Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part A
This week we read the Mahabharata Part 1. Below are my detailed notes for each one;
1
Vyasa and Ganesha
Vyasa was the author of the Mahabharata. Bhrama appears told
Vyasa that Ganesha was going to be his scribe to write this epic. It goes on to
explain how the story was told down through the generations. It goes on to tell
a story about the fish that carried two children. A boy and a girl. They were
born of the King Chedi. Chedi kept only the boy. The girl was raised by someone
else. The female made a deal with a someone so she could lose her “fishy smell”
She then gave birth to a baby on an island. This baby was Vyasa. He was called
his because he wrote the scriptures or Vedas
Ganga
Ganga took human form and married King Shantanu. She had
made some promise to throw the first 8 into the river so that 1/8 of their
powers would be bestowed upon her own child. She then started having children
with the king, but drown each of them in the river. I’m not really sure what to
think about this story. It’s kind of creepy! I know that they were supposed to
be celestial beings and all, but the poor king didn’t know that. He had a
controlling wife that killed all their kids. No wonder he finally spoke up on
the 8th one!
King Shantanu and Satyavati
This story tells about Satyavati. She is the daughter of
Chedi. She was the one with the fishy smell. When she met Shantanu, he asked
her to be his wife and have children with him. She is the mother of Vyasa. Once
she married the King and bore his child, she became a virgin again? And then
smelled nice.
Devavrata’s Vow
Devavrata renounced his claim to the throne so that King
Shantanu’s new wife, Satyavati, could have children and they would inherit the
kingdom. Once King Shantanu died, Devavrata lived up to his promise and stepped
down.
Bhishma at the Swayamvara
Bhishma tries to find his brother a bride so that the royal
bloodline would continue. There was a tournament whose prize were the three
daughters of a king. Bhishma challenged all the participants in the tournament
and he won the three maidens as his prize so that he could bring them back for
his brother to wed.
Source: http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/pde-mahabharata-bhishma-and-amba.html
Amba
She went to Bhishma and told him of her previous engage to
another man. He allowed her to leave and go to this other man. When she went to
this other man, he rejected her. He was not the man she thought he was. When
she was rejected by this man, she took up shelter in the forest. She prayed to
the Gods and asked for them to grant her request that she could destroy
Bhishma. Shiva said she would be the one to slay him.
Dhritarashtra and
PanduBhishma vowed to not have children in order to take
the throne. Satyvati wanted her son to have children so they could carry on the
royal bloodline. Since he was not able to do this, Satyvati asked her other son
Vyasa to have children for Bhishma with his wives. The first was scared to look
at him so the child was born blind. This child was named Dhritarashtra. The second
turned pale and her son was born pale and this child was Pandu. The 3rd
was born from a handmaiden and Dharma, the God of Justice, took form in this
child that was born.
Kunti and Her Son
Kunti was one of two wives of King Pandu. She was of
celestial blood and her brother was the father of Krishna. She was able to
charm a celestial being who gave her a child named Karna. She was ashamed of
having him so she put him in a basket and put him in the river. He floated down
the river and a woman, who had longed for a child, found him and took him in.
this reminds me a lot of the story of the movie The Prince of Egypt. I know
that it is based off a biblical story as well. This might be something that I could
rewrite easily….
Pandu and His Wives
Pandu liked to hunt. He took his wives into the mountains
and shot two deer. He thought they were animals, but were not. The Brahmin he
shot cursed him and told him he was going to die in the arms of one of his
wives. He gave up all his worldy things and went to stay in the forest with his
wives for fear the curse would come true.
The Sons of Pandu
Pandu had 5 children by two wives. None of them were
fathered by him. They were fathered by the gods. The prophecy came true and
when he held his wife’s hand, he died. Then
the two wives fought over who was going to be burned with him at his funeral.
In the end, Madri died with him because she was the favorite wife of Pandu.
I think the story that I liked the most was Kunti and her son. I think this will be the one that i can retell the easiest in my own words.
Kunti
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Comments
Post a Comment