Reading Notes, Week 14 - Sita Sings the Blues Part B

                                                                  (Sita Sings the Blues)

Notes

- Dave breaks up with Nina by email when she is in New York. Her heart breaks and she burns with grief.
- Sita tells Rama she is pregnant. Meanwhile, a laundry man (a dhobi) beats his wife, accusing her of being unfaithful and comparing her to Sita.
- To protect his reputation, Rama tells his brother Lakshmana to take Sita into the forest and abandon her. The narrators debate these events.
- Sita, now very pregnant, sings the blues again. Lakshmana, weeping, takes her into the forest and abandons her.
- Nina is living in Brooklyn, and she dreams about Dave.
- Sita thinks it is karma from a past life that is bringing her grief. She would kill herself if she were not pregnant. Valmiki rescues her.
- Sita sings the blues on the shore of the river.
- She gives birth to twins, Lava and Kusha. From Valmiki, they learn to sing the praises of Rama.
- Nina calls Dave in India and begs him to take her back.
- The narrators debate Sita's devotion to Rama.
- Sita sings the blues again, looking at Rama's picture.
- Rama hears the boys singing in the forest. He learns they are his sons, and they learn Rama is his father. -- He asks that Sita once again prove her purity.
- Sita calls upon Mother Earth to prove her purity and take her back into the womb.
- Sita sings about her love for Rama one last time, and then leaves them behind.
- In New York, Nina reads the Ramayana and works on the film.
- You see Chandra the moon god, Vishnu rubbing Lakshmi's feet. 

Bibliography

Sita Sings the Blues. Question Copyright. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzTg7YXuy34&t=585s

Reading Week 14, Sita Sings the Blues - Part A

 

                                                                (Sita Sings the Blue)

Notes

- Lakshmi rises from the sea with a phonograph.
- The cosmos: Shiva in a ring of fire, Brahma, Lakshmi and Vishnu resting on Shesha, Surya the sun god, Chandra the moon god, the beating heart of the universe, and Bhumi the earth goddess.
- San Francisco. We see Nina, her boyfriend Dave, and their cat. They are all very happy. The boyfriend gets a job in India.
- The three narrators argue about the date of the Ramayana. They also argue about whether it is true or not, and about where the story took place.
- King Dasharatha has three wives and four sons. Sita, daughter of Janaka, is Rama's wife. Queen Kaikeyi makes Dasharatha send Rama into exile. He dies of grief after Rama leaves.
- Despite Rama's warnings about the rakshasas in the forest, Sita goes into exile with him. The phonograph plays a song while they go into the forest where they live happily while Rama slays rakshasas.
- San Francisco airport: Nina kisses her boyfriend goodbye.
- The narrators discuss Ravana who stole Sita. Ravana some say was a good king, but they also compare him to Mogambo the Hindi film villain. Ravana was so devoted to Shiva that he played the veena (lute) for him with his intestines: this refers to the legend that when a string on the veena broke, Ravana used his own guts to continue playing so that he would not interrupt the song. He was the king of Sri Lanka, and there was an ancient land bridge connecting India to the island.
- Surpanakha is Ravana's sister. Angry at Rama, Surpanakha tells Ravana about Sita. Maricha tells Ravana to leave Sita alone but Ravana commands Maricha to become a golden deer to distract Rama so he can grab Sita.
- Sita is enchanted by the golden deer. Rama suspects a trick, but Sita begs him to pursue the deer.
- Sita sings about her love for Rama, while Ravana sneaks up on their forest hut.
- Ravana abducts Sita in his flying chariot.
- Sita drops her jewelry as a sign; Rama seeks her in the forest.
- Hanuman: The narrators discuss Vishnu's incarnation as Hanuman, and one narrator mentions Shiva's incarnation as Hanuman (the other narrators had not heard about that, and it is indeed a later tradition).
- Rama and Hanuman become allies. Rama sends Hanuman to look for Sita.
- San Francisco: Dave calls Nina to invite her to India.
- Sita is held captive in Lanka, and she weeps for Rama. She rejects Ravana's advances.
- Hanuman finds Sita in Lanka while Sita sings the blues. He sets Lanka on fire and then returns to Rama.
- The narrators argue about why Sita did not escape with Hanuman. Meanwhile, Nina goes to India.
- The narrators argue about whether the monkeys were monkeys or half-monkey and half-man. Rama leads his monkey army to Lanka.
- Sita sings with joy while Rama battles the rakshasas and slays Ravana.
- Nina arrives in India, but Dave tells her not to kiss in public. They don't kiss in bed either.
- The narrators discuss how Rama was cold to Sita after rescuing her.
- Sita and Rama are reunited, but he rejects her because she lived in another man's house. He sends her away. Sita despairs.
- Sita asks for a funeral pyre. The narrators argue about how to interpret this part of the story.
- Sita sings the blues while she undergoes a test by fire, protected by Agni the fire god.
- Rama asks for Sita's forgiveness.
- Nina and Dave are working in the same office in India. Nina goes to New York for a week.
- The narrators discuss the flying chariot, Pushpaka, that takes Rama and Sita back to Ayodhya.
- Sita sings the blues again: if you want the rainbow, you must have the rain.

Bibliography

Sita Sings the Blues. Question Copyright. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzTg7YXuy34&t=585s

Reading Notes, Seven Secrets of the Goddess

                                                                       (Seven Secrets)

Notes

Kronas could only leave the womb by castrating his father.
Kronas did this and declared himself king and ate his own children.
Zeus then kills Kronas.
Brahma saw Adya as his mother.
Vishnu received the third eye and lit a fire which 3 goddesses rose.
Egyptian mythology does not focus on gender.
The alpha male keeps all the females for himself
Not all males were necessary for reproduction
Tribes needed women not men, for survival
Woman were represented as fat while men represented as alpha's
Men had to fight each other or submit to the woman's choice
The male could not refuse the woman in some cultures and if a man forced himself then he was killed
Men were always eager to kill and take place as a lover
Some chosen males were beginning to get sacrificed
Castrating oneself was the only way to save oneself
Male priests rose up as a woman

Bibliography

Seven Secrets of the Goddess. Devdutt Pattanaik. 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKFd2MmceRg&list=PLrWYQjLLbXcjkeys9p08HPlXts66kOe_8&ab_channel=Epified

 

Reading Notes - Krishna Part B

                                       
                                                                   Krishna & Balarama

Notes

- Brahma saw Krishna sharing his plate with his friends so he stole the cows and Krishna's friends. 
- Krishna made new cows and villagers and Brahma finally respected him.
- Hastin the bull was extremely violent and no one wanted him so everyone wanted to kill him. 
- Krishna then rode Hastin the bull into the village and everyone in the village was shocked and learned the lesson of kindness from Krishna. 
- Krishna wanted to marry Rhada but his real truth got revealed about his destiny and his birth/parents. 
- Kansa had one final trick to try and avoid his destiny of dying to Krishna.
- Akrur was supposed to trick Krishna into going to Mathura but he confessed due to Krishna's divine presence.
- Krishna decided to leave Vrindavan to go fulfill his destiny. 
- Krishna and Balram arrived in Mathura and begin becoming popular with the people by doing good deeds. 
- Kansa heard Krishna was in town so he sent the elephant Kuvalayapida to trample Krishna. 
- Krishna defeated the elephant and everyone cheered, while Kansa shivered in fear and realized his final attempt had failed. 
- Krishna and Balram walked in to take on the challenge of lifting the divine bow. Krishna lifted the bow with ease but snapped it when he strung it. 
-Kansa sent his army at Krishna and Balram after he broke the bow but Krishna easily defeated them.
- Krishna and Balram defeated Kansa and Mathura was free from the evil Kansa. 
- Krishna went and freed his grandfather and then met his real parents where he released them.
- Krishna and Balram decided to stay in Mathura instead of going back to the village.

Bibliography

Krishna: Part B. Epified. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrWYQjLLbXcgqdSC7HkTFsIFZSAQ6Qg7f

Reading Notes - Krishna Part A

 

                                                                            Krishna

Notes

- Kansa the cruel king, killed Devaki's children so that the 8th one would not kill him like he was told.
- Devaki became pregnant with the 8th incarnation of Vishnu.
- The gate was unlocked and Vasudev took his son (Vishnu) to the river and a serpent protected the two from the rain. 
- Vasudev found Yashoda and left his son with him.
- Vasudev brought back a little girl who turned into Durga and told Kansa that his slayer will kill him when the time is right. 
- Putna came to visit Yashoda and see Krishna and stole him to kill him, but Krishna ended up killing Putna instead. 
- Years later Krishna caused trouble all throughout the village.
- Krishna was playing music one day and found his friends poisoned by a snake and everyone realized he was an avatar.
- He played the flute to the point that the snakes couldn't handle it and they removed the poison from the lake as they retreated. 
- Time passed and Krishna defeated all the demons that came and challenged him. 

Bibliography

Krishna - Part A. Epified. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrWYQjLLbXchvrnCibGQXZjo3FLHppHWD

Reading Notes, Part C

                                                                (Balarama and Krishna)

Notes

            ·      Dhritarashatra knows about the weapons that Arjuna acquired

·      Duryodhana is taken captive

·      Nakula drinks the water from the lake before answering questions and dies

·      13 years of exile

·      Draupadi is sent away by the king and queen

·      He must beg for permission to remain at the court

·      The war begins

·      Battle is on the field of Kurukshetra

·      Bhima kills an elephant names Ashwatthaman and he also kills Duhshasana

·      Duryodhana dies in battle

·      Parikshit becoming king and the Pandava line continues because of him

 Bibliography

TinyTales from the Mahabharata, Laura Gibbs. https://sites.google.com/view/tinymahabharata/home?authuser=0