Week 14 - Reading Diary B

I completely forgot that Sauti was telling this story to another person. The way Bhishma died was very honorable compared to Duryodhana. I think Bhishma is my second favorite character from this epic. Like Yudhishthira, I would also feel a lot of guilt and grief over the loss of so many lives. I didn't like Yudhishthira much at first because of his idiotic gambling decision, but he ends up saving his brothers a lot and turns out to be a character. The huge difference I noticed between the two versions of this epic is that this version has a ton of epilogue like sequences. There are even more attempted assassinations after the major conflict ends. I felt like I missed the big message behind Yudhishthira's dream sequence. In the end, I'm glad he got to ascend to heaven and made the ending of the story more satisfying in comparison to the others we have read.

Week 14 - Reading Diary A

I really enjoyed the extra fight scenes that were added on after Duryodhana was about to die. It was sad to read that Ashwatthaman's night raid cause so many deaths in the Pandava's camp as well. I enjoyed reading the final battle scene between Ashwatthaman and Arjuna. I like that Arjuna honors his fallen master Drona by placing the jewel between his eyes.

Week 13 - Reading Diary B

Reading the whole story about a gender transfer was something that I would least expect from this type of epic. Especially since Hindu values have very distinct lines and role for men and women. I really like the way that the Pandavas handles themselves and how respectful they are. Also I too would feel guilt fighting my elders like Arjuna felt. There were a ton of deaths, as expected. It was a bit ridiculous that Arjuna shot Jayadratha's head all the way into his father's lap in order to avoid the curse. But all the other powers such as the naga mantra were cool to imagine. I feel like tricking Drona into thinking that his son was dead and then killing him from behind was kind of a let down. I wish there had been an epic duel between pupil and master. The epic battle between Arjuna and Karna was my favorite part of this section and having the god Krishna as your charioteer would be awesome I feel like.

Week 13 - Reading Diary A

This section of the reading felt like a a build up to the great war that is coming in seven days. I enjoyed reading about Bhima squashing Kichaka in a ball of flesh. I didn't even really know how to imagine that but thats what he gets for trying to rape Draupadi. The part where Arjuna takes over for the cowardly prince Utarra was a fun part to read as well. All the cool weapons that Arujuna has at his disposal are awesome. He makes everyone fall asleep which was pretty cool. And then he gladly claims UtarrA. Also it was cool when Krishna cuts off Duhshasana's head. But I didn't really understand why his energy entered Krishna's body. Conservation of energy? Haha, I've been studying too much physics lately.

Week 12 - Reading Diary B

Overall, this section had a ton of mini stories within the epic. I liked getting to read about how Indra taught Arjuna how to use divine weapons and am excited to read about the battle to come. Once again we have another weird birth, by a deer swallowing a hermit's sperm from a lake and creating a human with horns. I really liked reading about the part when Arjuna comes back down from the heavens, and brings all the cool stuff. It was also really nice of him to bring jewels from Draupadi since nobody seems to respect women in these epics other than Nala. The story of Savitri is also a great example of how much indian women will do for their husbands. Savitri gives half her days of living just  to be with her husband longer. I really feel like women should get more respect in these stories since they do so much.

Week 12 - Reading Diary A

In this section, we get to read about how Yudhishthira gambles away everything like a bumbling fool. Then gets a second chance and ruins that too. I figured rereading this part of the story in Buck's version wouldn't make me as frustrated but it ended up doing so anyways. The part where they try to embarrass Draupadi still makes me sad, but I'm glad Krishna saves her or else I would have felt really really bad for her. I hate when obnoxious men mistreat women. I liked getting to read about my favorite character, Arjuna, and his travels to see his father and his heaven. I really really liked reading about the story of Nala and Damayanti. Nala seems so caring and this is one of the better love stories I have read in these epics. Most love stories end with some sad ending. Like when Sita abruptly gets taken into the earth by her mother in order to be saved from all her mistreatment from Rama and others. Nala, leaves his wife because he is no condition to support her and so she can be happy with her father. Damayanti is similar to many wives in these stories, in the fact that she is completely devoted to her love and goes out to such extreme measures because she loves him so much. This is one thing I really appreciated about the Hindu culture is that wives are so caring, loyal, and love their husbands to the end. I would say my mom is like this with my dad as well. This story also reminded a tiny bit of a bollywood movie called "Veer-Zaara". If you like bollywood movies you'll love this one just like the rest of the world did!

Week 11 - Reading Diary B

Most of this section of the reading was a bit boring although i did enjoy two of fthe major fights that occurred. I loved how easily Bhima destroyed Vaka. He tore him apart with is bare hands. I fee like this is a great example of how truly strong the pandavas are especially the wind god's son. There is another example of how weirdly children are conceived with how Draupadi and her brother are born. I feel like no children are born through direct sexual intercourrse, but by way more weird measures. I liked that some of the focus on this section of the story was on Arjuna, my favorite character. I find him quite awesome and cool when he show his mastery of the bow to earn Draupadi's hand in marriage. He is quite the team player in letting his brothers marry her as well. The imagery for agni created a very scary image in my mind. The fight to ward off Indra seemed epic and I really have a fascination with architechture so getting to read about the Pandava's palace was nice.

Week 10 - Reading Diary B

I feel that is rightful karma that Duryodhana died at the end of this story. Obviously for all the many bad things he had already done but also to be foolish enough to try and capture Krishna after he is trying to make one last peace effort. Duryodhana is truly a foolish character, his actions strike me as almost as absurd as Yudhishthira gambling away his life and his family's. I really wish I would have gotten better imagery of Krishna's divine form. For some reason, I'm extremely fascinated with the various transformations the characters in these epics undergo. Finally, the war begins and all the interesting battle scenes take place. Once again, I wish I could have a better image in my head of Krishna's cosmic form. All the various individual battles during the war were all a very fun read. Although, Arjuna's bouts are my favorite. I am really confused as to by Bhima mutilates and drinks Duhshasana's blood. No wonder why Bhima never made it to heaven. I really liked how Krishna justified their enemies' deaths through Karma to Yudhishthira. It made me feel better about all the deaths after reading about Yudhishthira being sad about it. I feel like all of these epics have such unfulfilling endings. I don't like the way that Krishna dies and that his people destroy each other. I wish that these epics had more happy endings!

Week 10 - Reading Diary A

Overall, I found this portion to be quite boing and more of a tease than anything. I feel like all the preparations for war are being way to drawn out and I'm just ready for the war to begin so I can read about some more amazing battles. The only thing that I gave a lot of thought to was Krishna letting the Pandavas choose between him and his one million person army. If I was a soldier in Krishna's army the last thing I would want to do is fight against my own leader. On a more funny note, I'm suprised that Yudhishtira was smart enough to actually answer the questions since he was dumb enough to gamble literally everything away. I think out of all the Pandavas that Arjuna is my favorite. I enjoyed reading about his 5 year journey to find weapons and prepare for battle.

Week 9 - Reading Diary B

From readings part A & B I have yet to find any positive feelings towards the Pandavas. Most of the things they have done so far are things I don't really like. Sharing Draupadi as a wife is weird to me, even though she prayed for it in a past life. I don't like that Yudihishthira is crowned, and he makes me like him even less when he gambles away literally everything like a giant moron. I don't understand how somebody could be allowed to gamble away other peoples' lives. Especially Draupadi and the brothers. Also it made me so sad when they were demeaning Draupadi. And then they are given a second chance by Dhritarashtra but Yudihishthira ruins that by having them all exiled for 13 years. My favorite part of the story so far is Arjuna's excursion to find weapons and be trained. I am curious to see how Arjuna's curse turns out to be a blessing.

Week 8 - Reading Diary

I really like that we are doing diary posts this semester. I heard before that there were quizzes over the readings, and I would not have liked that as much. I noticed that my diary posts vary in many aspects. Some were very long and others were quite short. Some get a little off-topic and others delve strongly into the subject matter. Overall, I wouldn’t say my work has been consistently the same, I think this had to do with a lot of things. It seems like I wrote more on sections of the story that I liked, rather than some I found a bit boring. I loved writing diary posts about sections of the book with a lot of battles. I liked looking back at my old diary posts, because through the diction I can kind of tell what kind of day I was having that day as well. Overall, I love the readings in this class because they hit so close to home. I’ve grown up hearing about all these stories and I’m glad I get the opportunity to critically think and use my creativity for Indian Epics. I remember a lot about the stories we have read. Some of the things are a bit blurry, because I found them boring. However, most of the readings I can remember, and going back and reading my diaries helps to fine tune and refresh my memory of the subtle details. My number one tip to others about reading diaries is simply, to just do them. They help you out in the long run and are very simple to do. Getting the chance to reread my old diaries gave me a few ideas for my Portfolio, which was an added bonus. I hope to keep learning a lot through the use of reading diaries, and cannot wait to read our next epic.

Week 7 - Reading Diary B

I feel like the ride on the chariot back to Ayodhya is almost a summary of some of the things that took place. All the lavish gifts that are given amongst the major characters are really cool and interesting things. Such as the waters from every river and Sita's pearl necklace. When I first read Rama's intent to abandon Sita it did not make much sense. In a humorous sense however,  its quite ironic that Rama would go through such great lengths and many battles to save the kidnapped Sita, yet abandon her so easily after being gossiped about. I hate that Kusha and Lava are forced to live apart from their father and it really confused me when Bhumi took Sita underground. Overall, I felt very unsatisfied by the way Rama's later years were. It really jars me that Lakshmana, and Sita both don't live to Rama's death. I really did not like this section of the book very much, I only liked the ending where Hanuman rips his flesh and shows that Rama lives within him. This is an extremely popular picture that i have seen ever since growing up as a child.

Week 7 - Reading Diary A

This was probably one of my favorite sections to read because shortly into the reading we get to see some intense fight scenes with my favorite character: Jambavan. I loved the fight scenes that included the two magicians as well. I really like how they is such a variety of demonic characters and the various powers they can have. It makes it seem like an endless catalog of demons and I feel like that adds even more background detail and helps establish the story even more. It was also cool to see Kala make an appearance in the epic, because she is one of the deities I have grown up hearing about. All the various preparations by Ravana before his fight really helped build my excitement for the fight even though I knew he was going to lose. The ground battle between Rama and Ravana reminds me a lot of when Hercules fights the Hydra. I don't know how i feel about the addition of a post-death letter by Ravana. I feel as if it takes away from his evilness.

Week 6 - Reading Diary B

Overall, I really enjoyed this part of the story even though we did not get to witness the epic clash between Rama and Ravana. There were still a lot of cool fights. I never realized how truly powerful Indrajit was until this part of the story. Its funny how most of Ravana's cohorts even tell him that battling Rama is a bad idea but he simply ignores them. This is truly the reason for his undoing.

Week 6 - Reading Diary A

Just like I had stated earlier with the valiant effort of Jatayu, It really hits home when Sampati hears of his brother's death. I don't why, maybe because I have a brother as well, but for some reason I really like these two bird characters. Hanuman's travels are actually quite interesting, I find it cool that he turns into a cat, and when I have imagery for this in my head I think of my little kitten Onyx haha. I don't like that Hanuman decides to cause a chaos in Ravana's quarters. I feel like if he had not done any of this then he would never have been captured by Indrajit. I am really excited to read the next part of the story because I feel like Rama and Ravana's clash is drawing near.

Week 5 - Reading Diary B

Overall this section of the story was not nearly as exciting as the part we read Monday. I don't really like Sugriva for some reason. And I also do not like the idea of Rama shooting Vali while hiding. This did not seem justified. In this version Rama's actions still don't seem justified. And there also is no explanation behind the way he decided to kill Vali. Overall, I feel like the search for Sita is a very boring part in both epic versions. My favorite part of this section was Jatayu's valiant effort to save Sita from Ravana. I felt bad when Jatayu died for some reason. Maybe because his efforts were so heroic.

Week 5 - Reading Diary A

Overall this was one of the more interesting reading sections we've had! Things are getting pretty intense and this section of the book really helps me reaffirm why i took this class. The stories are incredibly interesting and they're were a couple of things that really stuck out to me from this section. I really, really liked that Bharata took Rama's sandals and left them at the throne for him. For some reason I just thought that was an amazing gesture on Bharata's part for his brother. Its an amazing Hindu value to have and one that hits home with me and my brother as well. Also finally, some real intense action. All the battles were awesome from this section. Also, I still don't understand why Lakshmana mutilates Shurpanakha the way he did. I might have to do some more research about that.

Week 4 - Reading Diary B

This section of the book overall has been quite boring. Kaikeyi makes Dasharatha fulfill two promises that he owes from long ago. She makes him crown Bharatra king and exile Rama for 14 years. Many things are done to prevent Rama from leaving Ayodha, however is to no avail. Dasharatha receives very much guilt from having to do this and dreams about a time when he was younger and accidentally took the life of a boy in the forest. He is found dead the next morning by Kausala.

Week 4 - Reading Diary A

This story starts off in a much different tone then the first story. Sita is about to kill herself because Rama has exiled her for things people have said about her. Its interesting to get to read a kind of prologue to the first story. We are given more details about life before Rama was born. And more details about his early life. The story also speaks of how Ravana was born and some of the early battles he encountered while trying to enslave the gods before Rama was born. The story switches between the past and the present. The present being when the twins recite the story of the past and then retelling it al the way until Rama and Sita's courtship and marriage.

Week 3 - Reading Diary B

The part where Rama is allowed to build a bridge with the help of his comrades and other animals reminds me of when Noah is building his ark in the Bible. Finally a full out war begins between Rama and Ravana's parties. Rama defeats Kumbakarna and Mahodara. His brother Lakshmana defeats Indrajit, Ravana's son. Eventually Rama and Ravana engage in a multi day battle that ends with Rama sending his Brahmastra into Ravana's heart. Rama returns to Ayodha after 14 years of exile to reclaim his rightful place from a very gracious Bharata who is about to commit suicide if Rama does not show up.