Reading Week 6 Part A: PDE Mahanharata

These reading notes are taken from reading PDE Mahabharata found here: http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/mahabharata-online-public-domain-edition.html

As always, I will just be taking notes on things I can find interesting or things I can use for my upcoming stories.

I like how it was two godly figures that created both Ramayana and Mahabharata, it gives them a more mystical feel.

How did a king's semen just happen to fall in a river??

Devavrata is an interesting character since he is a human but has godly powers.

That fisherman asked A LOT from King Shantanu in return for his daughter.

Bhishma sacrificed a lot just to get his dad a pretty young bride, I wonder why he wanted to do it.

It is a little ironic he is doing all these things just to secure the throne for his little half-brother, who took the throne from him.

Bhishma seems similar to Rama in that they are both seemingly the best archers to ave ever lived.

This image of Bhishma fighting for the brides was my favorite from reading A:

I'm interested in seeing the story of Amba unfold throughout the story. Her transformation is pretty dark by today's standards, I like it!

I wonder if Pandu will be as great of a king as Rama. The story of how Karna came to be is not unlike greek mythos of gods having children with mortals.

I just realized the hunting accident in Ramayana is just like what happened to King Robert in Game of Thrones!

At least Pandu wasn't killed like King Dashartha.

Lots of curses involve things of sexual nature in India, Epics...

It's silly that the wives are arguing over who gets to burn to death.

The main thing that differentiates this epic from Ramayana so far is that there is more time covered. It has already been 50ish years from the beginning of the story, and I am only halfway through part A.

I bet something crazy will happen between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Of course Duryodhana would use posion. What a bad person.

Drona seems like a nice guy, I hope he helps out the Pandavas/

Week 4 Reading Notes: Ramayana Part D

For the last part of this version of Ramayana, Part D, I will continue taking notes that I think will help me for the story.

Source: PDE Ramayana

It's interesting how even Rama performs sacrifices to gods, it shows how common it was back then. Also like the mention of his celestial weapons.

All the gods respect Rama so much they build him a bridge to attack Lanka.

I like how crafty Ravana keeps proving to be , if only that messenger wouldn't have come in and made Sita realize the battle was still going on. I can probably write a story where sita is fooled.

It is interesting how quickly they add new characters to the story, but it does make sense since it's an epic. It's kinda cheap how Indrajit could just make himself invincible.

Rama didn't seem too upset from his brother's death..

Garuda is a great guy.

That picture of Kumbhakarna from the blog is awesome, so I went and found another one here:

If Rama wouldn't have been there to stop Kumbhakarna, everyone would have died.

It is crazy how many celestial weapons both armies are using.

I like how even back then the Himalayas were renowned for their size and beauty.

It is a little silly that Hanuman actually picked up a mountain and set it on top of Lanka, although it is very creative!

I liked the cunning of Lakshmana to set up the ambush and kill Indajit.

I am actually feeling a little sorry for Ravana, since his most beloved son was slain.

So now that Lakshmana seems to have died for real, Rama seems distraught. But wow these Himalayan herbs are quite powerful.

I like the prose describing the weapons given to Rama from Indra.

The wise-man giving timely advice is a very common trope, but it works out in this epic.

These celestial weapons are really the key to everything in Ramayana, if you have some, you are unbeatable! I like how Rama was named king of Lanka, where at least he can rule.

It's been so long since Sita has even seen Rama, I wonder what will happen!

Wow that was an interesting decision Rama made to decide not to take back Sita. You can see how back when this epic was put together, the culture still put a great deal of value on a woman being "untainted". I like Sita's answer to all this though.

It is kind of ridiculous Sita had to have fire vouch for her.. and Rama wouldn't believe her on her own. I like the little narration Rama tells when they are flying to ayodha.

The reunion of brothers was a little touching to me, because I have two brothers.

I was really expecting the story to end with Rama's crowning, this Sita exile situation is a real twist I don't like how Rama still questions her purity, even after the fire said she was pure. What's up with that? Also, why is he so sad that she ascended into heaven, even though he exiled her for 16 years

The ending was nice, with Rama and his brothers returning to a heavenly state, even though I felt like Hanuman got a little slighted by not being allowed to join,

Week 4 Reading EC Notes: Ramayana Part C

As always, I will continue to just write down things that I feel are interesting or something I could use/alter in a story.

From  Rama and the Monkeys by Geraldine Hodgson (1903)

I like the character of Hanuman, and how he was introduced into the story with a "heart overflowed with gladness." I could possibly change him from a monkey to some other creature. I really like this picture of Sugriva and Rama together because I think it personifies Sugriva's character by making him a humanoid monkey.

I thought it was interesting that Rama sneakily killed Vali, when he was an accomplished and honorable warrior that should have been able to take him head on. 

Rama showing that he is kind of whiny, because after all, it was his decision to honor the exile.

But then again, he has been without his wife for a long time.

Also, didn't know sita was raped, that is kind of dark for this epic. 

I really like the sampati Jatayu story, and how they flew too close to the sun.

I'm glad Sampati got his redemption, I could see myself writing a story about the bird brothers before Jatayu ran into Ravana and before Sampati's wings were burned.

The espionage mission Hanuman undertakes is entertaining. He really is a devoted follower, I could write more about his exploits.

Its kind of silly that Sita can just pray and the gods will answer her whims.

The twist where Ravan's own brother leaves him to join Rama is a nice touch. I could expand more on that in a story.

Week 3 Reading B Notes: Ramayana

I enjoy how Part B of Ramayana opens up with Bharata returning to Ayodhya, it reminds me of the storytelling trope of the prodigal son returning.

Kaikeyi is a very unsavory mother and widow, and it doesn't seem like there is much reason for her to be. This part of Ramayana is getting political, which surprised me because I didn't expect it to be as nuanced.

The excerpt from Valmiki's Sanskrit Ramayana  is much different that the previous readings. The language used is much older in style and reminds me of reading King James translation of the bible. It really gives a full description of the funeral ceremony for Dasharatha.

I admire hoes steadfast Rama is to being a truthful and "holy" man. It still brings to mind parallels with Jesus.

Bharata either really loves and believes in Rama, or he doesn't want the throne. Or both.

Tumburu is very frightening.

The poetry is powerful and I enjoy listening to it most.

A Rakshasi woman falling in love with Rama was not what I expected to happen. Ramayana has many twists! Expecially because Shurpankha actually offers to consume Rama's wife and bother. How could she think that would've worked?

14,000 men after Rama! Wow. I'm amazed  Also amazed at how resentful Shurpankha is.

Lakshmana knew what was up with the fake voice, but Sita guilted him into going.

I like the overarching story of the gods and how you can see their plan come into action through Rama.

It's interesting how Ravana has a curse so that he could not rape.

Kabandha is a very good character. Lots of imagination really went into Ramayana.

Ramayana keeps getting more and more engrossing; I love the idea of a town in time warp.

For my Image, I chose the image of Bharata reuniting with Rama, because it made me think of if that happened with my twin brother, and how I'd Feel. (Link)

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part A

Having never heard of Ramayana or really having exposure to any Indian Epics, I didn't know what to expect for this first real reading assignment, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I read through Part A pretty fast, and found it to be very interesting, and I especially liked all the parallels it drew to other old fairy tales and myths. I kept thinking how much Rama was like Jesus, being an "Avatar" for a god, and having many gifts and abilities.

I also thought the focus on magic weaponry was interesting, many times in old myths and legends their isn't much thought given to those types of things.

King Dasharatha was one of my favorite characters so far until he died, because he seemed like a very fair and wise ruler, who had distinctly human qualities, like making the mistake and killing the hermit's son in a hunting accident.

Overall, I really liked Ramayana Part A, and I actually look forward to reading part B soon. I like the format of the Public Domain version you have up, it's nice being able to click between the stories, and the "Reading Guide" cleared a few things up for me that wasn't immediately apparent.


Here is my favorite picture from Part A; Rama fighting the demon women. I like the art style, and how grotesque they look. (Link)

Reading Notes: The Cunning Crane and The Crab

The story of the Cunning Crane and The Crab (Link) really caught my attention because I used to love the trickster type stories when I was young.

Just several lines in to the story, I notice how the author puts a lot of personification in the animals in the story, which I really enjoy, because it gives the story personality and shows the deeper intentions of the animals. I also like how cunning the crane is at first, by only taking the one fish to the big lake to vouch for him on how great it is.

Now finished with the story, I really enjoyed it because of how smart the crab was to trick the crane, and because they added the common platitude of how deceivers often get whats coming to them. Overall I think I could defintely use this story in the story telling assignments because there is a lot of directions I could go (either adding new characters or changing the ending, the crab got away pretty easy...).

For the image, I really liked the one that went with the story because of how dangerous it makes the crane look to the fish. (Link)

Reading A: Reading Options

The first link that caught my eye was the link for the Ramayana collaboration of authors and stories (http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/search/label/PDE%20Ramayana).

I like the idea of multiple authors because I think it can give me a deeper understanding of the characters and how different authors interpreted them.

For the second link, I like the first Mahabharata option.(https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00HB5LXHQ/bestiarialati-20)

I'd rather do the book for this reading just to change it up from the public domain works that I will most likely choose for Ramayana.

Lastly, I love how you did the Amar Chitra Katha comics webpage, so that you can refresh it and get a random one! (http://ackguide.blogspot.com/).

I definitely plan on checking out some of the comics, the artwork really grabbed my eye. I especially liked this one for the snake and realism:

(http://mythfolklore.net/scripts/images/ack/762.jpg)