Week 14 Reading Diary: Twenty Jatakas Tales (Extra)

The End of the World: Hare sitting under fruit tree, pondering the end of the world; piece of fruit falls and makes a sound behind him; hare assumes it's the world ending, runs away; sees other hares, they ask why he's running, he says the world is ending; all run away
More animals see hares running, panic, run with them; wise lion sees thousands of animals running away, worries that they will run over cliff; roars to stop them; asks what's going on
"The earth is breaking to pieces"
"Who saw it breaking to pieces?"
No one!
Asks elephants if they saw it, they so no the lions did, lions say no the tigers did, tigers say no the rhinoceros did, etc. etc. Finally to the hares, who say the one little one saw it, he says yes I did!
Lion says get on my back, take me to where the earth broke; hare guides him to fruit tree; lion sees fallen fruit and knows what happened
Happy ever after

Source

The Goblin Town: sailors ship-wrecked on shore; see a bunch of women calling to them, enamored with their beauty; secretly women cast invisible chains binding them; they live there for some time; at night one sailor wakes up and hears goblin voices, goes to look around and sees that the women are secretly goblins! Tries to warn the others but many don't believe him; those that do ask how they can escape, since they are bound with magic chains, he has no answer; white horse descends from heaven, says that it is there to save them and if they climb on his back, their chains will break; some do, others stay; those that escape live happy ever after

The Master's Test: Wise old masters tells his pupils that they need to find him money; they say that begging will not work because the people in their town are greedy; master says that stealing is okay as long as no one is watching, tells his students to find a rich person and wait until no one sees, then silently grab their wallet and bring it back to him; all eagerly run off to do so except one student, who says he can not carry out the task because he can never be somewhere where no one sees, "Even when I am quite alone, my self is watching." Would rather beg than see himself steal. Master smiles and says he passes the test, other students are ashamed. Moral: your self is always watching!

Week 14 Reading Diary: Twenty Jataka Tales

Source

The Two Pigs: Two pigs in forest, taken home by old woman; grow up with her as their mother; men in town get drunk and want to eat pigs, offer to buy them, woman says no until they get her drunk; offers one pig but not the other; pig to be eaten sees men with ropes and runs back to brother; brother tells him not be afraid, they will bathe in water until they smell perfume, this is what he was raised for; his words soften the hearts of the men and woman; pigs taken to live with king, happy ever after

Quarrelsome Quails: Quails keep getting caught in net by hunter; he casts it over their heads and catches 100 at a time; king quail advises his subjects: if he casts the net over your head,put your heads through the holes and fly up as one to a hill so you can free yourselves, but don't argue or you'll get caught! It works for a while, until two quails start arguing over an accident; they get caught, but king never does

The Noble Horse: Brahmadatta has a beautiful horse; 7 kingdom's declare war on his kingdom; brave knight says he can vanquish the armies if he has Brahmadatta's horse; 6 armies in a row beaten, but horse wounded; knight decides to use a different horse but Brahmadatta's says no, knight can only beat 7th army with him, no other horse; knight binds up his wounds and takes him to war; 7th army vanquished; horse says to be merciful and release the prisoners of war, then dies; memory lives on, happy ever after

Week 14 Reading Diary: Inayat's Twenty Jatakas Tales

The Monkey Bridge:
Monkey chief rules over 80,000 monkeys in mango tree; mango falls, floats down to kingdom, is most delicious mango ever; Brishmadatta and men go off in search of mango tree, find it, plan to shoot monkeys and eat mangos; monkeys overhear plan; monkey chief makes bridge out of reed to next tree, but reed is too short, must use his body too; his back is broken; "Forget not that your life is but little to give if in giving you secure the happiness of your people. Rule them not through power because they are your subjects; nay, rule them through love because they are your children."

The Guilty Dogs:
Palace dogs eat leather straps of royal chariot; king is angry and orders all city dogs killed; city dog chief goes to king, tells him he's got it wrong, proves it; city dogs given food and royal care

The Hare and the Fairy:
Hare has three friends, jackal, water-weasel, and monkey; each finds some food, calls out "whose is this?", no answer, takes it; fairy changes herself into old beggar, asks each animal for food, each offers them what he found; hare has nothing but himself, offers to jump into flame; fairy places his image on the moon

Source

Week 13 Reading Diary: Wilson (Extra)

Nala the Gamester:
Nala is a prince; Damayanti a princess (daughter of King Bhima)
Nala catches a bird, who offers to talk him up to Damayanti if set free; Nala agrees, bird does; Damayanti reciprocates
Time for Dama to pick her suitor, all princes from across the land gather to try to be chosen, including 4 gods; gods tell Nala to go tell Dama to pick between them, he does, she says she still picks Nala; gods make themselves appear as Nala, distressing Dama; they feel bad and reveal themselves, give Nala gifts and abilities
Evil god Kali consorts with Pushkari, Nala's brother; challenge Nala to a game of rigged dice; he loses everything; they are outcast into the forest; Nala begs Dama to leave him and return to her father but she will not; he decides he must leave her for her own good; he runs away in the night; she tries to find him, is caught by snake; rescued by hunter
Travels through forest; comes across a hermitage, where the hermits tell her everything will be okay; prays to a tree that ends sorrows; meets merchants, hangs with them for a while, eventually blamed for elephant stampede; finally finds shining city, greeted by king's mother, invited to stay
Lala finds snake that bites him with venom to torture demon in his soul, tells him to go to city and live in disguise as charioteer
Dama returned to her father, hears rumor of Nala as charioteer, holds second festival to find love
Nala's raja hears about festival and has Nala take him there; raja has gift of numbers, which he gives to Nala, which frees him of Kali
Nala goes to Damayanti, reveals himself; they travel back to their city with Bhima's army, Pushkari gives it back

Source

Week 13 Reading Diary: Wilson's Five Tall Sons of Pandu (B)

Yudhishthir wants to be king of his own realm Duryodhana objects
Preparations made for war
War council at Virata's
Older brother of Krishna advises peace efforts; Satyaki calls for immediate war; Draupad offers compromise
Dhitra (blind king) begs Duryodhana to consider peace offer "Grieve not the declining years of your father with the shadow of death", Drona agrees
Duryodhana feels betrayed: "we have such warriors as Drona and Karna"
"Tell them that they seek in vain the restoration of their kingdom. Nay, they shall not win back form me such a space that a needle's point would cover"

Bhima: "Your cause is unjust, Duryodhana, and the gods do not favor you."

Sikhandin gets his revenge: fights for Pandavas, Bisma knows he was "born a woman", can not fight him; stands defenseless "overwhelmed by a shower of arrows and spears"
Leaders united to mourn Bhishma, laid on "a couch" of Arjun's arrows

Bhishma begs Dury and Karna to end the war, but both too consumed by bitterness to listen
Karna learns he is Arjuna's brother, still hates
Drona becomes army leader, thinks his son has died, falls

Karna becomes leader; fights Arjuna, then Yudhishthira; neither battle ends in victory
Finally meets with Arjuna again, doesn't stop fighting even when Arjuna's bow is broken; killed

Source

Week 13 Reading Diary: Wilson's Five Tall Sons of Pandu (A)

Pandora brothers live 12 years in wilderness in exile
Duryodhan comes to mock them, is captured by gandharvas
Yudhisththura and brothers save him, causing him to resent them even more

Story idea: Duryodhan's capture, his perspective and thoughts while being rescued by Pandava's


After exile, brothers + Draupadi disguise themselves in court of King Virata:
Yudh becomes Brahmin, Bhima a cook, Arjuna dance/music teacher, Nakula keeps horses, Sahadeva cattle; Draupadi waiting woman in princess's court
Dry comes to steal Virata's cattle, Arjuna tries to become charioteer to defend kingdom

Story idea: Music lessons with Arjuna


Arjuna reveals himself to Prince Uttara: "The position of the two princes was now reversed. Arjun was the leader, and Uttara rejoiced in his leadership."
Pursues Dury's army, catches them: "...with boyish glee he entered into the battle, bending his wonderful bow and rejoicing in the music it made."

Story idea: Uttara's perspective of Arjuna's ride into battle

Source

Week 11 Reading Diary: Kincaid's Mahabharata (A)

Source: Kincaid's Mahabharata

King Bharata is origin of "another great line of Aryan princes" (in spirit of Rama)
     Descended from "moon-god"
Vichitravirya = g-g-grand son of Bharata, dies leaving behind two widows who each bear a son
Dhritarashtra is older, but blind
Pandu is younger, becomes king
     wives: Kunti (oldest 3 sons), Madri (younger 2 sons)
     sons: Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna; Nakula, Sahadev
Pandu dies, Dhitarashtra ascends; welcomes Kunti + Pandu sons
Drona appointed to teach sons weaponry
     Pandu brothers surpass Dhit brothers, eldest Dhit Duryodhan is jealous

Duryodhan's jealousy: Pandava's are better warriors, more beloved, more successful; Dhit names Yudhishthira as successor because he is oldest
     lies to father about pride of Pandavas, "hinted falsely that they aspired to depose" King Dhit and "take from him the kingdom"
     invents plan to kill Pandavas -- trap them in a burning building

Source

Week 7 Reading Diary: Nivedita's Mahabharata

The princes meet Drona:
princes drop ball in well, ask Brahmin to help them recover it; he throws his ring in as well, then uses grass and an arrow to bring them back. Tells them to alert Bhishma of his arrival.
Drona had a son, Ashvatthaman, and realized he was too impoverished to provide, so sought to rekindle old friendships, starting with Drupada. Dru scorns him, so Drona seeks help of Bhishma to attain revenge. 
Drona trains princes in archery, takes a special liking to Arjuna. 
Introduction of Karna as mysterious figure of suspected low birth. Rival to Arjuna, friend of Duryodhana. Not revealed yet who his real parents are. 

Drona's test: 
Puts bird on tree. Asks each pupil, one by one, what they see. They all say, "the tree, you, the other students, and the bird." Dona is disappointed. Arjuna says, "only the bird's head." 

Story idea: Karna and Arjuna as young rivals.
Bhima/Duryodhana parallel (mace)

Ekelavya: low-caste archery savant who idolizes Drona so much he cuts off his thumb and loses talent. 

Pandavas exhiled due to Dury's jealousy

Win Draupadi as wife in archery contest
Yudhishthura gambles himself, his brothers, and Draupadi away, but Draupadi argues that Yud cannot give her away
Granted three boons, uses one and two on Pandava's freedom, relinquishes third.

Draupadi arguing for her freedom. Source

Week 6 Reading Diary: PDE Mahabharata (D)

Ashwatthaman's Jewel:
Ash has jewel that protects him from thirst, hunger, poison, wild animals, etc. 
Draupadi mourning death of brother and 5 sons, asks husbands to avenge them and take kingdoms
Krishna says she has less to mourn than Kunti and Gandharri
Draupadi demands Ash's life, then decides she just wants his jewel because it is precious to him
Bhima takes jewel


Yudhishthira's Horse:
Visa tells Yud to perform horse sacrifice to atone for sins
Horse allowed to wander for 1 year; Arjuna leads army that follows horse
Horse finds rock that is actually a cursed woman; Arjuna touches rock and breaks curse
Enters the land of "woman warriors", detained by queen, let go
Enters a pond and becomes a mare, enters another pond and becomes a lion
Arjuna killed in battle with rajah
His son fights nagas in underworld to claim jewel which brings dead back to life, restores Arjuna

Horse is sacrificed, Krishna tells Yud his fame will endure forever

Source

The ghosts in the river:

Vyasa commons ghosts from Ganges River to help ease mourning of Yud and family

"it seemed as if the armies of the Pandavas and Kauravas were once again assembled for battle, for they swept over the river like a mighty tempest"

"All strife had ended between kinsmen and old-time rivals; in death there was peace and sweet companionship."

Week 6 Reading Diary: PDE Mahabharata (C)

Source

Pandavas living in exhile:
Draupadi "laments her fate": used to sit on ivory chairs, now on grass, used to be queen, now a beggar, etc. etc.
 Yudhishthira tries to maintain faith in group, but Draupadi and even Bhima begin to lose confidence ("Thou art unripe fruit!")

Story idea: same story, but with characters in different context (children in playground turf battle?)

Riddles:
Pandava brothers come across a pond. Voice says don't drink until you've answered my riddles; Nakula, Sahadeva, Arjuna, and Bhima all drink first, proceed to "fall dead"
Yudhishthira responds, Voice begins asking riddles, Yud answers all. Eventually Voice reveals himself as Dharma, God of wisdom and truth and Yud's "heavenly sire." Restores life to brothers and gives them ability to "remain unrecognized by anyone in the three worlds for the space of a year"

Karna and Kunti: Kunti reveals to Karna that she is his mother
Karna's response: "O lady, it is now too late to command my obedience. Why didst thou abandon me at birth? If I am a kshatriya, I have been deprived of my rank. No foeman could have done me a greater injury than thou hast done. Thou hast never been a mother to me, nor do thy sons know I am their brother."

Karna

Reading Diary Week 5 PDE Mahabharata (B)

Ekalavya: wants Drona to train him in archery, but Drona says no because he is a Bhil (aboriginal, outside of caste system, "highwaymen and cattle-lifters" "It would be akin to impart unto one of them great knowledge in the use of weapons."
      Ekalvya is heart-broken, resolves to become a warrior anyway; makes a clay statue of Drona, worships it and practices until he is a famous archer
     Drona and princes go hunting in Bhil kingdom, Ekalvya tells them he is "a pupil of Drona", kisses his feet; Drona says Ekalvya owes him a reward, Ek offers "whatsoever thou dost desire", Drona asks for his right thumb, Ek cheerfully cuts it off and gives it to him
     After, had to draw bow with middle fingers, but "lost his surpassing skill"

Story ideas: Ekalvya hears that Drona is coming, prepares to meet his idol; after incident, faced with statue and regret

Ekalvya offers Drona his thumb (Source)

Karna: son of young Kunti and sun god; enters contest against Arjuna, who is angry at having been matched

Duryodhana, jealous of Arjuna, makes Karna a king

Kara's adopted father appears, Bhima mocks Karna for his assumed lineage

"Karna grew pale with wrath; his lips quivered, but he answered not a word. He heaved a deep sigh and looked towards the sun."

Story idea: Kunti watching her two sons, the only one who knows that they are brothers; or, Yuhishthira, the scholarly eldest brother, sees his mother's reaction and suspects she knows something

Week 5 Reading Diary PDE Mahabharata

Vyasa: sage who wrote the Mahabharata. Grandmother is a fish. Searched for someone to tell his stories to, but realized no human could handle all the important details, so settled for a god (Ganesha, elephant head)

*Ganga: takes human form to raise 8 temporarily-mortal gods; 
strong-willed and consistently ensuring her own interests are served: "made each of the Vasus promise to confer an eighth part of his power on her son"; "she must needs at once depart from [King Shantanu] if he spoke harshly to her at any time or attempted to thwart her in doing as she willed" (negotiating with a king!)
Doesn't tell King about deal with Vasus, so he freaks out when she drowns 8 babies in a row; she leaves, but comes back long enough to bring the King his son, who has the power of Vasus

Devavrata AKA Bhishma: son of Ganga; has to promise not to take the throne so his dad can marry Vyasa's mom, Satyavati. Satyavati son #1 dies in battle pretty quickly. Satyavati son #2 is young, so Bhishma rules in regent. Has to find SS2 a wife, so he wins 3 princesses in a battle contest. 

*Amba: Oldest princess, already in love with another king, who ends up being terrible. Blames Bhishma. Lives in a hermitage and fasts/prays until Shiva responds and says she will be reincarnated as a mighty warrior who will slay Bhishma. 
"Beauty and charm became nothing in her eyes. Her hair became matted and she grew thinner and thinner. For hours and days she would stand in stillness and silence as if she had been made of stone." Kills herself on funeral pyre: "as she took her place upon the throne of flame she said over and over again, 'I do this for the destruction of Bhishma! To obtain a new body for the destruction of Bhishma do I enter this fire!'"

Amba as a shadow puppet, from PDE Mahabharata blog; CC

Story ideas: 

Parallels in Ganga's and Amba's stories. Both are strong-willed women who go to great lengths to attain their desires. One gets what she wants, and one doesn't. One operates for her own well-being, the other lets bitterness consume her.