Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part C

This week's reading had so many exciting and thrilling things going on, it was hard to keep up! I left off at the Pandavas beginning of their exile. In the Ramayana, there was so much that happened during Rama's exile and the Mahabharata did not disappoint! There was so much detail that went into everything in this part of the Mahabharata reading. I really enjoyed reading about the Pandavas life in exile...it felt like I was there living with them in the forest.

One thing I really enjoyed about this part of the reading was that the Ramayana and the Mahabharata had a major crossover with Hanuman. It was nice to revisit this character. I wish he had played a bigger part in this epic, however he did teach Bhima a very important lesson when it came to life. The riddle part of the epic was also a ver good and clever part to the story.

The detail that was put into the final part of this reading, which was the beginning of the battle, was incredible. It felt as though I was there watching the battle take place. I hope I can implement this type of writing into some of my retellings. I can't wait to finish up the entire epic and see what happens!

While reading, I came up with a few thoughts for my retelling for the week. They are as follows:

44. Arjuna and Indra

• I could write where Arjuna was lured by the giant women
• I could go into detail about Arjuna's battle

46. Bhima and Hanuman

• I could write where Hanuman is roadkill that Bhima finds and he takes it home to cook up

49. Jauadratha and Draupadi

• I could go into depth with this story of Jayadratha taking Draupadi

50. Riddles at the Lake

• Wow! I did not see that the Voice was Dharma coming at all!

51. The Court of King Virata

• I could go into depth about the Pandavas stay in Virata

52. Bhima and Kichaka

• I could write where Bhima and Draupadi kill people on a regular basis using Draupadi as bait

59. Bhagavad-Gita

• I like that this was written in rhyme but still had a dialogue feel...this made it very easy to understand

Bibliography

Public Domain Mahabharata, link to Reading Guide C

Painting of the Pandavas and Draupadi, Web source