both Vyasa and Dhritarashtra. 

Week 9 Reading Diary B:Narayan's Mahabharata

• War is in the air when the Pandavas are found to still be alive.
• The king makes peace and gives the Pandavas a portion of the city to do what they like.
• Arjuna is exiled for 12 year.
• He marries Ulupi, a naga prinses, and also Sabhadra.
• Yudhishthira becomes king of Indraprastha.
• A game of dice is challenged between the two waring factions. They play at the new crystal hall.
• Yudhishishtira, the Pandava, ends up loosing everything, including himself and his wife.
• His wife has her cloths ripped off but Krishna keeps replacing them.
• Everything is returned and peace ensues. 
• A second game is played and the Pandavas loose again. this time they are exiled to the Ganges.
• In exile, the Pandavas acquire weapons and mantras from the gods in preparation of defeating the king.

Week 9 Reading Diary A: Narayan's Mahabharata

• Shantanu goes  to the river and finds a girl that he falls in love with.
• She drowns 7 of her 8 babies.
• Shantau soon gets over the other chick and starts hitting on this fisherman's daughter.
• They get together and have two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya.
• Bhishma becomes king and takes a neighboring kingdoms princesses.
• Two of the girls marry Vichitravirya.
• Dhritarashtra marries a blind guy but covers her eyes to be like him.
• Pandu can't have sex or he dies.

Week 8, Reading Diary

Over the course of this semester I have been posting a reading diary on my blog, which I have found to be most helpful and foresee it becoming even more helpful in the future.  The way in which I have found the posts to be most helpful is how it allows me the opportunity to briefly organize  all that has happened in the allotted reading. There is always so much action happening in the story it is difficult to keep track of all the events and keep a coherent timeline.  After a couple weeks you are bound to forget a few details from the story, but the reading diary allows for a good refresher. It is also a good reference when it comes to writing the storytelling blog. The reading diary makes it so easy to go back and recall past events you may want to elaborate on.  The main strategies I use in my reading diary are bullet points  and a focus on major events. I found that if I write down the most important parts of a section and give a brief explanation in bullet point form, I can recall past events in better detail.  The length of these reading diary posts range from 11-15 bullet points and contain one to two sentences.  One thing I might start doing which I have not done in the past is start adding images to the post. I am more a visual learner and believe the addition of images should help make my  reading diary more effective. In the past I have added one or two quotes that I found to be interesting or motivational and I think I might start adding more quotes or phrases as well. Plus, I already have a file full of my favorite quotes and phrases I’ve come across over the years and I am always in need of more.  

Storytelling Week 7, Bucks Ramayana

Ravana the Singer  

Please play “Dancing With Myself" while reading

On the floor of Ayodhya
Or down in Lanka town to go, go
With the arrow selection
And my beautiful reflection
I'm dancing with myself

When there's no-one else in sight
In the crowded lonely night
Well I wait so long
For tomorrows fight
And I'm dancing with myself

Oh dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
Well there's no way I can lose
because there's nothing I can’t do
I'll be dancing with myself

If I looked all over the world
And there's every type of girl
But Sita’s empty eyes
Seem to pass me by
Leave me dancing with myself

So let's sink another drink
'Cause it'll give me time to think
Should I take the chance
 Or should I continue to dance
And I'll be dancing with myself

Oh dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
Well there's no way I will lose
because there's nothing I can’t do
I'll be dancing with myself

If I looked all over the world
And there's every type of girl
But Sita’s empty eyes
Seem to pass me by
Leave me dancing with myself

So let's sink another drink
'Cause it'll give me time to think
Should I take the chance
 Or should I continue to dance
And I'll be dancing with myself

Oh dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
If I had the chance
I'd ask Rama to dance
If I had the chance
I'd ask Sita to dance
If I had the chance
I'd ask the world to dance

[Scat]

Dancing with myself
Dancing with myself
Dancing with myself
Dancing with myself

If I looked all over the world
And there's every type of girl
But Sita’s empty eyes
Seem to pass me by
Leave me dancing with myself

So let's sink another drink
'Cause it'll give me time to think
Should I take the chance
 Or should I continue to dance
And I'll be dancing with myself

Oh dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
If I had the chance
I'd ask Rama to dance
If I had the chance
I'd ask Sita to dance
If I had the chance
I'd ask the world to dance

Writers: Tony James, Billy Idol, Anthony Eric James
Copyright: Boneidol Music, Universal Music Publishing Ltd., BMG Rights Management (Uk) Limited, Chrysalis Music, BMG Rights Management (Uk) Ltd.

Authors notes: I felt as though this was an appropriate song after reading the part about Ravana dancing by himself on a watch tower. I decided to make a few changes to the lyrics in order to make it fit  the contexts of the story but in the end the original song wasn't too far off from what I was going for. 

• Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way. 

Demon-King of Lanka ,Watercolor-painting by an unknown artist around 1920. Found here

Week 7 Reading Diary B: Bucks Ramayana

• Rama, Hanuman and Sita make their way back to Nandigram.
• They stopped  to reminisce at the spot where Hanuman and Rama first met years before.
• Hanuman is then sent to Nandigram to inform Bharata that Rama and Sita are coming. 
• On arriving there was a great deal of celebrating. 
• Bharata puts Rama's sandals back on for him as a symbol of regaining the Kingship.
• Sugriva gives Rama all the water of worlds rivers to Rama as a present.
• Hanuman gets a pearl necklace from Sita.
• Everyone was dancing in the streets celebrating.
• Apparently during Ramas reign animals could talk.
• Rama ruled from Ayodhya.
• Sita becomes pregnant.
• Rama asked his ministers what the people thought of him and they told him they love him.
• The ministers also said people believe Sita was touched by Ravana.
• Rama then decides he must go to the Ganges and abandon Sita.
• Abandoned on the Ganges, she is beckoned to jump into the waters and kill herself.
• Valmiki sees this and rescues Sita from killing herself.
• He takes her into his hermitage where she gives birth to Kusha and Lava.
• They live in the hermitage for 12 years.
• At the year long festival Rama holds in the woods, Kusha and Lava sing the story of Rama.
• They are recognized and Sita is allowed to argue her innocence.