Indian Epics

A long time ago in the kingdom of Lanka there lived two twin princes that were coming of the age to look for a wife and be wed. The two boy’s names were Shirma and Brahima. Although they were twins, the two young men were quite different from one another in both looks and attitude. Shirma was the first born of the two and was much larger and mightier than his brother Brahima. Shirma had long flowing hair and skin that was as fair as a lotus petal. He was also much more out going that Brahima. In today’s lingo, one might say he had a certain “bad-boy” swagger to him. Not that he was looking for trouble or was trouble but instead like he knew he was better than anyone else and let everyone know he knew. Brahima on the other hand was quite the opposite. He was meek, and mind toned. Now, each knew that their time for marriage was coming upon them and both knew that there was only one princess in all of India that would be suitable for them as a wife. That was the fair Shala from Sikki...

For part B of the Mahabharata reading, I found that it was a lot of the same essentially. You see the family still in hiding as Brahmins but yet still getting together and fighting fowl people. Bhima does an assortment of battles with bad men in which he becomes an overwhelming victor in each. It though it was kind of funny when I was reading the story where he fights the demon of the forest and then when he fight the evil ruler that enforces the blood tax. In both cases he fights and wins but what was funny was the way that he won. In both cases he broke the back of his adversary rendering them slain. Just thought that it was funny that the story would use the same death for both characters. One of my favorite stories of this section is " Draupadi's Swayamwara". We have read many different versions of different peoples Swayamwara at this point and this one by far is the most interesting. The Task  First, the task is one of the most difficult. It is not just an all ...

I just got done reading the first little bit of the Mahabharata, that is part A of the public domain version. This story is quite different from the previous epic that we have read, the Ramayana. It is written different. It has a completely different plot and feel to the story. To me, it has been a little confusing so far in the epic, mainly because of all the names and people in the story. I am excited to get further into the story so I can see more of the similarities between this story and the series Swayamvara in the Mahabharata. It is the section of the epic in which Bhishma does battle to take the hands of three princesses. It is, in a way, like the part of the Ramayana where Rama is able to bend a magnificent bow to win the hand of SIta. It is yet to be known if these princes will hold as big a role as Sita did in the Ramayana. I think that his story could be redone into a more modern version where guys at school are trying to impress a group of girls to get them to go to t...