Indian Epics Journal

Maya showing gratefulness to Arjuna and Krishna. Source: Wikipedia . PDE Mahabharata: The Burning of the Forest Source. The Mahabharata, A Summary by John Mandeville Macfie (1921). Reading notes focused on character of Mayasura and Vidura. Mayasura - An article with more background information than the Mahabharata contains. Agni, the fire god, requested for Arjuna and Krishna to defeat the god, Indra. This is because everytime Agni would ignite a fire in the forest, Indra would cause heavy rain to extinguish the fire.  After a great battle, Agni burned the Kandava forest with a fire, which killed most of the residing animals. Mayasura is one of the creatures that escaped the fire.  He became incredibly grateful to Krishna from saving his life perishing flames. Because of this, Mayasura promised Arjun and Krishna to build a great palace, as he was the “divine architect of the gods.”  Duryodhana grew jealous of the increasingly prosperous Pandavas.  Mayasura eventually co

Public Domain Edition of Mahabharata by Arnold , Besant , Devee , Dutt , Ganguli , Kincaid , Macfie , Mackenzie , Nivedita , Seeger , and Tagore . I started my story planning by doing some research separately on King Shantanu and Satyavati . I found some interesting Wikipedia articles that contained general background information on both of these characters. The first article is helpful because it follows the chronological order of the Mahabharata text and there is a portion about Ganga, King Shantanu's wife, who abandoned him. Devavrata is described in this article too, which may be useful if I go on to tell the story about how he does not became the next in line for Shantanu's throne. There's an information-filled website on the history of Indian mythology and more about Satyavati. I also browsed Youtube and found a video narrating Satyavati’s birth from the river. When I took more detailed notes this time around, I focused on Satyavati's birth. King Chedi

Public Domain Edition of Mahabharata by  Arnold , Besant , Devee , Dutt , Ganguli , Kincaid , Macfie , Mackenzie , Nivedita , Seeger , and Tagore . Vyasa and Ganesha: Vyasa is the author of the Mahabharata and ordered god Ganesha to write down this story, which contained all the information that needed to be known about Earth and heaven. He set in stone that Ganesha would record everything effortlessly and he ordered told Vaishampayan, who performed the sacred snake sacrifice subsequently. This was conducted by the King of Hastinapura, Janamejaya, who is related to Vyasa. The story of Vyasa’s birth: The King of Chedi, Uparichara, was very powerful; so powerful, the gods feared he would conquer them. They ordered Indra to gift him a one-of-a-kind flying crystal car. One day, while the king was flying in the skies, a droplet of his semen fell into the river. A fish swallowed this, which gave rise to a boy and girl. The girl was left with the fisherman to be raised. Later named Satyava

Greetings! Here's a link to my project, which focuses on timeless love stories. All comments are welcome. Blinded by timeless love. Source: Deviant Art.

Rama's love for Sita was infinite and his plans to protect this were unstoppable. Source: Wikimedia Commons . After fourteen extensive years of living in exile, Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana return to the motherland of Ayodhya. The entire kingdom is overjoyed and cheering for the victorious three, especially for the return of Dasharatha’s favorite son. Rama receives the greatest praise ever known as he deservedly is crowned King. The celebrations seemed never-ending, as Ayodhya was the most blissful ever. Everything was lined up for a happily ever after until… A couple of weeks went until Rama announced with great pleasure that Sita was expecting. Much to the newly-crowned king’s surprise, the people reacted with disgust. Hideous rumors began circulating the kingdom that Sita had been an unfaithful wife when she was under in Ravana’s capture. Sita felt utterly dejected by the flood of attacks and accusations of venomous scandals. She finally put an end to leaving the palace, fea

Ramayana by  M. Dutt ,  R. Dutt ,  Gould ,  Griffith ,  Hodgson ,  Mackenzie ,  Nivedita ,  Oman ,  Richardson , and  Ryder   Sita is sent into exile by Rama. Source: Wikimedia Commons. The Bridge In order to get to Ravana’s kingdom of Lanka, Rama had to leap over the ocean. So he prayed to the God of the Ocean so that he would be able to accomplish this without being devoured by ocean demons. The King of the Ocean instructed Nala, the son of Vishwakarman, to form a bridge for Rama’s army of monkeys to cross the deep. The beautiful green bridge was set in rocky islands and it was named Rameshwaram.   Rama Attacks Rama and his army arrive at Lanka. Ravana has powers of illusion and uses them on Rama. Monkeys roared with fierce aggression against the rakshasas. The monkeys advised Ravana to surrender Sita, to which he refused. Ravana created the illusion that Rama was slain in the war and brought a semblance of his head and bow to Sita, who was grieving in extreme. Bu

Two fighting brothers, Vali and Sugriva. Source: Wikimedia Commons .  Surya, the God of Sun had two sons: Sugriva, and his elder power-hungry brother, Vali. Over their young years, Vali grew increasingly jealous of the charming and handsome Sugriva, who women always desired. Vali thought to himself, “They will surely desire me once I am the King!” Soon enough, upon the end of Surya’s reign, Vali was overjoyed to rule the kingdom of Kishkindha. Sugriva, during this time, fell in love with the beautiful Ruma. However, Ruma’s father did not approve of Sugriva for his daughter but actually favored unmarried Vali, whose prediction became a reality. Sugriva begged Vali not to accept the offering to wed Ruma, the woman he adored. Vali refused and exclaimed, “Finally! I have everything and you are just left with your looks!” The heartbroken Sugriva prayed and prayed that a miracle of some sort would prevent the marriage between Vali and Ruma. One day, a vicious demon attacked Vali and dra

Ramayana by  M. Dutt ,  R. Dutt ,  Gould ,  Griffith ,  Hodgson ,  Mackenzie ,  Nivedita ,  Oman ,  Richardson , and  Ryder   link The controversial and in some perspectives, dishonorable, death of Vali. Source: Wikipedia . Sugriva and Hanuman Sugriva: monkey-king living in exile from evil brother Vali, who captured Surgriva’s wife. Hanuman: monkey-god   Rama and Lakshmana wanted to approach Sugriva in hopes that he could help them on their quest to save Sita. Sugriva was alarmed because he is living in exile so he doesn’t want random strangers looking for him. So Sugriva tells Hanuman to ask them what they want without revealing his identity. Hanuman was overjoyed when he realized Rama and Lakshmana came with good intentions. After asking them about their presence wandering in the jungle, Hanuman accepted their request to help protect themselves under Sugriva and responding the similarities between Rama and Sugriva: both are living in exile and both had wives taken fro

Ramayana by  M. Dutt ,  R. Dutt ,  Gould ,  Griffith ,  Hodgson ,  Mackenzie ,  Nivedita ,  Oman ,  Richardson , and  Ryder   link Dasharatha's funeral rituals performed mainly by Bharata. Source: pinterest . Bharata Returns I think It’s interesting how Bharata wept when he heard Dasharatha had died but Kaikeyi was not visibly upset. Bharata is especially upset because not only is his father gone but his brother is also not in the kingdom.   Dasharatha’s Funeral   Bharata plays a significant role performing the funeral rituals for his father and the story notes how he was “burning with grief.” He was the most skilled in speech and thus, was expected to perform the last rites. He notes how while he was gone, a lot of significant change took place, such as the banishment of Rama which was accompanied by Lakshmana. He then compares the city to being deprived of the moon.   Rama and Bharata Bharata wants to bring Rama back to the city of Ayodha. He meets him in the

Preschoolers and Praise: What kind of messages help kids grow? I learned from this article about how the language pre-schoolers receive when given feedback shapes how they grow and adopt their self-concepts. This is relatable because as college students, we are similarly very new to figuring things out so any feedback we receive affects how we move forward. I think it's interesting how the article mentions it's more helpful to tie a praise to what someone actually accomplished. For instance, instead of simply saying "Good job!", saying "Nice work coloring the page with different colors!" will encourage someone for the future. Also, using the word yet at the end of a child's frustration can help them build confidence to try again until he or she succeeds. Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a Growth Mindset I think this article was informative and quite interesting with providing five qualities that result from being a mirror when giving

For my project, I think it would be fun to approach storytelling on the origins of Lord Ganesha with special emphasis on the all the sweets he adored. I found sources with interesting stories and general information I thought would be useful before crafting a narrative.  1. Tales of Ancient India by Edmund Charles link This book focuses a chapter on the origin of Ganesha. It is revealed that before him, gods and men acted upon anything their hearts desired. Prayers were chanted to Siwa to create a being who will reassess an evil thought before it transforms into an evil action. Ganesha was then born as Lord of Wisdom. 2. Mythological Anecdotes of Ganesha  link   This article tells multiple tales of how Lord Ganesha got his elephant head.  Decapitation by Lord Shiva:  There's the decapitation during which Lord Shiva fought Ganesha because he would not let anyone pass and see his mother, who instructed her son to do so. So Ganesha was decapitated and when it was revealed that h