Week 11 Storytelling - Through Arjuna's Eyes

As my four brothers and I walk into the great King Drupada's palace I feel quite nervous. I know that all of my brothers are quite skilled and one of us should be able to complete this simple archery test for his daughter Draupadi's hand in marriage. I look around and I see multiple seats lining all corners of the great hall where Draupadi's swayamvara is to take place.
My four brothers and I wait in line as many kings and princes have come as suitors to partake in this challenge and take the young and beautiful Draupadi's hand in marriage.
King Drupada sits in his grand golden throne just off center of the grand hall alongside the beautiful Draupadi. She is veiled, but her stunning facial features can still be seen through the translucent material.
Many princes and kings attempt the trial before me, all of my brothers and a man named Karna is the last to go before me. The challenge looked quite simple but after seeing so many fail I begin to feel a bit nervous.
Finally the man named Karna partakes in the challenge and is able to lift and string the bow however fails in the end to shoot through the eye of the fish.
A million thoughts run through my head and I quickly conclude that this test is made for purest of archers. This test requires concentration, a sense of timing, and precision. All things that I believe my great teacher Drona has taught me. It is almost as if Drupada has created this test with me in mind. Karna fails and it is at last my turn.
As I walk to the center of the grand hall, I can see disbelief in many people's eyes for I am still in disguise and dressed as a simple brahmin, alongside my brothers. I close my eyes and focus. I tune out all of the doubt and negative feelings coming from the crowd and am ready to prove myself. I focus all of my energy to lift Krishna's great bow, Pinakin, and readily aim it. All the murmuring and talking amongst the crowd are tuned out of my head and I gaze deeply into the reflection of the beautiful golden fish and ready my bow. I do the same routine, as Drona had taught me: I inhale a large breath, stand upright, draw the bow and let the arrow fly. It pierces straight through the fish's eye and gasps of disbelief are heard throughout the crowd.
I know that many are thinking, "How could a simple Brahmin perform such a test many kings and princes could not do?" I do not listen to such negativity and stand tall and proud. Krishna approaches me and tells me of our past lives together. I truly think hard and try to recall any such memories from my past life but it is to no avail. Krishna looks at me with an expression of understanding and congratulates me on completing this difficult task. Prince Dhrishtadyumna takes my brothers and me to King Drupada and there we reveal ourselves to him and claim Draupadi's hand in marriage.

Author's Note: I picked this story because it had to do with my favorite character: Arjuna. Also this was one of the only parts of the story I found I could add my own spin to for the reading sections assigned this week. I haven't done a story through first person in a long time so I wanted to revisit it. Adding my own details to the story made it fun to write, overall an enjoyable experience. I think that Arjuna is a difficult character to understand and undertaking the task of creating his thoughts and feelings was a challenging task. It was challenging, but rewarding as well because he is such an integral character in the epic that their is no limit to the creativity you can use with his character and encounters. I didn't want to change anything up from the original story because I was already satisfied with the way things went. I figured I would do this part of the story an injustice if I tried to spin it my own way in the end and write a completely unsatisfying ending. I think my strengths are sticking to the original plot and simply adding more detail. I think this story and my story about Rama vs Ravana are my two best stories.

Bibliography:
Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata

Arjuna during the test

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 11 - Reading Diary A

Reading through the invocation was a bit boring. I didn't really care much for the background information. Although, it was great to read about one of my favortie gods: Ganesha. I also liked the story of how the ocean was formed. It was interesting to find out that Shiva gained his blue hue from drinking up all the poison from the churned ocean. I like how caring and sefless Bhishma is when he gives up his throne. This version of the epic has made me start to see the characters with different feelings. The story of how Satyavati was born was really weird.. Also the part where it says Vyasa cuts the flesh ball into 100 sons and one daughter was relatively weird as well. Dang, and third times the charm because the origin of Drona's name and how he came to be are also weird. Overall this version of the epic seems much more sexual however more descriptive and interesting in comparison to Narayana's version.