Topic Research

Come to find out that Arjuna has four wives instead of only two, Ulupi and Chitrangada. Therefore, I thought it could be interesting to write about the four wives of Arjuna.

Ulupi/Uloopi (link): Ulupi is known as the "Naga Princess" who was the daughter of Kouravya, the ruler of the serpents who lived in the water. It was because of a curse that Ulupi became his second wife. Ulupi was instantly attracted to Arjuna and pretty much forced and seduced him to take her as his wife. Arjuna gives in even though he is still married to Draupadi. Ulupi and Arjuna have a son named Iravan together. As mentioned earlier, Arjuna has a curse on him but it is Ulupi who ultimately saves his life and frees him of the curse. Therefore, in the end, should not Arjuna be thankful for Ulupi and that she forced him to be her husband?! Haha:)

Draupadi (link): Draupadi is a beautiful woman who becomes the first wife of Arjuna. In all actually, I believe that Draupadi is actually the common wife among the Arjuna and his four brothers. Arjuna was the one who actually won the Draupadi's hand in marriage, but it was Arjuna's mother that told him to share his blessings and therefore he shared his wife among his brothers. Draupadi had a total of five sons, one from each of her husbands. There is mention of a man by the name of Duryodhana who hated Draupadi and a mention of a war. If I were to write this story, my original goal was to talk about the marriage of Draupadi and Arjuna so I was not going to mention anything that did not pertain to the marriage.

Subhadra (link): Subhadra is another one of Arjuna's wife who is also the sister of Arjuna's best friend, Krishna. When Arjuna first meets Subhadra, he is smitten by her beautiful looks that Krishna basically encourges Arjuna to take his sister as his wife. Arjuna listens to him and they devise a plan to kidnap Subhadra. There is a quote that states, "...a forcible abduction for purposes of marriage is applauded." This quote is intriguing and this story could be fascinating to read and do a retelling about.

Chitrangada (link): I know we were only suppose to mention three possible stories, but I did not want to leave out Arjuna's fourth wife. Therefore, I wrote a teeny bit about her for a possible story. Chitrangada correlates to Ulupi through a battle between Chitrangada's son and Arjuna. While on his exile, Arjuna meets Chitrangada, who is the daughter of the king of Manipur. Arjuna falls in love with her but in exchange for her hand in marriage, Arjuna must not take away Arjuna or any of their children away from Manipur, as they are the ones next in line for the thrown. Arjuna promises, they have a child together, but along the way Chitrangada believes that Arjuna is involved in adultery so she makes a vow to herself that her son will battle Arjuna some day. Fast forward many years and the intertwining of the lives of Arjuna, Ulupi, Chitrangada, and Babruvahana (the son of Arjuna and Chitrangada). The story could be interesting to write about a love triangle with a secret revenge.

Arjuna. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Feedback Strategies

1. Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a Growth Mindset (link): Sometimes it is hard to see our own talents and hard work that it is important to have family, friends, and teachers reflect the truth within us. With this idea, it is about others being a “mirror” to showcase and illuminate who we truly are in order to foster a positive growth mindset. Of the five qualities the author mentioned, I believe the two most important ones are making sure that feedback is transferable and that those who give the feedback take themselves out of the equation. The ability to make feedback transferable allows students to realize that the talents they are using is beneficial and useful in any circumstance or context, and that it is not just tied down to a particular assignment or book. Also, the quality of taking those who give the feedback out of the equation is something I never realized but I believe is extremely important. This generation of children and students are so used to pleasing others that it is almost engraved into our brains. When first person pronounces are not used, I believe it mirrors the student works for what it is. Ultimately, however, it is up to the child or student himself/herself to decide what to do. No matter how much other people pour into them and become their mirror, it is up to the child/student to take that support and put action into it.

2. The Difference Between Praise and Feedback (link): Process praise was this idea by Carol Dweck that states that people should praise the effort put in by the child instead of praising the child itself so that the child can be able to grow as a person. I like this idea for the most part as it allows children to take the praise in the effort itself and use it as fuel to take on future challenges. However, as kids, do they actually realize the difference between praising the effort versus praising the child himself/herself; because if a child does not know the difference then does it matter what kind of praising we give to them? On the other hand we have the concept of praise and personhood which states that parents and educators need to love and approve of them no matter what in exchange for a child's desire to do. However, this can also backfire because as parents and educators we can approve everything a child does, as they need to learn from their mistakes to grow as a person. If a child hits another child, parents and educators should not approve of their actions but instead condemn for doing something bad. I believe at the end of the day, it is a balance between praise and feedback.

Isn't that the truth! Source: Pixabay

Week 3 Story: Jatayu and Ravana

As Ravana was mesmerized with Sita, he decided to abduct her and take her back to his kingdom. Therefore, up, up, and away they went however as Sita was crying and yelling for Ravana to let her go, a great and mighty bird appeared. This bird was named Jatayu and Sita begged him for help.

Jatayu came to Sita's aid and said to Ravana, "You surely will not get away with this. Rama is powerful and he will punish you for your wrongdoings."

As Jatayu said those last words, Ravana attacked him and a battle between the two begun. Ravana began to shoot arrows and missiles at the mighty bird. Jatayu felt the piercing pain of each weapon go into his body. Ravana was slowly weakening him, but before Jatayu was completely defeated, he tore off Ravana's bows which sent the chariot crashing from the sky to the ground. Sita, Ravana, and Jatayu all safely fell to the earth, but it was Jatayu who was badly injured and terribly weak from Ravana's arrows and missiles.

Jatayu lay silently on the ground unable to fight back, Ravana took his sword and chopped up the mighty and beautiful wings of Jatayu. Jatayu gave a piercing and deadly shriek which drew Sita towards him. However, before Sita could aid her brave friend, Ravana stole her once again and back to the sky they went. Sita was devastated and was mourning for her friend. Nevertheless, Ravana was as ruthless as ever and did not care for Sita's feelings. He was selfish and continued with his plans of abduction.

Even at a grieving state, Sita was still smart and one step ahead. Sita saw five large and strong monkeys, and pleaded for their help. The monkeys came to Sita and she gave them her precious and beautiful jewels as a trail for Rama to find his precious bride. The monkeys cast down to the ground Sita's precious gifts for Rama in the hopes that he will be able to find her. Sita stared at the earth and at the last twinkle of her jewels, turned around and wept.

(353 Words)

Author's Note: This story is about the battle between Jatayu, the bird, and Ravana, the evil king. Ravana has captured Sita and Jatayu is attempting to save her. As Jatayu and Ravana battled each other, Ravana got the upper hand and defeated Jatayu. Sita is taken back hostage by Ravana. In order for Rama to find her, with the help of monkeys, she cast down to the ground her precious jewels as a trail for her beloved husband to find her.

Bibliography: Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (link)

Jatayu and Ravana fight. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Ramayana, Part B

Reading Notes over Ramayana, Part B: Bharata comes home to find that Dasharatha, his father, has died and that his mother made his father give him the kingdom. Bharata is furious at his mother for he knows that his older brother, Rama, is the rightful heir to thrown. Bharata finds out that Rama has been exiled and makes up his mind that he will bring Rama back to Ayodhya. However, before Bharata can go to the forest to find his brother, he must bury their father. After the burial, Bharata finds Rama in the jungle and begs him to come home. No matter how much Bharata begs Rama to come back home and reign as king, Rama says he has to obey the commands of their father and stay in exile for fourteen years. Rama tells Bharata to rule the kingdom and Bharata follows his older brother's command. Before going back to Ayodhya, since Rama cannot be in the kingdom in the flesh, Bharata takes a pair of Rama's sandals and sets them at the king's throne that Bharata promises to guard for Rama. Back in the jungle, Lakshmana, Rama, and Sita encounter Atri and his wife Anasuya. Sita is drawn to Anasuya with her tender mother's love and tells Anasuya her life story. As time goes on, one day Rama and Lakshmana finally encounter a woman named Shurpanakha, who is the sister of the evil King Ravana. Shurpanakha falls in love with Rama who does not reciprocate the same love for her. Rama suggests that she can have his brother, Lakshmana; however, he does not have any feelings for her either. With two rejections, Shurpanakha is furious and shows her true colors. She is so upset that she begs her brother, Khara, to destory Rama and Lakshmana. Khara and the two brothers fight a vigorous battle, but in the end Rama and Lakshmana defeat Khara. With the defeat of her brother, Shurpanakha goes to her most powerful brother Ravana and tells him about the death of Khara which was the doing of Rama and Lakshmana. Ravana is furious and devices a plan to fight the brothers. Rama decides to bring a man named Maricha into his plan of abducting Sita. Maricha is the only living son of Thataka, who Rama killed in the past. Maricha and Ravana team up and eventually abducts Sita through Maricha transforming into a beautiful golden deer. Ravana is mesmerized by the beauty and grace of Sita that he takes her to his kingdom. As Ravana and Sita fly away, the helpful and mighty Jatayu tries to save precious Sita. Jatayu is unsuccessful and is left to die. As Rama and Lakshmana returned to their hut and found Sita missing, they grieved and searched high and low for her. They find Jatayu who with his last moments of life helps the brothers in the direction of finding Sita. On their journey to find Sita, Rama and Lakshmana encounter an elderly woman named Shabari. Shabari has waited patiently for the arrival of the powerful Rama.

(503 Words)

Bibliography: Ramayana by M.Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder (link)

Ravana and Sita. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Ramayana, Part A

Reading Notes for Ramayana, Part A: Dasharatha is king of the Koshala kingdom. He has three wives but no children to pass the kingdom to. In the need of a human who can defeat Ravana, the gods allow the god Vishnu to become Rama, Dasharatha's son. With special rice and sacrifice, the three wives of Dasharatha are granted children. Dasharatha's wife Kaushalya gives birth to Rama, Kaikeyi gives birth to the son Bharata, and Sumitra gives birth to two sons, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. The four sons grow up and one day a sage by the name of Vishvamitra begs Dasharatha to give him Rama to help him battle demons. Dasharatha refuses in the beginning but finally agrees if Vishvamitra takes both Rama and one of his brothers, Lakshmana. Vishvamitra guides the brothers throughout their journey. Vishvamitra took on the role of being a father figure to Rama and Lakshmana during their time together. Vishvamitra told them stories and taught the boys about special astras and mantras. Of course the reason why Rama and Lakshmana were on this journey in the first place was to do battle with demons. Rama first goes into battle with a demon named Thataka and kills her. Rama then encounters the sons of Thataka who are furious at Rama for killing their mother. Rama eventually kills Thataka's sons. As Rama goes into battle with more demons and wins said battles, he falls in love with a beautiful woman named Sita along the way. To win Sita's hand in marriage, Rama successfully lifts, bends, and strings the bow of the god Shiva. As Rama wins the heart and hand of Sita, Dasharatha is brewing up a plan to name Rama as his successor. However, the royal servant Kooni gets in the way and forces Dasharatha to pass his kingdom to his other son, Bharata. Dasharatha has his hands tied up and crowns Bharata as the next king while throwing Rama into exile. Rama does not argue and simply obeys.

(326 Words)

Bibliography: Laura Gibbs; Reading Guide Part A and Part B: Narayan. Ramayana; link.

Ramayana. Source: Flickr