Epics of India MLLL 4993

Read the updated version of this story on my Indian Epics portfolio blog here: link . Image on  YouTube I clearly remembered giving birth to a girl, yet when I awoke the next morning, the child was a boy, and he was blue. Maybe I was so distracted by the pains of childbirth that I was not able to think clearly… I had decided that I would call my girl Maya, but I then decided to go with the name Krishna. Also, my husband had brought another baby to be cared for by me, a boy, Balram. I was so confused when people came from far-off cities to meet Krishna, for I didn’t know any of them and they wished to pay him respect. There was none of the same excitement for Balram. The two boys grew up to be quite the troublemakers, and I often had to vouch for them when the neighboring women came to the house and claimed that they had stolen butter. At first, I did not want to believe that I could have raised thieves, but I eventually began to punish the boy...

Image on  Wikimedia This is a continuation of my Epified Krishna videos notes. These videos greatly cleared up some confusions that I had had about Krishna while reading the Mahabharata. Before, I did not understand Krishna’s real importance in the epic. These videos are great in that they give a decent summary of all of the important events that took place in Krishna’s life, and there are hand-drawn pictures that aid in imagining the setting of the tales. I recommend turning on the captions to learn some of the difficult names of people and places. Although I did not mention it in the last set of notes, as Krishna had previously humbled Indra with his powers, he now humbles the Brahma himself. Krishna is constantly being underestimated by townspeople, gods, kings, and even the Creator god. It is no surprise when Krishna continuously defeats all of his enemies. In this section of videos, it is also apparent that Krishna’s kindness is an essential p...

Image on  Flickr For this week’s free reading choice, I watched the Epified Krishna videos on YouTube. I had found these videos super helpful when studying the Mahabharata and thought that this would be a great way to learn some more about one of the most important characters in the epic. I like these videos because they go over important relationships and names of people and places, and the drawings are cute and provide a nice visual for the tales. I recommend turning on the captions when watching, as some of the Indian names are difficult to spell and remember. From the first half of these videos, I was reminded about the events preceding the birth of Krishna, as well as his birth and his childhood. It was prophesied that King Kamsa of Mathura would be killed by his sister and brother-in-law’s eighth child. For this, he locked the two away for years. When the eighth child was born, the gods protected the husband, Vasudev, and instructed him to switch ou...