Week 14 Reading Diary A: The End of the War

This reading was much less intense then last weeks, but still had a fair amount of battle and death. It was such a relief to see Duryodhana defeated, but it was very frustrating to see Ashwatthaman become the leader of his army. To me it seemed like Ashwatthaman was operating solely out of rage and revenge, and that seems like a poor person to put in charge of an entire army! Ashwatthaman ends up wiping out basically the entire Pandava army (besides the brothers), and it led to the war being stirred back up once more! I really enjoyed reading about the war taking place in the previous reading, but at this point I wasn't really enjoying it anymore. Ashwatthaman was stoking a flame that could have easily died out, and the war ended. I'm glad my favorite character Arjuna came in with his incredible weapons to take on Ashwatthaman for the final fight. Arjuna is able to cancel out Ashwatthaman's weapon and Vyasa and Krishna recall the weapons and the war ends up finally coming to an end. There are funerals for all the powerful men that died in the war which really bummed me out because I felt like the war was so pointless in the first place!

Bhima defeating Duryodhana

Week 12 Reading Diary B: The Pandava's Exile

My favorite character thus far in Buck's Mahabharata is Arjuna. To me he seems to be one of the most manly characters, and is extremely honorable. He is already an extremely skilled warrior, but in this weeks reading he learns musical talents as well as dancing. On top of that Indra teaches him the use of divine weapons, which I think is crazy because Arjuna is already one of the most skilled warriors aside from Karna. He showed that he was honorable by refusing the advances of Urvashi, and she curses him which turned out to be something that would benefit him for his thirteenth year of exile. Arjuna just seems to have everything going for him and is certainly my favorite of the brothers!

Arjuna the Mighty Warrior!

The only other part that I really enjoyed in this reading was the tale of Savitri. It was such an incredible story of love and the bravery that can come from loving someone. She chose a husband that she knew didn't have much time to live, but loved him dearly. When he died Yama came for his soul and Savitri was so courageous that she wanted to follow him. Yama granted her a wish and instead of something selfish, Savitri thought to cure the blindness of her father in law! Then as a second wish she requested 100 sons for her father in law, and as a third she requested 100 sons with her husband. Yama said she would have to forfeit half her days and give them to her husband, which she gladly did. This story was so touching, because not only did Savitri show incredible love and courage, but she was incredibly selfless!

Week 10 Reading Diary B: An Epic Battle

This reading was extremely interesting to read for me. I always enjoy the action packed moments in books, so this great scene of war was awesome. It was certainly my favorite part of the Mahabharata. Although the preparations for war were basically complete, Yudhishthira wisely desired one last plea for peace. I truly grew to respect Yudhishthira as a leader, and admire that his heart wasn't for violence unless it was a last resort. The plea for peace fails and a war begins between the Pandavas and Duryodhana. The battle is intense and my favorite warrior is Arjuna. Initially Arjuna was worried about fighting his old Guru Drona, but Krishna inspires him with a divine prayer and Arjuna is ready for battle. Arjuna fought valiantly and ended up killing Bhishma, the commander of Duryodhana's army! Bhishma's death leads to Karna joining the fight. Arjuna's son is then captured and killed which leads to Arjuna going on a rampage and killing Jayadratha in an act of revenge! Arjuna's strength is incredible and was amazing to read about. I was certain he would continue to excel in this war, and perhaps even bring an end to it all. Ultimately Arjuna defeats Karna in an intense one on one duel, which cripples Duryodhana's army and essentially ends the war!

Karna and Arjuna fighting

 After the great battle Yudhishthira becomes king and eventually all the Pandava's died off leaving only the child of Abhimayu, Arjuna's son, to continue the Pandava line.

Week 10 Reading Diary A: The Brink of War

This reading was very interesting as the Pandavas approach the final moments of their exile. Dhritarashtra hoped to cause trouble in the Pandava's exile and potentially even defeat them! To start this off Duryodhana attempts to humiliate the Pandavas in a plan that completely backfires. I think this was a silly decision considering the fact that the Pandavas obviously have Karma on their side considering all the events that have taken place thus far. After the attempt at humiliation fails the Pandavas came upon an interesting trial. Tired, hungry and thirsty they came upon a lake. As each brother approached a voice began asking questions warning them not to drink until they answered. One by one the brothers ignored the voice and died when they drank the water! I found this a little odd considering each brother probably saw the bodies of those who had already drank the water. I feel like they should have been a bit more cautious after the first brother!

Yudhistra answering the questions the voice from the lake asks

Finally Yudhistra comes along and doesn't ignore the voice. He answers the questions and all the brothers come back to life! As a reward for solving this task the brothers receive the gift of disguise for their thirteenth year of exile. I was wondering how the well known Pandava brothers were going to survive in the city without being recognized for an entire year, so now it's all starting to come together! They thirteenth year approaches and the brothers enter the city disguised as average citizens. After an unfortunate chain of events, Bhima kills one of Virata's generals. Duryodhana hears of the generals death and one of his allies proposes a raid. The raid ends and the Pandavas and Duryodhana begin preparing for war! Krishna gives each side the option of one million soldiers or Krishna himself. The Pandava's wisely choose Krishna who is an avatar of Vishnu. I have a feeling I know exactly who will win this war!

Week 9 Reading Diary B: Yudhishthira's Gambling Problem and the Pandavas' Exile

Week 9 Reading Diary B: Yudhishthira's Gambling Problem and the Pandavas' Exile

I have really enjoyed reading the Mahabharata thus far. This reading really gave me a view into what a few of the different Pandava brothers are really like. Firstly Yudhishthira was crowned as king after the Pandavas recieve the great city of Indraprastha, which showed me that he was the most respected of the brothers. This made me see him as a man of great honor which really caused the next part of the story to surprise me. After Duryodhana was embarrassed at Indraprastha he began plotting his revenge on the Pandavas. His uncle Sakuni, a cunning gambler, invited Yudhishthira to play dice. The part that surprised me the most was that Yudhishthira was sucked in and staked everything the Pandavas owned including servants, women and even their shared wife Draupadi! I don't understand how a man could so clearly lose his mind and stake everything like that, but what confuses me even more his how his brothers stood by and watched! They very easily could have intervened after they lost all their treasures, or all their servants, or all their livestock. Yet they simply stood by and watched all their wealth, and even themselves, get staked!

Yudhishthira gambling

It seemed odd to me that the brothers stood by and watched, but it also made me a little frustrated with Sakuni and Duryodhana. They clearly knew Yudhishthira had lost his way and they continued to take advantage of him. They were very deceptive and were obviously seeking an end for the Pandavas. I was relieved when Dhiritarashtra returned everything Yudhishthira lost, it made me truly see him as a man of honor (even though he returned everything based out of fear!). Sakuni was annoyed that Dhiritarashtra restored everything to the Pandavas and once more held a gambling tournament. Yudhishthira agreed once more, and ended up causing the Pandavas to be exiled for twelve years! I truly don't understand how one man can essentially stake the lives of his brothers and they just stand by and agree. It seems so foolish, and immoral! After losing that stake the Pandavas are forced into exile, and I grew to admire the brothers Bhima and Arjuna because they are mighty warriors and possess great skill with weapons. My favorite part of this reading was actually when Arjuna went to receive weapons from the gods because it is such an incredible thing to imagine! I really enjoyed this reading and can't wait to read more into the Mahabharata!

Writing Review Week

Writing Review Week

I have never been a strong writer, so initially I was dreading how much writing I would have to do in this class. I took it on with the mindset of "I can't get better unless I write more," which helped me keep trying. Initially I felt like the content of my stories was pretty good, but my writing style wasn't. I also knew that I had trouble with grammar, and big issues with punctuation and quotes. The biggest eye opener for me was the proofreading assignment as well as my introduction for my storybook! I sent in the email with my intro and got a response that showed me a mistake in almost every other sentence! My biggest accomplishment thus far would be the huge improvement between my introduction and my first story in my storybook. I had far fewer mistakes, and the content was still very rich. I have really grown to enjoy writing and storytelling from this course.

I have always had a fairly active imagination so coming up with ideas isn't usually a great struggle. For story telling posts I would just choose a topic that interests me and then place myself in the characters shoes. If I was in their mind how would I think, what actions would I take, etc. That helped me write several interesting stories from the view of a certain character through their mind, or a diary entry. If I chose to write a story in third person it was a bit different, and perhaps took a little more creativity. I would simply take the story and mold it into my own by changing details I thought would benefit by being altered from the original story! This was simply my opinion though, and may not have reflected what others would have written. 

Picture from my storytelling about Maricha (Written in diary form)

The feedback I have received has been incredibly helpful to my writing. I have learned a lot about integrating quotes into my text, and writing in a style that flows much better. All of the experience I've gotten from writing for this course has really helped my creativity as well because I have to continue coming up with new stories each week! I am very exciting for the storytelling posts based off of the Mahabharata, as well as the next 3 stories for my story book.

Reading Review Week

Reading Review Week

Overall I have really enjoyed the readings each week! The Ramayana has been an extremely interesting book to read from both Narayan's point of view as well as Bucks. I preferred Buck's version of the Ramayana overall. I felt like he did a great job making the story more interesting and bringing in a great amount of details. I also enjoyed the background stories he gave to many characters, which helped me relate to them better. In both versions I really admired two characters in particular: Rama and Hanuman. Rama was extremely honorable, possessed great strength and character and overall just seemed like an amazing person. His devotion to his wife and family made me respect him even more! Hanuman on the other hand seemed like an extremely humble creature and the the perfect friend. He devoted himself to Rama and would do anything for him. He stuck by his side through every circumstance and fought valiantly to keep him safe. My favorite passage in the readings was the one about Hanuman's origin in Buck's Ramayana. I found it funny imagining a monkey trying to eat the sun! I also had a good time reading about the battle between the Rakshasa and Rama's army. It was such an intense section of the book, and it was certainly hard to put down!

Baby Hanuman attempting to eat the sun! (From Reading Diary B Week 6)

Doing the reading diaries really helped me to get more engaged in the reading. I focused on what characters I enjoyed, as well as which stories really stuck out to me. They were a huge help to make sure I actually read the assigned pages, as well as something that made it more enjoyable than simply reading quickly to get the assignment done! Looking at my reading diaries helps me recall the readings from earlier in the semester and helps bring back my sentiments about certain characters and events! I ended up using my reading diaries to help with most of my storytelling assignments because I would end up choosing to write my storytelling over something I enjoyed in that weeks reading. My reading diaries helped me recall my favorite events and made it far easier to write my storytelling posts.

While I did enjoy the readings I did find them to be fairly long many times! Perhaps having 3 reading diaries to split the reading up further would be helpful although that would make more work for students so I'm not sure how good of a tradeoff that is! Overall I think the reading assignments are well organized, and the reviews that are posted on the course website for the readings are extremely helpful. I'm enjoying the readings so far, and can't wait to start the Mahabharata! I haven't read for fun in my spare time in many years, but this course is certainly making me begin reading other books for pleasure which is awesome!