Epics of India - Vinay Kalvacherla

Shiva is described to keep mostly to himself - he is an introvert who lives on Kailash  Sati is described as the perfect wife - her martyrdom is something I'm already familiar with  Could easily write this story from the perspective of the Goddess and dramatize it Uma was born to Himavantha, and is also the pious wife of Shiva; she is Sati reborn to a more accepting father  An image of Goddess Sati immolating herself upon hearing her father slander her husband. Source.   Biblography:  "Cradle Tales of Hinduism," by Sister Nivedita.  Source. 

Shiva refers to Vishnu as "child," and he is the God of Gods Sati wanted to marry Shiva, but her father Daksha was a strict devotee of Vishnu She goes to her own house for the sacrifice after Shiva was uninvited - but to her doom  Next story should be written on Sati  Sati immolated herself, angering Shiva, who wreaked havoc on the world and on Daksha Sati was reborn as Uma (Parvati) Tiger-Foot: a pious saint who prayed to have hands and feet of a tiger from Shiva  Shiva danced in the forests of Taragam and beat the heretical gurus in their acts The churning of the ocean: the gods and asuras worked together to try and retrieve the nectar of immortality; many obstacles came out of the ocean in the process, but Shiva helped overcome them  He drank the poison that came out of the ocean, causing his throat to turn blue  Birth of Ganga: wrote a story in my Storybook about this  A picture depicting the churning of the ocean by the Gods and Asuras. Vishnu, i

Ideas of male superiority are present throughout many of the tales  A lot of tales are about males trying to take over traditional "male" roles  Women are the trophies of masculine rivalry; men were valued by what they had, including women  Shift from matriarchy to patriarchy happens in perception of goddesses Even brings in Rama - Rama rescues Sita to protect his family's dignity For a long time, even in Hinduism, respect was paid to gods over goddesses A picture depicting the Supreme Goddess, Adi-Parashakti, with the renown Hindu trinity at her disposal. Source. Bibliography:  Seven Secrets of the Goddesses, Pattanaik,  Link to source. 

As human civilization advanced, the status of women declined; God worship overtook the idea of Goddess worship  This seemed to change; Bronze Age - groups of women worshipped alongside a male  Connects the Virgin Mary to the pantheon of old goddesses discussed; raises tones of masculine hierarchy Discusses how women became commodities in trading communities  Different "vivahs" describe the commodity nature of women here  Could be interesting to pull in the Supreme Goddess's perspective on this  A picture depicting the ferocious Goddess Kali. Source . Bibliography: Seven Secrets of the Goddesses, Pattanaik, Link to source. 

Arjuna was born to fight wars. No, literally - he was born into the Kshatriya caste, which constituted the warriors and rulers. He had been preparing for battle and warfare since he was born. He had been the most astute warrior ever known, never faltering with his bow and arrow. And, today, he was faced with the hardest battle of his life. He stood in the Kurukshetra Battlefield, facing his cousins and teachers. Drona, Bhishma - the whole crew. He didn't know what to do. He stood and stared at everyone sharpening their weapons and preparing for battle before leaning in to his charioteer, Krishna, and whispering, "I don't think I can do this anymore. I've fought the toughest of wars in the world, but this is tougher than those. I cannot bring myself to kill my cousins and teachers, Krishna." Krishna immediately grabbed the reins and steered the chariot into the middle of the battlefield. Everyone on both the Pandavas' and Kauravas' side froze and st

Krishna reveals himself as the origin of all things - including the Devas Interesting parallels to other religions here; Krishna says he "gives knowledge to those who come to him;" similar to the concept of God in Islam, in which God has the ultimate power over all and can will anything  Krishna shows Arjuna the Vishwarupa - his Cosmic form  It would be interesting to write a story just describing this alone  Arjuna is moved by the Vishwarupa  Krishna reveals the bhakti yoga  - path of devotion, which is far more accessible to laymen  Krishna also establishes the fate of people in the afterlife - who goes to heaven, who is reborn, and who goes to hell  He describes what are "good" and what are "demonic" qualities  Another parallel to a different religion is made in the chapter about nirvana through renunciation - this time, Buddhism  How did the rest of the battlefield play with this dialogue? How was it possible to fight after hearing suc

Story told in the form of Sanjaya relaying events to Dhritarashtra  There are a lot of warriors out on the field; this is interesting to note that it's more than just the Pandavas and Kauravas present  Arjuna breaks down at seeing his family members across the battlefield; this would be interesting to write yet another story from he viewpoint that he doesn't question the fact that they are his family members  What if he is filled with so much anger that he doesn't care who's there? He also says it would be better if the Kauravas just killed him while he was unarmed - it would save him the burden of having to fight  Krishna tells him about karma yoga: doing one's duty as if one is worshipping, so to speak  Also talks about asceticism as another path; interesting parallels to Islam here  Path of attaining knowledge is another one  Krishna then describes the all-power Brahman - smallest of the small, largest of the large It would be cool to personify

Elephant with the sore food - could have symbolism of Vishnu there A recurring Hindu theme is that strangers/guests tend can be God in disguise The elephant was nice and decided to pay the carpenters back with service Elephant passed down the tradition to his younger elephant son (the white elephant) Cultural elements present here King buys the elephant  Expected a sad ending here for some reason, but instead it was happy; moral is that doing good for others will have its own reward  Good story to write here is what would have happened had the elephant decided to stay with the carpenter's kids  Could also bring in divine aspects - what if the white elephant was an incarnation of Vishnu? Could he have given the carpenters a material reward that way? A picture of a white elephant. Source. Bibliography : Jataka Tales. "The King's White Elephant." Link to story

The sand made the terrain very hot; only at nighttime could people walk They were eager to get out of the sand/desert  Would be interesting to see what they would do if they were completely stranded in the desert  The driver of the oxen fell asleep; when he awoke, he found that all the water was gone  Interesting to pull in perspectives of the Devi in here in orchestrating all of this; goes well with my stories  The villagers looked for a place where the grass grew - because they knew water was beneath it Boy heard water beneath the rock; people drilled into the rock and water gushed up, filling the well  The cool water allowed men to drink well  Men cooked their rice with the water, and they felt better for the day; they set up a flag  Next morning: they sold their goods, and returned home An image depicting a man who had thrown away his water and had no water left.  Source.  Bibliography : "Jataka Tales," The Sandy Road ,  Link to Story