Week 10 Story Planning: The Love Story of Krishna and Radha

For this week's story assignment, I wanted to look into writing a love story! I have not written a love story for this class since Rama and Sita so I felt like it was time to write one and this time about Krishna and Radha. :) Here are my notes!

I watched the Epified video clips and Epified briefly mentioned the love story of Krishna and Radha in episode 10. From the information I gathered from the video, I learned that the two meet when they were young and grew up together in the city of Vrindavan. Krisha would play his flute when he let his cows out to the field to graze and in the field were gopis, one of which was Radha. Krishna and Radha made many sacrifices for one another because they cared and loved one another. One of these sacrifices was Radha drank scolding hot milk to prove to the gopis that she loved Krishna, but it was Krishna's tongue that was red with blisters while Radha suffered no pain. Another instance of sacrifice was when Radha healed Krishna when he felt ill by letting him drink water off of her feet. The gopis thought that that act of kindness would bring them to hell, but Radha did not care and only wanted to heal Krishna. Later in another Epified episode, it was briefly mentioned that Krishna wanted to marry Radha but he could not because it was not part of his destiny. A family priest conveyed to Krishna that he was destined to be the savior of Dharma and that Radha was not part of his future. 

I searched about Krishna and Radha online and I found an article called Radha Krishna: A Divine Love to which I found some interesting information. In this source, it stated that their love was hidden from society because Radha was already a married woman!! I was shocked when I read this because that piece of information was not mentioned in the Epified videos. However, just like how Epified mentioned about how they could not get married, this source verified it. The two were separated because of Krishna's destiny, yet even though Krishna married other women, Radha still kept on waiting for him to return to her. Radha truly loved Krishna even to the point of ignoring her family honor and bringing disgrace to her husband. It is evident that Radha loved Krishna but I want to read more of the love story from Krishna's perspective. (367 Words)

Overall, for this story, which I hope to include in my Portfolio project, I want to dig a bit deeper into the love story of Krishna and Radha and eventually create my own story of theirs. :)

Bibliographies: Krishna by Epified (link) and Radha Krishna: A Divine Love by Dolls of India (link)

Krishna and Radha. Source: Flickr.

Readings Notes: Epified: Krishna, Part B

Krishna taught Brahma a lesson by replacing the cows, his friends, and the village people out of his own self. Even though Brahma was mischievous and attempted to trick Krishna, in the end it was Krishna who humbles Brahma when he realized that the village that he stole was okay because Krishna created these things out of his own self. Hastin was the strongest bull in the village and it was Krishna's brother who wanted to kill Hastin. However, Krishna said that that was wrong and that he would ride the bull by the next full moon. Krishna was successful in his task by being nice and kind to Hastin. Krishna was in love with a woman named Radha and wanted to marry her. However, he could not marry her because he was destined to be the saviour of Dharma, which was revealed to him by the family priest. Krishna was a strong man and he was victorious against all those who wanted to kill him. However, there was one man named Kamsa who was actually Krishna's evil uncle who wanted to destroy Krishna. Therefore, Kamsa gets Akrur (devotee of Vishnu) to invite Krishna to Dhanur Yajna which was organized by Kamsa. However, Akrur was nice and told Krishna the real intentions of Kamsa by inviting him which was to kill him. Even though Krishna's parents did not want him to go, he told them that it was his destiny and he left Vrindavan. The people of Vrindavan were extremely sad that he had to leave but Krishna told them that it was his destiny. When Krishna arrived to Mathura, the city he would now call his new home, he and Balram made friends with the people which people were open and kind back to Krishna and Balram. One of the people that they met was an old woman named Trivakra. Trivakra was waiting for Krishna for many long years because it was Krishna who was destined to heal her of her deformities. Krishna happily healed Trivakra and his heroism and kindness spread throughout the village, even to his evil uncle. His uncle tried one last attempt to kill Krishna by incorporating Kuvalayapida, the large and intimidating elephant that everyone was afraid of. However, in the end it was Krishna who kills Kuvalayapida and comes out victorious. After this victory, Krishna along with his brother, Balram, finally defeats and kills their evil uncle, King Kamsa. At the death of Kamsa, the people of Mathura cheered and were overjoyed because they were no longer under the rule of the evil king. As people were happy, Krishna had to perform an important task that Akrur had to remind him of. Krishna freed the father of Kamsa (Krishna's grandfather) who had been imprisoned by his own son. After freeing his grandfather, Krishna frees his birth parents. It was Krishna's grandfather, Ugrasen, who redeems the throne of Mathura. Now there were some people who were sad by the death of Kamsa that they waged a war against the city of Mathura which made Krishna feel bad. He did not want the people to suffer he wanted them to be safe. Therefore, Krishna and his grandfather decided to shift the city of Mathura to Dwarka. It was Dwarka that became Krishna's kingdom.

Bibliography: Krishna by Epified (link)

Lord Krishna. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Reading Notes: Mahabharata Movie, Part B

As Dhritarashtra married Gandhari, who gave up her sense of sight to be like him, Dhritarashtra's brother, Pandu married Kunti and Madri. It was at this time that Kunti's secret from her past in known to the audience. Kunti had a son from the celestial sun god, Surya, who she had give away because she was not married. Kunti's son was the "most beautiful thing she had seen in her life" and she could tell that he would be destined for greatness. However, even though it was heart-wrenching for Kunti, she laid her son in a basket and sent him down the river. After the secret was known to the audience, Pandu, Kunti, and Madri all set off for the forest to spend some peaceful time together. It was in the forest that Pandu made a life-altering mistake that would cost him and his kingdom dearly. Pandu shot one of his arrows at an intimate hermit couple and as a result, the hermit struck Pandu with a curse. The curse was that as soon as Pandu becomes intimate with a woman, he would die. It was because of this curse that Pandu became closed off and he sent word to Hastinapur that he would not return. In her efforts to console Pandu, Kunti told him the gift of the ability to call upon the gods and bear his sons, but failed to mention of her son that she gave up. At this Pandu was overjoyed and asked Kunti to give him children. The first child was named Yudhishthira given by the god Yama. Next, Kunti called the god of the wind, Vayu, to which she and Pandu were given their son, Bhima. Last but not least, Kunti and Pandu were given Arjuna from the god Indra, the king of the Devas. Pandu was pleased with his sons with Kunti but both felt bad for Madri, the other wife of Pandu so therefore, Kunti gave Madri two beautiful twin sons named Nakula and Sahadeva. Pandu and his family lived a happy life in the forest until one day, Kunti found him dead. He had forced himself onto Madri in a moment of passion and the next thing they knew, Pandu died. When they were cremating Pandu, Madri decided to share in her husband's death therefore died alongside him. After this, Kunti decided to take her five children and head back to the Hastinapur kingdom. Back at Hastinapur, it was during this time that Gandhari, wife of Dhritarashtra, gave birth to a lump of flesh. Gandhari was devastated and did not understand why Vyasa's prophecy of her having 100 sons was not true. Gandhari asked a servant to throw out the lump of flesh, but before that could happen, Vyasa paid and visit and told Gandhari that what he foretold her was in fact true. Therefore, Vyasa took the lump of flesh and divided it into 100 pieces and placed them into individual vases. The 100 children were born and as Gandhari held her eldest son, Duryodhan, the people around her who could see, realized that all 100 children had a demonic look about them. Nevertheless, since Gandhari and Dhritarashtra could not see, they were happy because they were their children. Just at the peak of their happiness came Kunti and the five sons of Pandu to Hastinapur to ruin the joy of Dhritarashtra and his family. As the two families came together, Duryodhan became jealous of the Pandavas especially Bhima. The Pandavas were the center of attention and had many admirers. Duryodhan became angry and extremely jealous and looked to his uncle, Gandhari's brother for comfort. Through his uncle support, Duryodhan created and executed out a plan to exile the Pandavas even to the point of pushing an unconscious Bhima into the depths of the water. Bhima woke up to serpents biting and attacking him but he got the upper hand even to the point of the serpents began to be scared of him. After fighting off the serpents, Bhima found himself in Naag Lok which was home to the most powerful serpents. It was in Naag Lok that Bhima met Vasuki who gifted him with the magic potion. As he swam back home, Bhima realized it was time for him to stand up and protect his family. Bhima came back to Hastinapur and it was around this time that their grandfather thought that they need to become trained to be men and warriors to which enters Drona, their wise teacher. Drona trained the boys to become skillful warriors, each brother with his own skill. One day the brothers met a mere boy by the name Ekalavya. Ekalavya was an archer and proved to be much better archer than Arjuna, to which made Arjuna upset. Arjuna asked Ekalavya who his teacher was and he said Drona. Arjuna was shocked and in dismay because he felt betrayed by Drona. When Arjuna asked Drona about this, Drona did not know what he was talking about. Then Ekalavya was before Drona and he told Drona that long ago he asked him if he could be his pupil, and Drona declined. Therefore, Ekalavya became a skilled archer by his own merits. Drona was upset that Ekalavya would claim him as his teacher so putting merit and justice aside, he asked Ekalavya to cut off his right thumb so that he no longer could be the world's greatest archer.

Bibliography: Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by Epified (link)

The Five Pandavas. Source: Wikipedia. 

Reading Notes: Mahabharata Movie, Part A

The first episode of Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution begins with the phrase that Epified takes the Mahabharata from a "how every event is both a result of what happened before it as well as a cause of what follows" perspective. I thought this perspective was unique and it drew me into wanting to watch more of the videos. The first episode is about King Shantanu and his wife Ganga, and how he learned that Ganga had to drown their children for the eight Vasus. At the end, Ganga leaves Shantanu with their eighth child. In episode two, Devavrat, son of Shantanu and Ganga, is reunited with his father and brought back as the long-lost prince of Hastinapur. As time went on, Shantanu falls in love with Satyavati, who was a humble fisherman's daughter. Even though Shantanu loved Satyavati, they did not get married and Shantanu was devastated and became secluded. Therefore, as a result, Devavrat decided to take matters into his own hands and made a groundbreaking oath the he would never marry or never have any children so long as that Satyavati and Shantanu could be together. As Devavrat swore upon this oath to the gods, he became known as Bhishma. As Bhishma brought Satyavati back to his father, Shantanu was not as happy as Bhishma expected him to be. However, Shantanu realized the virtuousness of his son and granted to him the power to choose when he would die. As time passed, Shantanu dies and Bhishma gains two half-brothers to which he acts like a father to them. One of the brothers dies to which this was a wake-up call to Bhishma that he needs to find his other brother a wife; therefore, he goes into the neighboring kingdom and kidnaps the three princesses. The eldest princess was Amba and she told Bhishma that she was in love with King Shalva to which they allowed Amba to go to her love, but when she did, she was greeted with the opposite reaction that she was hoping for. Shalva did not want anything to do with her. As Amba goes back to Bhishma and asks him to marry her, he refuses because of the vow he made. Amba becomes furious and promises that she will ruin Bhishma's life as he did to hers. However, Amba could not find a warrior to take on Bhishma so she finally resorted to ask the sage Parshuram to battle Bhishma to which they did but neither one of them could defeat each other. Finally it was Parshuram who gave up and Bhishma won by default. As Bhishma returns from battle, his other brother dies, leaving the kingdom without any ruler. Satyavati begged Bhishma to break his celibacy and marry for the sake of the kingdom's future. Bhishma refused and that was when Satyavati told him of her secret son, Vyasa. Vyasa came to the kingdom and Satyavati asked him to father the children of Vichitravirya's widows. As time went on, finally there were three princes for the kingdom's throne. The sons of Vyasa were taught by Bhishma. There was contempt brewing between two of the brothers for the throne but Bhishma did not recognize it. It was Dhritrasthra that became king and for him Princess Gandhari became his wife. Princess Gandhari gave up her sight for her husband.

Bibliography: Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by Epified (link)

Bhishma (a.k.a. Devavrat) introduced to his father, Shantanu. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Week 8 Progress

Looking Back: Yes, I am happy with my progress so far! I am up-to-date with my assignments and I am about write were I need to be to achieve the grade I would like in this class. The class assignments I enjoy the most are the Reading Notes and the Blog Comments. I have only really done the extra blog commenting extra credit, which looking back (and forward) I want to improve on and actually do the extra credit options.

Looking Forward: Like I mentioned above, I want to use more of the extra credit options. They are easy and kinda fun, and it is a great way to catch up or get ahead in this class. Something new I want to try is to take a more creative spin on my stories I am going to write in my Portfolio. I have never thought that I was that creative, but why not give it a shot and try to reach for those aspirations, right? :)

Image: 

Words to live by for this class and our lives: "It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves." Source: Flickr. 

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

Feedback In: It is helpful to hear the comments and suggestions from my classmates. The comments have been positive and heartwarming, and the suggestions have been useful and insightful. The most helpful comments are the ones that ask for small clarifications and tweaks, and the ones that offer new and different ideas to add to my stories to enhance them.

Feedback Out: I believe I am leaving decent comments and feedback for my fellow classmates. More than likely, I encourage the highlights I see in a classmate's writing and add some suggestions that the author could take into consideration when editing his/her story post. Overall, through my creative writings of my classmates, I am getting some wonderful ideas on how I myself could enhance my own writings and how to be more creative.

Blog Comments: Since this is an online class, we get to know one another through connecting with each other through our blogs. Whether that is reading the Introduction, favorite place(s), or a story he/she has written, we get a glimpse of who are fellow classmates are. I am happy about my Introduction post and how it has allowed people to (virtually) get to know who I am. It would kind of cool as extra credit to write more blog posts sharing more about us (like favorite food or favorite OU memory).

Looking Forward: To be honest, I need to read through all of the feedback comments that my classmates have given me. I really have not been able to look and read through each one because these past few weeks have been extremely hectic, but maybe over Spring Break or during a calm weekend, I can truly read them and use those comments to enhance further writings. When it comes to my blog, I would like to make it prettier! I enjoy it simple and clean, but I kind of just want to tinker with it and maybe add a bit more of me into the layout and design. :)

Image: 

"Feedback helps you know how far you can go" - well isn't that the truth! Source: Cheezburger.

I chose this image because feedback is scary and sometimes intimidating, but at the same time it shows us as writers our potential and can be a motivation to test the boundaries of our writing. Feedback changes our writing capabilities to writing abilities. 

Week 8 Reading and Writing

All in all, I believe the reading and writing assignments worked well for me! With the reading assignments, it both had structure to shine a light on the pathway yet freedom to make your own tracks. Dr. Gibbs gave us the deadline and order for each of the reading assignments, but we had the ability to decide what specifically we wanted to talk about said readings. I think the Story idea is unique and refreshing because we as students are allowed to create our own stories based on the readings we read. We had the power to drastically change it or keep it as similar to the original epic story that we learned and read about. Looking back, it is kind of cool to see me progress from sticking as much to the original story to slowly but surely being brave enough to truly put my own twists on the stories and make it unique. Ahh the Project website. To be truthfully honest, I was extremely scared beginning my Portfolio because I did not know how to go about it or if I was technically doing everything correctly! However, I am glad I had written a previous story in my blog I felt confident in and good enough to post in the Portfolio so having that blog to refer to and use as a resource sure does helps. I am also glad that the pattern of the Portfolio goes like "Story-Revision-Revision" because that gives students time to really execute their best work.

This is my favorite image from a previous blog post because it is about the love story of Rama and Sita. I honestly loved reading the Ramayana because it was this romantic-action epic that pulled readers into the depths of its pages. The Ramayana is about Rama and Sita's love story and this is the picture that sort of depicts that love they had for each other though it was rocky and a bit tragic. I am a sucker for romantic stories and the Ramayana intrigued me with such an epic love story.

Looking forward, I want to do better on staying on top of assignments. I did so much better when we first read the Ramayana. Whether that was due to it being the beginning of the semester or because I was more interested in the storyline of the Ramayana, I know that I was more on top of my game then. Moving forward, I want to do a better job at this and also begin to enjoy writing the rest of my Portfolio. I have enjoyed writing it and other blog posts, but I feel like I can dive in and really put my best foot forward moving on to the future! I want to go out of my comfort zone and really test my writing abilities and see what (maybe) cool stories I can write. :)

Sita and Rama happy together. Source: Flickr.

Week 7 Story: Life in Exile

The Pandavas were wondering the depths of the forest in literal exile. Not a single brother or even their wife, Draupadi, were ready for this drastic change in lifestyle. In the beginning of their exile they were in despair; therefore, they called on and prayed for the sun god to help them in their new adversary. The sun god answered their prayer and gave the Pandavas a copper pot, which was filled to the brim with delicious food. At this blessing, the Pandava brothers, Draupadi, and Dhaumya began their life in the forest. They took the good days with the bad, but it was Draupadi who suffered the most. She wept most of the time because she could not come to terms with the life she now lives. 


As the Pandavas were living their lives in exile, Krishna came to pay them a visit. As soon as he arrived, it was Draupadi who approached him first saying, "Duryodhana tried to make me his wife as my husbands stood their in silence, not moving a muscle. Is it not the duty of a husband to protect their wife? If so, why did they not even attempt to save me from the evil Duryodhana?"Krishna attempted to console Draupadi as she cried her eyes out. He told her, "Do not cry anymore as I am here to help your husband's family so you can once again be a queen."

Krishna then went to Yudhishthira and said, "I am deeply sorry I could not help you in your battle at Hastinapura. However, I am here now, what can I do to help?" After talking to Yudhishthira, Krishna made his way back to his kingdom. As soon as Krishna left, Draupadi made a dash to Yudhishthira to complain saying, "How did our lives end up like this? We used to enjoy the luxury of soft and silky beds, chairs of ivory, and beautiful robes. And now, what do we have? We are beggars now sleeping on stiff grass mats and wearing rags as clothes. I ask of you, Yudhishthira, that we go into battle and seek and take back what is ours."

Yudhishthira being the wise man he is responded to Draupadi by saying, "Being angry and thoughts of destruction is bad and sinful. Do not think and talk this way. We have to love and forgive others." Draupadi said in return, "You might have a point, but how can I praise lords who have done us wrong? Those who have done evil are now happy, and we who are good people are now sad and in grief. I cannot give praise to the lords who have desired this inequality for us."

Yudhishthira said to Draupadi, "The gods are mysterious, but do not doubt your religion or the power of the gods."

Draupadi could not take it anymore. After her conversation with Yudhishthira, she escaped to her room. She did not leave her room for the rest of the night. It was that night that Draupadi decided to leave the forest in search for help to get her old life back. Twas the middle of the night when all the men were asleep that Draupadi escaped and made her efforts to try to find Krishna in the hopes that he could help her. 

Bibliography: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (link)

Author's Note: The Pandava family are sent into exile along with their wife, Draupadi. The exile takes place in the depths of the forest for many years to come. As soon as they were sent to exile, the Pandavas prayed to the sun god asking for help to which he gave the family a copper pot filled with food. After this blessing, the exile journey begins and it is Draupadi who suffers the most. Next thing we see is that Krishna pays the family a visit and it is Draupadi who asks him to save her from her terrible and awful current lifestyle. Krishna tells her that he will try to help and then talks to Yudhishthira next. As soon as Krishna leaves, Draupadi talks to Yudhishthira and ask him if they could go into battle to get back their kingdom and what is rightfully theirs. Yudhishthira goes against this pleading; however, in the original story Draupadi does not leave. In my version, I wanted to see Draupadi more independent and leave the readers hanging as she begins her escape from the Pandavas and treacherous exile. 

The Exile of the Pandavas. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part D

Ashwatthaman, Kripa, and Kritavarman visited a dying Duryodhana amidst the battlefield. Ashwatthaman asked Duryodhana's blessing if he could attack the Pandavas for doing this to Duryodhana. Ashwatthaman got his blessing and went to attack the Pandavas in the middle of the dark night. As Ashwatthaman, Kripa, and Kritavarman were at the outskirts of the Pandavas campsite, the great and mighty Shiva paid them a visit. Ashwatthaman tried to battle the god until he realized it was Shiva in which he then drew back and did him homage. Ashwatthaman started a fire on an altar and casted himself into the flames as a sacrifice to the mighty Shiva. When Shiva saw the humble sacrifice Ashwatthaman was making to him, he accepted the sacrifice and entered Ashwatthaman's body to fight for him against the Pandavas. At this, Ashwatthaman, with the spirit of Shiva, rushing into the Pandavas camp and battled the enemy.

When Yudhishthira found out about the raid, he grieved for his lost but was more worried about Draupadi and her reaction for it was her sons and brother that died in the battle. When Draupadi heard what happened, she wept before her husbands exclaiming, "We have lived in exile for 13 years so that your children could prosper. However, now that they are dead, can you all desire to have that powerful kingdom if you all cannot pass it down to anyone?" Krishna answered Draupadi in reply, "Why are grieving like you lost a husband on the bloody battlefield? You have no better reason or cause to cry than others."At this, Draupadi turned to Bhima and asked him to bring head of Ashwatthaman. Bhima told her that he could not because Ashwatthaman was a brahmin. Therefore, instead of the Ashwatthaman's head, Draupadi asked that her husbands steal Ashwatthaman's most precious jewel that is near and dear to his heart. Arjuna did as Draupadi asked and gave Ashwatthaman's special jewel to Draupadi.


Bibliography: "Public Domain Edition: Mahabharata" by Laura Gibbs (link - sections 69 and 70)

The Raid on the Pandavas. Source