Reading Notes, Ramayana Part B

Bharata Returns
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/pde-ramayana-bharata-returns.html
Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

Bharata returns and he is told that his father is dead and that his older brother Rama has been exiled
He is really upset to learn about this news
His mother tries to comfort him by telling him that he is now going to be king
He says he doesn't want to be king but he wants Rama to be king and he sets off to find him and bring him home

Rama and Bharata
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/pde-ramayana-rama-and-bharata.html
Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

Bharata finds Rama and he urges him to come back and take the raj
Rama believes it would be wrong to come back and do that because that wasn't Dasharatha's will
The brahmanic counselor to Dasharatha tries to persuade Rama saying that it doesn't matter anymore now that Dasharatha is dead but Rama stays firm in his belief 


The Sandals 
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/pde-ramayana-bharata-seeks-rama.html
Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

Rama still refuses to take the raj so Bharata goes back to conduct the affairs of the government but he doesn't go back to Ayodhya, he stays outside the city in Nandigram instead. He conducts the affairs but keeps the sandals Rama wore as representation that Bharata is only serving until Rama comes to take his place after the conclusion of the fourteen years. 


Shurpanakha and Lakshmana
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/pde-ramayana-lakshmana-and-surpanakha.html
Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

Shurpanakha is not happy to be rejected and decides that she wants to kill Sita
Sita is protected by Lakshmana and Rama
Shurpanakha ears and nose are cut off and she goes back to her brother named Khara who sends fourteen rakshasas to capture Sita, Rama, and Lakshmana

Shurpanakha and Ravana 
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/pde-ramayana-surpanakha-and-ravana.html
Source. The Iliad of the East: The Ramayana, by Frederika Richardson Macdonald (1886)

Shurpanakha goes to her other brother Ravana to tell him what is happened
He is very angry upon hearing this news and plans to do something about it 

The Golden Deer that is actually Maricha in disguise
Source: http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/pde-ramayana-golden-deer.html

Reading Notes - Ramayana A

Ramayana: King Dasharatha
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/pde-ramayana-king-dasharatha.html
Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

Dasharatha's sons
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/pde-ramayana-getting-of-sons.html
Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

Sita
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/pde-ramayana-parashurama.html
Source. The Divine Archer by F. J. Gould (1911)

Rama Wins Sita
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/pde-ramayana-breaking-shivas-bow.html
Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

Rama and Sita's Wedding
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/pde-ramayana-rama-and-sitas-wedding.html
Source. Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India, condensed into English verse by Romesh Dutt (1899)

Rama the Heir Apparent 
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/pde-ramayana-rama-as-heir-apparent.html
Source. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914)

Rama Goes into Exile
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/pde-ramayana-rama-goes-into-exile.html
Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)


Sita

Daughter of King Janaka
Rama and Sita fall in love forever and ever as soon as they look at each other
On her way back to the palace after she sees Rama for the first time, she prayed to the goddess Bhavani in hopes that they would end up together.
A flower drops from the image of Bhavani and Sita feels a throb in her left side which she takes to mean as Bhavani hearing her prayer.
At night, Rama lifts his eyes to the sky and says, "The queen of night is not so fair as Sita."
The king presents the bow of Shiva to all who hope to marry Sita
Of course Rama is able to bend it and it snaps
Rama and Sita are married, AND all of Ramas brothers marry family of Sita
Sita's sister, Urmila, marries Lakshman (Rama's brother)
Mandavi marries Bharat
Shrutakirti marries Shatrughna

Dasharatha

Spends most of the story trying to have sons so that there will be someone as heir
Now he has four sons because of his sacrifice and he needs to choose one of them
He asks others about their opinion of him making Rama the heir and everyone seems to agree that he is the best choice, it even says they rejoiced at the king's words

Except Manthara is not happy, as she is the mother of Bharata
She convinces Kaikeyi to convince Dasharatha to exile Rama
Rama goes without question because he is obedient to his father
Lakshamana, Sita, and Rama depart
Lakshamana and Rama wear their hair in matted locks and vow to protect Sita and each other
Dasharatha remembers that he was told he would lose a son as karma
Dasharatha becomes more and more upset as the days past and he is inconsolable thinking about Rama being exiled and potentially dying
He says his eyes have grown blind from weeping
Dasharatha dies while with two of his wives

Dasharatha's death
Source: http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/pde-ramayana-dasharathas-death.html

Feedback Thoughts

1) Why Rejection Hurts so Much - and What to do About it

https://ideas.ted.com/why-rejection-hurts-so-much-and-what-to-do-about-it/

I really liked this article! One of the most fascinating things I learned was that when we feel rejection,  the same part of our brain lights up in an MRI as when we experience physical pain. That was just when the patient was asked to recall a recent rejection, not even as it was happening! So you can imagine how painful our bodies perceive rejection in the moment. I thought this was very interesting because I remember that feeling as a physical feeling as well! I also liked their theory that we had evolved that seemingly physical response to aid us so many years ago. It helped to have this hardwired because feeling rejected could have led to isolation from a group or tribe which would have meant certain death all those years ago.

The two most common mistakes after rejection seem to be negative self talk and lamenting in a feeling of self isolation instead of boosting your feelings of social connection with others. Instead of telling yourself that you are so stupid, you should focus on how you could improve in the future and move on.

2) Seven Ways to Crush Self Doubt in Creative Work

http://www.spencerauthor.com/seven-ways-to-crush-self-doubt/

I really enjoyed this article because it is very relatable. It was reassuring to hear that I wasn't the only one who often struggled with feeling like I was wasn't good enough sometimes. One of the biggest struggles that I related to was comparing myself to others. This is such a hard habit to break. One of the dangers in this, the author pointed out, is that you start to see those around you as competition instead of community. Another important thing the article pointed out is that you have to set goals that are within your control. I really appreciated this reminder because I spend so many nights laying in bed for hours stressing out about things that are so far in the future. I'll stress out about applying to post-grad programs for hours even though I don't start applying for another year. It's not beneficial and it's mostly out of my control at the moment. Finally, I liked that it pointed out how important it is to trust yourself, which I often times struggle with as well.

A good example of the many benefits of thinking positively
Source: google images 

Topic Brainstorm

1) Creation Stories

I am really interested in this topic because I feel like I don't have a lot of knowledge about these stories! I am most familiar with the biblical interpretation of creation and I am excited to learn about some other viewpoints on it. I am interested in the Hiranyagarbhagarbha, which is the "golden egg" and it represents a view on how the universe came to be. There are also parallels to Noah's Ark stories in the Bible, these are about a man named Manu.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_views_on_evolution

2) Supernatural Characters of the Ramayana

I think this would also be an interesting topic to explore because supernatural characters always add an extra interesting twist to folklore. While researching I came across the Rakshasa which sounded pretty scary but interesting! Suvannamaccha also sounded like she would be very interesting to learn about. I really don't have any previous knowledge about these topics but I am excited to learn about them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suvannamaccha

3) Kamadeva, the God of Love

This one jumped out to me because I love stories about romance. I especially like stories about love when they have a deeper meaning involved. Ones where there's a moral or something that you can walk away with from the story. I also think that potentially rewriting romance stories could be really interesting because if they ever didn't have an ending I liked I could change it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamadeva

4) Animals, Natural and Supernatural

I like this topic because I already like folklore stories about animals. I especially like when they end with an explanation about how the animal came to look the way it does. For instance a story about why the elephants ears are so big or why a mouse is so small etc. I also like this topic because I think it is such a large category that I would never have a shortage of possible stories to choose from.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamadhenu

Cover picture for elephant stories Jataka Tales of Nobility
 http://ackguide.blogspot.com/2015/08/guide-elephant-stories.html

Week 2 Story

Long ago, there was a lengthy drought. This drought caused the nearly all of the ponds to dry out except for a few, one of which still held a great deal of fish. Not far at all was a much larger shaded lake, the fish could almost hop over it was so close. One day the crafty pelican had an idea, he decided he would tell the fish he was going to help them over to the lake by carrying them over in his beak. Almost all the fish eagerly accepted the offer, except a smaller fish who stayed towards the bottom of the water to listen to the crane speak. The smaller fish leaned over to his friend the crab and said,

"I don't trust this pelican, why ought he do anything for us when we offer nothing in return. This pelican has no charitable past."

"I think you are probably right", stated the crab, "but why don't we wait and see, we don't have many other options."

So the crab and the fish waited in the back of the group and watched as the pelican carried away the first fish. When the pelican came back and landed on the overhanging branch, the little fish thought he saw that the branch was hanging slightly closer to the water. The pelican carried two...three...four...finally on the fifth fish, the little fish watched as the pelican landed on the branch and it dipped just slightly into the water. But by then, the little fish already had created a plan.

The little fish swam the the front with his friend the crab and asked if they could be next.

"Of course!" exclaimed the pelican, who had grown quite tired of fish in his belly and was ready for a side snack of crab. "But how will I take you both together?"

"Well I'll just hold onto your neck!" said the crab. The pelican agreed quickly as he was hoping to finish dinner by sunset and away they went. But as soon as they saw the pelican moving away from the direction of the lake the crab tightened his grip.

"Crab, what are you doing? That's too tight!" exclaimed the pelican.

"Drop little fish in the water immediately and listen to me closely if you want to make it to tomorrow." The pelican obliged but the crab hardly loosened his grip. "I will stay here on your back and you will create a trench that leads from our pond to the lake. Only after it is finished and I watch water run through will I let go and allow you to live."

The pelican had no choice but to do as he was told. Each pile of dirt he dug from the Earth seemed to stretch his mouth larger and larger and he was able to carry away bigger piles of dirt each time he dug. By the second day with the help of a lengthy thunderstorm, water began to flow through the trench and by then the pelicans mouth had grown to be five time as large as before! All the remaining fish were able to swim over to the lake.

The crab released his hold on the pelican finally and warned that if he ever came around them again, he would not let him leave with his life. They lived many happy years in that pond.

a picture with a pelican and its large beak (large enough to dig a trench!)
Source: google images

Authors Note

I based my story on the story about the Crane and the Crab that we read earlier. I wanted a version of the story where at least a few more of the little fishies survived. Also, the crane/pelican survived in this story and learned his lesson! I changed the crane to a pelican because I wanted there to be some folklore behind why the pelican's beak is so big and it made it seem a little more realistic that it would be able to form a trench it two days.

The Cunning Crane and the Crab
The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse.https://sites.google.com/view/jatakas/crane-and-crab

Reading Notes - Jataka Anthology

The Foolish, Timid Rabbit
the rabbit suddenly has a fearful thought about what would happen if the earth would break up
a coconut falls behind him and he starts running thinking that is has come true
the rabbit doesn't check to investigate whether or not the earth was actually breaking up
- dangers of assumptions
the other animals are influenced by the large mass of animals running
- dangers of following the crowd blindly
the lion takes the time to investigate himself
- the importance behind being independent and not making assumptions of blindly believing in what others tell you to be true

Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt. / https://sites.google.com/view/jatakas/rabbit

Two Turtle Jatakas
the turtle and the king
the turtle is believed to be a demon by the children so the king offers to kill it
suggestions on how to kill the turtle are thrown around
someone suggests throwing it in the river and the turtle objects vehemently which encourages the king to choose that option even though the turtle secretly loves that choice because he is just sending him back home
the turtle and the geese
the geese are going to leave for the season and the turtle wants to join them
they offer to carry him back if he holds onto a stick with his mouth
when others criticize his decision he opens his mouth to tell them off but falls to his death instead
- the importance on ignoring others negativity and understanding that your own words have the power to hurt you

Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt. / https://sites.google.com/view/jatakas/turtle

The Cunning Crane and the Crab
the fish run out of room in their pond, there is another bigger pond but to get to it they need the crane's help to carry them there. the crane is smart and takes them one by one but is actually eating them. then he gets to the crab and the crab is smart and says he would rather hold onto the cranes neck than be carried in his mouth and potentially dropped. this way if the crane tried anything funny, he would have leverage. the crane reveals his true plan and the crab threatens the crane. the crane then drops him in the lake but the crab kills him anyway

The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse.
https://sites.google.com/view/jatakas/crane-and-crab

image from the story about the monkey who outsmarts his dad
while picking lotuses and avoiding the ogre. Image credit: Pixabay. Source: https://sites.google.com/view/jatakas/lotuses

Week 2 Reading Overview

I have decided that I am going to use the PDE of the Ramayana to read. The key point to this decision was the audio available on the PDE edition that you recorded. It helps me to better understand what I am reading if it is available to me in different forms.

Choose two:

Comic Books

1) Guide: The Greedy Mother-in-Law
http://ackguide.blogspot.com/2015/08/guide-greedy-mother-in-law.html 

This story stuck out to me because it was listed as a cautionary tale, I love those! I really like stories that have a moral.

This was the image for the Greedy Mother-in-Law story. I thought it
was a really colorful and nice picture and it really made me curious
about what the story was about when I tried to understand the picture.

2) Guide: Kacha and Devayani
http://ackguide.blogspot.com/2015/08/guide-kacha-and-devayani.html

This one looked good to me because it was about "star-crossed lovers" and I really like romance stories also!

Video Playlist

1) The Tale of the Lion and the Crane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONoV1JFnHpI&list=PLrWYQjLLbXcie5DuhgxacocxvQp_5pNIX&index=5&t=0s

This one stood out to me because I really like stories that use animal characters! Especially when it has animal characters and a moral.

2) Stages of Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXtK40EgJb4&index=6&t=0s&list=PLrWYQjLLbXcie5DuhgxacocxvQp_5pNIX

This one looked interesting to me because I like stories about life and it kind of seemed like there would be a moral associated with this one also.