Reading Notes: The Mahabharata, Karmic Revolution, Part D

• Pandavas decided to go to the tournament for Draupadi (but disguised as brahmins)
• Men needed to look into a bowl of oil and shoot a fish through the eye with an arrow
• No one could even lift the bow, except Arjuna did and shot the eye effortlessly
• Karna also attended the tournament- son of a charioteer
• He attempted the challenge but Draupadi humiliated him for not being worthy
• Krishna was there (not for the challenge) 
• Returned to their hut, Kunti announced that whatever they brought back they should share (not knowing it was a woman) she realized when she saw Draupadi that she had made a mistake, she was worried that her beauty would separate the brothers
• Sage told them that Draupadi prayed for a husband 5 times in her previous life, so it was meant to be.
• Her brother hears and tells Drupad (father) what happened, Drupad was upset (was happy about who they actually were though, they were disguised before)
• Duyodhana heard they were alive, mad- council and Kauarvas decided to send someone (Vidur) to have them return to Hastinapura
• Yudhisthir was crowned king by Dhritarashtra and given the kingdom of Khandavaprasth
• They didn't stay in Hastinapura because of the tension with the cousins
• The land was baron- wastelend with nagas, rakshkas
• Krishna invited Vishvakarama- divine architect
• Became beautiful city- Indraprasth
• people from Hastinapura started coming there
• Duryodhana was pissed
• Narad visited them. told them of 2 brothers that killed each other over a woman
• They should take yearly turns, and if one brother walked in on another, he would be exiled for 12 years
• Arjun fetched his bow in Yudhisthira's place, walked in on him and Draupadi- 12 years of exile- was trying to help a Brahmin with some thieves
• Arjun leaves with a group of Brahmins- towards Himalayas
• They stayed by lake that formed Ganga river- built shelters- stayed for months
• Arjun was bathing in lake and something pulled him into the water- women- Ulupi
• Wanted to marry Arjun, but he told her of Draupadi and he promised to be a Brahim
• Spent months together in the lake
• Returned to friends then went on long journey- ending up in Manalur
• Married Chitragandha while there
• Returned to Indaraprasth
• 
  

Arjun Feeling Shameful of Walking in on Draupadi and Yuhishthira, Still from Youtube.

Bibliography

The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Epified TV, Youtube.

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata, Karmic Revolution, Part C

• Karna had enchanted armor and earrings (had them for forever)
• His mother told him that his father had found him in a basket in a river and he had those armor and earrings since he was little and grew with him
• Had war in his heart
• Drona wouldn't teach Karna because he wasn't a Kshatriya
• Karna went to an avatar of Vishna, Parshuram, to beg him to teach him 
• Still asked if he was a Kshatriya, but it was because he would teach anyone except a Kshatriya
• Taught him everything about war
• Karna became a wonderful archer
• Parshuram was taking a nap on Karna's thigh when a scorpion stung Karna's other leg. Karna remained quiet through the pain to not disturb his sleep.
• Parshuram accused him of being a Kshatriya because a Brahmin could not have done that
• Parshuram cast Karna out and cursed him- the day he needed his skills the most, he would forget them
• After the Pandavas and the cousins learned all they could from Drona, they had a tournament to show their skills
• Arjun showed great archery skill but Karna decided to show that he was more capable.
• Everyone was annoyed because he wasn't invited so they said he couldn't win
• Karna wanted to challenge Arjun but they said that Karna could only battle if he was of royal blood, they asked his lineage but he only knew that he was found in  a basket, Kunti fainted
• Duryodhana pronounced him king of a kingdom under him so he would be worthy to fight the Pandavas
• Drona and Drupad were pals when they were training, Drupad said that he would give half his kingdom to Drona when they were older, Drona became poor and asked him to keep his promise, Drupad denied everything
• Yudhisthira (oldest Pandava) was going to become the next king of Hastinapur, Duryodhana was mad and jealous
• He joined up with Karna and Shakuni to make a plan to get rid of the pandavas
• Has festival in another town with palace made with all wood to burn the Pandavas when they were asleep
• Vidura warned Pandavas to be on guard
• Pandavas figured the plan out really quick and started planning an escape- miner dug a tunnel out into the forest
• Everyone thought they died
• Took refuge in forest, all scared of danger
• Bhim carried everyone and searched for water and watched over them while they slept
• Stayed in the city of Ekachakra disguised as Brahmins and begged for food and stayed with a scholar
• The scholar told Kunti about an asura that was terrorizing their city, Bakasur. He was eating people but they made an agreement that once a week someone would bring a cart full of food and Bakasur would eat the person and the food. Kunti said Bhim could defeat him. 
• Bhim went that week but Bakasur foudn that Bhim ate all the food. They fought and Bhim broke every bone in his body, killing him.
• Drona trains the Pandavas to fight Drupad. 
• Drupad prayed for a son and one arose from the sacrificial fire- Dhristadyumna, but he also got a daughter- Draupadi.
• Draupadi was going to cause the destruction of many Kshatriyas
• Drupad has a tournament when she was older to decide her husband

Pandavas Escape, Still from The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Youtube.

Bibliography

The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Epified TV, Youtube.

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Part B

• Kunti's secret: Sage Durwasa was frightening and would curse people for small things, Kunti wasn't afraid, they became friends and he whispered a mantra in her ear, she could summon any god she wanted
• She summoned the son god Suryadev, and when they embraced, he left and she had a child in her arms, she couldn't keep him thought because she was unmarried, put him in a basket in the river
• Pandu and his wives decided to spend some quiet time in the forest, Pandu hunted in the woods
• One day he accidently shot a hermit couple while they were making love, the man cursed him that the moment he would become intimate with a women, he would die
• They did not return to Hastinpura
• Kunti told Pandu her gift, and he wanted to use it now to get new kings for Hastinapura
• She called against Yama, the god of truth and death, gave her a son- virtue and patience, named him Yudhishthir
• She called upon the wind god, fast- Bhima
• Indra gave her another son, archer's eyes, Arjun
• She would not mother any more children
• Madri still did not have any childre, Kunti summoned ashwin twins, Madri had 2 beautiful sons
• Pandu now has 5 sons
• Kunti came back and found that Pandu had lost control and forced himself on Madri, he died, and while they were burning him, Madri joined him in the fire
• After a few months, she left the forest with the 5 sons back to Hastinapur
• Gandhari had a really bad pregnancy, she gave birth to a lump of flesh, she was sad because she was promised 100 sons
• Vyasa divided the lump into 100 pieces, got vats of oil, put all the pieces in the vats
• Vats broke, Gandhari beheld her eldest-born son- Duryodhana, since she was blindfolded she couldn't see they were all evil
• Kunti and 5 sons, Pandavas, returned
• Duryodhana was jealous of Bhima because he was so admired
• Shakuni gave Duryodhana advice to destroy the Pandavas, gave them delicious food but it had sleep inducing herbs, Bhima ate A LOT, he fell deeply asleep by the lake, Duryodhana tied him up and pushed him in
• Poisonous snakes in the lake bit him a lot, he woke up and broke from the ropes, he started killing them off, he killed them all but he was very deep in the lake, in a different world- Naag Lok
• Vasuki was the king, he found out they were related, he gifted Bhima a magic drink that would give him the strength of 1000 elephants and make him a hero, he came back ready to face the threats against him and his family
• He returned home, Duryodhana was unhappy and confused
• Bhima didn't know what had happened to him
• Grandfather Bhishma decided they needed a teacher of being a warrior
• Drona came, grand archer
• He taught them the way of war
• Yudhisthira- excellent charioteer
• Nakul and Sahadev (Madri's sons)- swordsmen
• Bhima- mace, weapon of choice, he had incredible strength
• Arjuna- could use any weapon with ease, but liked archery best
• Ashwatthama (Arjuna's son?)- could use the divine weapons, could control the elements
• Drona wanted vengeance from a kingdom, thats why he was training them
• When the boys were out in the forest, they came across Ekalavya which was an amazing archer, he shot many arrows in the boys mouth but did not harm him, Arjuna was sad because he realized he wasn't the best archer in the world, a nishaad boy
• Arjuna wanted to know who he learned archery from, he said Drona
• accused Drona of betraying him, but Drona didn't know him
• The boy said that Drona had refused him saying he only taught Kshatriyas, he practiced in front of a hand crafted image of Drona
• Drona demanded he cut off his right thumb, he did it with no hesitation, ruined him and his archery skills

Still From The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Episode 17- Ekalavya's Story

Bibliography

The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Epified TV, Youtube.

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Part A

• Shantanu married Ganga, as long as he didn't question her
• Queen Ganga drowned their first child through 7 children, but he kept silent
• He finally asked why she was doing that as she was about to drown their 8th child, she said 8 vasus that were cursed to live human lives, she gave birth the the reincarnated celestials
• She left with the 8th son
• Shantanu returned to the river many years later because he missed her, he saw a young man fighting the river with arrows and won
• Ganga appeared to Shantanu and revealed that the young man was their son, Devavrat
• Devavrat was trained by powerful people
• Shantanu brought him back to be the prince
• Shantanu fell in love again with a fisherman's daughter, Satyavati, but she refused him because her dad said her children would never be kings because of Devavrat
• He stopped doing his kingly duties because he was so upset
• Devavrat went to the fisherman and Satyavati, Devavrat gave up his thrown and vowed that he would never marry or father any children
• Devavrat --> Bhishma (he of the terrible oath)
• He brought her back, the king was actually upset but he saw his sons sacrifice and granted him one boon, that he could choose the moment of his death
• After king Shantanu passed, Bhishma watched over his 2 half brothers: Chitrangad and Vichitraveerya, he taught them
• Chitrangad died
• Vichitraveerya, that wasn't in good health, became king of Hastinapur
• He was worried about know one being in line for the thrown so he went and stole 3 princesses from Kashi for Vichitraveerya to marry, Amba, Amika, and Ambalika
• The eldest, Amba, pleaded to leave to go to a king she loved, Shalva, so she left
• He would not accept her because she had been taken by another man
• Amba returned to Hastinapur and begged to Bhishma to marry her, but he couldn't
• She was upset because now she belongs to no one
• No one would challenge Bhishma for Amba
• Amba wanted revenge on Bhishma
• Vichitraveerya died, no king and no prince
• He did not have any children
• He refused to break his vow so Satyavati told him a secret, that he had a brother, she had a child, Vyas, when she was very young, but sent him away (he became a man in minutes) and he promised to show up when she needed him
• Sage Vyas- son, asked to father the future king, he was hard to look at, because Ambika was scared of him and closed her eyes, their child would be blind
• Ambalika kept her eyes open but became pale with fear, so her child was going to be pale and sickly
• Satvyavati asked Vyas to pay Ambalika a second visit, but she sent a servant girl instead, she was not frightened
• Ambika gave birth to Dhritarashtra- blind, but was strong and kind
• Ambalika gave birth to Pandu- pale and weak but great archer and the people loved him
• Servant girl gave birth to Vidura, most learned man in the land, even considered to be avatar of Yama the god of truth and death
• Bhishma taught them as they grew
• Unspoken rivalry between Dhritarashtra and Pandu, too many contenders for the thrown
• Dhritarashtra became king (oldest), but Pandu really ran the kingdom
• Bhishma talked with the king of Gandhar about Dhritarashtra marrying princess Gandhari
• King of Gandhar and her brother Shakuni were worried because he was blind, she said she knew her husband would be blind, she gave up her gift of sight (blind folder herself for life) 
• Shakuni was mad, wanted to avenge his sister
• Pandu married later as well, Kunti and Madri
• Kunti had a secret

Dhritarashtra Marrying Princess Gandhari
Still from The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Episode 8, Youtube.

Bibliography

The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Epified TV, Youtube.

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part D

• Bhishma is not allowed to kill a born woman
• Arjuna brought Sikhandin (born a woman, turned into a man) and Arjuna shot Bhishma with arrows
• Arjuna and other were sad about the loss of Bhishma
• Bhishma told Duryodhana to stop the fighting
• Drona takes command after Bhishma dies and promises to take Yudhishthira his prisoner, Arjuna vows to protect him
• Jayadratha planned to kill Abhimanyu, Arjuna's son, died surrounded by enemies, Duhshasana killed him
• Arjuna wanted revenge, to kill Jayadratha
• Satyaki slew Bhirishrava
• Krishna drove Arjuna through the crowds
• Krishna cast a dark cloud over the sun to make everyone think it was night (they stop battling at night), so it made Karna back off from Arjuna so Krishna then drove him further to find Jayadratha and a little sunlight came out and Arjuna cut off his head
• They kept fighting in the night
• Arjuna called for a truce so they could all sleep, they all slept on the battlefield
• Ghatokacha, rakshasa son of Bhima, was slain by Karna
• Bhima tricked Drona that his son, Ashwatthaman had died (he was his reason for never dying)
• Dhrishtadyumna, Pandava general, cut Drona's head off when he was trying to regain his thoughts
• Next morning, Karna became leader of Duryodhana'a army
• Bhima killed Duhshasana, who shamed Draupadi during the gambling match, and drank his blood because he had vowed too
• Arjuna and Karna fought
• Arjuna ended up killing his own brother, Karna, with a crescent arrow
• Kauravas flew when Karna died, their army was small
• 18th day of battle, Duryodhana took his mace and hid in a lake (could stay underwater for however long he wanted because of a charm)
• Of all the Kaurava heroes, only Ashwathamana, son of Drona, Kripa, Kritavarman, and Duryodhana remained
• Bhima found Duryodhana, Yudhishthira told him to come out and fight
• Duryodhana wanted the war to be fought one by one and then he'd fight everyone
• Bhima threatened to come get him
• Duryodhana came out and fought when Bhima (equals with the mace)
• Duryodhana died to Bhima when he struck and broke his knee
• While Duryodhana was dying, he gave permission to Ashwatthaman to attack the Pandavas while they were sleeping with Kripa and Kritavarman
• Ashwatthaman encountered Shiva, deity, and he worshiped him by throwing his own body into the flames, Shiva was propitiated, Shiva entered Ashwatthaman's body and allowed him to continue
• He killed Dhristadyumna and Shikhandin
• Draupadi's brother and her five sons were all slain too
• Ashhwatthaman is a brahmin and Vishnu, the greatest of gods, will punish him so they do not get revenge, except they steal his jewel from his head that protected him from hunger, thirst, animals, etc. 
• The heroes got funerals, everyone else was burned on the battlefield
• Yudhishthira became king
• Krishna died
• After Krishna died, Pandavas and Draupadi decided to leave earth, leaving the kingdom to Parikshit, Arjuna's grandson
• Yudhisthira constancy was tested first by sending him to hell where he thought his wife and brothers were, he was going to stay to comfort them, so he passed and was sent to "heaven" where they were
• Yudhisthira, brothers, Draupadi, and others went to "heaven" and became celestials

Yudhishthira's Constancy Test, Wikimedia Commons.

Bibliography

Public Domain Edition Mahabharata, link to reading.

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part C

• For 12 years the Pandavas and Draupadi, and Dhaumya lived in the forest with a pot that always had food (gift from sun god)
• Krishna came and Draupadi told them about how she had been dared to claim by Duryodhana but her husbands did nothing. Krishna said she would see the wives of the men who did this lament over their fallen husbands
• Holy man advised that Arjuna go to the mountains alone and fast and pray for her would get the vision of the Great God and be all powerful
• while Arjuna was gone, he shot an arrow at a boar at the same time as a Huntsman
• Arjuna wanted to fight for it but all of his arrows did nothing to the Huntsman
• He said "lets wrestle then!" and he turned back to his worship
• Great God (Huntsman) was pleased and offered him weapons (like powers, not physical weapons)
• also gave him Gandiva the divine bow
• Arjuna's father is Indra btw
• Indra, king of gods, Varuna, god of waters, Yama, king of the dead, and Kubera, lord of treasures gave him celestial weapons
• Indra sent Arjuna to Swarga, Indra's city
• Urcashi cursed Arjuna to spend 5 years to be a dancer and musician with no women
• He also trained with the new weapons
• Arjuna fought some underworld people, Indra was proud and gave him war shell that gave forth a mighty blast like of thunder
• Arjuna returned to the others
• Bhima was getting flowers for Draupadi when he came across Hanuman
• Bhima and Hanuman were both sons of the god Vayu
• Gandharvas and asparas were staying in the forest too close (home of Dhritarashtra and Duryodhana, Hastinapura), big battle, Duryodhana and others got captured, some ran
• Some of the people that ran found the Pandavas and told them
• Arjuna and Bhima went and fought the gandharavas, they released their prisoners, Duryodhana was humbled
• Duryodhana was going to die in solitude but the daityas and danavas (which would be weakened if he died?) sent a goddess to say that she would help fight the Pandavas, so he returned to Hastinapura
• Bhima was pissed, told Duryodhana that he would end them all
• Karna vowed to kill Arjuna
• Indra disguised himself to try and take Karna's earrings and armor of invincibility, Karna caught on
• They traded and Indra gave him one invincible dart, Vasava, comes back to you too
• If you shoot it while angry or not in peril, it will come back and kill you, could only kill one powerful foe, can kill hundreds or normal enemies
• Jayadratha stole Draupadi
• Bhima found him and cut off his hair and he had to prostrate himself?!
• The brothers went to drink from a pond but a voice said answer my questions first but they ignored and all died except Yudhishthira, he answered all the riddles and the voice was Dharma, god of wisdom and justice, his sire, he gave him to wishes.
• Yudhishthira wished for his brothers to be alive again and they all have the power to remain unrecognized by anyone for a year
• They went to Virata to be concealed
• Bhima killed a crazy prince, Kichaka, that tried to rape Draupadi
• After Kichaka was killed, the Rajah of Trigartis plotted with the Karuravas to attack Virata
• Arjuna defeated/scared the Kauravas when they tried to attack the south, took their royal clothes
• Pandavas brethren revealed to the Rajah of Virata who they were
• Pandavas exile is over
• Rajah of Virata said he would help to get back the kingdom for the Kauravas
• Duryodhana and Arjuna both went to Dwaraka to get allegiance from Krishna
• He said one could have an army of 10 million mighty soldiers or have aid of Krishna but he would not fight
• Arjuna got to pick first and he picked Krishna (hopefully a good choice)
• He wanted Krishna for the fame, not for help to fight, Krishna will be his charioteer
• Krishna tried to ask for peace, Duryodhana wanted nothing to do with it
• Kunti told Karna that she was his mom and asked to not fight against his brothers but he remained loyal to Duryodhana
• At dawn the armies were ready to battle
• Karna said he would not fight unless Bhishma died, then he would fight Arjuna
• Arm of the pandavas was led by Dhrishtadyumna, son of Dupada and brother of Draupadi
• Arjuna's 2 sons fought too, Abhimanyu (mother was Krishna's sister Subhadra) and Iravat (mother was Ulupi the serpent nymph, daughter of the king of the nagas)
• Bhima's rakshasa son fought too
• Yudhishthira went before the Karuavas army and asked permission from Bhishma and Drona if he could fight them (ok?) and then he asked if anyone wanted to come back with him
• Duryodhana's half brother, Yuyutsu left with Yudhishthira
• Battle lasted all day, Kauravas had advantage by evening because of Bhishma's prowess
• Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna, "cut down the ensign of his [Bhishma] chariot"
• At the end of the day, Arjuna and Bhishma battled but Bhishma retreated, Arjuna followed him and killed "the Kaurava host"?
• 2nd day: Bhishma attacked again, Arjuna drove him back
• 3rd day: Pandavas advanced in crescent formation and drove back Kaurava army
• many people died
• 4th: Bhima was hero
• 5th: Arjuna and Bhima advanced in triumph until they were held back by Drona
• 6th: Arjuna's son rescued Drupada and Bhima from nearly being killed, they had got surrounded
• 7th: Bhishma went crazy. no one could stop him, numbers of Yudhishthira were cut down, Kauravas thought they were going to win
• 8th: Bhishma advanced but his charioteer was killed and the steeds took off, Kaurava army was confused. Pandavas made huge advances. then 6 Gandhari princes advanced to beat them back, they wanted to slay Iravat. Iravat killed 5 of them but the 6th killed him
• Arjuna was grieved, his other son Ghatotkacha with his other rakshasas went forth. Duryodhana sent elephants but they cleared them
• Bhishma knows it is not going to end well, he even had warned Duryodhana

Krishna in the Kauravas Court

Bibliography

Public Domain Edition Mahabharata, link to reading.

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part B

• Vidura (brother of Pandu and Dhritarashtra) caught on to Duryodhana's plan
• Sent for a miner, he snuck in and he built a tunnel in the floor of the palace into the woods
• Seems kind of silly, why not just fight or refuse to go inside?
• They escaped into the woods but Bhima wanted to go back and get revenge on Purochana (evil captain/guard)
• He set fire to his guard-house and he died
• A wind blew the flame to the palace where a homeless mother and her 5 sons had snuck into it to stay the night, they all died so it looked like Kunti and the Pandavas died, rumor spread back to Hastinapura, Duryodhana and Dhritarashtra thought their plan worked
• Bhima carried everyone through the forest
• Evil Rakasha, Hidimba, found them sleeping was hungry so sent his sister to slay them
• She fell in love with Bhima, turned into beautiful human and told him of her brother's plan
• Hidimba came pissed, fought with Bhima
• Bhima broke his back and killed him
• Bhima married her (does she not have a name?) because she begged and promised that she would protect them
• Had a child, Ghatotkacha
• Returned to Kunti and the Pandavas but Bhima, her and her son left, but he promised to aid them whenever they called
• Kunti and the brothers were at Ekachakra where they were begging for food, disguised as brahmins
• Some evil chief, Baka, was demanding food and a human every week from a different house in the town every week, Kunti wished that Bhima was there and he would take care of the problem, he appeared
• Bhima went with the sacrifice and killed Baka easily
• Kunti and brothers went to a festival/tournament to win Draupadi, beautiful woman with interesting birth (out of fire with a brother) princess of Panchala
• To win her, you must shoot an arrow through a wheel on a high pole and kill a goldfish through the eye with a really strong bow
• most couldn't even pull the bow
• Arjuna did it
• They came home and had to decide what brother would get her (obviously Arjuna right?)
• Draupadi is actually reincarnation of woman that was promised 5 husbands in her next life (prayed for a husband 5 times) 
• They returned home and given a section of land, built a city, Indraprastha
• They made a rule that if one brother was sitting next to Draupadi and another brother entered the room, he would have to go into exile for 12 years (kind of ridiculous)
• Arjuna got exiled and met Ulupi, daughter of Vasuki kind of the nagas, had a child Iravat, and she gave him the power to be invisible in water
• He went into a river, after warnings not to from holy men, alligator bit his leg
• He dragged it to shore and it really was a girl that was cursed (and 4 others) because she tried to make a holy man sin
• Curse broken by Arjuna dragging her to shore
• He broke the curse for all 5 girls, they left through the water
• He married a woman in Manipur, stayed for 3 years, had a son, and left
• Arjuna went to Dwaraka, stole away Krishna's sister, Subhadra. Krishna told him to abduct her because that was the advice from the sages?
• Balarama (brother?) was pissed and said he's slay Arjuna and his brothers
• Ended up sending messengers to ask him to return so they could be married there, they did
• His exile was over so he went home
• Draupadi had a son for each husband (5)
• Subhadra has one son, Abhimanyu
• Arjuna helped brahmin Maya eat the forest so he built the Pandavas an amazing palace, made Durodhana jealous (he's jealous all the time)
• Yudhishthira claimed himself supreme monarch over everyone everywhere after Pandavas defeated anyone that would not follow him
• Yudhishthira played a gambling dice game against Duryodhana but Shakuni played for him (evil plan by Duryodhana because Shakuni had loaded dice) and Yuhishthira lost everything, kingdom and all even Draupadi, to Duryodhana
• Draupadi wished and Dhritarashtra granted that Yudhishthira would not be called a slave and that Arjuna and Bhima and their younger brothers be set free, so they went back home
• Played dice again so the brothers would have to go into exile for 12 years (Duryodhana trying to avoid a war)

The Swayamvara of Draupadi, Wikipedia.

Bibliography

Public Domain Edition Mahabharata, link to reading.

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part A

• Uparichara's semen fell into a river (how does that even happen? lol) and then gets a fish pregnant (GROSS) with a son and daughter
• Ganga agreed to marry King Shantanu as long as he didn't speak mean to her and let her do what she wanted
• Ganga had 7 babies that she immediately threw in the river, King was horrified but didn't say anything
• He finally spoke up so their marriage vows were broken and she left, but brought him Devavrata, a son, then left again
• The fish daughter, Satyavati, looked human but smelled bad, the brahmin Parashara saw her and said if you have my child I will make you a virgin again and make you smell good (this is weird so far)
• The fisherman wouldn't let king Shantanu marry her because Davavrata would already be heir to the thrown, so if Satyavati had any sons, they would have not claim to it, King left heavy hearted
• Davavrata went to the fisherman and said that he would renounce his claim to the thrown so Satyavati could marry his father, the heavens decided to rename Davavrata --> Bhishma
• King and Satyavati had 2 sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya
• Shantanu died
• Chitrangada pronoucned king, he declared war on Gandhari and died, short reign
• Vichitravirya became king, but was too young so Bhishma ruled for a while
• Bhishma heard of a tournament for some brides, wanted to get one of Vichitravirya
• Bhishma had to battle a bunch of guys to prove he should have them
• Bhishma was an archer (wasn't Rama an archer too?)
• He defeated everyone, took the 3 princesses back to Hastinapura to his mom (Satyavati)
• Amba, the oldest princess, confessed that she is betrothed to another King (of the Shalwas)
• She went to the king but he showed no interest in her, he cast her away
• Now she has no where to go because she is embarrassed 
• Now she wants to kill Bhishma (but why? kind of silly) 
• She prayed and fasted until Shiva (Great God) appeared and declared she shall slay Bhishma
• She started a fire and entered it while saying "I do this for the destruction of Bhishma" (still not quite sure what her deal is with Bhishma)
• Satyavati thought of her son Vyasa so he appeared
• Ambika had a blind son Dhritarashtra
• Ambalika had a pale son, Pandu
• Ambika sent her handmaiden to Vyasa so he could have his own son, Vidura (incarnation of Dharma, God of Justice)
• Bhishma helped raise the 3 sons, picked Pandu as king
• Pandu married 2 wives: Kunti and Madri
• Kunti had a son, Karna, son of the sun god, that had chain male and earrings when he was born, she was embarrassed so sent him in a basket down the river. Radha, of Anga, found him after praying for a son and adopted him
• Pandu ruled greatly and after a long time he retired with his wives to the forest to hunt deer
• One day he shot 2 deer but they were actually a holy brahmin and his wife. the brahmin cursed Pandu, that he would die in the arms of one of his wives, before he died
• Pandu had 5 sons (some think they aren't actually his sons, that gods were the fathers) called the Pandava Brothers
• Randomly died in Madri's arms
• Madri killed herself in the fire of his funeral to be with him
• Dhritarashtra became king
• Had a wife Ganhari, they had 100 sons (Dangggg)
• Eldest was Duryodhana, he came out kicking and screaming like crazy. Dhritarashtra didn't want to abandon him like he had be counseled, he would turn evil
• Kunti returned home with their 3 sons and so all the children were reared together in the palace
• Of the Pandavas, Bhima was most powerful. Duryodhana, leader of the Kauravas (the 100 sons) was jealous
• Duryodhana tried to poison Bhima, thought he was dead so Duryodhana bound his hands and feet and threw him in the Ganges
• Nagas attacked him in the water, but their poison counteracted the other poison (seems a little far fetched)
• He broke his ties and he was in the city of serpents, underworld, king Vasuki (of the nagas) 
• Aryaka, great grandpa of Kunti, welcomed himand gave him gifts, given strength of 1000 nagas
• Came home and told brothers, they said to not tell the Kauravas (cousins)
• Bhishma found Drona
• He helped trained the princes but only if we then are trained they will help fight Drona's enemy, Drupada, his son also trained with them, Ashwatthaman
• Drona liked the Pandavas the best, and Arjuna out of them the best
• Bhima and Duryodhana were in a tournament but it turned serious
• Arjuna joined in
• Thought Arjuna was going to win but Karna showed up
• Duryodhana hugged Karna after he showed his great skills and called him brother
• Arjuna was pissed
• Kunti was divided. Duryodhana and his band stood by Karna, Arjuna was supported by Drona and Bhishma
• Duryodhana proclaimed Karna the Rajah of Anga
• Became besties
• Duryodhana no longer feared Arjuna because he had Karna
• Pandavas and Karuavas are now warriors, Drona wants them to fight for him now against Drupada
• They did not want to work together so the Kauravas attacked first
• Kauravas were defeated
• Pandavas attacked 
• Arjuna seized Drupada
• Drupada and Drona became friends because Drona forgave him. (What? All that for that?)
• Drona took possession of half of the kingdom (Panchala)
• Drupada wants to defeat him tho, but he needs a son who could do it
• Pandavas defeated near by kings, so kept expanding the new kingdom
• Duryodhana was jealous of pandavas
• King Dhritarashtra names Yudhishthira king, made Duryodhana even more jealous
• He lied to his father that the Pavanas were planning on killing him, he believed him
• Duryodhana planned to make a palace made of wood with wood furniture covered in oil so it could burn and get the Pavanas and their mom 
• King consented
• Duryodhana got a evil gaurd to accompany them to go to the new palace, and he promised to set in on fire when they were sleeping

Bhima Fighting the Nagas, Wikipedia.

Bibliography

Public Domain Edition Mahabharata, link to reading.

Reading Notes: Sita Sings the Blues, Part B

• Sita is pregnant and gets banished because people thought she was impure so he couldn't be respected
• Maybe make a story with Sita falling in love with Hanuman when he comes to save her, still doesn't go with him because she is married and wants to wait for Rama but whenever Rama decides he doesn't want her anymore, she goes with Hanuman?
• Nina back at home in San Fran by herself
• Sita has twin boys
• Guy in the forest (name?) teaches the boys the songs of Rama (kind of weird and ironic) since he banished their mother ("Duty first, Sita Last" haha)
• If Rama was so mean to Sita, why did he still want him so bad?
• Why does Sita need to prove her purity again? 
• And why did Sita say if I AM pure, take me down into Mother Earth? she should have said if I am NOT pure, something will happen to me..
• See Rama, she's pure? Do you feel like a poop head now?
• She goes into the Earth, and no on knows what to do (lol, oops)
• I guess Dave never took Nina back, she worked in NYC by herself

  

  Sita with Hanuman

Bibliography

Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley, Youtube.

Reading notes: Sita Sings the Blues, Part A

• modern family in san Francisco, Nina and Dave
• Dave gets job in India and leaves
• Why is Rama blue? The other brothers aren't.
• Ayodhya
• Comical version
• "Instead of crowning you king, you are exiled for 14 years"
• Rama and Sita so in love, even with monsters all around
• Rama slays them with ease
• His brother did not go with him in the forest in this version
• Ravana steals Sita, he doesn't seem so bad except that
• Sister of Ravana tells him that Rama is killing all his rakashas, tells him how beautiful Sita is
• Deer form still used to distract Rama, leaves Sita in hut
• If Rama can slay all kinds of rakashas, why can't he capture one deer?
• "What wouldn't I do for that man? I'll make sure he never doubts me" Foreshadowing?
• Ravana takes Sita, takes her to Lanka, drops jewelry (how much jewelry does she have??)
• Hanuman born to meet Rama, he meets Rama as his own self and offers himself as servant to Rama
• Dave's contract gets extended, suggests Nina come to India
• Hanuman goes to Lanka
• Sita won't give in to Ravana, he's shocked, gives her 2 months to decide to marry him or die
• Sita has powers to reduce someone to ash but she won't because Rama didn't tell her too?? She should have just beat Ravana as he was trying to take her in the first place if she has her own powers
• Hanuman gets tail set on fire and sets fire to the town, then leaps back to Rama
• Why couldn't she just go with Hanuman then Rama can defeat Ravana later if needed
• Nina goes to India to be with Dave, he says no kissing in public, and doesn't want to "do it" that night either
• Hanuman gets all the monkeys to go to Lanka, crossed the sea
• Seems the monkeys are winning pretty easily
• Rama shoots Ravana's many heads with arrows
• Rama dismisses Sita because he doesn't know if she is pure anymore
• Ravana never forced himself on Sita, only would if she came willingly 
• She was going to kill herself, but she believed her because she passed the test, they are back together
• Nina gets paid to fly to NY for her job
• 14 years over, went back home

Can't Have the Rainbow Without the Rain (still from Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley)

Bibliography

Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley, Youtube.

Reading Notes: Public Domain Edition Ramayana, Part D

All notes are in characters names and ideas for my story. 

• Hard for all the people to get to (City)
• Tried to trick Sara that they had killed Rory?
• Really really big fight
• Rex and his people had weird/new weapons, being tricky
• A lot of Rory's people were hurt, fight stopped for a little bit
• A doctor, Greg, came to heal them? 
• Fighting continued
• Rex had a really big dude that was crazy strong and only wanted blood, hurt Heath and took Seth
• Rory shot the big dude in the head
• Rory sent sign of defeat (white flag)
• Larry kills Rex's son, Ian
• Rex almost killed Larry, every one thought he was dead but he awoke and had only a small wound
• The battle didn't stop for a long while and different sorts of people from around (City) helped him to defeat Rex.
• Rory got in a car and sped through the town right towards Rex and at the last second before Rex could jump away, Rory pulled out a revolver out of the car window and shot him once in the head.
• He died right there.
• Everyone rejoiced because of how horrible Rex was. They all welcomed and applauded Rory
• Rex's "wife" sobbed for his passing
• (Rama sent Hanuman to tell Sita to bathe and get new clothes before coming to see her?? (Kind of RUDE) like hello, I've been waiting for you to save me and you want me to shower first before I get to see you?
• (WHAT. Rama doesn't want Sita now because she's been held in another person's house?????)
• (He thinks she is impure now? So she plans on killing herself because she cannot live without him)
• Someone from Rex's group could tell Rory that she fought against him the whole time and never once did anything unhonorably, she stayed true to him the whole time
• So he took her back (still think its RUDE)
• They returned to Chicago to his home, he found out his father and died but his other brother, Bill waited to see if they would ever return, he gave Rory the deed to the house (after 14 months maybe? 14 years would seem really excessive in modern day)
• People looked at Sara in a bad way because they thought she had been unclean (find another way to say this in modern language without being gross) so Rory sent her away and she ended up staying with a man that found Sara when she was just born in a basket outside (parents abandoned her, this guy was basically her dad but not really) and had 2 sons (Rory's)
• 16 years (might change that) Rory ran into his sons but did not know who they were but they looked a lot like him so asked who their parents were and they say Sara but idk dad
• (Sita ends up coming back but got taken abode the nagas because of her purity, weird, so she's in heaven?)
• Might end my story with her dying or her basically saying screw you to Rory
• (Rama died 1000 years later)
• Might have him living till he was old and forever thought of Sara?

Ravana Losing his Heads

Bibliography

Public Domain Edition Ramayana

Reading Notes: Public Domain Ramayana, Part C

• Continuing last week's story
• Maybe have some background info that Rory is ex-military, very strong and tactical
• Sugriva had Hanuman (monkey) disguise himself to ask what the brothers were doing wandering fully armed
• Sugriva had the same things happen to him, exile, wife taken, and been troubled by a brother
• Maybe Rory will meet someone (Seth?) along the way trying to look for Sara, that also had his wife taken by a different pimp (Victor?)
• He feels bad for Seth? so he helps him out
• Seth was fist fighting with the pimp Victor when Rory shoots Victor and kills him
• People sad that Victor died
• Seth (and his friend Heath) promised he'd help Rory find Sara
• Since they killed Victor, all of his men and captured women were happy, so they all agreed to help find Sara, they looked and asked around every where but couldn't find her
• Jason's crippled brother, Sam knows what city she has been taken too
• Helped Sam somehow, told him about Jason's death
• Heath goes to (City) to Rex's house, quietly breaks in, can't find Sara
• Even went into his room
• Other ladies there
• Found her with gaurds, she threatened Rex that Rory was coming for her, but he threatened to kill her if he didn't show up
• (Stupid that Sita wouldn't go with Hanuman because she didn't want to touch another guy except Rama)
• Heath was happy that he found her but decided it wasn't enough so he destroyed some property
• Heath was captured and taken to Rex
• Didn't kill him but hurt him (burned him, broke an arm/leg?)
• or thought they did
• Set some of the city/Rex's compound on fire? and hurt people
• Went back and told Rory, all went to (City)
• Rex's younger brother, Vince, thought they should just give Sara back and not fight Rory and all the men and women that were enraged after being captive by another pimp (they wanted to end it all)
• Vince joined Rory's team

Hanuman and the rakshasi

Bibliography

Public Domain Edition Ramayana

Reading Notes: Public Domain Ramayana, Part B

• Kind of crazy to lay down and mourn for 10 days straight
• Why does Rama feel he needs to keep his promise to be exiled after his father died?
• I would probably just have him return if Bharata wants him to come back so bad and is okay with it.
• Everyone wants Rama to return anyway
• Could Rama, Site, and Lakshman not have just said there were in the forest but found a city or some place to stay until they came back?
• Rama is a beast. He defeated an army of 14 thousand of rakshasas by himself 
• Isn't it convenient that someone showed up right when Lakshmana left to check on Rama. Site should have stayed with Lakshmana to see if Rama was okay.
• Smart that Sita dropped her jewelry as Ravana flew off with her to leave a trail for Rama to find. 
• If they encountered this much trouble all the time, they should have gone back home or found some where safe to stay.
• If the brothers were so powerful and so many people knew of them, you would think this would not be this hard to find her.
• In part a reading notes, I had said I liked the poetry and thought about using it, but I changed my mind.
• It is much harder to follow when it is written as poetry
• Much easier when it is just in a story form.
• There are already too many names and words that are specific to this story that you have to remember.
• I want to keep the names/details/etc simple and easy to remember
• I have had to go back multiple times to figure out who people are

The Golden Deer (Maricha), Source: Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues

Bibliography

Public Domain Ramayana, link to the reading online.

Reading Notes: Public Domain Ramayana, Part A

• Beautiful temples, palaces, birds and flowers, lake
• Solar Kings? Solar Dynasty?
• Fire guards (people literally on fire or maybe had powers with fire?) around Maharajah Dasharatha's palace
• Weird to sacrifice a living creature to get a son
• Made horse walk around for a year before ritual
• (later realized that it was given a year to be free with protection before the sacrifice)
• All four of his sons (promised by the gods) was in fact one god born on Earth (like Jesus?) but in four parts to defeat another god
• Ocean of Milk
• Interesting that someone can be invulnerable to gods and demons but is totally vulnerable to humans and monkeys
• Raining flowers
• Men (2 of the sons and another) had to be sent to defeat a woman (how strong is she?)
• She can throw boulders, so probably pretty strong
• she could make stones rain
• Sounded like she was defeated a little too easy though
• Very powerful weapons appear when you need them (Harry Potter?)
• Oh my gosh, a mother of 60,000 men?? (hopefully metaphorically and not actually)
• Roar --> turn people to ash
• People living for thousands of years
• Takes forever to do anything in these stories
• Water must flow over ashes for people to go to heaven (seems kind of silly)
• "Ahalya" story is a poem (maybe could try that in some writing)
• Why would you say when the curse could be broken? Wouldn't you want them to be cursed forever with no end in sight?
• I would never want to get back together with someone that cursed me for years and years.
• Could maybe tell a different version where she didn't get back together with her husband or he only cursed the trickery man and not his wife too
• Rama knew he was going to love Sita before he even saw her, he only hear the bells around her feet (love at first sound?)
• A bow so strong (and huge) that powerful men and gods can't even bend it
• I like where men are given tests to see if they are worthy to marry the woman they are after
• A possible really messed up ending: instead of the bow breaking, he shot off the arrow and it actually struck Sita
• Weird to have so many weddings on one day
• Could have a switch where Dasharatha names one of the ladies the new heir instead of Rama (his oldest son)
• Probably just deny her wishes and let Kaikeyi poison herself instead of exile Rama

Rama, Site, and Lakshmana

Bibliography

Public Domain Ramayana, link to the reading online.