Saturday, December 3, 2016

Portfolio Index

For this collection of tales, I wanted to tell the stories about the characters you don't get to see. Most of these are expanded on small parts of the original. I am always fascinated in the "what if" of every story I read. My favorite story was the first one I wrote: The Queen's Maiden. I put the most effort into this story and I love the story of Promilla and the woman she was. I hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as I enjoyed writing them!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Dangerous Flower: When the Pandava brothers couldn't help her, Draupadi takes matters into her own hands.


Draupadi's Escape: We all know how Arjun won Draupadi's hand in marriage, but what if she didn't want to marry him? What if she wanted another life?




Ekalavya's Tale: One man's hero is another man's hindrance. We all know Drona helped the Pandava brothers, but who was he before? Was he always looking to help?




The River Nymphs: When faced with temptation, how do you respond? When faced with your own pride, how do you change? Look deeper into both these in this short story!




The Queen's Maiden : How do you express your devotion to the ones you love? Actions will always speak louder than words. See the journey a devoted wife and maiden take to show the love of friendship and a relationship.


Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Reading: Nine Ideal Indian Women

Uttara
When the Pandava were exiled, they found themselves in the kingdom of Birat. The brothers and Draupadi disguised themselves and served the court. Arjun disguesed himself as a woman and taught Maharajah's only daughter, Uttara. Arjun fell in love with the little girl like his own daughter. When they revieled their true identies, the two kings decided to marry their children. Uttara and Arjun's son, Abhimanyu, married and started their happy life together.
One day, Abhimanyu was called to lead the war against the Kurus. Here on the battle field, he dies, and all Uttara is devestated and wants is to join her husband. Krishna comes to console her and says that he will be born as her child. Uttara decides to remain living to take care of her son, but when he no longer needed her, she was finally free to go to her beloved.



Bibliography: Nine Ideal Indian Women - Uttara

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sati
Queen Prasuti wanted a daughter so her and her husband, Daksha, went to the forest to pray. Here, the  goddess Adi-Parashakti promised to become their daughter, but if she was ever insulted, she would return to her godly form and disown them. The king and queen agreed and they recieved their daughter, whom they named Sati.
Sati was destined to marry the god Shiva, and all throughout her life, Sati became fasinated with him. Whenever another sutior was brought to her, she would want Shiva more. Finally, Shiva decended and married Sati. However, King Daksha was so unhappy with the arrangement that he started to yell at Sati. Because she was insulted, Sati took her goddess form of Adi-Parashakti. In this process, she was broken. and Shiva, out of sadness, took his anger on the earth. Vishnu cut her body into 52 body parts and scattered them around the world. After a long time, Adishakti was reborn as Parvati and Shiva got his love once again.



Bibliography: Nine Ideal Indian Women - Sati

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Reading: Nine Ideal Indian Women

Savitri
Savitri was a beautiful princess. One day, when she was retreating out in the forest with her family, she came across a handsome young man. She later found that this man was Prince Satyaban, and that he lived in the village with his mother and father, the exiled King of Abani. The two fell deeply in love with each other, but it was foreseen that Prince Satyaban would not live longer than a year. Despite this warning, Savitri wanted to still marry and share a life with him.
They marry and decide to live with his parents in the village. When the dreaded day came, Savitri went into the forest with her husband, and she stayed next to him as he died.
When the god of death came to take him away, she followed behind saying that there is nothing for her in this world without her husband. After a while of convincing, Her husband was returned to her and they lived a long, happy life together.



Bibliography: Nine Ideal Indian Women - Savitri

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Damayanti
Damayanti was a princess that was in love with Prince Nal of the neighboring kingdom. He came to her swayamvara and won her hand in marriage. However, a demon named Kali wanted to marry her as well. When she didn't choose him, he cursed Nal, saying that his would lose his kingdom.
Eventually, Nal lost his kingdom in a game of dice, so Damayanti and Nal were forced into exile. Nal decides to leave Damayanti to save her from his luck. On his way, Nal gets bit by the Snake King Nāga Karkotaka. This bite turns Nal into an unrecognizable dwarf.
Since she was abandoned, Damayanti returns to her father's kingdom and holds a fake swayamvara to bring Nal to her. Even though he was transformed into a dwarf, Damayanti is able to recognize him and the two unite. This causes Nal to turn back into his human form.




Bibliography: Nine Ideal Indian Women - Damayanti 


Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Story: The Hermit's Destiny

I opened my eyes to a beautiful day. My little hut might not be impressive to many, but it is my home, and I will never regret the decisions I’ve made that brought me here. Something felt different about today, but I didn’t think anything of it and got up from my cot to grab clothes that were drying outside. The sun didn’t shine as bright as it usually did and the birds that sang every morning sang a sadder tune. I thought nothing of it and continued on with my daily routine.

I walked over to the river that ran beside my hut and freshened up for the day ahead. A hermit's life was one full of peace and meditation. Not much happened day to day and my primary duty was to teach the children of the nearby village. As I was drying off, I had the sudden urge to meditate because I had a feeling destiny was about to catch up to me, so I chose a quiet spot under a nearby tree. I don’t know how long I sat under that tree but when I felt I had spent enough time, I walked back over to my hut for some breakfast.

As I continued on throughout the morning, I didn’t understand my feelings from earlier but decided not to think anything of it. I checked to make sure I had all my teaching supplies and headed out to the village. When I opened the door, I noticed the sudden shift in the atmosphere. The day had gotten brighter and there was a sweet scent in the air

“Why not take the longer way?” I thought to myself. The longer way wound through the forest and, given the great weather, it would be a shame to not appreciate the beauty of nature. I remember the first time I walked through this forest, the solitude of nature was what convinced me to become a hermit and devote myself to this religious discipline. I was so confident about my path then, and again today, I got the same feeling deep in my soul as I continued to let my feet lead me along the path. The quiet of the forest and the sound of my footsteps were interrupted by sounds of someone sobbing.

“How strange,” I thought. In all the decades I had lived here, I had never known another person to take this way. I assumed I was the only one knew about this path in the forest. I decided to follow the sound, and came across a beautiful woman I had ever met. As a hermit, I had given up all fleshly desires but even gods would recognize this woman as gorgeous. She quickly looked up in fear when she heard me walking towards her.

When she straightened and moved her arms away, I noticed she was pregnant. From the look of it, I guessed she was due any day, but why was she here in the forest then?

“Do not worry. I won’t hurt you. I’m a hermit that lives down the river,” I said.

“I’m sorry to bother you, sir. I was abandoned here by my husband who thinks I have been unfaithful to him. I have never been with anyone else, but he wouldn’t believe me. Now I’m left here with no one to help me or the sons in my womb,” she said with great sadness in her voice.

I reassured her that I would be able to help. I gently helped her stand and supported her arm as we walked to the village. I knew this was the day I met destiny and my purpose. I was to help this woman and her sons.



Author's Note: When Rama and Sita come back to their kingdom, they are able to resume their lives. However, although Rama was convinced of Sita's purity, the rest of the kingdom was not. So in his kingly duty of putting his kingdom first, he banished his beloved and pregnant wife into the forest. When she was left there for dead, some holy men found her and helped her through her pregnancy. One hermit in particular stood by the single mother and her twin boys. He taught the boys how to be great men and showed them how to sing praises to Rama.
I always thought this part of Rama and Sita's story was so sad. Since this is my third time experiencing this story, I noticed little details I had missed before. One of the big things that caught my attention was the hermit that helped her. I started to think hwo great it was that he just so happened to be there to help her. It was as if he was meant to be there for her. I wanted to follow through with that idea. I imagine the hours leading up to the moment he saw her was just another day to a normal person, but I think he knew he was about to do something great.

Bibliography: Sita Sings the Blues

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Reading: Twenty Jātaka Tales Part A



These are my favorite stories I had the opertunity to read this week. They are all from the Twenty Jataka Tales

The Monkey Bridge
This is the tale of a human king and a monkey king. The Monkey King's kindom was on a treasure tree that has the best fruit. The human king was jealous of the monkeys and wanted to attack them to steal their fruit. However, in the midst of chaos, the Monkey King showed great nobility and his leadership qualities impressed the human king. In the end, the Monkey King sacrificed himself for his kingdom and the humans honored the Monkey King's life.

The Guilty Dogs
Once, in the middle of the night, there was a group of dog that went and set fire to the palace chariots. When the King heard about this, he ordered every dog to be killed. However, a cheif informed him that the guilty ones were the palace dogs and the innocent should be punished for th evil deeds of few.

Banyan
There once was a king that loved hunting Deer. When he came across two Deer kings, he granted them their lives. When the two went back to their herd, they saw that the herd had either died or been injured. The kings decided to start sacrificing their members one by one so that less deaths would occur. One day when a young mother was suppose to go die, the King of the Banyan Deer took her place. When the king saw how the Banyan Deer King would sacrifice himself, he was impressed and promised never to hunt the Deer again.

The Fairy and the Hare
Once there were four furry friends that promised to give whatever food they found to the poor. The jackal, a water-weasel and the monkey found some food and when an old traveler came by, all of them offered their foods. However, when the man came to the hare, the hare had nothing to offer, so he offered himself. However, the old man was actually a fairy in disguise, so when the hare jumped in the flames, it did not burn him.

The Master's Test
Once there was a master that wanted pupils to go steal because the master was poor and weak. One of the two pupils was ready to follow through, but the other hesitated. The master had meant this to be a test of character and the one that refused to follow through passed.


Bibliography: Twenty Jaraka Tales by Noor Inayat (Khan)

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Reading: Sita Sings the Blues Part B

0:54 Sita becomes pregnant with Rama
1:00 Rama banishes Sita because Rama's subjects think Sita is unpure
1:03 Sita meets some holy men that help her and she gives birth to twins
1:05 the boys were taught to praise Rama
1:07 Sita continued to pray to Rama and still loved him
1:11 One day, as Rama was walking through the forest and he came across his sons and invites them back to his kingdom
1:13 Sita asks that if she is pure, mother nature should come take her away
1:15 Sita gets what she asks for and she is finally free


Bibliography: Sita Sings the Blues

Monday, November 7, 2016

Reading: Sita Sings the Blues Part A

0:14 Rama and Sita start their exile into the forest
0:15 Ravana is a good king except for him stealing Sita. He would pray to the right gods and was a good, learned, man. He was the king of Lanka
0:16 Surphanaka, Ravana's sister, convinces Ravana to steal Sita
0:18 Ravana steals Sita away when Rama was distracted
0:20 Sita sings about how much she loves Rama
0:22 Hanuman is the incarnation of Shiva so his sole purpose was to help Rama
0:26 Sita stays true to her love Rama and despite Ravana's andvances, Sita stays true
0:32 Hanuman assembles an army and, under Rama's leadership, they march to save Sita.
0:38 Rama becomes very cold to Sita because Rama thinks Sita was with Rama
0:40 Sita goes into a fire to prove she's innocent and Rama believed her
0:44 the gods sent a flying chariot to take Rama and Sita back to Rama's kingdom
0:46 "if you want the rainbow, you must have the rain"


Bibliography: Sita Sings the Blues