Jesika's Blog

The Story of the Cane and the Fish The Master teaches a young prince Ajatasatru a lesson on how cunning does not always succeed and wickedness doesn't always prevail.  He told the young prince of a story. Story was about how there was two ponds. One that was quite small, while the other one was big and wide. Now, there was a crane who noticed fishes in the small pool. He came up with a plan to deceive the fishes by saying he'll carry each fish one by one to the bigger pond. However, he tricked them and didn't take them to the pond. Instead, he killed and ate them. Then, the crane tried to con the crayfish, but it outsmarted him and killed the crane. The crane got it's karma from the crayfish. The prince thanked the Master for the lesson before he left. The crane that fooled the fishes. (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Bibliography: " The Story of the Crane and the Fish "- The Life of Buddha by A.F. Herold.

The Three Encounters Prince Siddhartha has never been outside his palace, until he had a sudden desire to explore outside the palace. The king or Siddhartha's father couldn't say no to his son even though he feared something outside the palace would mess with his innocent soul. The king order for a path to be clear from evil things, beggars, and those who suffer, so his son could go into the city. However, the Gods were jealous of how people celebrated the Prince when he came into the city. They sent an old man who looked worn out, another who was sick, and a dead man on three different instances when the Prince went outside the palace. Each time the Prince saw those men it scared him and made him fear of growing old and getting sick.  The king did get upset that his fear came true and those bad instances messed with his son. Prince Siddhartha encountering old age, sickness, and death. (Source: Wikipedia ) Bibliography: " The Three Encounters "- The Lif...

Maya's Dream Queen Maya had a dream where a young elephant came from the sky and entered her womb. Also, a bunch of gods appeared in the dream and sang her immortal songs. When she woke up, she was so happy and went to the woods. She told her maids to go get her husband, King Suddhodana. King Suddhodana reigned in Kapilavastu. Before he could enter the woods, he felt something weird. Then, he heard a voice from above telling him to be happy as he was expecting a son. He went to his wife and she told him about the dream. She asked him to tell some brahmans about it and to interpret what it means. The brahmans told them they are expecting a son, who will be great and a Buddha. They celebrated and gave back to the poor. I liked that this was a simple and cute story of Maya finding out she's pregnant. I could re-write this story in a more modern setting.  King Suddhodana asking brahmans to interpret the Queen's dream. (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Bibliography: ...

Shibi and the Hawk Shibi was a king, who was know for his unselfishness and love for God's creatures. At a park, this pigeon fell into his arms. The bird was tired from trying to get away from a hawk. Shibi managed to revive the poor bird, but then the hawk told him to hand over the pigeon to him. He told the hawk no that he couldn't do that to the pigeon. The hawk explain how he had the right to do so because the pigeon was its prey, otherwise he would starve.  Realizing the hawk was kind of right, Shibi offered himself as food for him if the hawk let the pigeon go free. Hawk agreed and Shibi prevent both the birds from suffering. I found the ending quite odd and couldn't believe he offered himself without hesitating.  I think I would want to change the ending where Shibi doesn't get hurt and instead finds another source of food for the hawk. The hawk that was trying to eat the pigeon. (Source: Pixabay ) Bibliography: Indian Fables and Folklore - Part...

Yudhishtir's Dog Yudhishtir was the eldest Pandu brother of the 5 of them.  Him and his brothers won a battle against the Kuru family with the help of Krishna, who is the equivalent of the Indian Hercules. However,  Yudhishtir refused the throne, and his brother and his wife set out a journey to Mount Sumeru (Indian version of Olympus). He had his faithful dog accompany them. Unfortunately, he and the dog were the only ones to make to Mount Sumeru. King of the Gods, Indra, wouldn't let Yudhishtir enter to heaven with his dog. Yudhishtir refused to come in if his dog wasn't allowed to come with him. Yama, the God of Death and Justice, agreed to let Yudhishtir come to heaven with his dog because how faithful and true their relationship was to one another.  I liked this story because it was just a simple story of how a dog stayed loyal to his owner. I could change this story and make it more modern.  Yudhishtir and his dog trying to get into heaven. (Sou...

How The Antelope Was Caught      This story was about how this antelope kept wandering through the gardens of the King. The King asked its gardener to capture it. The gardener told the King he needed honey in order to catch it, which he was granted by the King. Very carefully and slowly, the gardener was able to gain the antelope's trust. He put some honey grass and sprinkled it on the ground leading to the castle. The clueless antelope followed the trail and into the castle. They closed the doors behind the animal and instantly it freaked out. The King said how the taste of lust could blind side even an animal. In the end, he let the antelope go back into the forest.      I liked the end of this story and how the King let the animal go instead of killing it or holding it captive. Also, I thought the message of this story was clear and nicely portrayed. Giving into greed could lead to trouble. I could change the setting of this story and use other charac...

The Faithful Friend There was an elephant and a dog who became great friends. Everyday they would eat together and just hang out. One day a peasant wanted to pay the elephant keeper for the dog. The elephant keeper didn't care for the dog, so he took the money. The elephant became depressed after losing his friend and wouldn't eat for several days. They told the king about the situation. He made an announcement to his people that whoever took the dog would be fined.  The man who took the dog turned the dog loose. After, the dog and elephant were reunited and lived happily.  King honored the Bodisat for knowing how the animals felt.  The elephant and dog hanging out. (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) The Monkey That Saved The Herd A buddha was reborn as the King of the monkeys. They lived in a forest near a lake.  An ogre lived at the lake and would eat any animal that would go down to the lake. The King of the monkeys told his people not to drink or ...

The Man Who Worked to Give Alms There was a buddha born as merchant named Vissaya He loved to give back to the community and help people who needed food or anything.  He set up charities all over the city and at his own house. Sakka, the King of the gods, got kind of jealous and worried that he might be replaced by this merchant. Sakka made all the merchants stuff disappear including his charities. As people came to the merchant asking for help, the merchant realized his stuff was gone except a mower. He would mow the grass and tried to use that to give back to his charities. Merchant eventually grew weak, and Sakka asked him why he kept giving alms. Merchant replied that he didn't want to replace him or become a brahma, and just wanted to help. Sakka eventually gave the merchant's wealth back. I think I could rewrite this story in a more modern way in where someone misjudges the others' intentions.  The act of giving alms. (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Bi...

The Great Elephant There was this great beautiful elephant in the sandy desert. The elephant heard voices of men and went to go see what was up. The men told the great elephant that they've been lost in the desert for days with no food or water and how they lost a ton of men. The elephant noticed how weak and desperate these men were for food and water. He told them to go to this hill where an elephant will provide them of food and there will be a stream nearby. Next the elephant just started to run towards the hill really fast, making the men confused why the elephant ran in such a rush. Elephant climbed all the way to the top of hill and jumped killing itself. By the time the men catch up, they notice the great elephant dead on the ground.  They were amazed and shocked on the fact how the elephant gave up its life to save theirs, so they can get strong by eating its meat to make it to the nearest city. This had a happy ending but also a very sad one. I think I might ch...

The Golden Feathers There was a man with a wife and 3 daughters. The family was really poor and barely had any money, so the father left to go find stuff that go bring their family some money. As he was walking through the woods, a fairy came upon him, and asked him where he was going. He said to look for fortune. She then turned him into a goose with golden feathers. The father goes back to his family and gives them a golden feather, so they can sell it to get money. He only gives them one feather at a time until they run out of money from the last one. He never told his family that it was him. The mother decided to grab the goose and take all his feathers. She did this because she thought that one day the goose might never return.  Daughters did not like this idea. When mother plucked all the feathers off, the golden feathers turned to white because the fairy charmed them to where if they were taken from goose forcefully they would turn back to normal. The mother trappe...

The Return of Mathura Krishna is about 12 years of age now, and has been dealing with all the attempts made on his life by Kansa. He has managed to defeat all the demons so far sent his way. Krishna and his brother Bolarama head to the city of Mathura. There was a sacred object guarded near King Kansa's throne, which was a great bow. It is said anyone who wants to take his crown must first bend and break the bow, which is from the gods.  Krishna manages to bend and break this great bow. In doing so, it made a huge sound that even Kansa could hear it from a distant. Kansa wasn't able to sleep well because he kept dreaming of himself with no head. To others he showed no fear or concern about the bow breaking, but inside he was worried. There was a tournament in the city where people would match their skill to the King's wrestlers or fighters.  Kansa had a elephant secretly stationed which no one knew about. Krishna and Bolarama came into contact with this elephant a...

The Birth of Krishna Kansa is a tyrant king of Mathura. He loved his sister, Devaki, who married a noble named Vasudeva. One day a voice spoke to him saying his sister's 8th child from her husband would slay him. Ever since he heard this, he placed the couple in the prison and killed every child they had until the eight one.  When the eighth child was born, he showed signs of Vishnu. The parents soon heard a voice saying to take the child to the house of Nanda and switch the child with a baby girl who was just born there.  Vasudeva managed to escape the prison and sneak out to take his son to the village of Gokool to the King of Cowherds. They switch children and he went back to the prison with the baby girl. Kansa found out about the couple having another child and was surprised to find it was a girl. He thought a girl could not slay him and the voice made it sound like it was a man who will slay him.  When he went to go pick up the baby girl to kill her, she t...

How the Monkey Saved His Troops The king and his men found this strange fruit, which was mango that they found out from people who lived in the area. They travel further down the river to collect the fruit and decided to camp overnight in the area to get more of the fruit in the morning.  While the king and people were sleeping, these group of monkeys came to eat some of the fruit, but they were being loud, which woke the king up.  King order his men to shoot the monkeys down with arrows. The monkeys look down and notice the archers. They went to their Chief and asked for help. The Chief of the monkey used himself as a bridge so his troops could get over from tree to another and escape.  The king saw how the monkey saved his kind and was impressed. He decided to make sure the monkey was taken care of the rest of his life.  The Foolhardy Wolf There was a hungry wolf who asked this great lion in helping him get food. They made a deal, which was the wolf w...

The Cunning Wolf Some people had no more food left for dinner, so a man volunteered to go get more meat for dinner with his club. He lays next to a watering hole and pretending to be dead, so when an animals comes he can surprise attack him. A bunch of animals noticed him and watched him for a while. The king of the wolves decides to go check out if the man is really dead, so he tells the others to wait.  The king wolf slightly tugs on the man's club, and instantly the man kind of pulls the club back. The wolf realizing the man is not dead and tried to fool the animals that he was dead. Luckily, the man misses when he threw the club at the wolf and noticed that they were no animals near by. Man goes back with no food because the animals outsmarted his move to kill them.  The Woodpecker and the Lion A woodpecker saw that this lion was in pain and found it it was because he had a bone stuck in his throat.  Lion asked for his help, but at first the woodpecker ...

Son of the Sun Kunti's secret was that she had a son from the sun god. When she was a young women, this sage came to her town. Now everyone was afraid of this sage because he tended to give curses to people. However, Kunti was not scared of him and kept him company. Seeing this made the sage happy and he had given her a gift that she could summon any god she wanted to by saying a mantra. Thus, she summoned the sun god to see if it worked and in the end result, he gave her a child.  Pandu's Curse Pandu and his two wives left the palace to go live in the forest to enjoy nature. In his time in the forest, Pandu enjoyed to hunt deers, but he made a grave mistake one day when killed a couple while they were intimate with one another. The man cursed Pandu that if he becomes intimate with a women he would die. Hastinapur was in need of a king now, but Kunti finally told Pandu about her gift. Pandu got happy and told her to summon a god to give Hastinapur a king.  Sons of Pandu ...

The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution         I really liked the illustration during the mini video series because it made the story more interesting and fun to listen. I think the video series did a good job overall summarizing some of the Mahabharata. It started with King Shantanu of Hastinapura falling in love a river goddess named Ganga. They marry under the condition that the king doesn't question her. Ganga ends up drowning seven of their sons once they were born. When she had the eight son, the king couldn't take it anymore and question her. She explains to him about the curse and leaves with their son. After many years pass, the king finally reunites with his son and brings him back to be the prince in the kingdom. King Shantanu falls in love with a fisherman's daughter, but can't marry her unless he allows her children to become king. However, the king could not do this since his son was promised to be the next king. Later, his son goes to the fisherman to co...

Arjuna and Karna This story was about two brothers battling each other, Arjuna and Karna. In the battle, the brothers are shooting arrows at one another. Krishna and Shalya guided the chariots of Arjuna and Karna, respectively. At one point, one of Karna's arrows struck and severed Arjuna's bow string. Arjuna asked for a pause in the battle out of respective and according to the rules of battle. However, Karna did not care and continued to shooting the arrows. Then Arjuna was able to fix his arrow and fight back. Next thing you know, Karna's chariot was hit and the horse weren't able to advance. Thus, he asked Arjuna to pause the battle, in which he did but Krishna kind of talked him out of it. He mentioned to Arjuna about Karna killing his son Abhimanyu, which brought back Arjuna's anger. Arjuna proceed to shoot at Karna and severed his head. This ended the battle with a brother dying by the hand of a brother. This was kind of a sad story of how a brother died ...

Riddles at the Lake A brahmin asked the Pandava brothers to catch and kill this animal to get the sacred twigs from it. The brothers got tired and went to this lake because they were thirsty. Yudhishthira sent Nakula to the lake first. As he approached it, he heard a voice saying to if he answers a question he can drink the water, but chose to ignore it and continued to drink the water. He died after that. Next, Sahadeva went up to lake wandering about his brother and then also heard the voice. He ignored it and drank the water, which lead to his death. Arjuna went after and heard the voice. He used his arrows and started shooting them. Then he drank water and died. Bhima went to lake too and drank the water, which he died too. Finally, Yudhishthira went to the lake and asked the voice who it was. Voice said it was a yaksha. Yudhishthira agreed to answer his riddles. The voice asked many different types of riddles in which Yudhishthira answered with patients and carefully. H...

The House of Fire Prince Vidura warned his nephew Prince Yudhishthira that Prince Duryodhana was planning on harming the Pandavas and their mother. Prince Yudhishthira knew Vidura was right and went to his brothers and mother telling them that they're in great danger. Prince Vidura gets a miner to dig an undergrounder passage that leads to the forest from the palace. Purochana a evil captain was the one that was going to set the palace on fire. Once the tunnel was done, the Pandavas and Queen Kunti fled, but Prince Bhima goes back because he wants to get revenge on the evil captain. Bhima set the guard house on fire to get his revenge, but that fire spreads to the palace too. It also happens that these lower caste woman and her five sons came to the palace earlier begging for food and they slept by the palace too. So, they died in the fire and the townspeople noticed their bodies thinking it was the Pandavas and Queen Kunti. Thus, news spread to Prince Duryodhana and Kin...

You could see Pandu killing the brahmin and the rishi's son (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Pandu and His Wives Pandu really loved to hunt deers so he retired with his two wives Kunti and Madri in the Himalaya mountains. However, he killed two deers that was disguised as a holy brahmin and his wife. This brahmin cursed Pandu that he would die in the arms of one of his wives Pandu got all scared thus took vows of celibacy gave most of his stuff to brahmins Pandu killed another deer who was actually a rishi's son. When Pandu killed him he was in the middle of having sex, so he cursed Pandu for doing so wrong to him and killing him in that state. He cursed Pandu that he will die in the same manner as he did and so will his wife  I'm not quite sure how I would change this story. Maybe change the manner in why Pandu was cursed to something different Amba Amba was the eldest of three princesses of the King of Benares She and her sisters were won by Bhishma to b...