Indian Epics

One day a mother crocodile and her son were taking a swim down the river. The mother began to feel hunger so she said to her son, "I am hungry. Go and fetch me the heart of a monkey so that I may eat it." "But mother, monkeys live on land and in the trees. I will not be able to get to them." the son replied. "You'll figure it out little one, it is all a part of growing up." the mother responded. So the son swam down the river looking with his eyes barely out of the water looking for a monkey whose heart he can take to his mother. Along with way, he decided he could trick the monkey by offering him a ride across the river to the island with ripe fruit that the monkeys could not get otherwise. He decided on the monkey who lived in the highest tree. "Oh monkey!! Would you like a ride on my back to the island with the ripest fruits?" the little crocodile asked with a wicked smile in his heart. "Why yes! I have lived in these woods ...

While the Princes and the Water-Sprite is a very interesting story, however I still think I am going to write about the monkey and crocodile. Princes and a Sprite Image Source Bibliography Source : Jataka Tales,  Ellen C. Babbitt, Ellsworth Young 1912

The Monkey and the Crocodile is going to be my story this week. I love the idea of writing about a story that seems for fun and about animals rather than simply talking about the myths involving gods and royalty. Monkey and Crocodile Image Source Bibliography: Source : Jataka Tales: Ellen C. Babbitt, Ellsworth Young 1912

Hello there, My name is Duryodhana and I am a King here in this great city along with my brothers. We have prospered here lately and even have enough wealth to share with the people. However, I do not wish to share my throne with the princes of the next generation. So, being the intelligent man that I am, I have devised a plan. Recently I had constructed an amazing palace. However, the palace's roof and furniture were all soaked in oil and became extremely flammable. I am going to recommend that the Pandavas Princes move in to this palace with their mother and then have my most trusted guardsmen set fire to the building when they drop their guard. 1 year later.... It has been one year since I had the Pandavas family move into the palace I had made for them. Everything is going according to plan. Purochana, the captain of the guard that I instructed to burn the palace when the time is right, believes the time is coming. He tells me that for a long time there would always be at...

This version is very detailed and a bit longer than the other version but I wanted to rewrite this story about the Pandavas escape. The Escape of the Pandavas Image  Source Bibliography: Source Mahabharata: The Greatest Spiritual Epic of All Time. Krishna Dharma. 2008

I like the myth on how the Kuru Elders were born. Kuru Elders Img. Source Bibliography Source :  Mahabharata: The Greatest Spiritual Epic of All Time.  Krishna Dharma  2008.

Looking at my progress I believe I am on track with where I am supposed to be at this time. I plan on doing lots of extra credit over spring break to get even further a head of where I can be. Image Source

I think my comments and feedback are okay. There is definitely room for improvement when it comes to leaving comments and feedback. I do try and give good ideas on what I liked, but giving constructive criticism is something I can do more. Feedback Cats Image Source

I believe I have had most trouble with reading's where the material was scanned in via pdf. But also the nature of the translation's and reading them at time's seemed hard to understand, no matter how the source material was presented to me. I believe my writing style works for me very well because I do enjoy retelling stories to friends and family and I am not good at remembering dialogue most of the time which is why I try not to create my own, I want consistency when I retell a story and it's easier for me without dialogue. My favorite stories so far are the two about the Pandavas, both the initial house burning and the ghosts in the woods. Continuing forward I may try to get a little bit more creative in my posts, using some more dialogue, however as I said consistency is important to me and I believe stories are easier to retell multiple times when not trying to remember multiple dialogues. Vyasa summons the ghosts Image  Source

Prosperity reigned throughout the kingdom under the rule of Yudhishthira. His brother Dhritarashtra however was unable to over come the death of his first-born. He went out to the woods in order to mourn and live out his days in peace. Those who went with him were Queen Gandhari and Kunti, you may remember Queen Kunti from the story of the Pandavas' escaping an execution by burning their mansion with the beggars inside, Vidura along with many elderly people. When they reached the woods they rejoined many of their family that was thought long dead like the Pandavas themselves. After a few years, Yudhishthira and his wife and family left to join the others so that finally the whole family could be together. However, Vidura was no where to be found. Vidura had left sometime prior to Yudhishthira's arrival. He had gone to the Holy River in order to seek penance and await for Yama, God of the Dead, to welcome him into the after life. Missing their kin and wanting to be there...