Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Reading Diary A: Amar Chitra Katha (Deva/Devi)

Deva- Sanksrit for goddess
Devi- Sanskrit for god

For this week, I focused on the gods Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva. I chose these stories to highlight because they all had something that mentioned the mountains in them. I thought maybe I could tie these in to my storybook somehow since it involves the Himalayas.

The Churning of the Ocean:
-Durvasa- a sage
-Durvasa receives a "fragrant garland"?
-Gives the garland to Indra, Airavata flings it to the ground
-Durvasa is furious and curses Indra, forcing the gods to become weak
-the asuras defeat the gods in battle
-Vishnu seeks peace with the other gods and they want to churn the Ocean of Milk in order to make peace with the asuras
-They use Mount Mandara as the churning rod and Vasuki as the churning rope
-Halahala (poisonous) emerges from the ocean, Shiva drinks it up and his throat turns blue
-Lots of creatures emerge, but Shira finally appears and makes peace among the gods and the asuras
-Shri chooses Vishnu as her consort
-Dhanvantari emerges and is carrying the nectar
-Vishnu takes the form of a woman (Mohini) and the asuras want her to distribute the nectar
-It is a trick and a great battle breaks out
-The gods defeat the asuras and return to their home

(Image Source: Amazon)

Parashurama: Sixth Incarnation of Vishnu
-Bhrigu has a son named Richika
-Richika is getting married to Satyavati
-Bhrigu wants to encourage heirs in their line, so he gives Satyavati sacred rice in order to produce sons
-The rice somehow gets mixed up and so does the lineage
-Jamagdani, Satyavati's son, has a son named Parashurama, who lives lives as a brahmin even though he was born into a different caste
-He is an incarnation of the god Vushnu and he advocates for justice
-He fights warriors such as Kartavirya Arjuna who enjoys making the world a miserable place
-He is a very obedient son (willing to kill his own mother on his father's behalf)
-Mother Earth begs Parashuma to stop fighting, so he gives all of his weapons to the god Drona and gives all of his wealth to the other brahmins
-He moves to the mountains to live the life of a hermit

(Image Source: Amazon)

Prahlad: A Tale of Devotion from the Bhagawat Purana
-Visnu is incarnated as a man-lion named Narasimha
-Hiranyakashipu's son is Prahlad
-Prahlad is extremely devoted to Vishnu despite Vishnu being responsible for killing Hiranyakashipu's brother
-Prahlad is sentenced to death by his father because his father sees his devotion to Vishnu as betrayal
-Vishnu takes the form of Narasimha in order to defeat Hiranyakashipu, the king of the asuras

(Image Source: Amazon)


2 comments:

  1. I am so glad you read some of the comic books, Hannah! That's wonderful! You actually have three diary posts here: Week 9A and 9B and then also Week 10A since the idea is that each comic book is good for a reading diary post, so go ahead and do those Declarations too (9B and 10A). I am really glad you read the Parashurama one: he is one of the few characters who plays a role in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata!

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  2. Hi Hannah! I chose your blog as one of my bonus blog commenting blogs, and I have to say this post grabbed my attention purely because it was such an interesting way to do a reading diary! I like how organized it is, and it seems like this is a great way for you to go back and remind yourself of what you read without having to dig through an essay style blog post. Great, great job, and I might have to steal some of these tactics for myself if you don't mind!

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