Week 14 Story: Tali

The Story of Tali

"Waves" Source: Pixabay

"And you!" said King Tanaka. "You will be exiled to the Sathar Desert." the King said with a smirk. 

Tali's heart sank into her stomach. The Sathar Desert was they driest place of the known world. The ocean had never been out of her sight and the thought of it made her sick.

"Please!" she begged. "I have done very little harm to anyone besides the incident with Jara."

"You will leave this instant!" the King screamed.

The guards took her. Her grandfather, the King, kept his smug gaze on her as they escorted her out of the hall. Her grandfather had always disliked her. Her happy clumsy personality conflicted with his harsh stern ways. She regretted the incident with her cousin Jara. "I would not be in this mess if it were not for that wretched girl." She thought to herself.

Tali had always been jealous of her cousins relationship with her brother, Kaloo. From a young age the two had always gotten along and excluded Tali from activities. As a young teen Tali attended Jara's birthday party where she performed her sabotage. As Jara was blowing out her candles, Tali drew the water from the barrels and splashed it down on Jara's head. Despite her bubbly personality, Tali had never handled jealously well. She was banned from using her manipulation of water from then on.

 After the birthday incident, her water powers grew weak from lack of use. She began practicing in secret by the great fountains at night. In the vast desert Tali would have no moisture nor water sources to manipulate. She believed her evil grandfather had banished her to the desert in the hopes of destroying her water abilities.

That night she was placed in a locked carriage used for prisoners. The two guards, leading the carriage, headed east towards the Sathar Desert. The trip would be five full grueling days. On the second day they let her out of the carriage to get some fresh air. Tali immediately recognized the young guard that opened the door. It was one of her friends she had known in school. 

"Tali?" The young guard said. 

"Is that you Bathar?" Tali responded. 

"They had not told me who we were escorting, why we taking you to such a horrid place?" The young guard asked.

"My grandfathers orders." Tali responded.

"No talking! Back in the carriage!" The guard captain yelled.

Bathar led Tali back into the carriage slipping her an extra slice of bread. It was three more days of traveling until the reached her final destination. Bathar unlocked the back of the carriage and let Tali out. The sun blinded her eyes and the dry hot air burned her skin. Her shackles were removed and she was given a small knife, canteen, and a loaf of old bread. The guards and the carriage turned around and headed back towards Tali's home. She opened the canteen. No water, of course. Inside there was a small rolled up note.

"Head south by east for one day."

The message had been from Bathar. She set off towards the hills in the distance as the sun began to set. She decided to take shelter under a small overhanging rock for the night. She had only been asleep for a few hours before the sun began to shine bright, waking her up. The sky around her was pitch black but a bright star, that she thought was the sun, was shining from the hills. It shown with as much power as the sun. No longer tired, Tali set off towards the mysterious star.

Authors Note

Tali's character is based off of the kindness, selflessness, and loyalty similar to Sita. Sita was the daughter of King Janaka. This gave me the idea to have her grandfather be King Tanaka. Just as Rama was accompanied by Sita and Lakshmana, I wanted her to have some help along the way. This is where Bathar came into the picture. Even though he was not a permanent companion, he helped Tali along the way. The bright jewel towards the end of the story draws inspiration from the Syamantaka Jewel found in the stories of Krishna. 

Bibliography

Shri Krishna of Dwarka, By: Kincaid

Divine Archer by Gould

Week 14 Reading Notes: The Life of Buddha

The Life of Buddha Part B

"Buddha Teaching the Five" Source: Wiki Commons

• Buddha remained under the tree for one more week after obtaining knowledge
• He began traveling the world then returning to the tree 
• Two brothers Trapusha and Bhallika offer Buddha food and profess their faith in him
• Brahma convinces Buddha to teach the world
• He decides to preach his law to everyone despite the fact it may be confusing
• Buddha seeks the first man to hear his law
• He sets out for Bernares to find his old disciples 
• The boatman wanted Buddha to pay for his trip, so Buddha just flew across the river
• He finds his old followers and convinces him he is the Buddha
• He spoke all of his law and the five monks glorified him
• Kaundinya is the first monk to show he understands
• Now there are six saints in the world to teach
• Yasas turns down the offer to follow so they go look for him
• Buddha explains the story with him as a hare
• Before traveling to Uruvilva Buddha had obtained 60 monks
• Buddha schools four musicians in their own instrument after they laughed at him
• King Padmaka gave his body to save his people
• He explains like Padmaka, these people will give their intelligence to save mankind

Bibliography

"The Life of Buddha" By: Herold

Week 14 Reading Notes: The Life of Buddha

The Life of Buddha Part B

"Buddha By the Tree" Source: Wikipedia

• Arata Kalama is a holy man who teaches the doctrine of renunciation
• Him and his disciples practice perfect austerity
• He does not want to teach Arata's Doctrine
• All the citizens of Rajagriha rush to see him
• King Vimbasara goes to visit him at his home on the hillside
• He no longer desires anything, only seeks true law
• He goes to visit the hermit Rudraka the son of Rama
• He does not believe his teachings and seeks true law once again
• Five of Rudraka's disciples joined him
• Sidd meditated so hard the gods thought he died
• He mediated for six years  never moving
• He became very skinny and decided to stop
• He starts to eat a lot
• His followers leave him because they think he only seeks nourishment 
• He uses the shroud of a dead slave as his new clothes
• He has five dreams this night
• He sits beneath the tree of knowledge and says he will not move until he attains supreme knowledge 
• The evil god Mara wants to kill Sidd
• Sidd never moved despite Mara about to attack him
• He hurled rocks and arrows at Sidd but they exploded and became flowers
• Mother Earth protects Sidd and makes Mara go away
• He attains perfect knowledge and the Earth shakes 12 times
• He becomes Buddha and is to dispel the darkness

Bibliography

"The Life of Buddha" By: Herold

Week 13 Reading Notes: The Life of Buddha

The Life of Buddha Part B

"Buddha and Rahula" Source: Wiki Commons

• The King builds three huge palaces for Siddhartha out of adoration
• The King lived his life as a great man
• Pure soul and good virtues he was an example to all
• Siddhartha and Gopa have a son named Rahula
• Siddhartha is very sheltered and wants to leave the palace so the king clears out all the evil in the world so he is not subjected to it
• The gods are jealous of his life and create an old man to taint his perfect view of the world
• Old age freaks him out so the gods make another man with disease
• Gopa has a dream of the end of the world and her being naked
• Sidd tells her that this is a great dream
• A god has the form of a monk and convinces Sidd to become a monk
• His dad opposes this idea
• Sidd goes to the stables and sneaks out of the palace
• Says he will not return until the has seen the end of life and death
• He tells a hero to take his horse and jewels back to his father
• He cuts his hair and looses is expensive clothes
• Gopa and the King freak out and command a search
• Chandaka the hero tells the king what happened
• Kanthaka  returns to the stables and falls dead

Bibliography

"The Life of Buddha" By: Herold

Week 13 Reading Notes: The Life of Buddha

The Life of Buddha Part A

"Siddhartha Meditating" Source: Wiki Commons

• King Suddhodana of Kapilavastu: very bright, generous, modest and just
• His Wife is Queen Maya
• The Queen asks for favors of the poor, she rose to the top of the palace
• Maya has a dream of an elephant in her womb
• She is pregnant and will have a son
• All sins are forgiven in the city
• They have a son named Siddhartha
• Asita is a great hermit
• He says his son will only bring great joy and glory
• He also says that he will set the world free from evil
• He finished with foreseeing that Siddhartha would denounce his royalty
• Queen Maya dies after seven days and he falls under the care of her sister
• He is dressed in the finest clothes and Mahaprajapati takes him to the temple of gods
• Suddhodana and Siddhartha sing songs in the midst of the statues of gods
• His teacher realizes he can teach him no more, and it should be there other way around
• He meditated by a tree and the people thought he was a god
• Everyone realizes he will be the light of the world
• Gopa and Siddhartha are to be married after some trouble deciding 

Bibliography

"The Life of Buddha" By: Herold

Week 12 Story Planning: Tali

Tali

"Waves" Source: Pixabay

Tali's Character

• Tali is Kaloo's sister, they are not very close
• She was always jealous of Kaloo and Jara's relationship
• Tali is very similar to Rama
• She has the ability to manipulate water, found this out by falling off of a boat
• Her personality is clumsy and bubbly and is usually always happy
• She is meant to be exiled to the Sathar Desert
• This was decided by her grandfather King Tanaka to limit to hopefully cause her ability to go stop working
• King Tanaka has always disliked her
• King Tanaka thinks she is weak and was always unfair towards her

Idea's from Notes

• Would like to use ideas from the "Divine Archer", "Krishna", and "Eastern Legends/Stories"
• "Sita is the daughter of King Janaka" - I would like her to have similar qualities to Sita (caring, giving, selfless, and loyal) Would also like her other grandfather to be more like King Janaka
• "Sita and Lakshmana join Rama on his exile" - At some point I would like to see Tali make her way to where her cousin, Rama, was exiled. It would be cool to see these two characters together
• "The demon in the form of a Giant Crane swallows Krishna but escaped and tore the bird in two" - Since she can control water I would like to see her escape her boat but have to deal with a giant water bird
• "The Syamantaka jewel emits the power of sunlight" - Along her journey (after escape) to find Rama, have her run into the sun god and obtain his jewel
• "The jewel brings happiness to good men and death to evil men" - Have the grandfather who does not likelier steal her jewel and brings him death
• "It burned Sudak to ashes and consumed the city" - On her return have her defeat the fire creature and put out the fires in the city

Bibliography

Shri Krishna of Dwarka, By: Kincaid

Divine Archer by Gould

Reading Notes Week 12 - Eastern Stories/Legends

Reading Notes Part B

"Buddha" Source: Pixabay

• First Story: The Bull that demanded fair treatment
• The Brahmin raised the strongest bull and made a bet it was
• He called the bull a wretched so the bull refused to pull
• Second Story: The bull that proved his gratitude
• He comes back as a bull again and is owned by a poor woman
• To show his gratitude he pulls 500 carts and is paid 1000 pennies
• Third Story: The horse that held out to the end
• Buddha comes as a horse
• He is the kings special horse and is given the mission to capture the other 7 kings with a knight
• He is injured capturing the 6th king but keeps going and dies
• Fourth Story: The Monkey that saved the herd
• Buddha is king of monkeys 
• He saves the herd from ogre's
• Fifth story: The mallard that asked for too much
• Buddha is a Brahmin dies and then is a golden mallard
• His wife plucked all of his golden feathers out of greed and he turned normal white
• Sixth Story: The merchant who overcame all obstacles
• Buddha is a wealthy merchant
• The Bodisat gives fights and passes away
• Seventh Story: The elephant that was honored in old age
• Buddha is prime minister
• The elephant was very good and liked by King
• He dressed her for war as a mistake and then restored her honor
• Eighth Story: The Faithful Friend
• The elephant and the dog were good friends
• The elephant trainer sold the dog and made the elephant depressed
• By the kings order the dog was turned loose

Bibliography

"Eastern stories and Legends" By: Shedlock

Reading Notes Week 12 - Eastern Stories/Legends

Reading Notes Part A

"Crocodile" Source: Wiki Commons

• First story: The Hare that Ran Away
• Buddha is born as a lion
• The main character a Hare
• Hare is scared and thinks the earth is falling in, everyone believes it
• Buddha shows the Hare that it isn't true
• Second Story: The Monkey and the Crocodile
• The Monkey, the Bodhisattva, lives by the river Ganges
• The Crocodile couple living in the river want to eat him
• Croc takes him across the river on his back then tries to eat him
• The monkey tricks him by saying his heart is in a fig tree and escapes
• Third Story: The Spirit that lived in a Tree
• Buddha is born as a tree spirit
• The king wants to cut down the tree but Buddha tells him not to
• Fourth Story: The Hare that was not afraid to die
• Buddha is born as a Hare
• Hare and four friends gather food to give to beggars
• Hare is tested and would give his own flesh
• Last Story: The King Who Saw the Truth
• Buddha is to be the King
• He wants to give more to poor other than possessions, wants to give self
• Sakka, wants to test him
• He gives him his eyes
• Later his eyesight is restored and is able to see perfect and absolute truth

Bibliography

"Eastern stories and Legends" By: Shedlock

Story: Week 11

Jara

"Northern Lights" Source: PixaBay

"Jara, I am sorry it has to be this way. It is in the best interest of our two cities." said her father. "I have done nothing wrong, I am the one who has tried to keep peace among us." Jara responded. "You must face the same punishment as your siblings and cousins. I will hear no more of this!" the King declared. Jara stormed out of the hall, where she was met with guards to escort her to her room. Tears began to flow from her eyes thinking about leaving behind everyone she has ever known. While gathering her things she heard the guards conversation outside her door. "They were supposed to return four days ago." whispered one guard. "That kid was nothing but trouble, I am sure they just had a few hold ups along the way." the second guard whispered back. "Kaloo!" Jara thought to herself. She realized they must have been talking about her cousin who was exiled a week prior. She had always had a strong relationship with her cousin, despite his temper. She thought he was just misunderstood and received too much criticism from his father and the people. The guards knocked and told her it was time to leave. She took one last look and left the living quarters without saying goodbye to her parents. In her mind they had betrayed her and her brother, this was something that could never be forgiven.

Her destination would be the Northern Glaciers, a three week journey to the coldest and darkest corner of their known world. The boat transporting her and three guards was outfitted with ice breaking equipment; it was the cold season and the waters would be frozen over. Jara was not shackled, unlike her cousin Kaloo. She was considered the least dangerous of the four cousins, and had not shown any aggression in the past. Her dark skin kept her hidden on nights with no moon, much like this one. The only way to spot her would be by her eyes that always had a slight glow to them. The ship set off, disappearing into the dark night. Looking to the stars she thought of her brother and relatives. She did not worry about her brother, Rama. He had always been able to take care of himself. Even in the desolate islands he was exiled to, she knew he would be fine. Kaloo, however, worried her deeply. He had always been dependent on someone, and never on his own. When they were young she would defend him from bullies that teased him for being so small. Jara believes this is what caused his temper and furious outbursts. Exhausted from the eventful day, Jara fell asleep on the front of the ship, under the stars. She awoke to the three guards having an argument.  Blending in with the night she crept around the side of the ship to see what was going on. A pigeon had delivered a letter, "What do you mean he escaped?!" yelled the captain. They were talking about Kaloo, he had escaped his transport and killed both of the guards. "The king wants us to take a detour and search for the boy." said the captain, "We should be arriving tomorrow."

Bibliography

The Indian Heroes by: C. A. Kincaid

Authors Note

This story is based off the story, "The princes of Elephant City". Rama and Jara are very similar to the Pandava brothers. In the story, the Pandava brothers are all exiled. However, they are exiled together but move around to different locations. 

Reading Notes Week 11 - Krishna

Reading Notes Part B

• Satrajit, a sun god worshiper, acquired the Syamantaka jewel from the god 
• The Syamantaka jewel emits the power of sunlight
• The jewel brings happiness to good men and death to evil men
• Krishna fights the bear king for 21 days to get the jewel back
• This chapter tells a story of Krishna's son, Pradyumna
• His other son, Balarama, lost in a dice game and ended up killing Rukmi and the King of Kalinga
• The demon Karaka is coming, Krishna kills the demon and the demons sons
• The demon Bana has 1000 arms, Krishna imprisons him but lets him go
• Krishna's men find a giant chameleon in a well, turns out its a tall man in disguise
• He tells the story of how he became the chameleon and how he had sinned
• Paundrika mocked Krishna so Krishna kills him with typical Krishna fashion
• This makes Paundrika's son really mad, his name is Sudakshin
• He asks Shiva for help, Shiva warns not to send the creature against any good king
• Once it arrived to Dwarka, the beast turned around and headed back to Sudakshin
• It burned Sudak to ashes and consumed the city 
• This chapter is a mere retelling of Mahabrata through Krishnas viewpoint
• Jara mistakes the sleeping Krishna for a stag and shoots him in the foot with an arrow
• This kills Krishna and the sea washes everything away except for Krishna's temple

"Death of Jayadratha" Source: Wiki Commons



Bibliography
Shri Krishna of Dwarka, By: Kincaid

Reading Notes Week 11 - Krishna

Reading Notes Part A

• Lord Vishnu used two of his hairs to create Balarama and Krishna
• Vishnu puts his power into the baby of Yashoda
• Kansa tries to kill the baby but she floats up to the heavens and mocks him
• They relocate to Gokula which is outside of King Kansa's jursidiction
• As toddlers Krishna and Balarama stole milk and butter while crawling
• This coined Krishna with the name "butter thief"
• Rest of the story is about Krishna and Bala's adventures while in Gokula
• Krishna has now relocated to Vrindavan
• The demon in the form of a Giant Crane swallows Krishna but escaped and tore the bird in two
• They also defeat the giant serpent Aghasur
• Indra is angry and causes a storm 
• Krishna holds a mountain up to protect everyone 
• Krishna is now a man and returns to Mathura
• Krishna defeats all of King Kansa's henchmen
• Krishna kills King Kansa with a blow to the head
• Krishna then founds the city of Dwarka the golden city
• Balarama marries Revati, the daughter of King Raivata
• Krishna marries Rukmani, the daughter of Bhishmak

"Krishna Eating Butter" Source: WikiCommons

Bibliography

Shri Krishna of Dwarka, By: Kincaid