Week 9 Story: The Poor Family

There once lived a poor family in a Kingdom called Oklahoma. There was the father Dan, the daughter Emmy, and son Keegan. Though they were poor, they were happy because they had each other. They knew as long as they had the family, everything would be okay. Also, in the kingdom, lived a sage. Everyone in the kingdom was afraid of the sage because he had a very unapproachable countenance. Therefore, the majority of the kingdom avoided the sage at all cost. From the years of isolation, the sage grew angry. If he ever had the chance to encounter an individual, he would put a curse on them. This furthered the isolation of the sage.

One day, the poor family was out trying to find work. They had eaten all the food they had for the week. Therefore, it was a necessity to find work for food. Unfortunately, they were not too lucky. They searched all day for work but was turned away from everybody. Depressed, they made their way home. As they were walking toward their hut, the sage spotted them out. He made his way to them to put a curse on them. However, as he approached the family, he was shocked and confused to see that the family greeted him with a warm welcome. They were not afraid of the sage. They sat and talked with him. They described their predicament to him. The sage felt empathy for the family. He saw that the family was genuinely good. After all, they were the only ones who were nice to him out of the whole kingdom.

After a long night of talking and laughing, the family and sage had to part their ways. But before they departed, the sage gave the family a mantra and told them they could summon any god of their choice. The family was confused by the gift of the sage. Once the sage was gone, the family decided to test the gift. They looked out at their crummy field and shouted the mantra. Immediately, before them, stood the god of crops. The family was stunned that the mantra worked. They were so shocked, they could not even answer the god when asked why he was summoned. Before they knew it, the god took them up in a warm embrace and disappeared. The family then saw that their field was full of crops. There was enough vegetation to quench their hunger for years. They were happy!

Crops: Pixabay 

Authors Note:

For this weeks story, I did a retelling of the video that I watched. I watched the overview video Part B The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by EpifiedTV (India). The story that I focused on, in particular, was called Son of the Son. In this story, a girl named Kunti is given a mantra by a sage. She says the mantra while looking a the sun, and the sun god appears. She is given the most beautiful baby boy she has ever seen. However, she has to give it up because having a baby while not being married will look bad. Therefore, she sets the boy in a basket and sets him off down a river. In my story, I changed the characters, and I ended with a happy note. 

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata, Part B video

For today's reading note, I watched the overview video Part B The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by EpifiedTV (India). I am really enjoying the videos that give an overview of The Mahabharata. The videos are very engaging. I would like to focus on episode 9 within the Part B series called Son of the Son. 

The story begins with a young women names Kunti. She is wise and full of life. Kunti lived in a kingdom where the people feared a sage. The sage would curse people for the slightest hiccups. However, Kunti was not afraid of the sage. She gave him attention and was nice to him. Therefore, before the sage left the kingdom, he gave Kunti a gift. A mantra. Kunti wondered why the sage gave her a mantra, and what it was for. The sage told her that the mantra was a way for her to summon any god she wanted. Soon after the sage left, Kunti tested the gift of the sage. She looked at the sun and repeated the mantra. Immediately after she finished, a blinding presence was before her. It was the sun god. She was shocked that the gift was real. Kunti could not even answer the god when he asked why she was summoned. However, before she knew it, the god took her up in his embrace and then left. Kunti looked down and in her arms was the most beautiful child she had ever seen. She could sense that the boy was destined for greatness. He was clothed in armor and had gold earrings. However, Kunti was heartbroken. For she was not even married. Thus, having a child without being wedded would produce a bad image. The took the boy down to the river, put him in a basket, and sent him down the river. She cried and asked the sun god to watch over the boy. Kunti had to do what no mother should ever have to do. 

A River: Wikimedia 

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata video, Part A

It is week 9 and we are already halfway through the semester! I have started off strong in the course, now I'm going to finish strong.  Therefore, for this week reading of the Mahabharata, I watched the overview video The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by EpifiedTV (India). I believe this was a great video that summarizes the Mahabharata. I also liked all the little doodles that were drawn as the story was told. To summarize what I have read so far, a king falls in love with a river goddess who agrees to marry him as long as he never questions her actions. Therefore, each time she gets pregnant she ends up drowning the child. After the 8th child, the king finally had enough and questions her. His wife ends up leaving him with the child. About 16 years later, the king sees a man with great bowmanship and figures out it were his lost son. He brings him back to the kingdom. The king then falls in love with a fisherman's daughter who won't let him marry his daughter. His son then goes to the fisherman and vows to be celibate if he would let his father marry his daughter. The fisherman agrees. Fast forwarding, this oath causes many problems for the kingdom because it is without a king. Having a long lost brother, he gets three ladies pregnant allowing for the kingdom to have a king. This is where part A finishes.
I believe I will be watching the rest of the videos for my reading assignments! I enjoy having a visual representation to what I have been reading in the past, and again, the doodles are awesome. I am looking forward to watching part B and Part C.

The Mahabharata: Wikimedia