Week 13 Reading Diary B: Sikhandini

Reading about Amba was very interesting for me.  It was interesting because Shiva in fact wanted a boy child so dearly that he raised his girl child Sikhandini to be a boy and there was even an arranged marriage.  It’s sad that she was taught to be something that she wasn’t and that she wasn’t good enough that she had to be something that she in fact wasn’t.  I think that all parents should accept their children whether they have a little boy or a little girl. I think that as long as you have a healthy baby that you should be happy because many people don’t get the blessing of having children of their own.

Sikhandini

Week 13 Reading Diary A: The Pandava's

During Part A of the Reading we read about the Pandavas chasing the deer into the forest. They end up not returning so Yudhishthira went to look for his brothers to end up finding out that they were dead.  However, a voice in the lake said that he had to answer questions for the brothers to come back to life.  In the end Yama answers the questions correctly and brings his brothers back. It turns out that the voice that is talking from the lake is Dharma as well.

This was a very interesting read because I could not imagine what Yama was thinking whenever he found his brothers dead by the lake. If it were me I would have been so worried about answering my questions back correctly.

Yudhishthira and the dead Pandava brothers 

Week 12: Reading Diary B: The Lotus Flowers

I really enjoyed the second part of these weeks readings when it told about the Pandavas travels to Mount Kailasa. During the times of their travels they end up disturbing the silence at Rishava’s mountain. Weird thing is that it ends up attacking them. White lotus end up floating down to earth and Draupadi ends up wanting the lotus. In the end, Bhima finds the lotus flowers. Pretty interesting read this week with the lotus flowers.

Bhima, Draupadi, and the Lotus Flowers 

Week 12 Reading Diary A: The Dice Games

I enjoyed reading this weeks reading about the Dice games. I really think that it was foolish that Nala and Yudihishthira gambled absolutely everything that they had. I couldn’t imagine losing everything to a silly dice game! I also think that it is extremely sad that Yudhistira loses his wife because he bets on her as well. I would be furious if my husband bet on me on some goofy dice game.

At the end of the story Nala wins  the game and wins the Kingdom back.

Nala playing dice

Week 11: Reading Diary A: Satyavati

The first part of the week had very interesting readings. I thought it was very interesting when King Cedi asked a certain hawk to carry his semen back to his wife. But instead of his semen getting back to his wife it falls into some water and a fish swallows it. A fishermen ends up catching the fish and a baby is inside of the fish. It turns out that the fishermen ends up raising the baby. The babygirl who is inside of the fish ends up being Satyavati.  In the end Shantanu falls in love with Satyavati.

Satyatavi

Week 10 Reading Diary B: Death of Duhshasana

This reading was interesting as well.  It was also vert gory and very graphic. During this reading Duhshasana is killed and basically tortured by Bhima. Then after he is killed Bhima ends up drinking his blood. Talk about some nasty and graphic imagery. Later in the reading Sahadeva ends up killing Shakuni. This entire chapter is filled with killings, death, and basically revenge. It was very interesting and was really enjoyable to read in a morbid way. 

Bhima kills Duhshasana and drinks his blood

Week 10 Reading Diary A: Voice in the Lake

In the first part of the reading for week 10 it was very interesting reading about the Pandava's.  It is especially interesting when they go looking for water.  They are thirsty in the first place because they end up seeing this deer and they try to catch it but they aren't fast enough.  Whenever they end up finding water they hear a voice that tells them before they drink from the water they must answer questions first. However, none of them answer the questions except for Yudhistira. All of the other brothers fall dead.

  Yudhistira 

Week 9 Reading Diary B: Draupadi and her Husbands

First of all I think that  it was interesting reading about Draupadi and her husbands. If I was Draupadi it would be difficult having more than one husband.  First off, I don’t believe in polygamy and second I think that it would be tough trying to separate my time between my different husbands.  Men can definitely be jealous and I think that that could lead to some serious fights.   It’s difficult to wrap my head around why Draupadi would have more than one husband.  I am definitely intrigued to see what ends up happening with the rest of Draupadi’s love story.

Draupadi