Week 6 Storytelling: Hidimbi Finds Love

Hidimbi was a rakshasa woman. She was able to transform herself and so she lived as a quite beautiful woman but something was missing from her life. She had been alone, trapped in a life that had no meaning. She stayed with her brother and although he was a horrible and evil rakshasa, she had no where else to go. Her brother was all that she had in the world.

Once day while sitting in the forest where they lived, her brother Hidimba smelled humans. She didn't like feasting on humans like her brother did but she knew that she had to go get them for her brother's dinner.

Walking into the forest, she saw a man. He was like nothing that she had ever seen before. He was beautiful and she knew immediately that she loved him. She wanted to approach him but was unable to move for a moment. She had never been in love before and she was confused by these feelings. She wanted to run to him and embrace him but she was too nervous to move.

Sensing that danger was not far behind, she knew that she had to make sure her new love wasn't going to be eaten by her brother. She could try to tell her brother how much she loved this man but it wouldn't make a difference. She knew that he would eat him nonetheless. He never really cared about her feelings anyways.

"Hello", she managed to say to the man. "My name is Hidimbi. I have to warn you of the danger that you are about to encounter. My brother is very hungry and he knows that you and your family are in this forest. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I am Bhima and I will have you know that I fear no one. Let your brother try to find me and he will pay. I am not going to wake up my family just because of some rakshasa. They are tired and they are going to rest." the stranger replied.

Once she heard this mysterious man talk, she fell even more in love with him. He was so strong and so brave and she knew right then that he would be able to take her away from her horrible life. She wanted so badly to tell him right then that she was in love with him but she knew that it had to wait until he fought her brother. She had to make sure that he survived first and then she would confess to him.

She held back her emotions as she watched her new love fade into the distance as he went to search for her brother. She hoped he would come back. She needed him to come back. He just entered her life and she definitely wasn't ready for him to leave it just yet.

Hidimbi approaches Bhima in human form. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Author's note: I based this story off of Bhima and Hidimba. In the original story, Bhima and the rest of the Pandavas are in the forest. Hidimba, the rakshasa, smells them and sends his sister Hidimbi to go get them for him. He wants to eat them. When she does, she sees Bhima and falls in love with him. She tells him that she will be his servant and save him if he wakes his family. He refuses, saying that he won't wake his family up and that he is strong and not scared of her brother. He then fights Hidimba and defeats him. In my story, I kept the storyline the same. The only changes that I made were to focus more on how Hidimbi was feeling. I wanted to show her emotions.The rest of the story was told with Hidimbi as the main focus. I also wanted to give her a little bit more of a backstory of why she would be so willing to run off with the Pandavas and to marry Bhima. I made her feel like she was missing something in her life and that she had no one but her brother and that is why she stayed with him. She knew that he was evil but she had nowhere else to go.
Bibliography: Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).

Week 6: Reading Diary B:Mahabharata Online 41-60

For this week's reading, I chose Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition. These are some of my favorite stories.
Krishna's Visit: Draupadi is obviously angry at the whole situation. She thought that her husbands should have protected her and stood up for her but they did not. Yudhishthira spends much of this time trying to convince Draupadi to forgive him saying that non forgiving him would be a sin. This is ridiculous because Draupadi has every right to be mad. Her husband lost her in a gambling match and then sent her to exile in another. I'm pretty sure anyone would be mad in this situation.

 Riddles at the Lake: The Pandavas approached the water when they were thirsty. Four of them heard a voice that warned them that they must answer questions before they could drink the water. They did not listen and drank the water anyways and died. Yudhishthira was the only one who listened to the voice and he was forced to answer numerous riddles. He was able to survive though because he listened to the voice. Its a strange turn of events that Yudhishthira was the brother that wasn't smart enough to stop gambling and lost everything, yet he was the only brother that listened to the voice and didn't die.

Bhima and Kichaka: The Prince Kichaka tries to rape Draupadi but she is able to fight against him. When she tells others what happened, she gets laughed at because everyone fears Kichaka. She is able to tell Bhima and finally one of her husbands is able to defend her. They trick Prince Kichaka and convince him that Draupadi will finally be with him but instead he finds Bhima and Bhima kills him.

Draupadi bringing the tray of food to Prince Kichaka

Week 6: Reading Diary A:Mahabharata Online 21-40

For this week's reading, I chose Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition. These are some of my favorite stories.

Bhima and Hidimba: I really liked this story. A rakshasa woman named Hidimba approaches Bhima and wants him for a husband. She knows that her brother wants to eat them and she tries to save them. Bhima refuses to run and Hidimba's brother finds them and threatens to kill her but Bhima won't let him. I like how Bhima refuses to let the evil brother kill Hidimba even though he just met her. He shows his bravery and fights for her and his family.

The Story of Nalayani: This story shows how Nalayani became reincarnated as Drupadi and became the wife of five husbands. I like how she ended up with five husbands due to the fact that her original husband left her unsatisfied. She prayed for a husband five times and ended up with five husbands and her main concern was that she would be similar to a prostitute. She ended up asking for her virginity to be new to each husband.

Arjuna and Chitrangada: Chitra was raised to pretend to be a male. She seemed fairly content in this until she ran into Arjuna. As soon as she ran into Arjuna, she was no longer content with pretending and she immediately went home and put on all things feminine. She wore a dress and jewelry.

Maya's Palace: In this story, Duryodhana goes to the palace of the Pandavas and basically just embarrasses himself completely. He mistakes water for land and land for water. He mistakes open doors for closed one and closed doors for open ones. You actually begin to feel a little bad for him because he can't catch a break. The entire story involves his misunderstandings.

Duryodhana slips into water. Source: Wikipedia

Thoughts about Comments

I love that people comment on the storytellings that I do for this class. I think that it definitely helps. I do like it when people comment things that they like but it helps more when people mention the things that they didn't, but only if they offer suggestions on how they think that I can improve. Sometimes something just doesn't sound good but I don't know how to make it sound better and the comments really help me so I know what to improve on next time.

I hope that I am helping when I comment. I tend to try to focus on the positives of peoples' storytellings. I don't want to be too critical and most of the time there aren't that many errors in people's writings anyways so that makes it easier.

I loved this. Source: Disney Memes

Week 5: Reading Diary A:Mahabharata Online 1-20

For this week's reading, I chose Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition. These are some of my favorite stories.

King Shantanu and Satyavati: This story mentions the birth of Satyavati. She was born from the fish and was found by a fisherman. She had a fishy odor and so when  Parashara asked her to be the mother of his son and told her that he would take the fishy smell away from her, she agreed. The other condition was that she remained a virgin still. Vyasa was born and grew quickly into a man and wandered away from her. This story is quite confusing so I am very glad that it is repeated. I feel like it made more sense this time around.

Satyavati. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Pandu and His Wives: This tells the story of how Pandu is cursed. He shoots two deer that are having intercourse and it turns out that the deer is a Brahmin in deer form. The Brahmin was not angry that Pandu killed deer but he was angry that he killed them while they were engaged in sex. So the curse to Pandu is that when he is having sex with his wife, he will be killed so Pandu now has to remain celibate until he is ready to die.

Drona: This story mentions how Drona and Drupada were raised together. When Drona visits Drupada, Drupada is extremely rude to him. Drupada talks about how he is so far above Drona that Drona is not to call him a friend. Drupada takes it as an insult which is completely ridiculous because you shouldn't have to have equal statuses in order to be friends with someone. Drona didn't say a word, he just walked away. This story just angered me.

Week 4: Reading Diary B: The Divine Archer

This week I read the second half of the Divine Archer. These are some of my favorite stories from this reading.

Lanka on Fire: I love how much courage is shown from Hanuman even when Ravan was threatening to kill him. He even showed courage when they were going to set his tail on fire. He knew that this would work to his advantage. As they continued to add more oil and rags to his tail, his tail grew and grew and grew. Ravan didn't take this as a bad sign and they still set him on fire. Hanuman  ran through the city burning down place by place. He  was able to grab a token from Sita to take back to Rama. I really like this story because it shows how much Ravan doesn't think things through and it came back to destroy Lanka.

Sita's test with Fire: This story still makes me angry. Rama fought so many people so that he could rescue Sita and then he decides that she has to prove that she was faithful to him. The fire proves her innocence and only then does Rama decide that he is able to take her back.

Sita's Exile: Rama decides to send Sita into exile,even though she passed the test of fire, because all the people wouldn't stop gossiping about it. Rama turned away from the one that he loved all because of some gossip. He should have just accepted that Sita didn't do anything wrong and keep her with him.

Sita and the Twins: Sita has twins while in exile and once Rama realizes that the twins are his, he decides that he wants Sita back. Sita returns, but only to return back into the earth from which she came.

Valmiki with Lava and Kusha. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Week 4: Reading Diary A: The Divine Archer

For this week, I read the Divine Archer. These are some of my favorite parts in the story.

Birth of Dasaratha's Sons: The beginning of the story tells of how Rama's mother was able to see that he wasn't just an ordinary baby. He was able to change into something great and then he returned to being a baby. He was also such a kind and gentle person.

Rama and Sita: I still love how they fell in love at first sight. She prayed  for him and he dreamed of her. It is actually really romantic how they immediately knew that they were destined to be together. I also love how numerous times someone makes the comment of how the dark one, referring to Rama, would make a perfect husband for Sita. Everybody seemed to realize that they were meant to be together.

The Succession: Desaratha decides, when he sees a gray hair, that he should now have Rama take over as king. This angered Manthara and she convinces Kaikeyi that Bharat should be king instead of Rama. So far, most of the story has stayed pretty consistent with the first version of Ramayana that we have read. I look forward to see what the big differences, if any, there are to come.

Comparing this version to the Ramayana Online Public Domain Edition, I have to say that this version is a lot easier to read. I think it is much easier and I also like how the two stories are so similar. It helps me to understand and remember some of the things that I read in the first version. It is making much more sense now that I have two to compare to each other.

Screenshot found on Blog

Storybook Styles

Topic: My topic is going to be the relationship between Rama and Sita. I am wanting to tell about their relationship, the good and the bad. There are many of the stories to choose from since their relationship is the main reason for mostly everything that happens, but I believe that I already have a couple of the stories that I am wanting to use for my storybook.

Bibliography:
1. Rama and Sita from Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914).
2. Sita Tested from Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914).

Possible Styles:

1. Therapy- first-person storyteller: I am really leaning towards the idea of having Rama and Sita attending marriage counseling, with the therapist as the first-person storyteller. I think this idea would show an outside perspective on the drama in the relationship between Rama and Sita. The stories would go together to show the ups and downs of their relationship. I like the idea of the therapist being able to add his/her opinion in along with what Rama and Sita are saying.

2. Diary- first-person storyteller: For this style, I could have Sita writing in her diary showing her point of view of her marriage. This would be helpful because you don't really get to hear Sita's side of everything. I would like to show how she feels, especially when Rama doesn't believe her. I would like to be able to explore what Sita was thinking and I think the diary is a good option for that.

3. Documentary- told in third person: The documentary could tell the story of the couple. It could start with how they met and how Rama fought to find Sita after she was kidnapped by Ravana. I think this style would be good because it would be someone who is not even involved in the story telling everyone what happened. It would be a neutral person therefore you would be able to see both side equally.

4. Children's story- told in third person omniscient: I think this would also be a good one to do. I could clean the stories up a little in order for it to be "child appropriate". It could be like a fairy tale and then could have the typical happily ever after feel to it. I also like the idea of having it told in third person omniscient because I like that I could have the emotions of every character. Every characters feeling and actions could be described in this style.



Rama and Sita's marriage. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Week 3 Storytelling: Rama and Sita: How it should have gone

Sita waited with the rakshasis, anxious to know if the rumors were true. They had received word that Rama had finally defeated Ravana. She had to hide her excitement, knowing that even though the news would be good for her, it meant that the wives of Ravana would be devastated. She was fearful of what they would do but she knew that Rama would come for her.

She heard someone coming. She looked up, hoping that it would be her love, Rama. She was only slightly disappointed when she realized it was Hanuman. That is when she was able to confirm that Ravana was finally defeated.

"I want to see my love. Will you send him immediately?" Sita asked, practically begging. She was only slightly worried that Rama would think that she was unfaithful to him. She knew that as soon as she sees him, she will have to convince him otherwise.

Word was given back to Rama, whom was so filled with joy. His only reply was for Sita to be brought to him immediately. He missed Sita so much that he decided to meet half way.

"Rama!" Sita yelled when they had finally stood in front of eachother for the first time in such a long time.

Rama immediately embraced Sita. He did not care that she had not been bathed. He did not care that she had been in another man's home. He wasn't even worried about the rumors that may appear after this incident. All he cared about was that he finally had his love, his wife, Sita.

"I've missed you so much!" Sita exclaimed, "I promise you that I remained pure. Ravana and his wives threatened me but never once did I give in! I would have rather died than been unfaithful to you. I will do anything to prove it to you"

" I believe you, Sita! I have never had any reason to doubt you." Rama knew that Sita was telling the truth. Not once did he ever doubt her loyalty to him. He knew that she would never betray him. She was pure when they first met and he knew that she would always remain that way.

They continued to celebrate the defeat of Ravana and the return of Sita from captivity. Everyone could see how much Rama loved Sita and how much he had missed her. He fought through so many battles all to get his wife back.

Rama and Sita with people surrounding them. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Author's note: I based this story off of the story of Sita and Rama. The original story has Rama winning back Sita, only to break their relationship off because of her captivity. He tells her that, even though it was against her will, she was in contact with another besides him. Sita refused to let him believe that and she said she would rather die than have him believe something so untrue. Sita ended up having to test her purity by fire before Rama decided that he could believe her. When I read this story, I thought that it was crazy that he went through all those battles just so that he could break off their relationship because of something that was out of Sita's control. I wanted a happier ending so I changed the story to reflect that. I thought it would be better if Rama immediately believed Sita, instead of accusing her like he did. I also thought that he would want to see her immediately because in the original version, he only wanted to see her after she had bathed. If he truly loved her, he wouldn't have cared if she had bathed so I changed that part too.
Bibliography: Source. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914). [600 words]

Week 3: Reading Diary B: Ramayana Online 61-80

For this Reading Diary, I read Week 2: Reading B of Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition. These are some of my favorite stories from the reading.

Rama Attacks: This was one of my favorites because Ravana's spies tell him that he should surrender. They tell him that Rama is much too powerful for him to be fighting against and that Ravana should release Sita. Ravana, however, was definitely not going to surrender that easily so he decides to try and trick Sita. He tries to convince her that Rama is dead and that she should just accept that she is going to be with Ravana. Sita believes him and begs for him to end her life. Sita soon realizes that Ravana is lying to her and that Rama is still alive.

Ravana's Lament:  This story is very odd to me because the wives of Ravana refuse to let him kill Sita. In the story, Ravana learns that Rama has killed his son. Ravana is hysterical with anger and sadness and decides that he is going to kill Sita. His wives, however, stop him from killing her and tell him that if he kills a woman, it will close the doors to the heavens. The question that I have after reading this is why don't the wives kill Sita for Ravana? A few stories before this, they were threatening to kill her but now they refuse.

Ravana's Death: This Epic wouldn't be complete with the defeat of Ravana. The very reason that Vishmu was reincarnated into Rama was so that Ravana could be defeated. It was a tough battle for Rama but, with the help from Agastya, he was able to finally defeat Ravana.

Sita Tested: I wouldn't consider this a favorite but it was a crazy twist. Rama fought through all his enemies and sought Sita. He was willing to give her up because she had been kidnapped by Ravana. She couldn't convince him that she was pure and never would have been with Ravana. She had to step into fire in order for Rama to believe her. He seriously should have believed her from the beginning!

 

Sita showing her purity by stepping in the fire. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Week 3: Reading Diary A: Ramayana Online 41-60

For this Reading Diary, I read Week 2: Reading A of Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition. These are my favorite stories from the reading.

Sugriva's Story: The brothers, Sugriva and Vali, basically became enemies over a huge misunderstanding. Sugriva thought that Vali was dead and that was the reason that he went back to rule over Vali's followers. This angered Vali and he thought that his brother did it on purpose and so he stole his wife. I don't necessarily blame Vali. It doesn't look good that his brother closed up he hole and left him there and took over ruling his followers. It does sound quite suspicious. It is sad though that Vali took his revenge by stealing Sugriva's wife but I can understand why he would want to take revenge on his brother whom he thought betrayed him.

King Sugriva: This is the story right after Rama defeats Vali. What makes this story so interesting is that even though Vali and Sugriva fought, Sugriva still mourned for his dead brother. Even after his brother stole his wife, he still was upset at his death. This shows that even though the two shared quite a big hatred for each other, when it came down to Vali dying, Sugriva still felt sad over the death of his brother.

Sita and Ravana: Hanuman watches as Ravana threatens Sita. He knows its her by her fair and appearance and he watches her. In this story, I love how Sita refused Ravana no matter what he threatens her with. You can tell that she is still confident that Rama will save her and kill Ravana. The wives of Ravana also threaten her and although she is terrified, she does not give in. I think that Sita shows so much courage in this story. Even though she is scared, she is still able to stand her ground.

Ravana approaches Sita while she is in captivity. Source: Wikimedia Commons 

Storybook Topics

1. Possible Topic: Rakshasas. I think that this topic would be a good one. There are many different rakshasas, and rakshasis, to chose from. The one that made me want to do this topic was Shurpanakha. She was in love with Rama and took revenge when he rejected and embarrassed her. I found her to be quite interesting so it would be nice to learn the stories of the other rakshasas.
Research so far: The first thing that I did was use Wikipedia to look up rakshasas. I was able to see a couple of the rakshasas that were in the Ramayana, such as Ravana, Vibhishana, and Kumbhakarna. It also named a couple that are in the Mahabharata such as Hidimba, Bakasura, and Kirmira. I also looked through a couple storybooks on the topic. The storybook that caught my attention was 1000 Ways To Die: Demon Edition. It is about the deaths of the demons in the stories.

Possible Topic: Women characters. I think that this would be a good topic because there are so many interesting women in these stories. The first ones I think of is Sita. She is such an interesting character and stands beside Rama in many of the stories. She also chose to go into exile with him even though she didn't have to.
Research so far: I did the Wikipedia search on some of the women characters. The main research I did though was looking for ideas in the storybooks about women. I liked how some of them focused on the evil women, like the Evil Women of the Ramayana. I also liked how some of solely focused on a particular woman, like Sita: A Song of Valor.

Possible Topic: Birth Stories There are so many characters that have such an interesting birth story. I think it would be cool to incorporate a couple different stories for the storybook. An example would be the sons of Dasharatha and Sita and I am interested in learning about more of them.
Research so far: I did a Wikipedia search and also looked at some storybooks on the subject. The Wikipedia sources are very helpful in learning about the different births and I love how the birth stories storybooks incorporated them into a cohesive story. The birth elements was most interesting to me. It showed the different characters that were born from the four elements: water, earth, wind, and fire. I don't think I would have thought of putting them together like that.

Possible Topic: Love Stories I think this would be good because you could show not only the good things about some of the couples but also the couples that are dysfunctional. The one that made me interested in this is Dasharatha and Kaikeyi. At first, they don't seem like they are too bad of a couple but then you are able to see just how manipulative Kaikeyi can be.
Research so far: My research so far has been in finding a few couples that would work. Obviously I would consider using Dashartha and Kaikeyi. I would probably use Rama and Sita. The others I would have to decide after we do some more readings. I also did a Wikipedia search that tells a summary of the different couples so this would be a good reference. I looked through some storybooks to see how other people have interpreted the stories. There were two storybooks that stood out to me as I looked through. They were How I Met Your Mother and also Sita and Rama Seek Marital Therapy.

Rama and Sita Enthroned. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Week 2 Storytelling: Shurpanakha's Side of the Story

Shurpanakha was a rakshasa. She was never known to be beautiful or frail like most other women. People often made fun of her for the way she looked. She was misshapen and quite ugly and anyone who came around her would make sure that she knew these facts. It was no wonder why she was such an angry being. She had no reason to be nice to anyone. In fact, she spent most of her life hiding away from others' sights. She did not want to interact with the world because it was such a cruel place, far crueler than she could ever be.

One day, she decided that it was time to roam the world. She knew that it probably wasn't the best idea but she decided that she did not want to be alone anymore and she would go find a husband and the one that she picks, will wed her whether he likes it or not. She wasn't far away from home when she heard a sound like nothing she had ever heard. It was the most beautiful voice. She knew right then that whomever the voice belonged to, would soon be her husband.

"Who is it that has come into my jungle which is haunted by rakshasas?" Shurpanakha asked the mysterious stranger.

"I am Rama. I have come to exile with my bride Sita. We are only passing through and don't wish to be any trouble," the stranger replied.

"You are no trouble. That bride of yours, however, is not welcome in my jungle. She must leave at once," Shurpanakha quickly spoke hoping the bride would just disappear.

Rama turned and began to walk away with his bride. Shurpanakha knew that she could not allow this stranger to walk away. She did not know much about him, but she knew that she was in love with him and that he had to be hers.

"Rama, you are not to leave. You are going to forever dwell with me as my husband. I am in love with you and I will not allow you to leave my sight," Shurpanakha screamed.

"I have no interest in you, evil being. I refuse to leave my bride. You can try my brother." laughed Rama, obviously in jest, "I am sure that he would love to be with someone as beautiful as you are."

Rama and Sita turned to walk away. Shurpanakha, blind with fury, attacked the two lovers. She would not allow them to leave unharmed after the way that they had treated her.  She didn't know how she was going to do it, but she knew that she had to destroy them.

Rama embarrasses Shurpanakha and rejects her advances. Source: Blog

 

Author's note: This story was based on the story of Shurpanakha and Rama. The original story is about a rakshasa named Shurpanakha. She falls in love with Rama and tries to get him to leave Sita, saying that she is pale and deformed and that he shouldn't love her. Rama obviously refuses her advances and tells her that Sita is the only one for him. He jokingly tells her that his brother is single and she should try to seduce him. She tries and again is denied and embarrassed. This only angers Shurpanakha and she tries to attack Sita. In my version of the story, I wanted to tell it from the point of view of Shurpanakha. I thought that it would be interesting to give her a little bit of a backstory and then show how she felt when the exchange happened between her and Rama. I wanted to show that Shurpanakha had a background of being embarrassed and laughed at by others. She had never been treated that well and this may have contributed to how she was. It made it make a little bit more sense on why she would react the way that she did and attacked Sita.
Bibliography: this story was found online in the Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition reading.

Week 2: Reading Diary B: Ramayana Online 21-40

For this reading diary, I read the reading B of Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition. These are my favorite stories from this reading.

Bharata Returns: What I find most interesting about this story is that is shows the Bharata never wanted to rule over the kingdom. His mother did all these horrible things in order to assure that he was the ruler and it turns out, he would rather have his brother take his rightful place. Bharata is actually disgusted by his mother's actions and calls her an evil woman.

Viradha: This story is very entertaining. The rakshasa Viradha tried to kidnap Sita and so Rama and Lakshmana fight him. He can't be killed with weapons so they dig a pit and put him in. What's so interesting about this story is that he thanks Rama for defeating him because it means that he can finally descend into the heavens. He was cursed and was told that the only way to lift the curse was if Rama defeated him. So when Rama defeats Viradha, Viradha is finally able to attain heaven.

Lakshmana and Shurpanakha: Shurpanakha was in love with Rama and wanted him to leave Sita. When he refused, he tells her to go to Lakshmana, whom is single. She get angry because he rejected her and tries to kill Sita. They save Sita and injure Shurpanakha. Shurpanakha runs to tell her brother what happened and they go on the attack and try to kill Rama. She does all of this because she wants to be with Rama and drink Sita's blood. She is angry that she can't convince Rama to be with her.

Lakshmana cuts off Shurpanakha's nose. Source: Wikimedia Commons