Casey's Blogs: Indian Epics 4993-995

More Jataka Tales How the Monkey Saved His Troop A Mango tree grew on the bank of a great river. The monkey would gather there. Some fisherman cast out their nets and gathered fish and a strange looking fruit. They brought it to their king. The king liked it and wanted more of it. The king made a promise to the Chief Monkey and took care of him. He kept his promise. The Hawks and their Friends A family of hawks lived on an island. There was also a lion and some other animals. They all made promises to protect one another and when the time came they protected one another. Since they realized they had to work together to survive they all lived for a long time and lived happily on their islands, protecting each other when the time came. The Brave Little Bowman There was a man with a crooked back. He saw a strong man digging a ditch. He asked why he did this and said that he did it for money. The man said dig no more. They both went to the king. The man said he wanted to ...

More Jataka Tales The Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls The King sent his family down to the lake for a swim. A monkey saw the queen's pearls and wanted them. The monkey got the pearls and put them on, then she hid them in a hole in the tree. They found out that the pearls were gone. They tried to get the pearls back by hanging some bright colored beads. The monkeys then tried to get them. The other monkeys teased her which made her mad. She came out with the pearls and the guards captured her. The Three Fishes Three fishes were named thought, very thoughtful, and thoughtless. They left the wild country one day. Very thoughtful was concerned about the people around them, but the others were too lazy to be concerned. A fisherman caught them in a net and them, but they broke free. They all then went home. The Tricky Wold and the Rats A big rat lived in the forest and the other smaller rats worshipped him. A big wolf saw all the rats and worked on a plan to eat them. ...

Jataka Tales B The Wise and Foolish Merchant There was a wise and a foolish merchant. They traveled along a road trying to sell their products. Eventually, they sold them all but the wise merchant sold his products more efficiently than the foolish merchant. Eventually, they returned home safely. The Elephant Girly-Face The elephant was named girly-faced and was owned by the king. Some robbers came to the kingdom and they woke up the elephant. In the morning the king sent the elephant away because the elephant was hurtful. They elephant finally learned that she must be gentle and good. She mustn't hurt anyone.  The Banyan Deer The king of the Banyan Deer sent for the king of the monkey deer. They would go and lie down, placing their head on the chopping block for the cook. One day it was a mother deer's time to go to the chopping block and she didn't want to go because she was supposed to have a baby. The Banyan Deer took his place. The king was astounded by this ty...

Jataka Tales The Monkey and the Crocodile The crocodile tries to get the monkey to ride on his mouth across the river so that he can eat him. The monkey knows the crocodile might try to do this. When the crocodile does, he tricks the crocodile and he makes it safely across the river. How the Turtle Saved His Own Life The turtle was caught by the king. He didn't know what to do with it so he was going to kill it. The turtle waited and tricked the king into letting him go in the river. The turtle was then able to escape. The Merchant of Seri The merchant went from town to town trying to sell stuff. A woman tried to sell him a bowl because they had no money. It was actually made of gold and there was another merchant who gave her the right amount of money for the pot so that they could eat some food. The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking There were some geese who wanted to take the turtle to where they were. The turtle had to hand onto a stick. Someone made fun of him ...

The Crow That Thought it Knew The Brahmadatta reigned as the king of the Benares. The Bodhisatta was the marsh cow. There was a famine in Kasi and no food could be spared. A crow took his lady crow to the woods. This crow saw that another person was able to gather fish, so he wanted to become his servant. Viraka agreed to this and gave him his leftovers which he then gave to his wife crow. He then chose to fish on his own. He was not a crow that was born to swim. Therefore when he tried to fish he drowned even though he was warned not to. His lady crow wept for him and returned to Benares. The Judas Tree The Brahmadatta and the king had four sons. They all wanted to see the Judas tree. The charioteer took them all, but not at the same time, rather he took them individually at different stages of the tree. They all reported back what they saw, but it was all different depending on when they went. They realized that they had not asked the charioteer what the tree was like at differen...

The Hawk and the Osprey There lived a hawk, a she-hawk, lion, and osprey. A tortoise lived on a small island.  The hawk asked the she-hawk to marry him. But, she wouldn't marry him until they had friends. He formed a friendship with the other animals and promised to protect them and vice versa. Some men tried to catch the young birds but the osprey protected them by putting the fire out. He switched with the tortoise due to being tired. The other animals came to help them and chased the men away. Then they all reflected on the importance of friendship. The Grandmother's Golden Dish There was a Bodisat who was a dealer in tin and brass. He sold his products on his side of the street that was allotted to him. There was a family that was reduced to poverty and they had some gold, but did not know that it was gold. They unknowingly traded it to one of the merchants for an ornament. He ended up not taking it so they went to another merchant who told them the real value of the ob...

The Bull That Demanded Fair Treatment The Bodisat became a bull. A Brahmin took care of him with great care. He requested that his strength is put to the test against other cattle. The bet was made and then they filled 100 wagons full of material. The Bodisat was offended that he was called a wretch and decided not to move. The Brahmin was suddenly overcome with grief. The Bodisat told him what he did wrong then encouraged him to bet again, he did, and then the Bodisat moved all of the carts. In all, the Bodisat acquired his vast wealth. The Bull That Proved His Gratitude The Bodisat returned to life again like a bull. He was given to an old woman and became known as "the old woman's Blackie." He was good-tempered and quiet. He wanted to work for hire because his mother was poor. A merchant needed some carts pulled, saw the Bodisat and asked if he wanted to do it. He wouldn't move until he was promised a reward. He did as he was asked and then was not given the co...

Eastern Stories and Legends The Hare that Ran Away Buddha is reborn as a lion and begins to help fellow animals. He begins to help a nervous hare who was afraid that the earth is going to fall in. A large fruit fell and hit the floor which scared the hare and caused her to become afraid. She told all the other hares who followed her. Then all the larger animals heard and followed her. The lion stops them and asks to be shown where the earth was falling in. They go back and see that it was just fruit.  The Monkey and the Crocodile The Bodhisatta turned into a monkey and came from the Himalayas. A Crocodile was in the Ganges and wanted to eat the big monkey. She prayed to her gods. She tempted the monkey to cross the river. The monkey climbed on top of the crocodile and they traveled across the Ganges. The crocodile then plunged down into the water. The monkey convinces the crocodile that his heart is on the trees with fig. He tricked the crocodile and then made fun o...

The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata - The Princes of Elephant City C.A. Kincaid The Pandavas chose to spend a year in the court of King Virata while they are still disguised. Yudhishthira finally catches on how to gamble and disguises himself as well. All of the brothers and Draupadi leave their weapons in a Shami tree so that no one can find them. Kickaka tries to rape Draupadi, but Bhima avenges her. When the person comes to rape her, he realizes it isn't her. In fact, it is Bhima and he kills him. The Queen forgives her, but the people want to burn Draupadi. Bhima rescues her. The brothers get into a battle and are victorious. they reveal themselves to the King. The King then gets to decide how he handles the brother; whether or not they are to go into exile or not. Then there is a larger battle and Arjuna wounds Bhisma so that he lays there and dies. Ganga causes the battle to cease for a short period until the solstice. Bhima kills Duhshasana and drinks his blood. Duryodhan...

The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata - The Princes of Elephant City C.A. Kincaid This story occurs after the reign of King Bharata. Vichitravirya has died and left his two sons Dhritarashtra and Pandu. Dhritarashtra is blind and Pandu becomes king. Pandu has five sons; the Pandava brothers. Pandu dies and Dhritarashtra becomes king. He gives birth to one hundred sons. Together, they are the descendants of Bharata. The Pandavas are the best students and this makes Duryodhana mad. He is further infuriated when he is not named heir of the kingdom. He plots to kill the brothers, but they are warned and escape from him. They flee to the forest and disguise themselves. The demon Hidimbi sees Bhima and falls in love with him. The demon disguises herself as a beautiful woman and warns him of what her brother plans to do. They run off together, but Bhima returns eventually. Arjuna wins the archery contest but this angers the royal suitors. Draupadi becomes the bride of all five brothers. Duryo...

The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic R.K. Narayan Yudhishthira does something sensible and makes a plea for peace. Dhritarashtra learns that Krishna is going to be his emissary and wants to put on a lavish reception. Krishna does not want this because he wants peace and justice. Duryodhana rejects Krishna's plea and continues to not listen to his mother Gandhari. Krishna then turns into his divine form and cannot be taken prisoner. Karna refuses to abandon Duryodhana. The battle takes place in the field of Kurukshetra. Krishna than preaches on the doctrine of detachment known as a the Bhagadvad-Gita. After this, Arjuna is ready to fight. Dhrishtadyumna tries to kill Drona, but fails to do so. Arjuna shoots Bhishma in the back and fatally wounds him. Since he is no longer able to fight, then Karna joins the fight. Drona attempts to capture Yudhishthira alive and set up a diversion for Arjuna. Arjuna's son, Abhimanyu, is able to break through th...

The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic R.K. Narayan We pick up again with Duryodhana not trusting the Pandavas. He sends out a spy to see what they are up to. They find out that they have weapons and he then decides to set up camp outside of their kingdom. By doing this, it is a form of humiliation for the Pandavas. The gods see this and they send out a gandharva to provoke Duryodhana. There is a battle and the gandharva's capture Duryodhana, but the Pandavas set him free and further make him feel humiliated. The Pandavas leave and come upon a brahmin. They chase after a deer upon the brahmin's request, but cannot catch it. Nakula dies at the lake because he does not answer the questions before drinking. Yudhishthira answers the questions and all of his brothers come back to life. They are granted the gift of unrecognizability. They spend their thirteenth year in disguise at the court of King Virata. Draupadi is raped and ask Bhima to avenge her...

The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic R.K. Narayan Duryodhana is distressed because the Pandavas are still alive, but his father cannot bring himself to hate them. He is encouraged to make peace. Karna denounces the brothers as traitors and wages war. Dhritarashtra is confused by all the advice he is getting so he send Vidura to the Pandavas with an invitation. A sage visits the Pandavas to be careful and the potential troubles they will have. The brothers miss communicate when their time is with Draupadi and one of them has to go into exile. Yudhishthira is crowned as the king of Indraprastha. Duryodhana is encouraged to leave all the brothers alone because they are powerful with their weapons. The hall that has many optical illusions fools Duryodhana and everyone laughs at him which makes him mad. He begins to plan his revenge by trying to get them to play a game of dice. Vidura invites them to the Crystal palace to challenge the Pandavas. They begin...

The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic R.K. Narayan The story begins with Shantanu who is the ruler of Hastinapura. While at the a river he see's a woman that he falls in love with and wishes to marry. The woman agrees to marry him, but only under one condition; that he never question her. To Shantanu's astonishment she later begins to drown their children in the river. Nevertheless, she explains why she has done this and with their eight child she takes him into the river and does not return with him until he is fully grown. The child is called Devavrata, but is also known as Bhishma. Shantanu ends up falling in love with another woman named Satyavati, but her father objects to this. Devavrata renounces his title so that his father can marry the other woman. He then has two sons with her, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. His first son claims the throne, but he dies soon after and the throne goes to Devavrata. In a neighboring kingdom the king h...

Divine Archer By F.J. Gould Sugriva and Rama are now battling Vali, but instead of Sugriva giving the final blow, it is Rama who slay him. After this, the search for Sita continues. They go in different directions and Hanuman party heads in a different direction. They come upon Sampati who relays that Sita is in Lanka. Hanuman reaches Lanka and talks to Vibhishana who sends him to where Ravana is keeping Sita. He spies on them and sees that Sita is refusing all of Ravana's advances. Once Ravana is gone, he finds Sita and gives him the ring that Rama gave to him to give her. He reaffirms that Rama is on his way to come get her. Hanuman is than discovered and taken to Ravana. At the feet of Ravana, Hanuman is sentenced to death. He does this by setting his tail on fire, but Hanuman makes his tail grow larger and larger which eventually makes the city of Lanka burn up. Hanuman then returns to Sita who gives him an object to give back to Rama when he returns to him. After this, the ...

Divine Archer By F.J. Gould The book begins with the birth of Dasaratha's sons with Rama being the greatest of his two brothers. His other three brothers are Bharata, Lakshama, Shatrughna born from Kaikeyi and Sumitra. Rama is loved by all and even in his young age, he is able to master the Vedas. It is also thought that Rama is a comic being. One day, Vishvamitra comes and visits King Dasaratha and convinces him to let Rama come with him. Additionally, his brother Lakshmana goes with him as well. They fight some demons and then they are taken to a tournament field in the city of Videha. They explore the city and are taken to King Janaka. There, Rama sees Sita for the first time and they immediately fall in love. In a dream Rama realizes that he must bend the bow of Shiva. Rama attempts to bend Shiva's bow, but he bends it so that it breaks. Everyone is in a stupor and shortly Parashurama reveals himself and ask about the bow. Lakshmana tells everyone that Rama did and inste...

Ramayana Part D Hanuman comes upon Mandodari who he thinks that is Sita. He finds Sita and gives her Rama's ring. Hanuman then grows again and destroys Ashoka Vana. Ravana learns about this and is outraged by it. Ravana and Vibhishana talk with each other, but Ravana rejects any advice that he gives him. Vibhishana then goes and seeks asylum with Rama. Rama accepts and they discuss how to attack Lanka. Rama then builds a bridge across the ocean so tat his armies can cross over to Lanka. At this time Ravana tries to trick Sita by showing her a false decapitated head disguised to look like Rama. Sita sees through these lies. During the battle, Rama and Lakshmana faint on the battlefield; Ravana tries to show the bodies to Sita and convince her that they are dead, but Trijata tells her that they are just stunned and still alive. Rama then later gains consciousness and wounds Ravana and shatters hus crown. Kumbakarna is awakened form his deep sleep and promises to defeat Rama. Rama e...

Ramayana Part C We start out where we left off in the last reading. Ravana is attempting to abduct Sita. Sita unknowingly converses with Ravana who is disguised. After some discussion the disguised individual reveals himself as Ravana and flies away with her. Jatayu says that he will try to rescue Sita, but he dies trying to do so. Rama and Lakshmana attempt to look for Sita, but cannot find her. They travel along and come to the monkey kingdom of Kishkinda. After coming into the kingdom, he tells them the story of Vali and Sugriva. Vali earned respect from the gods because he made nectar from the ocean. In turn, they offered him great fighting powers. Vali fought Mayavi in a cave, but the cave was sealed up by Sugriva. Once Vali emerged and beat Sugriva; Sugriva fled and Vali took his wife. Hearing this story, Hanuman employs Rama to defeat Vali. Once Rama finds Sugriva, he ends up giving Rama Sita's jewelry that he found and wants to help Rama find her. Sugriva then challenge...

Reading Notes: Part B After being exiled by his father, Rama's brother Lakshmana is outraged by this. Rama on the other hand is not completely distraught by this. The people are also outraged that Rama is being exiled. To go into exile, Rama takes a chariot with Lakshmana and Sita accompanying him. After departing, Rama's father, Dasharatha dies. At the same time, Rama's brother Bharata returns home and learns of his fathers death. Bharata's mother Kaikeyi tells him of her plans to make him king and he is not happy with this. Instead, he goes and finds Rama who wants to fulfill his exile. So, Bharata serves as regent of the land, but he is adamantly against the title of king and does not accept it. Meanwhile, Rama moves into the forest with his companions. While in the forest, Rama meets Kamavalli (who is really Shurpanakha). She is actually the sister of Ravana, but convinces Rama he has rejected her. She states that she loves Rama, but Rama cannot do anything becau...

Reading Notes At the beginning of the story, we are introduced to Dasharatha who is the king of Koshala. He has one main dilemma, he has no children. At the same time, the gods needed someone to kill Ravana. Therefore Vishnu becomes incarnate as Dasharatha's son, Rama and acts as his son. A sacrifice is made by Rishyashringa the sage and through the sacrifice Dasharatha has four sons; Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana, and Shatrughna. He is then visited by an old sage that use to be a king. This person is Vishvamitra and he is on a mission to kill some demons. He ask the king if Rama can assist him on his quest. The king is hesitant, but agrees to it and Rama's brother, Lakshmana comes as well. They begin their journey and travel through the desert. This area is accompanied by the demon Thataka. Rama battles her and kills her. Along the way Vishvamitra teaches Rama mantra and astras. They continue to travel through the desert and they meet Thataka's sons - who are also demons - an...