Week 11 Reading Diary: 22 Goblins

The Twenty-Two Goblins

The Three Lovers
     - The Three Lovers who brought the Dead Girl to Life. Whose wife should she be?
     - Of the three youth, the one who brought her back to life acted as a father should, the one who took care of her bones and had them cleansed in the holy river acted as a son was meant to, while the third slept in the cemetery with her ashes, enduring hardship and earning her hand in marriage.

Brave, Wise, Clever
     - The brave man earns the hand of the girl in marriage, as he risked his life to rescue her from the giant. The wise man and the clever man aided him, but they did not risk anything to save her.

The Girl, Her Husband and Her Brother
     - When a girl accidentally places the wrong heads on the bodies of her husband and brother, after they have cut their heads off, she must determine who is who.  It is determined that the body with the head of her husband will be her husband, as it is by the head that people recognize others.

Storytelling for Week 10: Krishna's Support

Krishna was known to be a good leader, though he was also known for doing what was needed to get his way or to provide aid for others.  One example of such was his manipulation of events so that his sister Subhadra would wed Arjuna, rather than being used as a prize by their father.  This greatly upset their father, but it allowed for Subhadra to choose who she was going to marry.  This manipulation of events meant that Krishna became the brother in law to Arjuna, one of the pandavas.  As such, he became friends with them and did his best to help them in their times of need.  After the pandavas were discovered in the court of King Virata, he went with his older brother Balarama to the wedding of the king's daughter, Uttarâ and Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna and Subhadra.  It is after the wedding that Krishna states that Duryodhana should be given the message to give half of the kingdom to the pandavas, letting the groups live in peace and not go against one another. At the same time, they are making preparations for the expected upcoming war.  It was well known that Duryodhana had driven himself almost mad in his obsession with destroying the pandavas and everything that they held dear to them.  What had been a childhood rivalry had corrupted itself and become a consuming lust for humiliation and destruction.
At the court of Krishna, Arjuna came to represent all of the pandavas.  Duryodhana also appeared to ask for his aid. Neither expected for the other to appear before Krishna, requesting the same thing; his help in their battle against one another.  This is were things became interesting.  Krishna seemed to realize that something along these lines was going to occur, and thus proposed that one side of the battle would be given his aid, while the other fighter would have the aid of his million soldiers.  Now, this seems like the side that had his soldiers would be given a much larger advantage.  Arjuna, however, sought to have Krishna's aid. This delighted Duryodhana, who believed his victory over the pandavas was basically insured by that move.  He never thought to question why Arjuna, known as a brilliant fighter, would choose to handicap himself in such a manner.  If he had, he would have realized that Arjuna never handicapped himself; the real winning choice was to have Krishna aid in battle.  After all, who said that his soldiers would go against him? And the Pandavas were already fighting at a disadvantage of numbers.  Krishna knew what would be useful and allowed the men to choose between themselves what they wanted.

Week 10: Reading Diary A

Duryodhana and the gandharvas
- Duryodhana makes camp near the pandavas for the sole purpose of mocking them.
- A gandharva, or heavenly being, is sent to provoke him, leading to him being captured.
- The pandavas rescue him, resulting in his plan backfiring completely.

The voice in the lake
- The pandavas hear a voice telling them to answer questions before drinking. All but Yudhishthira fail to do so, dying as a result. It turns out to be a challenge by their father, the god Yama, who then revives them and gives them the gift of being unrecognizable.

In the court of King Virata
- The brothers and Draupadi go to court in disguise, finding work there. Draupadi is raped, begging for revenge. Bhima kills the man who attacked her, who turned out to be a general and the queen's brother. Draupadi has to beg to remain in court.

The Cattle Raid
- Duryodhana's ally, Susharman, wants to raid the cattle of King Virata now that the general Kichaka is dead. He ends up being captured by Bhima. Prince Uttara takes Arjuna with him into battle as his charioteer, but ends up making him fight while the prince drives.  In the end, in a fit of rage King Virata throws the die at Yudhishthira, drawing blood and revealing who he was.  He gives his daughter Uttara in marriage to Arjuna's son Abhimanyu.

Preparing for Battle
- Battle preparations are made on both sides, as they gather allies to fight with them in the war.  Arjuna chooses to have Krishna fight with the Pandavas, meaning that Krishna's soldiers will fight for Duryodhana.

Dissension at Hastinapura
- The king and queen do not support what their sons are doing, with Queen Ghandari going so far as to denounce the war and the actions of her son. Her husband the king is much more weak willed, saying he doesn't support it, but doing nothing when in the presence of their son. 

Storytelling for Week 9: A game of dice

Today, I was informed that my husbands had decided to play a game of dice, gambling away our belongings. I was shocked and horrified, particularly because my husband Yudhishthira is terrible at the game. Apparently he decided that his honor demanded he play, not allowing him to decline when his cousin challenged him to dice. The tale became even more horrifying when I discovered that it would be Shakuni, my husbands uncle, rather than their cousin Duryodhana, that was actually playing against Yudhishthira. From the gossip around the palace, it sounds as if he has never lost! I know that this should not seem like a major concern, as I should trust my husband to make wise decisions, but I know how he can let his pride overtake him. A servant came to me to let me know exactly what was being lost. That was when I found out that he had gambled everything that we owned. Once he lost that, he put his brothers up as collateral. He lost my other husbands, then placed himself up as a bet. Another servant ran down the hall to let me know I needed to prepare myself for appearing in public. My foolish husband had not stopped after losing even himself in the betting; he put me up as a prize. He didn't have the courtesy to stop, or to consider that he lost all of the other rounds of the game. I couldn't believe that he had allowed this to go so far. He knew that his cousin actively sought to destroy him and his brothers, including everything that they ever held dear. Right after the servant warned me, I began to get ready. Unfortunately for me, however, Duhshasana, Duryodhana's younger brother, storms into my room. He will not allow me to finish or decline going to see the people in court. Rather, he grabs my hair and drags me through the palace by it! If I get the chance, I swear I will take my revenge upon him! Once I am in court, as humiliated as I already am, Duryodhana orders me to strip. I refuse, praying to Krishna for aid. Thankfully he answers my prayer, making my sari infinitely long so that it doesn't come off as the men attempt to rip it from me. Though I am saved from that shameful humiliation, I am still traumatized that this has occurred. How could my husbands allow this to happen? I thought they were supposed to take care of me. Only one of my husbands even declares that they will have their revenge, Bhima claiming this against Duryodhana. Finally the king, Dhritarashtra, steps in and kind of calms things down, slightly. He gives me three wishes, which I use to free my husbands and have their belongings restored to them. I refuse the third wish, thankfully he gives me my freedom. I do not understand how Yudhishthira is willing to forgive them after all that they have done! Why doesn't he seek revenge for the shame that they have brought upon our family?

I chose to write this from Draupadi's perspective, showing how she feels as Yudhishthira is gambling everything away. I don't think she would have understood how her husbands could stand by and watch her be humiliated, or how her husband could bet her in the first place!

(Draupadi dragged from her chamber; Image source Wikimedia)

Week 9: Reading Diary A

Shantanu
- First wife is Ganga, reincarnation of the Ganga River. They have 8 children, she drowns the first 7. The eighth is taken away to be raised by her (Bhishma)
- Shantanu remarries to Satyavati. To marry her, his son has to give up all rights to the throne and declare his celibacy so that her children will gain the throne. Chitrangada and Vichitravirya are their sons. The first takes the throne and dies. Bhishma rules as regent until Vichitravirya takes the throne and marries Ambika and Ambalika. Bhishma had also taken their sister Amba to wed his brother, but she was already engaged. Her wedding was called off because of his capture of her, however, as she may have been "tainted" during her stay.

Week 8: Reading Diary Assessment

One of the things that I noticed about the Diary instructions was that there was no length requirement for the post.  This is actually really helpful, as it allows me to put down the information that I believe is beneficial and that I need to remember, without making me wonder if I will be putting enough information to fulfill the length requirement.  When I make my Diary posts, I change the strategies that I use occasionally.  Sometimes it is easier to summarize the different stories that are discussed in the readings.  Other times I like to focus on the different characters, using bullet points to keep track of important traits.  Both strategies help me when I go back to my Diary posts in order to come up with an idea for the storytelling each week.  One recommendation that I would have for students is that they should keep in mind what they might want to use for their story adaptation while they are reading.  If they put notes about it in their diary post it is much easier to remember the details, especially if I do not have the book on hand when I am doing my writing assignments. 
My reading diary posts vary in length.  They depend on the complexity of the stories, as well as how far into the semester that I am.  At the beginning of the semester I did not know anything about the stories in the Indian epics.  As time has passed and I have become more comfortable with some of the stories, I have found that I do not need to include all of the details that I once did.  Overall, I would say that they are generally the right length for me.  I tend to make them as I am reading, taking notes every time there is an end to a section or portion of the story.  I think that it would be useful for me to use more bullet points and less paraphrasing.  I do not include images in my diary posts, though it could be useful in some cases to help remember some of the less memorable stories. In general, I tend to remember the things that I am learning for this class much more than I do for my other classes.  In my other classes I am more caught up with stressing over exams or papers.  The more structured and laid back set up for this class give me the opportunity to relax and remember things because I am learning something that I enjoy, rather than something that will make me worry incessantly due to lack of instruction. 
Strategies that are useful for short term memory include reading something multiple times and discussing it.  Discussion can also be useful for long term memory, particularly if it is used in a debate. For long term memory, I also find making notes and flash cards to be beneficial.  Reading the text out loud helps me to focus on what the book is saying, rather than just skimming through it to finish more quickly.

Storytelling for Week 7: Sita's Abandonment

After Rama and Sita had lived peacefully together for almost ten thousand years, Sita came to be pregnant.  She was overjoyed when she discovered that she and Rama would finally have a child together.  The people, however, were a much different story.  Though Sita had proven her innocence to Rama after she was rescued from Ravana, the people did not all believe that nothing had happened between her and Ravana during her time in captivity.  Being cruel, as people often are, they gossiped about how Sita was not fit to be queen.  "Rama," they said, "you deserve a fair queen beside you.  You should not ever have to question her faithfulness or her intentions.  Sita was a good wife for a time, but she is tainted from her time with Ravana.  You cannot trust her word."  Rama, though he knew she was innocent, started to listen to the complaints being brought to him and whispered through the city.  He decided that he needed a queen that the people would respect, even though he knew that Sita was a wonderful queen.  Rather than reassuring the people and informing them that Sita had more than proved herself as his wife, Rama chose the easy path.  He decided that they must be right; Sita had to go.  The poor queen had no idea of the fate that awaited her as Rama plotted.  He orders his brother Lakshmana to take the queen to the Ganges River and leave her there.  There was to be no explanation or comforting of Sita as he left.  She was to be left to the fates.  Reluctantly, Lakshmana requests that Sita goes with him on a short trip, as he told her he desired to go to the river.  Sita agreed, unknowing of what lay in store for her.  When the poor woman was left at the shore, she collapsed to the ground sobbing.  Sita could not understand how the one man she gave everything for would betray her like that.  In that moment she vowed to herself to never give him the opportunity to hurt her again.  No matter how much she longed to be with the man she loved, Sita refused to beg him to take her back.  It was clear to her at that moment that her life would never be the same. 

I decided to retell the story of Sita being exiled from Ahalya, as Rama came to doubt her fidelity. I think that she suffered a great deal because he was too proud to stand up to his people. At the same time, I think that Sita had to come to the decision to look after herself, regardless of whether or not Rama still wanted her.

 (Painting of a mosque overlooking the Ganges River; Photo source Wikimedia)

Week 7: Reading Diary B

Rama and Sita return to Ayodha for the first time in 14 years.  They are now able to return from exile and celebrate their victory over Ravana.  They make it back in time to prevent Bharata from committing suicide at the loss of his brother, as Rama came back as promised.  Rama is immediately crowned king.  After 10,000 years, Sita becomes pregnant.  People begin to mutter that Rama should never have taken her back into his home after she was captured by Ravana.  Even though she has proven her innocence, Rama listens to the gossip and decides that the only course of action available is to send her into exile alone, giving her no warning.  Instead, he chooses to have Lakshmana abandon her by the Ganges River.  At the time she is pregnant with his twin sons.  She is rescued by a hermit, Valmiki, who brings her to live with him and raise her children. 12 years after she gives birth, Rama decides to host a festival in the forest that she now resides in.  The people hear her sons singing the Ramayana.  Rama discovers that they are his children.  Sita decides to prove her innocence to him one last time. This time, however, she is not going to allow him to take her back.  She prays to the mother Earth to open and embrace her if she is innocent.  Mother Earth comes from the ground and takes Sita back with her.  Rama rules for 1000 years after her death.  Eventually, Lakshmana dies from a curse, as he opened a door and interrupted a conversation between Rama and Time to give Rama a warning.  Finally, Rama too comes to an end, jumping into the Sarayu River and dying.