Reading Notes Part A: Don't Look To Close

I think an interesting story that I would read is called "Third Eye". This tale is about Shiva's third eye. This eye has always fascinated people and it stood directionally in the middle of the head. The third eye In the middle of Shiva's head was so powerful it could wipe the entire world out. There was so many assumptions with Shiva that it made it hard for people to even be friends because they were always worrying. This story caught my eye because weird stuff interest me.

Don't Look To Close

Bibliography: The Third Eye

Reading Part B: Prabhavati the Princess

Princess

This story is about a princess that gets her way all the time. Two people in this story are Krishna and Indra who have a son but the kid is Krishna's son named Pradyumna. This son is not just no normal son, Pradyumna has  magical powers and he is able to shape-shift. Later on in the story their son uses his powers to shape shift into Vajranabh's palace in a simple disguise and he marries Asura's daughter named Prabhavati. 

Reading Notes: Part B (Dhritarshtra and Pandu)

In this story called Dhritarashtra and Pandu there is a king that goes by the name of King Pandu and he is the ruler of his kingdom. He had two wives that he married and one of his wives named Kunti was of celestial origin but her mother was a nymph; and her father was a holy brahmin. In the story a palace was built and she ministered unto the king faithfully, with servings of food at any hour. This story was a great story that dealt with a lot of love and confusion but in the end a good ending happened. 

Dhirtarashtra and Pandu

Reading Notes PartA: "The Five Tall Sons of Pandu"

Pandu has five very tall sons , that all have a purpose in life. The sons names are Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, and he has a set of twins Nakula and Sahadeva. One of the sons is blinded "Dhritarashtra" after their father dies he becomes king. Throughout his reign he has a lot of kids and he trains the youngest prince the art of war. He wants his youngest son to be powerful just like him and when he faces in a mock battle it gets to intense so they stop it. At the end of the tournament, everybody realizes Karna is a warrior who is very talented.

Bibliography: The Five Tall Sons of Pandu

Reading Notes Part D:The Mongoose

Kurukshetra seen a golden half body mongoose and it spoke out to them and said "Ye kings, this great sacrifice is not equal to a little measure of powdered brely given away by a liberal and after this the mongoose told the following story to them a family was living on the grains of corn and working really hard in the land of waste and the amount of food started to disappear and the family started to lose weight and get thin. They were so giving to their guest , that in the end the mongoose blessed them by his body turning into gold magical powder.

The Mongoose

Biblography: By Laura Gibbs. The Mongoose

Reading Notes Part C:Life in the Forest

In this story the Pandava princes travel through the deep forest , this lead to them living off the stuff in the forest. They had to live off fruits and roots , there were so many reptiles and hungry wild animals in the forest just wondering around amongst everyone. Brahmin started to call to the sun god and Yudhishthira started to pray in hope of better days. Surya seen how they was struggling and gave him a copper pot that was filled with food and goods. living in the forest for so long they were happy they got food so they ate and gave the rest to the other people living there. There was so much stuff going on in the forest but they made the best of it.

Life in the Forest

Bibliogrpahy: Life in the Forest . By Laura Gibbs

Reading Notes, Little Squirrel who helped Lord Rama

This story tells about a squirrel that changed a man's life. On one day Rama saw a small brown squirrel walking along the seashore carrying rocks in its mouth. A "great" monkey  was confused when he ran into the squirrel and the squirrel told the monkey to basically watch where he was going because he was in the middle of helping Rama build a bridge. And he did not need anything in his way because he wanted to work hard for him. After, hearing that the monkey got offensive and lashed back. Making funny of him because he could only carry pebbles and not anything else like rocks (which they were able to do that). I see in this story it was a hate love relationship because the squirrel wanted to do the best he could and the monkey was not trying to let him prosper.

little-squirrel

Bibliography: Ramayana story: Little squirrel who helped Lord Rama!

Reading Notes , Rama's Confession Part C

In Rama's Confession he states why it was okay to kill Vali. In a newspaper it had said that the god-man had every right to slay the monkey king, so Rama was not upset about killing Vali but he felt it was what he had to do as a man. After Rama had shot his arrow and it went through Vali body, he was so scared that he hide because Vali was a powerful person and his powers would pass on to the person who took his life and Rama did not want that to happen to him. There was a reason Rama needed to kill Vali because if not all hell would have broken loose between everybody in the kingdom.

Rama killed Vali from behind a tree

Bibliography: Original story toward;(UC press e-books)

 Rama's Confession to Vali's Death  

"Reading Notes" Part B

The Chase

Rama was chasing the deer, he was on a mission to get the deer. Running through the forest and he was able to shoot the arrow and pierce the heart of the deer. During this time the deer "in this agony Maricha sprang out of the deer's body and a voice cried out". This killing of the deer perceived that he had killed the brother of Ravana. He killing the deer brought out a voice that shook everybody and made Sita think of her husband. But everybody was scared but she was telling them there was no reason to be scared, because the love she had for her husband. If he was not alive there was no reason for her to be alive, she clearly said "if Rama is slain I will die by drowning, or by poison, or else by the noose". Without she husband she was lost.

Bibliography: Ramayana: The Chase

Reading Notes: Part A

Ramayana: Dasharatha's Karma has to deal with a father who was cursed to lose his lose in the future. One day when Dasharatha was out hunting he hear a sound off in the distance, so he thought this was an animals nearby. So, he set up his bow and arrow and shot int that direction, then cried out a young boy in pain from being shot by the arrow. Dasharatha was so shaken that he did not know what to do, so with the boys last breath he was able to tell where his parents were located at. Dasharatha was scared to see the young hermit laying on the ground dying but the poor victim forgave him and said "Hasten to my sire and inform him of my fate lest his curse should consume thee as a fire consumes a withered tree." after the young hermit said that he died instantly. The parents found out this news and were hurt , their protector and child was taken from them in seconds. The dad of the young hermit was so upset that he had no reason to live anymore and wanted his life to be taken also. A small funeral was set up for the young hermit boy and during this time the mother and father took their lives and entered the Kingdom of Death. 

dasaratha

Bibliography: Ramayana: Dasharatha's Karma 

Laura Gibbs: Ramayana

Reading Notes , Week 2: " To be Quick or Out Smarted Part B

The tell of The Crocodile in the River tells about a buddha's that was betrayed by his monk, but he uses animals as the characters to replay the events that happened. 

Curiosity killed the "Cat" lol *Monkey

Buddha-as-monkey and the crocodile is a tale where is tells of betrayal. this story represents a monk that plotted against his master "Buddha" to get something in life he wanted. So, using a monkey and crocodile is a great example, because the crocodile has a partner that he wants to please and make happy. So, when she sees the monkey in the tree she tells her partner she wants the monkey to eat, so being the man of the house "river", he goes and tries to plot on the monkey by making an amends. Each day the crocodile comes to the rock, interacting with the monkey, and in the monkeys, mind he thinks they have a nice bond, but in reality his last days of life are slowing approaching. But, as time passes the monkey starts to notice something very strange about this one rock by his house "tree". As, he sits there one day and measures the rock, he starts to shout out asking the rock questions, but no response comes, so he yells loud and the crocodiles gestures responding back. The monkey knew from the start of the odd position of the rock that something was fishy he just did not want to assume things, but to wrap it all up he outsmarted the crocodile that only cared about impressing his partner and not about how he would take a life away to pleasure a women he "think he cares about".  

Moral of the story is just because you have a "bond" with a person does not me their loyalty is true. People do crazy things for the people "they are in love with" at that moment, but they never think about the consequences or repercussions that come along with it. And most of the time people and seek out a fishy person, and by analyzing their moves they can outwit a person with bad intentions. 

Bibliography Source to Different Stories like this one:

This is an anthology of Buddhist Jataka stories from ancient India.

"Reading Options"

Reading through the different readings, I have found three different ones that have caught my attention. Indian Epics has so many different stories that it was hard for me to just pick my favorite one, but these are stories and poems that were written to have a meaning.

The first reading that caught my attention is during week 6 and 7: Mahabharata is a reading that deals with five pandavas' cousins, in a epic battle and are led by Duryodhana and his ally karna. I like readings that have action in it, simply because action is what draws a lot of readers attention, so coming across this reading has me interested in how the battle will end.

Let's get It

Learning about a Prince named Rama and his life is always exciting, but i am curious if he has a Princess in his life or a girl he wants to marry. I think the best readings are love stories. 

Hindu gods and goddesses seemed like a good reading, but readings that tell a story about both sexes always catch my attention. I have always been interested in Gods and goddesses because I feel like they have so much meaning behind the stories they tell.