Brad's Indian Epics Blog

Rama with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana during exile in forest, manuscript, ca. 1780,  Wikicommons Seven Secrets of the Goddess In the beginning both men and women were free Prostitutes of women and men existed, but the male prostitutes were often castrated and effeminate Over time females became property to a degree in different cultures either through marriage or through community Deukis were young girls offered to temples and were often refereed to as sacred prostitutes that could cure some diseases The idea of subservient women is observed If a women speaks first demons are born If a man speaks first then normal humans are born There was also a story where a blade gave to the creation of three women and a necklace the birth of three men. The contest was concluded with the men being the greater number in comparison to the women Women who avoided conceding power to men were cast out but in this casting out they were seen as more desirable Women are pro...

Bull, Wikicommons Seven Secrets of the Goddess The women hold a higher position in dating in many old Indian texts Males who pushed themselves on females were killed The music of the video is very repetitive The imagery of the video is very interesting, there is many pictures and scenes from the Mahabharata and various statues The idea of one man for a town of women was entertained a lot Castration of bulls was common practice and this idea was extended somewhat to men in the past There were tales where men were to be killed unless they castrated themselves The virgin mother was a symbol in Indian stories, back then a virgin was not a women who had not had sex, but rather a women who was ready to have a child Women had a lot of power in there sexuality Yami rejects sex with her brother and becomes the goddess of death Gods of desire were associated with death and decay Reject women granted freedom from death Semen in the spine was thought to bring power to control...

Matsya, Wikicommons 7 Secrets of Vishnu: The music selection for the videos is really good The story is really interesting how they expanded Vishnu's character The exposition really invests the reader into the story of Vishnu Learning about Matsya, Vishnu's fish form, was really interesting Matsya is the first incarnation of Vishnu Matsya also rescues the first human Manu Vishnu is very compassionate The images for this series are also very interesting Matsya is also the fish god During the time there was many floods Bibliography: Seven Secrets of Vishnu

Vishnu, Wikicommons Seven Secrets of Vishnu: Vishnu is typically reincarnated as a male, but in this story he is taken his female form There is typically a type of story and based on that type a male or female will play the part, Females are typically spiritual reality  Males are material reality This story Vishnu is demonstrating the spiritual reality, and this story helps to describe how humans can transcend reality and nature to be released into infinity Human couples are the merger of human reality and spiritual reality In Vishnu lore Lakshmi and Vishnu are both dependently on each other they need each other exist The interdependence between the two is stressed and makes the a very cool point that the two are important Bibliography: Seven Secrets of Vishnu

The eight spoke Dharma wheel symbolizes the Noble Eightfold Path, Wikicommons THE CROW THAT THOUGHT IT KNEW: Bodhisatta in this version is a crow and he meets a man Viraka and Savitthaka. Savitthaka does not heed the warnings and dives deep into a pool of water and dies due to his hubris. THE JUDAS TREE: The king of Benares, Brahmadatta, had four sons. They were taken to see a Judas tree. They all had different descriptions of the tree. They failed to ask the charioteer who took them to see the tree, as he had see the tree year round. The moral of the story is that everyone has knowledge to share. THE RIVER FISH AND THE MONEY: Brahmadatta again is in this story as the king of Benares. There was a young brother who was thievish. They paid the river spirit and he grew. Eventually the river spirit was tricked by the thievish brother and had a fish swallow a thousand rupees. The fish was then sold to the owner of the thousand rupees but was charged the price minus the thousand he ...

Wreath, Wikicommons THE HAWK AND THE OSPREY: This story does not have an embodiment of Buddha like most of the other stories in this collection. It tells of a story of unlikely friends at the shores of a lake. The friends are a hawk, osprey, lion, and tortoise. The hawk is urged by his wife to make friends with the animals around the lake since he had no friends and was vulnerable. The hawk does and then comes a day where he needs his friends help. His friends help out and rescue his children multiple times. They all then talk about how friendship is good and die holding their bond. GRANDMOTHER'S GOLDEN DISH: This story returns to the almost standard of Bodisat as the main character of good will. In this story Bodisat is a merchant and he ends up helping a young girl and her grandmother when he happens upon their home. The two had been previously met with a unruly merchant that disregarded a gold pot they had claiming it was worthless. Bodisat being virtuous recognized the p...

Probable early image of a Bodhisattva, Wikicommons THE BULL THAT DEMANDED FAIR TREATMENT - There once a very strong bull that was raised with utmost care by a Brahmin. He loved the bull and decided to use the bull to make some money. The Brahmin bet against another farmer that he could pull an enormous amount of weight. The bull was capable of pulling the weight as later revealed, but failed to move due to the fact that the Brahmin called the bull a wretch. The Brahmin learned his lesson in the end and treated the bull with care and love and was rewarded money. THE BULL THAT PROVED HIS GRATITUDE - Bodisat was born as bull that was very strong like in the first story. He lived with an older woman that raised him as a child. Bodisat felt guilt as he got older as the old woman was poor and still treated him with intense care. Bodisat decides to work for  a merchant that comes into town. He offers to drag carts up a hill at a rate determined by the merchant. The merchant ties ba...

Buddha, Wikicommons Shedlock. Eastern Stories and Legends THE HARE THAT RAN AWAY - This story was interesting as it had Bhudda reincarnated as a lion. This story is similar if not the same to another story that I read at the start of the year where the word of mouth carried. The moral is still preserved and the story is well told! THE MONKEY AND THE CROCODILE - I like how the monkey is trying to trick the crocodile, but at the same time the crocodile is trying to trick the monkey. The two are both have wits but the monkey is ultimately smarter. The dialogue in the story helps to move the story along a lot faster than just text would. The dialogue also helps to develop the characters. Also the poem at the end of the story is a nice addition and adds a lot to the story! THE SPIRIT THAT LIVED IN A TREE - In this story Buddha is reincarnated  as a tree spirit. The tree was greatly respected, but then it was suddenly made to be cut down. This conflict is the driving forc...

Surya Dev, Wikicommons The story of Surya Dev and Kunti is very well told The storytelling at this point is much slower and there is more detail as compared with the first part The story of Pandu is also told very well The recap on each episode is a nice addition, but not very useful for this instance of watching them all in one go The story of the birth of Kunti's sons is detailed and gives good information about each son The Pandus anger Duryodhan  The highlighted story of Bhima was very well told The story of Eklavya was also told very well The images for this session were also really good The music also was different and added to the tone of the story

The Story of the Mahabharata, Wikicommons The Mahabharata - Epified The introduction gives a decent amount of backstory, but it is a bit lacking The tone of voices are very dramatic The story is very abbreviated The music is an interesting aspect The drawings helped to portray the words Sometimes the guy reading in the video shouts into the video It did a good job highlighting the kings of Hastinapur The story telling is very dramatic and ends with cliff-hangers 

Draupadi and the Pandavas, Wikicommons Mahabhara: Despite mounting tensions Yudhishthira still wants to avoid a war and plans to send Krishna to Hastinapura, but is rightfully worried about Krishna's safety. Dhritarashtra learns that Krishna is coming and only plans on wowing him with a grandiose decorations. Virdura is quick to alert him that Krishna does not care for these formalities and just wants peace. Duryodhana as always is acting on his worst intentions and plans to take Krishna captive. Krishna sees Kunti and informs her of how her sons are doing. Despite his mother's please Duryodhana still intends on taking Krishna captive, but this is thwarted when Krishna takes on his divine form Before leaving Krishna speaks with Karna and how he is his father and that he should abandon Duryodhana. Karna remains with Duryodhana, but agrees not to attack any of Kunti's sons with the exception of Arjuna. Krishna returns and generals are appointed to the army. Ther...

Draupadi carrying drinks in Keechaka's court, Wikicommons Mahabharata : Dhritarashtra has spies that tell him what the Pandavas are doing and that they have powerful weapons. Duryodhana decides then that he should create a camp that is next to Pandavas so that he can humiliate them. Dhritarashatra and Duryodhana both act out of spite of who the Pandavas are, its motivated by jealousy.  Speaking true to their values the Pandavas help to release Duryodhana when he is captured by gandharvas. The fact that heavenly beings were sent by the gods to thwart Duryodhana and help the Pandavas is testiment to how they are the prevailing force of good in this story. This idea is reinforced by the Pandavas freeing enemy  The story of the brahmin and the elusive deer is an interesting one. The fact that the Pandavas all almost die at the hands of their own father is strange, but in the typical sense of the role of heroes they are resurrected due to the fact that the last brother, ...

Alandur draupadi amman, Wikicommons Mahabarata: The birth from the flying car and the falling semen that was eaten by a fish to give birth was interesting  Ganga incarnation kills the babies and this is odd The babies are sacrificed because the cows were stolen The king is unable to protest, but the eighth baby he does This eighth baby is returned as a grown up The second wedding he renounces children and then has two The sons grow up and one becomes king but dies The next rules the other brother The swayamvara has three brides stolen, this is interesting The abnormally white baby is treated different  Rest of the babies are normal and loved Satyavati's fish smell was transforme into perfume The acts of Gandhari of covering her eyes to match her husband's blindness Pandu's punishment of killing a deer having sex is that he will die having sex Pandu dies while having sex with Madri and Madri commits suicide, Kunti must raise 5 kids There is a secret pa...

Ravana, the Ten Headed Demon South India, 18th century AD., Wikicommons The Divine Archer: The story begins by immediately jumping into the action of the birth of the four children The word choice is great, it is very descriptive, for instance the silverware and jewels are noted  The sun is also used as imagery to how beautiful the scene is as it plays a role that almost casts a divine image over the town Rama's beginnings are also slightly different as he is not whisked away at an early age and he kind of has a childhood where he plays Rama is also a very fast learner, which was not really noted in the Ramayana but it does fall in line with his character Again the imagery is very detailed in describing not only features but emotions I also enjoyed how the story was coherent as it was continuous story and not just a few strung together The story is still broken into chapters but to reiterate the breaks are more reasonable as the next chapter picks up in logical place...

Rama with Sita and Lamshaka, Wikicommons Sita Sings the Blues: The art style for this movie is very interesting A lot of details are omitted or generalized There seems to be 3-4 stories going on at the same time Blues Sita Normal guy Commentary More traditional non-blues Sita There is also a comedic element in both the commentary and art It is an interesting medium

Indra riding an elephant, Wikicommons Ramayana Reading Notes: Sacrifices are made to the gods, and flesh is offered. This is much like the scenes that are from before when there is celebration except for the tone is much more somber and serious. The monkeys begin to siege the Rakshasa by crossing a bridge to the island of Lanka that was created through prayer. Rama is prepares for war, but Hanuman has already joined in the fighting along with other heroes that are monkeys and are seriously wounded. Rama being true to his character is saddened and suggests that it is OK if the monkeys return home. This creates a lull the fighting as both sides start to regroup. The forces rally and Rama leads another attack but they come across a disfigured female beast that causes some conflict between the group, as they do not want to kill her, because she is a female.This is an idea that is upheld throughout the story, despite some of the female characters being purely evil or symbolic of ...

Child Hanuman reaches for the Sun thinking it is a fruit, Wikicommons Ramayana Reading Notes: Rama and Lakshmana are in the river country when they encounter Hanuman disguised as a beggar, but since Rama is able to see through the disguise they greet each other and become acquainted after some questioning. I think that this is a nice point in the story since it exemplifies the good that is Rama and how he is able to see through the maya that is the disguise. Surgiva the monkey chief was the one that originally sent Hanuman. It is also ironic to note that Surgiva is in the same situation as Rama, his wife was torn from him and he was exiled too. Surgiva shares his tale of how he trapped his brother in a hole with a mountain, because he believed that his brother died after not returning for one year and seeing blood come from the hole. Surgiva's brother did eventually return and he was rightfully mad so he kicked him out and now he governs over the monkeys. The imagery u...

Rama and Lakshmana seated on Kabandha's arms, about to sever them, WikiCommons Ramayana Reading Notes: The death of Dasharatha brings a lot of hate to the kingdom and ultimately leads to anger towards Kaikeyi, she is thrown on the ground but is spared as she is a woman Dasharatha is given a proper pyre funeral, everyone weeped Life is extinguished when we die, and the food used in the funeral is selfish by priest that want to feast as they do not serve the dead Rama disagrees with the above statement, and the heart of the man is judged Gold sandals are given to Rama by his brother, but he does not keep them. The sandals are then guarded by his brother on the ground and they are treated as royal authority. They are shaded with an umbrella on the outskirts of town. If Rama does not return the brother will throw himself in a pyre Stars circle the Lord of Night, Sita is given precious gems by the Lord Rama, Prince of Righteous Fame Rakshasa, Viradha by name, has a boon t...

Kaikeyi said that according to the two boons granted by Dasharatha, Rama should go to the forest for 14 years and Bharata must become the king. WikiCommons Ramayana Reading Notes : The first thing that strikes me is the visuals that the Ramayana is able to supply the reader with. The second thing of major notice was the rituals, such as the horse that returned and was thus then sacrificed and fed to the fire for the gods.  Ramayana is powerful and protected from gods and demons. Vishnu protects all men and apes They celebrated with streamers and flowers All of Rama's children bear the mark of Vishnu, and were very beautiful Rama slays Thataka with a bow while she is invisible by sounds alone all while being rained on by rocks Rama is able to draw his weapons through thought, and uses them to protect sages King Sagara's wife destined to be mother of 60,000 men of high spirits, who all die Sagara dies after a reign of 30,000 years, and his son reigns for ...

Turtle falling to his death from The Turtle and the Geese , Story Source Notes: The Foolish, Timid Rabbit: I really liked this story and the moral. I think the intended message was that everything should be investigated and not be taken at face value without evidence. I think this story directly relates to the current state of the world where there seems to be a constant of he said she said fear-mongering that ultimately causes more grief than the base problem itself would. Two Turtle Jatakas: The two turtle Jatakas read very differently. The first one has a good sense of a message in that things aren't as always as you perceive them, but then shifts to how the turtle's wit and deception is a tool in saving his life. The second story has a stronger message that I believe reads as: Don't concern yourself too greatly with other's opinions of yourself or it might be at your own expense. The Cunning Crane and the Crab: This story is more detailed then the ...