Storytelling for Week 11 - The Churning Waters

Once upon a time, in a far away land, both gods and demons were presented with the challenge of churning the ocean in order to receive great treasure. They had previously been wiped out by the recreation of the universe, so they had a big desire to gain some treasure back. Now, as we all know gods and demons don't exactly work well together, but against their will, the gods had to suck up their own pride and ask the demons if they would help them in their task of churning the ocean of milk. They knew that it could not be done on their own, and they needed the demon's strength. In exchange for their help, they gods offered them an equal share of the treasure. The demons agreed and they got on to brainstorming ideas on how to churn this entire ocean full of milk! One demon came up with an idea fairly quick, "How about we rip out Mount Madura from unders its roots and use it as a stick for churning the ocean! I'm brilliant!" and everyone agreed with the idea. They grabbed a hold of the mountain from underneath and was able to spin it around like a stick, using it to move the ocean waters. While churning the ocean waters, there were many things that happened along the way. In the midst of the churning, the god Vasuki began to vomit a poison into the ocean, threatening to contaminate the ocean water, Shiva took the vomit in his mouth, turning his mouth blue. As the churning went on after the first incident, Mount Madura began to sink into the ocean bed and had to be saved by Visnu, in the form of a tortoise avatar, Kooma. He took one for the team and used his own back as a pivot point for the churning stick. Next, the churning began to uncontrollably produced treasures! Laksmi, the goddess of wine, Chandra the moon, Rambha the nymph, Kaustubha a jewel, Parijata the wishing tree, Surabhi the cow of plenty, Airavata the white elephant, Sanka a conch shell, Dhanas a mighty bow, and Visha the poison vomited by Vasuki. And last but not least, the ocean produced the Armit, and both gods and demons immediately tried to seize it, but the demons were first. But, while they were quarrelling for the treasure, Visnu took the form of a beautiful woman, taking the Armit and giving it to the gods, while giving the demons liquor. The demons were quick to catch on and tried to grab the Armit. In the midst of the quarrel it fell down on earth, in four places. These places on earth are now known to be of great religious importances, and serve as locations for the Kumba Mela, an extremely large pilgrimage. 

Image Information: Churning of the Ocean of Milk

Author's Note: I chose to retell this story because it was actually one of the stories I put in my storybook. I am writing a travel brochure, and I used one of the locations where the Armit landed in India, as one of my destinations, and told all about its importance. I decided to retell this story without changing much of the general storyline, because it is already such a simple and easy story to read. This story is one of my favorites that we have read this year, so I was quick to want to retell it once again!

Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata. 

Week 11: Reading Diary B - The Great Fire

Reading Diary B Pg. 49-91
The Mahabharata by William Buck

• The reading begins with Duryodhana asking Dhritarashtra who he thinks, him or Yudhishthira, will rule Kurujangala after he has stepped down. He then says that the people of the town say that Yudhishthira would look after us he cares for Bhisma. Dhritarashtra is saddened by this and says, "The people say! Am I already dead? I will send the Pandavas away for a little while  and I will give you this kingdom or I won't, I will divide it."
• The King's songs Duryodhana and Duhshasana get the minister, Purochana, to build some sort of fire trap at the house where the Pandavas are staying. Yudhisthrita is warned about this dangerous plan, and they prepare a tunnel route that will allow them to escape in time. They were able to safely escape from the fire trap, but they had to leave six corpses behind in their place. 
• Vyasa takes the Pandavas to the swayamvara of Draupadi, the daughter of king Draupada of Panchala. Draupada had recently been captured by Drona, and was forced to give up half of his kingdom. He felt much humiliation from this. He begged and begged the god Shiva to give him a son who could defeat Drona. Later on, in a dream, Shiva appeared to Draupada and told him to pour two cups of butter, one for a son and one for a daughter. Dhrishtadyumna and Draupadia, his sons, were born this way. 
• Drapada had set up an archery test in which only Arjuna could pass, so Arjuna wins Draupadi, to everyones surprise. Krishna, an avatar of the god Vishnu, tells Arjuna to remember their past together, but he does not remember. 
• Draupadi marries all five of the Pandava brothers. 
• Dhritarashtra is so excited to find out that the Pandava brothers are alive and grants them the region of Khandava to rule. With that, the Pandava brothers build the city of Indraprastha. 
• Arjuna goes to visit, Krishna, but he ends up falling in love with Krishna's sister, Subhadra, and with Krishna's approval he takes her to be his wife. The fire god, Agni, comes to see Krishna and Arjuna in the form of a woodsman with with gold skin and dressed in black rags and butter smeared all over his mouth. Agni keeps trying to burn down the forest, but the storm god, Indra, protects it with its rain. Agni burns the forest while Arjuna and Krishna distract Indra. 
• The Asura, Maya, the architect god flees out of the forest and seeks Arjuna's protection from Agni. As a reward for this rescue, Maya builds a palace for the Pandavas.

Week 11: Reading Diary A - The Mahabharata Begins

Reading Diary A Pg. 1-49

The Mahabharata by William Buck

• William Buck begins his version of the Mahabharata by introducing some characters. 
• He introduces Duryodhana, saying that he "causes all creatures to be slain and wastes the earth; he fans the flame of hostility that at last consumes all". 
• He introduces Arjuna, saying that he "is the prince of all bowmen: with spells of bewilderment he guards these pages embellished with elegant expressions and conversations human and divine". 
• He introduces Nakula and Sahadeve, saying that "Nakula is dark and Sahadeva is fair: they guard Arjuna's chariot wheels; in this whole world of men they have not their equals in beauty and strength and excellence of conduct".
• He introduces Yudhishthira, saying that "he is the embodiment of all manlieness: he is kindhearted; cease to fight him, do not court defeat". 
• William Buck begins chapter one with dialogue between Sauti and Saunaka. Sauti tells him that he head Vyasa's Mahabharata was first written down for the poet by the elephant god  Ganesha, and then goes to explain to Saunaka the background of the story of the Mahabharata. 
• Vyasa was the composer and Ganesha was the scribe. Vyasa composed the Mahabharata in his head and then asked Ganesha to write it down for him. Ganesha is the son of God Shiva, and he opposed this and tore off his human head, and then used an elephant head to replace the missing one. 
• He then told of the story of the churning of the ocean: Long before the ocean was salt, it was made of milk. "Churn the ocean, and she will yield amrita, the nectar of immortality, and precious gems, and all manner of illusion and revelation". So, they places a snow mountain , Mandara, in the middle of the milk sea in order to churn the ocean waters. Once this happened, Gods began to emerge. Those who emerged were: Lady Lakshmi, bearing good fortune to men; Airavata, Indra's elephant; Surabhi, the white cow who grants any waish; Parijata, the wishing-tree of fragrance; Rambha, the nymph, the first Apsaras; and Dhanwantar, the physician, bearing a cup filled with amrita, the essence of life. 
• Poison bursted as a result of the churning of the ocean and Shiva swallowed it, resulting in her tongue turning blue. 
• Next, the story of the snake sacrifice of Janamejaya is told. (look at reading guide for reference)
• The Mahabharata finally begins with the story of Shantanu and Ganga falling in love. The dead king Mahabhisha sat in heaven watching over the world. He spots Ganga walking along the banks of the Ganges river, and he was enchanted by her looks. Their eyes met causing Mahabhisa to perspire, which only happens in heaven when one is ready to be reborn, as Shantanu. Meanwhile, Ganga goes to Shantau's father and explains her love for him. When his father dies, he becomes king. Shantanu meets Ganga in human form along the river, and they agree to get married but Shantanu must agree to never question any of Ganga's actions. Ganga gives birth to a child a year, and drowns each one in the river. She does this because of a comittment, to free them from punishment and send them up to heaven. Ganga leaves with the last child, named Bhishma.
• Shantanu later marries Satyavati, and have a son names Vichitravirya. 
• Bhishman obtains three wives: Amba, Ambika, Ambalika. 
• Introduces the Pandavas and Kripa and Drona.
• Arjuna is Drona's best pupil and is the only one of the prines able to pass Drona's test of shooting the bird made of straw.