Reading Notes: Ashwattaman's Jewel, Part D

The war is over and the whole Mahabharata is very similar to The Game of Thrones. It doesn't matter if you love a character or not every person in the story is expendable.

Ashwattaman does a very terrible thing and raids a Pandava camp at night. The earlier fighting scenes talk about how everyone seems to follow the rules of battle. In example, when Arjuna and Karna were fighting, Arjuna's bowstring broke and he pleaded that Karna allow him to re-string it. Also the wheel on Karna's car got stuck in the mud and he pleaded a cease fire too until the elements of the battle are even. Then when Bhima struck Duryodhana below the waist everyone was mad.

(Jewel.

Source: Web)

But here is Ashwattaman, he has lost and has nothing else to lose and decides to enter a camp at night which is surely against the rules of battle. He ends killing all of Draupadi's children and she demands vengeance.  They don't see a need to kill him so instead they take the Jewel from his head that is believed to keep him from hunger, thirst, and poison.

It would be cool to find out where this jewel came from. This could be a story idea. An adventure that follows Ashwattaman in a forest and him having to complete some task/kill some god in order to get this jewel that is magical.
Bibliography - Online Mahabharata, Story titled "Ashwattaman's Jewel"
Author: Donald A. Mackenzie

Reading Notes:Krishna and His Army, Part C

With a battle inevitable both Arjuna and Duryodhana seek the help of Krishna to assure victory for their side. They both arrive on the same day and wait for Krishna to wake up to ask for help. Duryodhana asks for help first and claims that since he asked first the Krishna must help him. But Krishna set her eyes on Arjuna first and says that she will help both instead of just one. Krishna gave them the option between an army of 10 crores or to have Krishna on their side but she wouldn't battle. Arjuna got the first choice because he was younger and he chose to have Krishna fight on his side because he seems to be in love with her. Duryodhana is happy that he took Krishna who wouldn't be helpful over the large army.

(Arjuna with Krishna driving the car.

Seems I was wrong about the flying car.

Source: wiki)

It is later revealed that Arjuna chose Krishna so that he can ride in the car with her driving. Krishna must have one of those flying cars so he will be able to rain down arrows on his enemies.

(I can't tell if Krishna is a boy or girl, in this post I treating him/her as a girl)

Bibliography - Online Mahabharata, Story titled "Krishna and His Army"
Author: Annie Besant

Reading Notes:The Burning of the Forest, Part B

A brahmin named Agni was hungry but had a hunger that couldn't be satisfied by any ordinary food. Agni is the god of fire and the only way he sees to satisfy his hunger is to consume an entire forest. He approaches Arjuna and Krishna and promises celestial weapons if they help him consume the forest. They agree and all they have to do is stop Indra from putting out the flames. Arjuna receives a bow that has infinitely many arrows in the quiver along with a chariot full of weapons. While Krishna receives a mace and a discus. Only 6 people survive this great battle but Agni is satisfied and shines bright with delight.

(Forest Fire

Source: Web)

A good story idea from this story would be the actual battle between Indra and Agni/Arjuna/Krishna. Only 6 things were able to survive this great forest fire so it must have been a pretty epic fire(battle?).

Bibliography - Online Mahabharata, Story titled "The Burning of the Forest"
Author: Jogn Mandeville Macfie

Reading Notes: Amba, Part A

A princess named Amba refuses to marry Bhishma's brother because she already has a prior engagement to the king of the Shalwas. When she gets back home she discovers that the king no longer wants her because he was bested in combat. She doesn't want to go back to Bhishma so she just does her own thing and blames Bhishma for her troubles. She stops eating, taking care of herself, and spends days just staring at nothing. Shiva jumps in to offer assistance and she wants revenge on Bhishma. Shiva grants this boon and Amba will be the one to kill Bhishma but in another life. She jumps in a fire and waits to be incarnated into a fierce male warrior that will end up killing the man who ruined her life.

(Amba

Source: Online Mahabharata)

A story that immediately comes to mind from this story would be a Pokemon that is stolen from his trainer. When the Pokemon is able to escape his and go home the original owner no longer wants him so he gets all depressed. Then a legendary Pokemon comes in and sees that he is sad and asks whats wrong. The weak Pokemon demands an evolution so that he can get revenge.

Bibliography - Online Mahabharata, Story titled "Amba"

Reading Notes: Devdutt Pattanaik Videos, Part A:Ganasha's Secret

Shiva is the destroyer of worlds and can destroy the world by simply closing his eyes. He is a God, while his wife Shakti(Pavati?) is a Goddess, and their children Ganesha and ____ are gods. Shiva and his wife are more important so their title of God is capitalized while their children are lowercase.

Images are windows into a cultures soul.

Four goals of life represented by Veda's 4 heads.

-Dharma(Righteous conduct)

-Artha(Economic activity)

-Kama(Pleasurable pursuits)

-Moksha(Spiritual practices)

Vishnu - a God who is  wed to two Goddesses, Shri the Godddess of wealth, and Bhu, the Goddess of earth.

This video goes through a bunch of random gods and goddesses I have never heard of and talks about how images/shrines depict them. It is a bit confusing because it is fast paced but about 8-12 gods/goddesses are talked about. 

Ganesha represents power and a power to move obstacles. He represents a life full of power and prosperity. He got the elephant head because his father Shiva cut it off when he wouldn't let him in the house to see his mother. Balance between a mortal body and a immortal head which is permanent.

Divine is both abstract and concrete.

(Ganeshsa

Source: Web)

Bibliography: Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art: Part A (Ganesha's Secret)
Author/From: Devdutt Pattanaik
Link: http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/11/featured-video-ganeshas-secret-people.html

Feedback Focus

Today I learned some techniques on how to stay focused while reading. The technique I found most helpful was copy-and-delete, followed by reading out loud, and using a timer came in last. I liked the copy-and-delete technique the most because after every paragraph I wrote down some notes. By the time I was done reading I had a document that had the entire story summarized very simply even if I didn't quite understand the story. This technique will surely be used when I'm reading other students stories. By the time I'm done reading and want to leave a comment I can just look at my notes and remember all the things that stuck out to me.

(Focus)

The next technique I used was reading out loud. This technique wasn't as effective as the previous but still seemed more effective than reading in my head. Whenever I had to read it out loud I felt like I had to talk clearly and concisely so the listener could understand me. At the same time the words were slowly being absorbed into my brain unlike normal reading.

The last technique was to use a timer. I did not experience any sort of positive effect with this one. Whenever I set the 10 minute timer it just seemed like I was focusing on when I could stop reading instead of the reading itself. I will not be using this technique for any readings in this class.

Week 4 Story Planning: Lets Go Find Mew!

I kind of already did some story planning in my Part C notes for Sampati. My notes from the story about Sampati are below and the story planning is below the image. I was probably ready to go ahead and write this story but time is very limited due to coding projects and sleep seems more appealing to me than stressing over writing a good story.

Most of the soldiers that Sugriva sent out to look for Sita are finally returning. Sadly the soldiers that are returning are the ones that were send to the north, east and west. Then it is revealed that the people that were sent to the south do in fact have information about Sita. The monkeys and bears that were searching for Sita were talking about Jatayu and the bird person Sampati just happens to hear the name and listens in. Turns out that Sampati is Jatayu's brother and he wants to hear of the news about his brother. It is sad that his brother died trying to save Sita from Ravana but Sampati saw exactly where the evil king Ravana took her. He points them in the directing and goes on his way. 

(Sampati - The bird on the left)

This story stuck out to me because all these people are searching everywhere for Sita but have no clue where to look. It would be easy to turn this story into my own and turn the target into a super rare Pokemon. Or make it like a murder mystery and they're searching everywhere for the killer with little leads. Then the people looking for the target just happen to run into someone who knows their exact location.

(My best Pokemon card. The Legendary Pokemon Mew!

Source: me)

If I do go the route where the target is a super rare Pokemon I will for sure choose the legendary Pokemon Mew. The people hunting down the Pokemon will be searching forever and some random person will somehow know his exact location. The entire goal of my story is to finally find this Pokemon that has run away in fear of its life. In my story the reason this pokemon is so rare is because the humans hunted them into extinction and this is the last one. The humans have plans to use this last Mew to somehow get the species back on the map.

Bibliography : Online free Ramayana, Story titled "Sampati"

Reading Note: Valkimi's Hermitage, Part D

Everything is finally going back to the way it was due to Rama and Sita returning after their 14 year exile. Rama takes the throne and everyone in his kingdom doesn't trust Sita's twin boys to actually be Rama's. The people know that Sita was captured by Ravana and everything thinks that Sita is no longer pure and innocent. They think her children are not conceived by Rama. Sadly Rama listens to his subjects and puts Sita in exile with the children. However, a good amount of time passes and Rama runs into these two children and thinks they look like him. He asks who their mother is and they say Sita. This is where you find out he messed up by not giving her a chance and listening to the people.

(Rama against his sons)

I do not have much of a story idea yet but this story was the most interesting to me.


Bibliography : Online free Ramayana, Story titled "Valkimi's Hermitage"