Week 7 Reading Diary: Cradle Tales of Hinduism continued

Cradle Tales of Hinduism: Krishna

The past few weeks, I have been reading the Indian epic story, the Mahabharata. This week, I chose to read a different aspect of the story. This story, by Sister Nivedita, covers the life of Lord Krishna. I have grown up knowing about Krishna Bhagvan and his stories. My favorite one was how he tried to steal butter from people's homes during his childhood. Sister Nivedita does a good job of incorporating all the different aspects of Lord Krishna's life into consolidated chapters. Tonight, I finished reading the second part of her stories about Krishna. These chapters covered Krishna's return to Mathura and the Doom of the Vishnis. My favorite chapter being the last one, the Doom of the Vishnis. This chapter began by discussing how peaceful Mathura had become years after the great war on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. But amongst all the happiness, whispers began about some lords of the court who played practical jokes on three divine sages. The people of Mathura began to feel uneasy. Amongst all the rumors, Lord Krishna said "that which is to be will surely happen." I really liked this quote because it's very true. Whatever is going to happen in life, will happen regardless of people's actions. As chaos was ensuing, Krishna stayed calm and told the Vrishnis to go to the coast and bathe in the sacred ocean waters. Lord Krishna warned the people to stay away from alcohol, for that would be their downfall. But, since it was their time to perish, they were lured in by a grand feast where wine was served. Fights broke out in the drunken stupor and ultimately led to the deaths of many. I would be very interested in writing a story about the affects of alcohol on the body. I would incorporate Lord Krishna's warnings into my story. 

(Statue of Lord Krishna. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography. Cradle Tales of Hinduism, Sister Nivedita. (1907)

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

For this week's technology tip, I decided to look into adding a weather widget to my blog webpage. I added it on the sidebar underneath everything. Here is the link for directions on how to do this. 

Week 7 Reading Diary: Cradle Tales of Hinduism

Cradle Tales of Hinduism: Krishna

For the past two weeks, I read the online public domain edition of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. This epic story was filled with many characters and a great deal of drama and action. I really enjoyed reading it. This week, I chose to read parts of the book, Cradle Tales of Hinduism, by Sister Nivedita. The sections I read were focused on Lord Krishna's stories and his significance in the Hindu religion. The part I enjoyed reading most in the first section of Sister Nivedita's storytelling was about Krishna's birth. They say that his mother and father, Devaki and Vasudeva, were brought together by Devaki's brother, Kansa. Kansa was a tryant leader of Mathura. As he was driving his sister and her new husband to their new home, he received news that the eight child of the couple would be the reason for his downfall. For this reason, Kansa imprisoned them and successfully killed their first seven children. Their eighth child was born in the prison and instantly Devaki knew he was special. He had four arms, that each held a shank, discus, mace, and lotus. In order to save this child, Vasudeva took him to Gokool and switched out his son with Nanda's newborn daughter. When Kansa found out the eighth child was born, he went to the prison ready to slay the newborn who would be the reason for his downfall. When Kansa saw a girl instead of a boy, he was confused. The prophecy said that a boy would be born. Regardless, Kansa took precautions and was ready to kill the girl. As he was picking her up, the form of a Goddess arose and warned him that the boy who was going to destroy him was still alive in Gokool. I have always enjoyed hearing about Krishna's birth because it's such a unique story. If I were to write a story based on this birth, I would change it up and make it where Vasudeva didn't take Krishna away. Instead, I would show Krishna's powers from birth and write about how he was able to dodge Kansa's attempts at killing him. 

(Birth of Krishna. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography. Cradle Tales of Hinduism, Sister Nivedita. (1907)