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.