Reading Notes: Epified Krishna (Part B)

14. The Savior of Dharma

• Did the bull buck?
• World's first rodeo!

18. Krishna Kills Kuvalayapida

• What did the battle with the elephant look like
• More detail!

19. Krishna Kills Kamsa

• Combine with Previous for one long scene

20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC1DI6kbqVY&index=9&list=PLrWYQjLLbXcgqdSC7HkTFsIFZSAQ6Qg7f

• What if the brothers returned home?

via Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Epified Krishna (Part A)

3. Kamsa

• Why did she keep having children? How is she even getting pregnant?
• The king keeps husband and wife in two different cells
• Boom! Problem solved.

4. Vasudev Meets Yamuna

• What if Vasudev argues with the voice in his head?
• Could be a comedy

5. Putana

• What if the threat of mortality gave him a change of heart and he accepted his death?
• Normal family dynamic + sacrifice

via Pexel

Reading Notes: More Jataka Tales (Part B)

All stories in the collection are retold by Ellen C. Babbitt

13. The Hawks and Their Friends

• Papa Hawk's POV

19. Prince Wicked and the Grateful Animals

• Parrot POV
• King ends up needing the rice during a famine

via Pxfuel.com

Reading Notes: More Jataka Tales (Part A)

All stories in this collection are retold by Ellen C. Babbitt

2. The Three Fishes

• Very-Thoughtful POV
• Obv new name
• Lean into the anxiety for more feeling
• Snaps into "clinical mode"

6. The Golden Goose

• The goose returns after the mom dies
• The daughters take care of him
• They are friends
• Their love brings back his golden feathers
• They live happily ever after

via Need Pix

Reading Notes: Babbitt, Jataka Tales (Part B)

2. The Elephant Girly-Face, Ellen C. Babbitt

• Elephant POV
• Rewrite so that the elephant kills the robbers instead?
• Perhaps they think he is no harm due to his reputation

3. The Banyan Deer, Ellen C. Babbitt

• King POV
• Human King would have to ask the gods to grant him a voice?
• Mother POV
• She gets out back into the "drawing" and volunteers as tribute when her son's name is pulled

5. The King's White Elephant, Ellen C. Babbitt

• Old Elephant POV
• Did Girly-Face get released?
• Young Elephant POV
• Or is this Girly-Face?
• Combine with The Elephant Girly-Face

Fun Fact: Albino Elephants are actually pink, not white! Be on the lookout for more info in this week's (or week 11's) "Famous Last Words!" because I'm squirreling hard and it's so fascinating!

White Elephants are generally just covered in clay

6. The Ox Who Envied the Pig, Ellen C. Babbitt

• Pig POV
• Makes it easy to come up with COD
• Maybe too brutal?
• Ox POV
• Old or Young?
• How do they die?

7. Granny's Blackie, Ellen C. Babbitt

• Elephant POV
• Combine with earlier elephant stories
• Order:
• King's - Baby
• Granny's - King gives elephant to Granny
• Girly-Face - Granny passes/gets REALLY old and her son takes ownership

Baby Elephant! via Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Babbitt, Jataka Tales (Part A)

4. The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking, Ellen C. Babbitt

• Turtle POV
• Dharma is... to teach a lesson? To learn to not talk?
• Combine with How the Turtle Saved his Own Life

7. The Quarrel of the Quails, Ellen C. Babbitt

• Quail POV
• Leader?
• Quail 1
• Steps on head
• Quail 2
• Gets
• stepped on
• Death
• Old Age (Pet)
• Food?

9. The Foolish, Timid Rabbit, Ellen C. Babbitt

• Rabbit POV
• Short life span 
• Pass of old age?
• Lion POV
• Mufasa?
• The wildebeest stampede could be preceded with a thought of "That darn rabbit"

via PickPik.com

Reading Notes: Epified Mahabharata (Part A)

Episode 1

• What would have happened if Shantanu hadn't questioned Ganga?
• Why didn't Ganga kill the 8th son as she had promised?

Episode 2

• Why was Devavrat shooting arrows at his mother?

Episode 3

• Why was it considered a terrible oath?
• How did the gods react?

Episode 5

• What would have happened had Amba's sweetheart had accepted her?
• Why couldn't the king just marry Amba when she returned?

Episode 6

• What was it like being married to Vichitravirya?
• Did he even try to conceive?
• Maybe he was gay???

Episode 8

• POV from the servant girl
• Was Vyas really ugly, or were the queens just rude?
• What was it like at court with a puppet king
• Why was the brother so hellbent on revenge when Gandhari was clearly happy with her husband?

Bhishma and Ganga with  Shantanu, via Wikimedia Commons

Extra Credit Reading Notes: Ramayana Part A

2. Dasharatha's Sons, Donald A. Mackenzie

• Synopsis:
• A horse sacrifice is performed in an attempt to get the gods to give the king, Dashartha, a son
• The gods answer and tell him that he will have 4 sons
• Possibilities:
• More details
• What was the ritual like?
• How did the city people feel about the ritual (since they weren't invited)
• Did the king have any daughters?

3. Rama: Avatar of Vishnu, Donald A. Mackenzie

• Synopsis:
• The king's prayer was answered
• 2/3 wives had one son
• The third wife had twin boys
• The gods were under the control of the demon king, Ravana
• They went to Vishnu about defeating Ravana
• He agreed to split himself into 4 and be born as the 4 sons
• Since only Humans and apes could defeat Ravana
• Possibilities:
• How did the other two wives feel about not having twins?
• Was one son favored over the others?
• Were there any older daughters in the palace?
• What was it like having part of a God's soul in a child's body?

6. Bhagiratha and Ganga, John Campbell Oman

• Synopsis:
• Sagara (King) had 2 wives, but no kids
• He prayed to the gods and was blessed with 60,000 sons
• He set a horse free to prep it for sacrifice
• Indra stole the horse
• Sons went to retrieve the stolen horse
• Indra killed them all with a single roar
• Grandson (Anshumat) went to investigate when they did not return
• He found their ashes
• Water is needed to carry souls to heaven
• No water nearby
• Needed rain
• Found the horse and stole it back
• Prayed to the gods for holy rain to fall on his uncles ashes
• Rain god had to run through another god's hair?
• It rains!
• Uncles' souls are carried to heaven
• Possibilities
• Horse!
• Perspective

11. Parashurama, F. J. Gould

• Synopsis:
• Rama has snapped Shiva's bow in half to win Sita's hand in marriage
• A hermit who worships Shiva reveals himself, angry that the bow has been broken
• Ramam proves himself a hero to the hermit by being able to fire Vishnu's bow
• Possibilities:
• What if Rama didn't know he was magic and this was all a bunch of weird stuff happening to him
• 1st person POV

via Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Mahabharata (Part D)

62. Drona in Command, Romesh C. Dutt

• All of these battled end at nightfall
• How do the warriors decide where to take a break?
• What does that look like?

65. Death of Drona, Sister Nivedita

• This would be a very touching scene to rewrite from a soldier's POV
• The visual of the two suns is very powerful/spiritual

66. Bhima and Duhshasana, Donald A. Mackenzie

• Is Bhima a VAMPIRE?????????

67. Arjuna and Karna, Donald A. Mackenzie

• Horse
• Rewrite from the horse's perspective for my project?
• How would the horse die?
• Karna's speech
• Is he talking to himself?
• This part is confusing
• Perhaps Karna has Schizophrenia

68. Duryodhana in the Lake, Donald A. Mackenzie

• Underwater internal monologue

74. King Yudhishthira's Horse, Donald A. Mackenzie

• Very detailed about the horses journey
• This would be the most useful for my story book
• Rewrite from the Horse's perspective

75. Horse Sacrifice, Donald A. Mackenzie

• Combine with 74. King Yudhishthira's Horse to make horse story
• The horse can be the last incarnation given that it ascends to heaven

via PXFuel.com

Reading Notes: Mahabharata (Part C)

43. Arjuna and Shiva, Sister Nivedita

• Alternate ending:
• What if Arjuna simply offered the boar to the god, as he had only shot in self-defense
• Arjuna's POV

50. Riddles at the Lake, Donald A. Mackenzie

• This could be narrowed down and written more personally as a nice father/son reunion

51. The Court of King Virata, Donald A. Mckenzie

• An exploration of any one of the party's professions/day-to-day life could be fun
• Journal entry?

52. Bhima and Kichaka, C. A. Kincaid

• This sounds like the start to a crime show
• Law and Order: SVU?

via NeedPix.com

Reading Notes: Mahabharata (Part B)

21. House of Fire, C. A. Kincaid

• What message was passed to Yudhishthira?
• POV from the night of the fire?
• Or even just more detailed

33. Arjuna and Subhadra, Donald A. Mackenzie

• Rewrite as a drama at the palace after Subhadra disappears

Not a whole lot of inspiration with this reading. It's probably the sleep deprivation. :)

I'm... So... Tired...
Via Flickr

Reading Notes: Mahabharata (Part A)

2. King Shantanu and Ganga, Donald A. Mackenzie

• Seeing the babies cast into the river from the King's perspective
• Palace servants opinions on the children suddenly going missing?
• Why did Ganga not just tell Shantanu what she was doing?

8. Kunti and her Son, Donald A. Mackenzie

• How did Radha's husband feel about her bringing home a rindim child?
•  What was Karna's trio down the river like?

9. Pandu and His Wives, Donald A. Mackenzie

• This is twice now that he's killed a deer only to find out it was a human
• What has to be going through Pandu's head???
• I'm also imagining the second interaction as a cop getting chewed out by a thug for arresting him mid-activity

18. The Arrival of Karna, Donald A. Mackenzie

• How would this have gone if Kunti had claimed Karna?

Not related to the reading at all, just a visual representation of me losing my mind over the last two weeks
via PublicDomainPictures.net

Reading Notes: Part D

63. Indrajit, Sister Nivedita

• Rewrite from Rama's perspective
• Sita's wailing wakes him
• Then Garuda appears
• Very Christmas Carol

64. Kumbhakarna, Donald A. Mackenzie

• The elephants could be one of the reincarnations for my storybook!

70. Battle of Rama and Ravana, Sister Nivedita

• It is mentioned that the gods had fated Rama to kill Ravana
• TV show?
• Game of DnD?

Dungeons and Dragons via Dyess Air Force Base

79. Sita Daparts, Sister Nivedita

• I want Sita to be angry when she first receives Rama's summons. He abandons her for YEARS and suddenly wants to make amends?

80. Rama Departs, Sister Nivedita

• BUT WHERE'S SITA?????
• I want a reunion goddamnit!

Reading Notes: Part C

42. Sugriva's Story, Geraldine Hodgson

• A retelling of Vali's fight with the beast could be fun
• From Vali's of Sugravi's perspective

44. Vali's Death, Romesh Dutt

• I would really love to rewrite this so the brothers work things out rather than trying to kill each other

47. The Armies, Donald A. MacKenzie and Romesh Dutt

• An expansion on the seen where Rama threatens the kings life would be interesting
• How did that conversation go?
• How did everyone else in the room react?

53. Sita and Ravana, Sister Nivedita

• How many times has Ravana asked her to join him?
• What has Sita's imprisonment been like from her perspective?
• What if one of the guards had a change of heart?

57. The Burning of Lanka, Sister Nivedita

• I can just imagine Hanuman's smugness when his binding is released
• A telling of this story from his perspective would be fun to write

Rama and Sita via Flickr

Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

1. The Foolish, Timid Rabbit, Ellen C. Babbitt

• Synopsis
• The rabbit awakens from a nap and thinks "what would happen to me if the earth began to fall apart?"
• At that point, a coconut falls behind him
• He assumes that the noise from the coconut is the earth cracking
• He begins to run, telling another rabbit he passes that the earth is falling apart
• The second rabbit begins to run with him
• The second rabbit then tells a third rabbit and so on and so forth
• A large group of many different animals all begin running together
• The group meets the lion king at the base of a mountain
• The lions asks what's going on
• When the original Rabbit reveals that he thinks the earth is falling apart, the lion takes him back to his nap spot to investigate
• The earth was found to be very much intact, but there was a coconut found on the ground...
• Possibilities
• What if the earth really was falling apart???
• What if instead of running, it was a gossip ring?
• Area 51???

3. The Cunning Crane and the Crab, W. H. D. Rouse

• Synopsis
• There were many fish in a pond that began drying up in the summer
• A crane offered to take them to a nearby pond that was cool and spring fed
• The fish sent their old, one-eyed friend to see if the Crane could be trusted
• After taking the old fish to the lake, then bringing him back to tell all of the others about it, he began taking the fish one by one to the lake
• except they never make it to the lake, he eats them
• The last one to go is a crab, who holds onto the cranes neck with his claws rather than riding in his mouth
• When the crane tries to eat him, he snips his head off
• Possibilities
• What if the crane is true to his word
• Vegan Crane?
• Fish are friends, not food

Found on Etsy via Google Images

8. Goblin City, W. H. D. Rouse

• Synopsis
• There was a ship wreck off the coast of the Goblins' island
• When the men was ashore, the she-goblins use their powers to make it look like the island is inhabited
• The men agree to marry the women, thinking they're humans
• One man wakes up while his wife is down at the prison eating her previous husband and realizes what she is
• The next day he tells his friends what he saw
• not everyone believed him
• There was a nearby fairy that hated the goblins
• She sent her pegasus to rescue the men
• Those who believed were flown off the island and back home
• The non-believers were eaten that night
• Possibilities
• Back story: Why does the fairy hate the goblins?
• Perspective
• Either the goblins or the men
• How do the male goblins feel about this?
• Epic Boss Battle when the men are escaping

Week 2 Reading Overview

To start off this semester, I think I'll be sticking to the public domain option for Ramayana. The layout for that mirrors how things were organized when I took the Myth and Folklore class and will decrease the amount of effort needed to get "back in the swing of things" so to speak. Plus, that's one less book I'll have to buy. I'm already in three science courses, and the class materials are NOT cheap.

The two comics I read through were Hanuman to the Rescue: Hanuman Brings the Sanjeevani and Hanuman: The Epitome of Devotion and Courage

These two in particular caught my eye because I recognized Hanuman's name from the video embedded in the overview page

As it turns out, the two stories were actually connected! I of course managed to read them out of order, but it was an enjoyable surprise nonetheless.

When I moved on to the video section, Ancient Technology - Atlantis and India caught my eye right away because I love the idea of  Atlantis. Next I clicked on Hindu Creation Stories to learn about Hinduisms particular take on the creation of the world. I'm a fan of the idea that the truth lies in the middle of all of the world's religious teachings. The more data you have, the more accurate your average should be.

This of course led to Harry Potter Meets Hindu Mythology being auto played next, which I had to stick around for because, well, it's Harry Potter!

The monkey god Hanuman, who is so muscular and defined in nearly all of his visual representations that it makes me uncomfy
(via Good Free Photos)