Indian Epics Journal

Krishna refused to be nursed by Putana. Source: Wikimedia Commons . A heavenly voice prophesied that Devaki's eighth son will slay King Kansa, so when Krishna was born, as an avatar of the god Vishnu, he was transported to Gokul. Here, Nanda and Yashoda became Krishna's foster parents. In response to hearing the eighth son was born, King Kansa ordered a rakshasi, named Putana, to disguise herself as Yashoda and pretend to be Krishna's foster mother. Putana arrived and kidnapped the real Yashadoa, who she hid far away from Gokul. Then, she returned to the home where Krishna dwelt. Putana tried to nurse him with poisoned milk, but the wise infant-god realized she was not his beloved foster mother, Yashoda. He cries and refuses to be nursed by Putana. Putana acts oblivious and in disguise, she tells Nanda, and asks him to leave Gokul so that she can bond with Krishna. While she's away, Krishna kills Putana, who as he assumed, is an ugly demon. Soon after, Yashoda ...

Shri Krishna of Dwarka and Other Stories  by C. A. Kincaid (1920),  Krishna and Yashoda, who presumed he was her son. Source: Wikipedia Commons. Chapter 2: Krishna's Childhood Yashoda found Krishna by her side and understandably presumed he was her own son. She loved Krishna with all of her heart. Kansa was incredibly distressed to know the eighth child was born but was not with them. In spire, he called the demons Dhenuka, Keshi, and Pralambasura to join his intent to kill all male children in the kingdom. The entire kingdom was oozing with blood everywhere, following the slaughtering of male children. Prince Vasudeva begged Nanda to take him to Gokula to protect Rohini's son Balarama. In the meantime, when King Kansa had accomplished his intentional massacre, he wished to kill male children outside his borders as well. For this, he called the demon Putana. She disguised herself as a beautiful woman crossing the Yamuuna river. She went from village to village and...

Yudhisthira and Draupadi. Source: Wikipedia . I would like to focus my next story on Yudhisthira's final test before entering heaven. I could focus on writing a love story about his willingness to literally go through hell in order to be with his beloved wife, Draupadi. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913) The Afterlife link Article on Yudhisthira Conceived in a not traditional type of way Test of patience in Hell On reaching heaven, Yudhishthira did not find either his virtuous brothers or his wife Draupadi. Instead, he only saw Duryodhana and his allies. The Gods told him that his brothers were in Naraka, atoning for their sins. Yudhishthira loyally went to Naraka to meet his brothers, but the sight of gore and blood horrified him. After hearing the voices of his beloved brothers and Draupadi calling out to him, asking him to stay with them in their misery, he remained. Yudhishthira ordered the divine charioteer to return. He preferred t...

Yudhisthira and the final test before ascending to the heavens. Source: Wikipedia . The Afterlife Once in heaven, Yudhishthira faced one final test of his virtue: he saw only the Dhartarashtra Clan in heaven, and he was told that his brothers were in hell. He insisted on joining his brothers in hell, if that were the case! It was then revealed that they were really in heaven, that this illusion had been one final test for him. The epitome of all that is virtuous and righteous, Yudhishthira refused Indra’s offer. He said he couldn’t travel to heaven without Draupadi and his brothers. To this, Indra told him that they all ascended to heaven after falling to their deaths. It was a test of dharma and Yudhishthira had once again proved his righteousness by not abandoning people who stayed with him throughout. Yudhisthira loyally went to Naraka (hell) to meet his brothers, but the sights and sounds of gore and blood horrified him. Tempted to flee, he mastered himself and remained o...

Life in the Forest Pandavas go into exile in the deep forest. Yudhisthira sobbed with sorrow as he prayed to brahmins about losing the kingdom. He prayed to the sun god, glorifying all the roles he plays. The sun god, Surya, responded by appearing with a copper pot full of food.  During their time in the forest, the Pandavas and their wife Draupadi experienced beautiful sunshine and also, powerful heavy rains.  Riddles at the Lake Before departing the forest after living twelve years in exile, the Pandava faced quite a disaster.  An animal carried away twigs used to kindle a holy fire. The Pandava desired to kill this animal or at least retrieve the twigs. They grew weary after chasing the animal so they stopped to rest.  Yudhishthira told Nakula to fetch water from a pond they discovered nearby.  Nakula was very thirsty and when he stooped low to take a sip from the pond, he heard a Voice, instructing to answer. But Nakula ignored this, since he was s...

Looking back, I am mostly pleased with my progress in the class so far. Despite this, I know there is aways room for improvement: I could do better in terms of following my weekly routine or at least, creating a realistic schedule. At the beginning of the semester, I spent 2 hours every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to complete the weekly assignments. However, as I got busier, this time would decrease. So I ended up spending less and less time on the assignments. Due to this, I fell behind on some reading assignments. I really appreciate the extra credit opportunities because in cases like falling behind, I can make up for missed assignments. I enjoy the writing assignments the most because they encourage creative writing and thinking.  Looking forward, I hope to be more realistic in following a routine schedule. I need to avoid procrastination, which almost always leads to falling behind and poor performance. I want to try allotting at least an 1.5 hours every Monday, Tuesday...

Comments and feedback are definitely helpful than if I didn't receive anything. I admire the concept of feedforward, which most everyone gives me in their comments. I especially appreciate comments that are specific to exactly how I can improve my stories. For example, reading that my story could use more dialogue is more useful than receiving the feedback that there is not enough information about my character's emotions. I do my best to leave well thought out comments and feedback on the posts of my classmates. The best strategy for this, in my opinion, is thinking about how to improve the post as if it were my own. I try to not be so harsh and just focus on providing helpful comments over criticizing others' posts. When I read my classmates' stories, I am very often inspired by their creative writing skills. I try to improve my own skills as we progress through the weeks. I love how interactive this online course is. I try going to different student's bl...

Wow! I cannot believe half of the semester is over! Reflecting on the previous reading and writing assignments, I have really enjoyed the opportunity to demonstrate creative writing. There are a couple of shortcomings I could work on. For example, I need to do a better job at keeping up with submitting the assignments on time, as procrastination often gets the best of me. I think I could also improve my proofreading and revision skills.  My favorite reading thus far has been the Ramayana. The plot is very original and it is like something I have never read before. I admire how many love stories there are in the Ramayana. The characters are all very different but unified in terms of playing their roles in the telling of the story. My reading notes definitely help me with storytelling because I can look back and refresh myself on the plot. I do my best to record important details in my notes. It helps me when I research background information on the characters in the story t...

My goal to journal more! Source: Flickr . The Neurologists Who Fought Alzheimer's By Studying Nuns' Brains The article presents a study in which participants were nuns exhibiting Alzheimer's disease. They found that nuns who shared written accounts of their lives and personal essays tended not to develop symptoms. Additionally, one particular sister remained intellectually competent and active in her 80s, even with Alzheimer's! This article confirmed my understanding that writing is a useful life skill. Although I was somewhat aware of the beneficial aspects of record keeping, I had no idea of the extent to which these benefits would go to. I think the Alzheimer's study is fascinating, especially how this reveals that everyday writing can help people be cognitively skilled well into older age.  I am curious to explore how journaling may or may not long term influence my mindset. If I journal my experiences encountered everyday and then reflect on these wh...

Some words of inspiration. Source: Flickr . This spring semester is flying by! Unfortunately, I did not have time to do both portions of the reading so I will be making up reading through the extra credit opportunities. My favorite part about the Mahabharata so far is the various characters we meet because they are all so different, yet unified in aspects like intentions or fighting in the war. I think the story I told this week is one of my best works. It might need some editing/revision but I definitely put in 100% when I thought of how to retell the love story of King Shantanu and Satyavati. You can read my story here . I have written a couple of love stories now and I hope to become better at storytelling, rather than just presenting information. I've discovered that in order to write a good story, I need to start early and avoid procrastination. If I experience writer's block, I take a break until I am inspired. This week, I tried writing from the perspective of t...

The beauteous Satyavati rowing the ferryboat. Source:  Wikipedia . Note: The current version can be found on my portfolio here . There was a mighty powerful king named Uparichara, who ruled over the Chedi Kingdom. During a time Uparichara was away from his beloved wife, Girka, he had lascivious dreams about her, resulting in a nocturnal emission. Using the luxurious flying car, gifted to him from Indra, Uparichara wished to send his semen to Girka. However, en route, heavy gusts of wind flipped the crystal car in all directions. At one point, the car was upside-down, causing a drop of semen to fall into the Yamuna river.  A female fish swallowed Uparichari’s semen. Ten months later, this fish gave birth to a beautiful girl with a glowing, golden complexion and large, luminous eyes. The Yamuna river fisherman named her Satyavati, after the fishy smell dispersing from her body. As Satyavati grew up, she became increasingly self-conscious about this permanent body odor b...