Casey's Blogs: Indian Epics 4993-995

The Perfect Disguise Out in the middle of the forest, it is silent all except for the rustling leaves with each footstep taken. Five Jedi begrudgingly take each step. The battle has been won, but the losses have been steep; they are the only ones left. With no way to get off the world they are traveling until they can find some shelter. Astonishingly, all the Jedi were brothers and knew that they could get through this trial. The brothers were Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. It was hot outside and even with the coverage of the trees, it was becoming unbearable to stand; shelter needed to be found. Suddenly, an individual appeared out of thin air and began to talk to the brothers. “You are coming upon a town soon, but they do not favor the Jedi at all. You need to disguise yourself if you want to live. After recovering in the town, head north and you will find a ship there to leave the planet.” “Thank you for the advice, but who are you and why are you helping ...

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...

Creative Writing 3 Things Authors Of The Golden Age Of Sci-Fi & Fantasy Did Better Christopher Dean Dean talks about the three ways that Sci-Fi and fantasy genre authors did in the modern day to really establish themselves from others. They inspired hope, they created mystery, and they ended the story. Dean concludes that many fantasy authors inspired a message of hope by taking stories and putting themselves in a world they wanted to be in. Even in the most destitute of places, some authors have the ability to describe a world that is still enjoyable to humans. Secondly, they created stories of mystery that intrigued us over and over again. He describes Tolkien as being the master of this. Tolkien continuously redefines his books and adds more intriguing elements to the story.  Lastly, the authors knew when to end a story. Unlike today when some stories and TV have continuous story lines these authors know when a story has reached its end. The three points Dean lays out a...

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...

Out in the vastness of space, Anakin Skywalker takes a look at the computer systems of his ship to make sure the engines were running efficiently. He looked out into space form his cockpit and reflected on the beauty of the darkness with small, white dots scattered across it with stars. "Beep-boop-beep," went R2D2 - his astromech droid. "We'll be there soon R2, don't worry there's nothing out here." They were travelling through space and on their way to Alderaan. Anakin was instructed by the Jedi Council to travel there so that he could act as a security personnel for Senator Organa. Alderaan was a pacifist world that was currently under threats from space rebels. At any minute they could be attacked by the rebels which would be detrimental to the people. Reinforcements were on their way to Alderaan, but Anakin was sent ahead so that they were sure Senator Organa would be safe. "Alright R2, we're about to land, you can begin turning off ...