Indian Epics

The Turtle is a Demon In an Indian kingdom, there were many fine men.   They were devout and steadfast men with a strict loyalty to their morality and the divine teachings.   This made things very hard for the demonic creatures of the area to get any sort of mischief done.   These upright and good men were making their duties difficult to complete.   The mythical and dangerous beings roaming the kingdom were forced to adapt and overcome this obstacle.   One, in particular, known as Kappa, had taken to the rivers in the form of a turtle.   He was a shape-shifter and cleverly knew that the king had recently opened his little pond to the river, allowing fish inside.   It also allowed Kappa to drift into the low banks and onto castle grounds. Kappa took the disguise of a turtle, for he favored the hard shell of the creatures.   He enjoyed the design, how the shell was both their protection and could be used to hide.   It was clever and a...

Two Turtle Jatakas I chose Two Turtle Jatakas for two reasons.   Firstly, I call my father “papa turtle” so turtles have a very special place in my heart.   I think it could be fun to take personality traits of my father and apply those to one of the turtle stories.   The second reason is that of the two different representations of the turtle in Indian myth.   In most cultures, you do not get to see a dual representation of certain animals, especially the turtle.   The Wise Turtle is such an encompassing stereotype so I was excited to read about a turtle behaving in a less dignified manner.   Both the stories came from versions in Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt. The Turtle and the King This is a kinda cute and simple tale about a turtle outsmarting humans with their own assumptions.   The way I see it, there are five important characters with “extra characters” being the king’s men.   The two princes (I have decided there are two...

Reading Options For Weeks 3 and 4, I choose the PDE Ramayana online version .   Although I like having a hard copy, the audio version was much more tempting because I feel like it takes the story to another level that is fun to investigate.   Also, this version has illustrations which I feel helps one make their own images, create their own artistic vision of the characters and events, as well as offering a different understanding than words can. Week 5, I will definitely be watching Sita Sings the Blues .   I love seeing stories that are originally text-only be turned into another form of media.   I really wish I had the capabilities to make my own video/film, so it is interesting for me to see others do that.   I am not sure which of the free online books I will read, but they all seem to be cool and different retellings. One of the comic books that stands out to me, more than all the others because I love comics, is   G...