Week 12: Wednesday Reading

The Battle of Kurukshetra was the largest conflict in Bharata (Indian subcontinent). The Kauravas and Pandavas had fierce warriors willing to die for their side. Barbarika, the grandson of Bhima and son of Ghatotkacha ( a rakshasa born to Bhima and Hidimbi ), wanted to fight for the Pandava side. However, he has vowed to his mother to always right for the winning side. Amidst the confusion, Lord Krishna approaches Barbarika as a Brahman. Krishna, being arrogant questions Barbarika's might. Barbarika shows Krishna his might arrows in response. He had three of them . One to destroy all his enemies, the other to kill anyone who's left and the last one to defend his from incoming attacks. The divine nature of the arrows, made Barbarika almost invisible and Krisma was worried. 

Here Lord Krishna devises a cunning plan. He requests Barbarika to surrender and not fight. Reasoning that any side he fights for would result as the stronger side.  Barbarika agrees to Lord Krishna's request and asks him to let him watch the Kurukshetra Yuddha. Krisha places Barbarika's head on top of the mountain to let him watch the war. After the war, Krishna aks Barbarika, "What did you see?". Barbarika responds, "All I saw was the glory of a Devi and a sudarshana chakra ( Krishna's weapon) making rounds around the battlefield. He was implying that Lord Krishna was in control of the events in Kurukshetra.

Author's Notes:

I picked this story from the Mahabharata because I found it in a book in middle school . I remember reciting the story to my grandma and her reaction. She hadn't heard the story before and was delighted that I was interested in finding stories like these. The story of Barbarika fascinated me on the depth of characters the Mahabharata offers 

Barbarika idol in Rajasthan

Barbarika, worshipped in Rajasthan and is seen as a diety there. It's quite uncommon to encounter a temple like this in the subcontinent. 

Sources:

1. Barbarika: The Warrior who could have ended Mahabharata War in a minute , Detechter Manjit 2019

Week 12: Tuesday Reading

Sita and Ravana

After Sita's imprisonment by Ravana tried wooing her with gold and palaces. She was confines to a beautiful palace with gold floors and rakshashis guarding the gates. While he tried wooing her, Sita refused outright and reminded him that Rama would slay him. Ravana left after giving Sita an ultimatum to accept him or be tortured to death. 

Sita and Hanuman

When Hanuman first showed up in front of Sita, she thought it was Ravana trying to deceive her. But when Hanuman showed her his ring, she grew delightful. Hanuman promised to defeat the tyrant alongside Lord Rama and offered to carry her back. Sita refused due to here modesty and told Hanuman about the ultimatum Ravana had given her. 

Author's Notes

I picked two continuous stories from the Public domain part of the Ramayana reading. I wanted to catch up on some Ramayana on my blog inorder to add some of my own twists in storytelling this week.

Hanuman meets Sita 

Hanuman would later go on to light Lanka on fire and wreck havoc in Ravana's kingdom. 

Source: 

1. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913),   

2. Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India, condensed into English verse by Romesh Dutt (1899)