Indian Epics

I decided to do my extra credit reading on Gandhari: A Mother Blinded by Love. In the comic she receives a blessing from Shiva that she will have 100 sons. She marries Dhritarashtra the blind. In order to share his burden she blindfolds herself. She gives birth to a lump and cuts it up into 101 pieces and puts each in a jar of ghee. They take shape in 2 years and form 100 sons and a daughter. The eldest brays like a donkey when he is born which symbolizes a bad omen. When he grows up he is jealous of his cousins the 5 Pandavas (Pandu and Kunti's sons). He tries to poison his cousin Bhima but fails. They play the dice game. Ghandari Comic Bibliography: Gandhari: A Mother Blinded by Love

For my reading notes this week I chose to watch the film adaptation of the Mahabharata. I enjoyed this version because it was interesting to see it in the form of a movie. The movie contains people from all different cultures. Vyasa tells the story of the three women who Bhima wins. One leaves because she is love with another king. Their husband dies and the two women have to sleep with Vyasa to have babies. One baby is blind and the other is pale. The pale one, Pandu, is cursed and if he sleeps with his wife he will die.His wife Kunti has a special mantra. She calls down the sun God and has a baby with him. I liked the way the movie is easy to understand and fun to watch. I'm looking forward to watching more of it. Film Adaptation of Mahabharata Bibliography: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EENh1hxkD6E&t=0m5s Title:   The Mahabharata Director : Peter Brook Scriptwriters:   Jean-Claude Carriere and Peter Brook Year:  1989

-The townspeople thought the Sun God had appeared to them but Krishna told them it was just Satrajit wearing the Sun God's jewel. -he gave it to his brother Pasena, who was an evil man. Because of this the gem would bring him death. He was killed by the lion. -Jambavat, King of the Bears, gave it to son as a toy. -People tried to blame Pasenas death on Krishna. -Krishna married Satyabhama and some of the men killed her father in jealousy. -Akrura found the gem in his garments and gave it to Krishna, but he kept it and renounced women. -Krishna and Rukmani's first son is Pradyumna, He is meant to kill the demon Sambara, Sambara took him and threw him in the sea but a fish caught him and swallowed him whole.A woman found him in the fish and kept him. She taught him how to fight. -Pradyumna and Rukmavati marry. -Balarama kills Rukmi by shattering his skull with dice after he is insulted. Krishna and Jambavati Bibliography: Kincaid. Shri Krishna of Dwarka http...

-Krishna was born as a reincarnation of Vishnu. Out of a piece of his hair. -Kamsa puts his sister and brother in law in jail. -The eighth child is born and Krishna's father escaped the jail and switched him with a baby girl. -Krishna grows up to be a naughty boy. -He steals butter from the neighborhood women. -He saved his friends from the serpent. -Many demons are sent to kill him but he defeats them all -His mother catches him eating mud but when she looks she sees the universe in his mouth. -This is when she accepts that he is something special -He falls in love with Rhada Krishna  as a child Bibliography: Kincaid. Shri Krishna of Dwarka http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/12/reading-guide-kincaid-krishna-chapter-1.html

This week I chose to do the story lab. I chose to watch the two Ted talks on stories and friends.The first Ted Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks  about her experience growing in the U.S. with her Nigerian roots. In her talk she stresses the importance of not judging a person or country on a single story we hear about them. Often we see picture and things in the news and make assumptions based on that. We need to understand that there is more to a culture than we see and there is not one specific stereotype that everyone fits into. The second stalk was about imaginary friends and their consequences. Jennifer Barnes, a ya author, talks about the emotions we feel for fiction and their characters. We spend so much time on books, movies, tv shows, that are fiction. One of the things that draws us to fiction is the relationships we form with characters. These relationships are called parasocial because we don't know them. Ted Talks logo Bibliography: two TED talks about stor...

- Brahma sees Krishna sharing his food and he questions this. He decides to kidnap Krishna's friends but Krishna recreated them to trick Brahma. - Krishna plays his flute to calm the bull Hastin. He then rides it. -His family refuses to let him marry Rhada. He reveals his true identity as a God and savior of the people. -Kamsa sends Akrur to trick Krishna and invite him to a dinner but he tells him Kamsa's plan. -Kamsa attacks Krishna with elephant but Krishna is stronger. -Kamsa orders his army to attack and Krishna and his brother defeat them. Krishna kills Kamsa. Krishna and Rhada Bibliography:  Epified Krishna Videos

This week I decided to watch the Epified videos about Krishna's story. I like watching these videos because I feel like they give me a better understanding of the stories. Kamsa learns that Devaki (his cousin's) 8th child will hill him so he puts her and her husband in jail. He killed her first 6 but the 8th was a God so he couldn't touch him. This son was Krishna. Vasudev exchanged Krishna for Maya to protect him. Maya was actually Durga Krishna kills Putana  When his mother caught him eating mud, she made him open his mouth to see that the universe was inside him. He played the flute Krishna loved the dancer Rhada  Lord Krishna with his Flute  Bibliography: Epified: Krishna.  Web Source