Indian Epics

Kali Many goddesses before Kali shared her name or attributes associated with her Associated with unbridled sexuality and female power represented in art as naked, with an outstretched tongue, and unbound hair, often sitting or standing on the dominated Shiva Proto-Kali (origins of modern Kali) Dirgha-Jihvi see as a threat by Indra sends a young man named Sumitra to overpower her she rejects him because he only has one manhood and she has "many vulvas seeking satisfaction" Indra, in turn, gives the young multiple manhoods this satisfies Dirgha-Jihvi the two "make love" while Dirgha Jihvi is pinned down during sex Sumitra uses the opportunity to kill her identified as a proto-kali because of representations depicting an outstretched tongue and unbridled sexuality "male anxiety before female sexual and reproductive prowess" by 1000 BCE Kali emerges out of the collective starts being seen as an independent goddess "the ...

Rural cultures v. urban cultures rural valued fertility - associated with women urban valued obedience - associated with men, making women subservient  indicated control and discipline urbanization led to more rules and the idea of evil - one who does not submit to the rules Chinese myth Yin & Yang work in harmony to create life Yin - male dragon in the sky yang- the earth like a phoenix that recreates itself from ashes  Confucian traditions favor culture over nature favoring hierarchy, making the man more important  patriarchal societies link women with nature and men with culture culture domesticates nature --> men are asked to domesticate women Mesopotamian myth Marduk (male god-king) defeats Tiamat the primal female monster and brings order to the world stories like this abound across cultures Adam & Eve Eve tempts Adam to eat the forbidden fruit before Eve, God created Lilith who refused to be subservient to Adam a...

"Gaia's Secret" Parts 1 & 2 Part 1 tells about Gaia the Earth Mother from Greek mythology  it goes on to explain that a "primal female deity" is first adored "then brutally side-lined by a male deity"  this is present in cultures across the world including Egypt, Greece, and India Goddess Adya - India transforms into a bird and lays 3 unfertilized eggs  from these eggs, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are born Adya wanted to unite with he 3 male gods but Brahma refused because he considered Adya his mother - Adya cursed him saying there would be no temples in his honor Adya did not want to unite with Vishnu because she found him too "shifty and shrewd" Adya turned her attention to Shiva who agreed (through the advice of Vishnu) but only if she gave him her 3rd eye she agreed to give Shiva the 3rd eye Shiva used the eye to release a missile of fire that burned Adya and turned her to ash from the ash came 3 goddesses who would be...

Reading C, pages 72 - 110 the war begins most battles take place at night because that is when the Rakshasas are strongest Sita would be told the outcome the next day by Trijatha Indrajit, Ravana's son, a "powerful enchanter" summoned clouds to hide him while he fired arrows the arrows turned to snakes (the Naga) and wrapped around Rama and Lakshmana, constricting them Rama called for the aid of Garuda  Garuda is a divine bird who serves the god Vishnu The Nagas are an ancient enemy of Garuda because his mother had been enslaved by her co-wife who was the mother of the snakes Indra, the lord of heaven at the time, promised Garuda that snakes would always be his food Garuda came and devoured the snakes, setting Rama and Lakshmana free Kumbhakarna a giant and younger brother of Ravana cursed to sleep for 6 months of the year Ravana needed him in battle so he sent a legion of musicians to make such a ruckus that he would have to wake up when he awoke h...

Part B - pages 37 - 71 the dying Jatayu, king of the birds, told Lakshmana and Rama where Sita had been taken Rama and Lakshmana followed the trail of jewels Sita had dropped Rama sent Hanuman to Sita Hanuman tells Sita how Rama came to know the monkeys or Vanara and their chief Hanuman approached the brothers because they dressed like ascetics but they were carrying the weapons of warriors Rama told Hanuman of his missing wife and Hanuman took the brothers to his chief, Sugriva Sugriva tells Rama that he has seen Sita and that Ravana has taken her Sugriva also tells Rama that he will need an army to wage war on Lanka to get Sita back Rama is upset because he is an exiled prince and has no way to raise an army Sugriva offers Rama a deal Sugriva is also an exiled prince whose brother stole his wife and exiled him from the kingdom of the Vanara Sugriva said that if Rama helped him defeat his brother and reclaim his wife he would lead the Vanara army to fight Ravana Rama ...

Part A pages 1 - 36 starts with a pregnant Sita wandering into the Dandaka forest and awakening it the forest wonders why she is there says she is the daughter of the earth, princess of Mithila, and the last queen of Ayodhya asks the forest to let her live there because the world of man has banished her then the forest asks her to tell the story of how she came to be there and the story begins the story is told in Sita's voice Sita tells how her husband, Rama, and his brother Lakshmana were exiled from their kingdom and she came with them to live in the Chitrakuta Forest Sita enjoyed the peacefulness of forest life but Rama and Lakshmana were restless because they were meant for a life of palaces, war, chariots, and weapons One day Surpanaka, the princess of Lanka and a demoness, came in the form of a beautiful woman and desired Lakshmana  Lakshmana was on guard and saw through her disguise and cut off her nose with his sword, spurred on by his brother Rama ...

"The Elephant Girly-Face" another fable-like tale that teaches a lesson once a king had an elephant that was so gentle and good and looked so kind that he named him girly-face girly-face, the elephant, sat in his stall one night as some robbers knelt nearby discussing their plans the robbers said that they would break in and kill anyone who wakes up because a robber shouldn't be afraid to kill and should never be good, not even for a moment  girly-face heard the men talking and thought that this was how he was supposed to act the next morning the keeper of the elephants went to feet girly-face and the elephant picked him up with his trunk and threw him to the ground killing him then girly-face killed another keep who had come to see what was happening girly-face was said to have acted so ugly for days and days that food was left for him but no one would come near him the king sent one of his wise men to see what was wrong with girly-face the wise man had...

The Monkey and the Crocodile This version of the Jataka Tales is simplified and retold for children the monkey and the crocodile is about a crocodile who sets out to catch a monkey because his mother wants to eat monkey heart the young crocodile devises a plan to catch the monkey he visits the monkey's tree and convinces the monkey to jump on his back telling the monkey he will carry him across the water to an island with many ripe fruit trees the crocodile dives into the water while the monkey is still on his back the monkey holds on because he doesn't know what is in the water and is afraid to let go when the crocodile surfaces the monkey is sputtering and asks why the crocodile took him underwater the crocodile is stupid and tells monkey of his plans to drown him and feed his heart to his mother the monkey outwits the crocodile by convincing him that he had left his heart on the bank high in his tree the crocodile carried the monkey back to the tree and de...

(Krishna Fights the Wrestler from krishnastore.com ) "The Return to Mathura" tells the story of Krishna returing to Mathura at the age of 12 it was foretold that Krishna would slay the evil King Kansa around this age so Kansa did everything he could think of to stop Krishna Kansa decides to throw a great feast with games (akin to gladiator games in Rome it seems) Kansa sends a messenger to the cowherds with an invitation for Krishna and his brother Bolarama to wrestle in these games the cowherds and their chieftan, Nanda, accept the invitation and prepare to journey to Mathura when they arrive in Mathura Bolarama and Krishna convince their guide to allow them to explore the city they find the place that is being prepared for the games and where Kansa has a sacred bow on display if anyone can break or bend this bow (a weapon of the gods) they may be able to challenge Kansa's reign Krishna snaps the bow in half without effort Kansa, even though he is not...

The Forest and its Ghosts kingdom was prosperous under Yudhishthira's government "blind old" Dhristarashtra mourned the death of his son and decided to retire to the jungle to live in a humble dwelling Queen Gandhari, Kunti (mother of the Pandavas), and Vidura  all also very old  Yudhishthira, his brothers, and Draupadi journeyed to the place of their elders in the jungle when they get there everyone is present but Vidura who has gone to the banks of the Ganges basically to wait for death they all went to him and waited with him until he died while they mourned Vidura Vyasa the great sage came to them and told them to bathe in the holy waters of the Ganges and that when night falls all of their loved ones will return to them when night fell the waters foamed and parted and the heroes slain in the war began to rise in chariots, on horseback, or on elephants  a host of minstrels came with the risen dead and sang of the deeds of the heroes and beautiful girls ...

The Himalayas  Yudhisthira (Arjuna was in Indra's celestial dwelling) and the 3 younger Pandava brothers and their shared wife, Draupadi, lived in the forest called Kamyaka where they met great sages, Yudhisthira learned dice skills, and were shown mystical waters that cleansed their sins after being in Kamyaka for awhile they moved further north into the Himalayas  the location of Kubera's dwelling Kubera is the lord of treasure and king of the yakshas  Dwelling of Kubera palaces of crystal & gold walls studded with jewels beautiful gardens  Kubera told Yudhishthira to be "patient and long-suffering and to wait for the time and the place for displaying kshatriya prowess" the exiles (Pandavas and Draupadi) wandered on from the kingdom of Kubera "sighed for Arjuna" "beheld the bright car of Indra" "worshipped Matali the charioteer" Indra came with Asparas (female spirits of the clouds) and Gandharvas (male natur...

Wife of the Five Pandavas   Arjuna won Draupadi (daughter of Drupada) as his bride at the swayamwara When the eldest brother (Yudhishthira) tells his mother (Queen Kunti) that they have returned with a gift she tells them that they must share it informs his mother that it is Draupadi and she should be Arjuna's bride since he won her  Arjuna says Yudhishthira should have her since he is the eldest Yudhishthira says that the matter should be decided by the gods and King Drupada it is revealed that the bretheren are the Pandava  this made Drupada happy and he entertained the brothers in his palace for many days eventually the rishi Vyasa was called to decided which brother should wed Draupadi Vyasa, like Queen Kunti, says that she must marry each brother because it had already been decided by the gods because she was the reincarnation of a pious woman who had prayed to Shiva for a husban five times and the god promised her 5 husbands as a reward in her next...

King Shantanu and Ganga I chose to focus on this story because I like the idea of Ganga having agency and not just submitting to her husband. She makes the rules of the marriage and once he breaks them she is no longer bound to him The story focuses on King Shantanu and the goddess Ganga Ganga marries King Shantanu in human form but before they are married she says that he can never speak harshly toward her or try to keep her from doing as she pleased; if he does this she is allowed to freely leave him The long and Ganga have 7 children and she throws each one into the Ganges River  the king does not know that these children are actually the Vasus who were cursed to be born as human babies because of upsetting Vashishtha  she threw them into the river after birth so they could regain their celestial forms the king kept his word and never spoke harshly to Ganga even though he was upset about her throwing his children into the river until the 8th chil...

People  Dasharatha - ruler of Koshala, father of Rama, of "the solar race," has no sons by any of his 3 wives Janaka - ruler of Mithila and father of Sita  Vashishtha and Vamadeva - family priests to Dasharatha Kaushalya, Kaikeyi, and Sumitra - wives of Dasharatha  Places Koshala - powerful kingdom in Hindustan, ruled by Dasharatha Ayodhya - capital city - richly decorated with towering temples and noble palaces, "full of prosperous and happy people" Mithila - powerful kingdom in Hindustan, ruled by Janaka Sacred acts (I really don't know what else to title it) Aswamedha - ceremony in which a horse is sacrificed in offering to the gods so that Dasharatha might be granted sons - successful and the deities promised that he would have four sons Deities Brahma - a creator god in Hinduism, has 4 faces, creator of the 4 Vedas - one for each of his mouths:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahma Vishnu - the "preserver" in the Hindu trin...