Reading Notes: Epified: Mahabharata, Part B

Kunti was adopted by a king. Durwasa visited the king and Durwasa was known for giving out curses. Kunti served Durwasa and Durwasa became delighted with Kunti and he gave her a way to summon any god she wanted to summon. Kunti then summoned Suryadev, the sun god. However, the mantra also had the sun god bring her a child who was born with golden earrings and armor. Kunti had to send her son down the river because she was unmarried.
One day while hunting, Pandu shot an arrow at a hermit who was making love with his wife. The hermit placed a curse on Pandu that he would die as soon as he had a son. Kunti told Pandu about her gift from Durwasa. Pandu told Kunti to have sons with the gods, unaware that she already had a son.
Yama, god of truth and death, was first god Kunti summoned. That child was Yudhishthira. Then she summoned Vayu, the wind god. This child was Bhima. Then she summoned Indra and had Arjuna. Then, Kunti said that she would not have any sons but Kunti summoned twin gods to come for Madri and had Nakul and Sehdev. Kunti returned from the forest and found Pandu dead because he tried to make love with Madri. Madri threw herself into the fire with Pandu and died as well.
Ghandari gave birth to a lump of flesh instead of a child. Dhritarashtra gave cut the lump into 100 pieces and put them into oil. The oldest son was Duryodhana.
Duryodhana was jealous of Bhima and challenged Bhima to a wrestling match but was brutally beaten by Bhima. Shakuni, Ghandarvi's brother, led Duryodhana to believe that the Pandavas were pretenders for the thrown. Duryodhana poisoned the food of the Pandavas and they fell asleep. Duryodhana tied the hands and feet of Bhima and pushed him into the river.
Snakes found Bhima but Bhima was able to fight off the serpents. Bhima met Vasuki, the king of the snakes and Vasuki gifted Bhima a magical potion that gave him the strength of 1,000 elephants.
While playing with a ball, Bhima accidentally threw the ball into the well. A poor Brahmin, Drona, helped get the ball out by throwing reeds with perfect aim so the boys introduced Drona to Bhishma.
Nakul and Sehdev became great with a sword. Bhima became great with a mace. Arjuna became a perfect warrior and could handle all weapons perfectly but decided to focus on archery. Arjuna and Drona's son, Ashwatthama, were taught to use the devastras, weapons that could control the weather.
Ekalavya had made a dog be quiet by filling its mouth with arrows without harming the dog. Drona had taught Ekalavya according to Ekalavya. However, Drona had not taught him. Drona had turned him down long ago. Drona made Ekalavya cut off his thumb to prove his worth.

Bhima and his mace. Image from Wikimedia

Source:
"Epified: Mahabharata, Part B" Epified. YouTube. Found online here

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata, Epified, Part A

Bharata dictated the Mahabharata to Ganesha the first time it was ever told. The war was also known as the Karmic Revolution.
King Shantanu who ruled over Hastinapur fell in love with the river goddess, Ganga. He promised that he'd never question her. Queen Ganga drowned baby after baby and Shantanu didn't question her. Eventually, he did question her after the eighth child. Ganga told Shantanu explained the truth and left with the one remaining child.
Shantanu met his long lost son Devavrat while he was shooting arrows at the river. Shantanu brought back Devavrat as the prince. Shantanu tried to marry Satyavati but her fisherman father said no. Devavrat went to talk with the fisherman about letting Shantanu marry his daughter. Devavrat vowed to never marry and became known as Bhishma (he with the terrible curse).  Shantanu recognized the sacrifice and gave Bhishma a boon to be able to choose his own death.
Vitchitraveerya, Bhishma's half brother, became king of Hastinapur but he was not in good health. Bhishma then went to another kingdom (Kashi) and stole their three princesses to marry Vitchitraveerya so that he would have an heir. The princesses were named Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika.
The eldest princess pleaded to go back to the man she loved. Bhishma reluctantly agreed but then sent the princess to go beg to marry with Bhishma. Bhishma said no though because he promised his father that he would not marry. Amba was very upset. No one would marry Amba because no one wanted to challenge Bhishma for her. Amba wanted to be the reason for Bhishma's death.
Vichitraveerya soon died and had no king or prince despite having two queens. Queen Satyavati ordered Bhishma to have kids. Bhishma would not comply. Soon, Satyavati told Bhishma of another son that she never told him about named Vyasa. Vyasa came when Satyavati asked for him to come. However, Vyasa was not attractive and the two queens were not happy.
Because Vyasa was not attractive, his son with Ambika was doomed to be blind. The other son with Ambalika was doomed to be pale. But the next time a servant was sent that loved Vyasa and they had a son too. Ambika's son was Dhritarashtra who was blind. Ambalika gave birth to Pandu who was pale and weak but a great archer. The servant gave birth to Vidura who grew to be wise. Bhishma was the teacher for each of the children. There was always rivalry between Dhritarashtra and Pandu.
Dhritarashtra became King of Hastinapur. Pandu became director of the army. Vidura helped Pandu and Pandu was seen as king. Dhritarashtra became married to Gandhari who blinded herself so that she could match Dhritarashtra. Pandu married Kunti and Madri.

Image of Bhishma taking the oath. Image from Wikimedia

Source:
"Epified: Mahabharata, Part A". Epified. YouTube. Found online here

Reading Notes: Epified Krishna, Part B

Krishna went out with cowherd friends. Brahma watched Krishna. Brahma saw Krishna sharing a plate with the same plate. Brahma wanted to test Krishna's divinity so he kidnapped his cows and his dogs. Krishna decided to create the cows and cowherds from his own body.

There was a bull named Hastin that was ferocious and the source of all of the cattle. Krishna said that he would ride Hastin. He decided to play the flute for hours every day standing near Hastin until Hastin got more comfortable with Krishna. Eventually Krishna was able to ride the bull through town. This showed the town that kindness is the ultimate strength.

Krishna wanted to marry Radha but he did not have permission from anyone. Krishna asked the priest and the priest determined that Krishna's future held something else more important than Radha.

Kamsa decided to try one last time to kill Krishna. He sent Akrur to invite Krishna to a dinner. However, Akrur admitted to Krishna that Kamsa just wanted him in Mathura to kill him. Krishna was not scared of facing Kamsa and told Yashoda that he wanted to go do it. On the ride to Mathura, Akrur saw Krishna's true form - Vishnu. Akrur knew that Krishna would soon rule over Mathura.

Stories of Krishna's kindness and strength had spread through Mathura before he got there. Everyone was happy to see him. Trivakra was paralyzed and had been told that Vasudev's son could heal her. Krishna hugged Trivakra and she was healed instantly. Soon, Kamsa heard of Krishna's feats and was angered. He knew that he would die in Krishna's hands. He was going to try to use his elephant to kill Krishna. Krishna ran into the elephant on his way and the elephant tried to trample him. Krishna grabbed the elephant by the trunk and killed it. People praised Krishna for killing the elephant with ease, further angering Kamsa.

Then, Kamsa sent two of his wrestlers which were easily handled. Kamsa then sent his army after Krishna. His army was defeated by Krishna. He saw the face of Vishnu of Krishna during the fight with Krishna. Krishna ended up defeating Kamsa and killing him.

Krishna was then led to his parents by Akrur and he released them from prison. Ugrasen, the father of Akrur, was made King of Mathura.

Krishna playing the flute while in the form of Vishnu.
Image from Wikimedia

Bibliography
"Krishna" Epified. Youtube. Link

Reading Notes: Epified Krishna, Part A

Krishna had many enemies before he was even born. Many of these enemies even tried to kill him before he was born.

Kunti gave birth to Arjuna the same day that Krishna was born. Kamsa was an evil king, and a voice told him that his sister, Devaki's, eighth son would kill him. Kamsa decided to kill them. Instead, he threw them in prison and was going to kill all of their kids. Kamsa killed six of their kids. However, the seventh child was moved to Deaki's husband's first wife. Krishna was the eighth incarnation of Vishnu. Vasudev is Devaki's husband and Krishna's father. 

The guards fell asleep, and a voice told Vasudev that it was safe to escape the prison will Krishna. Devaki was okay with them just leaving as she understood. Vasudev had to cross the Yamuna River and a serpent protected him. Krishna was left in a cowherd's camp with Yashoda.

Kamsa learned that Devaki had given birth to her eighth child. Kamsa wondered if this was his last day of his life. When Kamsa saw that Devaki was holding a baby girl, he laughed. Kamsa knew the girl wouldn't kill him. He was going to throw the baby against the wall, there was a burst of light and Durga appeared (she was in disguise as the baby).

Yashoda woke up to having a baby boy instead of a girl. Her husband brought another baby boy home. Her husband told her the story of Mathura's king slaying babies. Putana paid Yashoda a visit. Putana quickly became part of the family. She turned into a demon one night and kidnapped Krishna. She was going to try to feed Krishna some poisoned breast milk. Krishna was draining powers from her while drinking the milk. Krishna killed Putana. Yashoda knew that her baby was something special when she found him next to Putana's dead body.

Krishna slaying Putana. Image from Wikimedia

A cart lost balance and rolled towards Krishna (still a baby). The cart was broken because Krishna kicked the cart away from all of the children. Krishna was a trouble maker. One day someone told Yashoda that Krishna was eating mud. Instead, when she forced Krishna to open his mouth, it had all of the universe inside of it instead. Yashoda now knew that her son was Brahma.

Krishna choked a tornado that was actually a demon to save himself. Bakaasur was another demon who came for Krishna was killed by Krishna. Kamsa had been sending the demons and was running out of demons.

Krishna told the people to worship Govardhan Hill instead of Indra. Indra got mad and sent torrential rains. Krishna picked up Govardhan Hill with one finger. Indra realized he couldn't do anything to overpower Krishna and went to Earth to apologize to Krishna.

Krishna loved Radha. She let him drink water off her feet to cure him.

Bibliography

"Epified: Krishna: Part A". Epified. Youtube. Link

Reading Notes: Eastern Stories and Legends, Part B

The Merchant Who Overcame All Obstacles

Buddha was born into a merchant family. The merchants had to travel across a desert to sell their goods. The desert was super hot, so they traveled by night and navigated using the stars. They had to carry all of the wood, water, rice, and oil that they needed during the trip. On the last night before they left camp, the merchant said to throw out all of the supplies as they would be at the trading post that night. The merchants obliged. Sometime at night, the navigator fell asleep and the oxen got turned around. When the pilot woke up, they were in the very spot that they had taken off from. Buddha knew if he lost his temperament, his men would too. So, he kept cool and looked for a solution. Buddha noticed a tuft of grass and knew there must be water. So he and one of his men dug down and found rock. The men were discouraged that they didn't immediately find water, but Buddha still kept his cool. He put his ear to the rock, and he heard running water. He had his men split the rock, and this formed a well deep enough for water for any traveler to drink from it. The men took off for the trading post the next night and made it safely.

The Horse That Held Out to the End

Buddha was now born as a royal horse. The king of Benares was under attack by seven other kings who were jealous of his kingdom. The horse is armored up and going out with a knight to raid the kings' villages one-by-one and bring the kings back as prisoners. The first six raids go smoothly and each of the kings is brought back alive. However, before going out for the final raid, the knight notices that the horse is bleeding and notices the horse has suffered a bad wound. He begins taking the armor off the horse, but the horse tells the knight to put it back on, bandage the wound, and take the horse into the last battle. The horse knew he was the only one who could do it. The knight complies, and sure enough, the final king is captured and brought to Benares. The horse tells the king of Benares that he should take mercy on the kings and make them take an oath of peace, asks the king to rule over his own people with righteousness and justice, and asks the king to honor the knight. The horse then passed away and the king complied with all of the horse's requests.

This is about what I imagined when reading The Horse that Held Out to the End.
The actual image is of an ancient Chinese warrior on a horse.
Image from Wikimedia

Bibliography

Shedlock. "The Merchant Who Overcame All Obstacles". Eastern Stories and Legends. Source

Shedlock. "The Horse That Held Out to the End". Eastern Stories and Legends. Source

Reading Notes: Eastern Stories and Legends, Part A

The Hare That Was Not Afraid to Die

There were a hare, a jackal, a monkey, and an otter living in a rainforest. They gathered food to redistribute to the poor people of the neighboring village. The jackal found some food in a hut with no one home and grabbed it. The otter grabbed fish that a fisherman had buried in the sand after the otter called out to the fisherman with no reply. The monkey grabbed mangoes. The hare realized that no one would want to eat grass if he offered it, so he thought to himself that he would offer himself up for food if someone was hungry. Sakra, another name for Indra, heard the hare's thoughts and put the hare to the test. Sakra came to the forest as an old brahmin that was looking for food. He asked the monkey, jackal, and otter for food, and they all offered but Sakra turned them down. Then, he asked the hare for food. The hare told the brahmin that he would offer up his body for food and that the brahmin only needed to make a fire and he would jump in. The brahmin made a fire, and the hare jumped in. However, the fire was cold and Sakra revealed his true identity to the hare. Sakra was so pleased that he used a mountain to carve the hare's image into the moon. In this story, the hare was a version of Buddha. The story is to show how virtuous/selfless Buddha was.

I did a little more research into Sakra as I was confused as to why the religion has so many names for the same character. I found that Sakra is actually a deity worshipped by people all across Asia - including Japan, China, Korea, India, and more. Sakra was viewed as the teacher of moral lessons to Buddha. He typically would appear in jatakas to teach Buddha some lessons on virtue and morality. In this jataka, he taught Buddha the virtue of selflessness. 

Image of Sakra and Brahma, who are often times depicted together.
I chose this image because I really liked the art. Image found on Wikimedia

Bibliography:

"Sakra". Wikipedia. Source
Shedlock. "The Hare That Was Not Afraid to Die". Eastern Stories and Legends. Source

Reading Notes: Babbitt, More Jataka Tales, Part B

The Hawks and Their Friends

On an island in a lake, a mother hawk and father hawk had a nest with young hawks. The father hawk had made friends with a turtle, a kingfisher, and a lion. One day, a hunter settled in for camp under the tree that held the hawks' nest. The hunter started a fire, and the smoke caused the young hawks to cry, alerting the hunter to their presence. The hunter decided to try to eat the young hawks, so the father hawk took off to get the kingfisher for help. The kingfisher repeatedly put out the hunter's fire, but eventually, the kingfisher grew too tired to help. The hawk went to grab the turtle for help, and the turtle put mud over the fire. Then the turtle had to dive into the lake to escape a net the hunter made. Then, the hunter was still not done. So, the father hawk ran to grab the lion who scared the hunter away. The story ends with the hawk saying, "Friends in need are friends indeed."

Prince Wicked and the Grateful Animals

There was a prince who was very rude to all around him. One day, the prince and his servants were swimming in a river when a big storm hit and caused the river to rise. The prince grabbed onto a log. Soon, a rat, a parrot, and a snake joined him on the log. As they were floating down the river, a poor man in his shack saw the prince, the rat, the parrot, and the snake floating. The poor man swam out to the log and pulled the prince, rat, parrot, and snake in. Once in the lodge, the poor man started a fire and fed the snake and the rat first since they were in worse condition. The prince was upset about this. When all were back to health and leaving, the rat promised the poor man money if he ever needed it. The snake promised the poor man gold. The parrot promised him rice. And the prince promised the poor man wealth once he became king. Years down the road, the poor man went to see if each would follow up on their promises. The three animals kept their promises without hesitation; however, the prince did not. He was now king and ordered his men to kill the poor man until the poor man told the prince's men about the prince's promise. The people killed the prince in fear that he may turn on them as well and made the poor man king. The poor man brought the snake, rat, and parrot into his palace and gave them the best homes and amazing food.

A white-throated kingfisher is a species of kingfisher in India.
Image source: Wikimedia

Bilbiography

"More Jataka Tales". Ellen C. Babbitt. Found online here

     

Reading Notes: Babbitt, More Jataka Tales, Part A

The Tricky Wolf and the Rats

A wolf pretended that his front legs did not work to trick a group of rats. The wolf told the group of rats that he was lonely because his legs didn't work and that he could only eat air. The rats visited the wolf every morning and night since the wolf was lonely. However, the wolf would always snatch the very last rat so that he could eat. Eventually, the rats realized their numbers were dwindling and the chief decided to be the last to leave. When the wolf sprang at him, the chief dodged the bite and countered with biting the wolf. The wolf was killed by the bite.

The Stupid Monkeys

A gardener for the king had to take water the trees while the rest of the workers and his friends a day off and they were all going to the city. The gardener asked the troop of monkeys who lived in the palace if they could take care of watering the trees. The chief said yes. The gardener told them to water the trees enough but not too much. When it came time to water the trees, the chief told his troop that they should pull the trees to see how long the roots were to water them the proper amount. Of course, this killed all of the young trees and the gardener returned to tons of dead trees.

The Penny-Wise Monkey

A king and his soldiers were marching to conquer another kingdom to get more land. Along the way, they fed their horses peas at a stop. A monkey took a handful and a mouthful of peas and scampered up a tree. Once in the tree, the monkey dropped a pea and then took off after it. In the process, the monkey lost all of his other peas. The monkey then said something along the lines of, "If only I hadn't been so greedy. Then I wouldn't have lost everything." The king learned the lesson the monkey learned and returned to his kingdom without attacking the other kingdom.

A troop of Rhesus Macaques. After reading the jatakas, I was interested
in learning more about monkeys in India, and I found this species. I thought
it was interesting because many of the pictures of the rhesus macaques
are in areas where people exist. I found it interesting that people likely
interacted with monkeys on a daily basis back when the jatakas were
created as well. Found on Wikimedia

Bibliography

"More Jataka Tales". Ellen C. Babbitt. Found online here

Reading Notes: Inayat Twenty Jatakas, Part B

The Patient Buffalo

A giant buffalo was grazing, and a monkey kept bothering him.  While sleeping, the monkey ran out to where the buffalo was sleeping under a tree and climbed onto the buffalo's back. The buffalo woke up, but went back to sleep when he realized it was just the monkey. The monkey then swung on the buffalo's horns, but, once again, the buffalo did not mind. The monkey was trying to make the buffalo angry. So, next, the monkey trampled any grass that the buffalo tried to graze on. Once again, the buffalo didn't mind. The monkey then hit the buffalo with a stick. The buffalo did not mind. Eventually, a fairy appeared and reminded the buffalo that he could easily kill the monkey, but the buffalo said he hadn't killed the monkey because it was, unfortunately, not as smart or strong as the buffalo.

Indian Water Buffalo from Wikimedia

The Great Elephant

An elephant lived in an oasis in the desert. He was always very, very happy. One day, he heard the faint voices of men in the desert. He went to check out the scenario and found a few men who were very sad looking. The elephant asked where they were coming from and where they were going. The men said that the king kicked them out of town and they were on their way to the next town. The elephant asked how many men started the trip, and the men replied that there were originally 1,000 men. The elephant pointed out a nearby hill and told the men of the oasis there and said they could find the body of an elephant to eat, and the elephant took off. The elephant then jumped off the hill, leaving his body for the men to eat. The men debated whether it was more honorable to eat the elephant or not eat the elephant, and decided to eat the elephant. The elephant's meat gave the men a ton of strength and they made it to their destination.

Bibliography

"Twenty Jataka Tales". Retold by Noor Inayat. Found Online at this link

Reading Notes: Inayat Jataka Tales, Part A

The Monkey Bridge

A troop of monkeys protected a mango tree so that the fruits would not fall into the Ganges River and wash downstream to Benares - a town on the Ganges. Eventually, a fruit fell into the stream, and King Brahmattan ate the fruit and wanted to find the source. The king and his men went upstream until they found the tree, and they surrounded it to kill the monkeys the next morning so they could have the fruit to themselves. Then, the monkey chief jumped across the river to another tree, grabbed a reed, and jumped back to the mango tree. Thus, a bridge was formed. The chief then allowed his troop of 80,000 monkeys to travel across the river to safety. However, the chief's back was eventually broken by a monkey, and the monkey chief was brought to the ground by the king who was amazed by the selflessness of the chief. The chief gave an emotional speech about loving those who you rule over and then passed away.

The Guilty Dogs

The king's palace had chariots with leather straps and harnesses that got left out during a rainstorm. During the night, the dogs of the palace snuck out and chewed up the leather. The king ordered for all of the town's 700 dogs to be killed for chewing the leather. The dog chief hears of this and goes to talk to the king. The chief walks with such calmness that he is allowed into the palace unharmed. He then tells the king that it had to have been the palace dogs and told the king to feed the dogs some kusa grass and buttermilk to make them throw up the leather. The strategy worked, and the town dogs were then treated very well with great meals following the incident.

A pack of retrievers. Image Source: PxHere

The Master's Test

A master was old, poor, and weak. He had no money to buy food with, and he developed a plan to teach his students a lesson. The old man asked his students to go into town and steal money from the wealthy. He said to do no harm to the people but steal the money. He said to only steal where no one was watching. All of the pupils but one left to go follow their master's task. The master asked the student why he didn't leave. The student replied that no matter where he went, he would always be watching himself. And the student did not want to disappoint himself by stealing from men. The master then told the rest of the pupils that is the lesson he intended to teach.

Bibliography

"Twenty Jataka Tales". Retold by Noor Inayat. Found Online at this link

Reading Notes: C.A. Kinkaid's Mahabharata, Part B

• The Pandava brothers have finished their 12 years of exile and now have to do their one year of disguise in King Virata's kingdom
• Yudhishthira becomes a gambler
• Bhima becomes a cook
• Arjuna becomes a dancing teacher
• Nakula works in the stables
• Sahadeva becomes a cowherd
• Draupadi becomes Queen Sudeshna's maid
• Kichaka, the queen's brother, tries to rape Draupadi
• Bhima dresses as Draupadi when Kichaka comes to rape her, and he kills Kichaka
• Draupadi tells the queen she has a celestial husband that killed Kichaka
• Duryodhana learns that Kichaka has died, and launches an attack on King Virata, taking King Virata captive
• The Pandavas' year of disguise ended right after Virata was captured, and the Pandavas decide to retrieve King Virata
• The Pandavas are victorious in getting King Virata back, and they then reveal their true identities to Virata
• Arjuna's son, Abhimanyu, marries King Virata's daughter, Uttara
• Yudhishthira tries to make peace with King Dhritarashtra, but Duryodhana forces King Dhritarashtra to decline the offer
• Duryodhana tries to force the Pandavas to spend another 12 years in exile
• Pandavas do not want to spend more years in exile, so they do battle with the Kauravas
• Bhima once again vows to break Duryodhana's thigh and drink his blood
• The Pandava army is much smaller than the Kaurava army
• Arjuna kills Bhishma and attends to Bhishma as he dies. There is a small ceasefire at this time
• Arjuna slays Karna when Karna's chariot becomes stuck
• Duryodhana, Aswatthaman, and Kripa and Kritavarman only Kauravas left
• Duryodhana hides under a lake from the Pandavas
• Duryodhana agrees to come out to fight Bhima in single combat
• Bhima breaks Duryodhana's thigh
• Kaurava survivors go kill all of the remaining Pandavas except the brothers and Krishna
• Arjuna's son. Abhimanyu among those who was killed
• All of Draupadi's sons had been killed
• All 100 of Dhritarashtra's sons have been killed so Dhritarashtra tries to kill Bhima but accidentally crushes a statue instead as he is blind
• Dhritarashtra and Kunti go to a forest to escape the rule of the Pandavas and die in a fire
• Yudhishthira becomes king of Hastinapura
• Uttara, wife of Abhimanyu, has a child named Parikshit
• Krishna dies after being shot after he was mistaken for a deer
• Arjuna took all five of Krishna's wives north to rivers but the wives are captured by barbarians
• After hearing of the Krishna news, Yudhishthira decides to leave the world with all of the Pandavas and Draupadi
• Parikshit named king of Hastinapura
• Bharatas are all reunited in death
• Each of the Pandavas and Draupadi die while hiking the Himalayas
• Yudhishthira was the last to go, and was tricked multiple times
• Indra told Yudhishthira to go to heaven but Yudhishthira would not leave his dog - he passed the loyalty test
• Yudhishthira and his dog went to heaven, but his brothers were not there so Yudhishthira asked to go to hell and found his brothers there - this was passing another test so all of the Pandavas, Duryodhana, and Draupadi returned to heaven.
• Duryodhana and Yudhishthira embrace and are, once again, brothers that love each other. Duryodhana has no more jealousy

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Duryodhana_found_in_the_lake.jpg/657px-Duryodhana_found_in_the_lake.jpg

Bibliography

"The Mahabharata". C.A. Kinkaid. Found online here

Reading Notes: C.A. Kinkaid's Mahabharata, Part A

Family Tree

For each family, an indent denotes a new generation

• Vichitravirya - King of Hastinapura
• Dhritarashtra - Blind son of Vichitravirya, King after Pandu dies
• Duryodhana - eldest son of Dhritarashtra and Gandhari
• Pandu - King of Hastinapura
• Yudhishthira (son of Kunti) - becomes leader after Dhritarashtra
• Bhima (son of Kunti)
• Arjuna (son of Kunti)
• Nakula (son of Madri)
• Sahadeva (son of Madri)

Other Information

• The sons of Pandu are known as the Pandavas
• Dhritarashtra and Queen Gandhari have 100 sons
• The sons of Dhritarashtra are known as the Kauravas
• All of the Pandavas and Kauravas are long descendents of King Bharata
• Drona is the teacher of the Pandavas and the Kauravas
• Leads attack on Drupada, and Drupada prays to the gods for revenge on the Bharatas
• Draupadi is born from Drupada's sacrificial fire
• Duryodhana decides to kill the Pandavas and their mother, Kunti
• The half-brother of the Pandavas and Kauravas, Vidura helps the Pandavas escape the planned fire
• Karna is the secret child of Kunti and sun god Surya
• Draupadi is going to be married away
• Karna and Arjuna compete in an archery contest for Draupadi
• Karna was winning, but Draupadi announced she will not marry Karna because Karna was raised by a charioteer
• Arjuna wins Draupadi and they are to get married
• Kunti mistakenly tells Arjuna that he must share what he has gotten thinking that Arjuna had received food
• Kunti can not take back her word, so Draupadi must marry all five Pandava brothers
• The Pandava brothers all had weddings with Draupadi, one immediately after another
• The Pandava brothers became allied with King Drupada after they married Draupadi
• Bhishma is the uncle of King Dhritarashtra
• Bhishma urges Duryodhana to forgive the Pandavas and make peace
• Duryodhana invites the Pandavas to have half his kingdom and the Pandavas name the kingdom Indraprastha
• Arjuna is exiled from the kingdom after he enters Draupadi's room uninvited while Yudhishthira is in Draupadi's room
• Arjuna is son of Indra and has done favors for Agni, the fire god and received celestial weapons from Agni
• Arjuna meets Subhadra and marries her
• Subhadra is the sister of Krishna, who likes Arjuna immediately because Krishna knows who Arjuna truly is
• The Pandava brothers get a palace from Maya, an asura who Arjuna spared while killing all of the nagas
• Yudhishthira declares himself emperor of the palace
• Shakuni - Duryodhana's maternal uncle
• Shakuni urged Duryodhana to exploit Yudhishthira's gambling problem to gain the palace
• Duryodhana does so
• Yudhishthira loses everything to Shakuni in games of dice
• Yudhishthira even gambles and loses Draupadi
• Duryodhana taunts Draupadi by showing his thigh
• Bhima vows to break Duryodhana's thigh in battle
• King Dhritarashtra gives everything back to the Pandavas and Duryodhana is outraged
• Duryodhana once again challenges Yudhishthira to a game of dice and Yudhishthira wages 12 years in exile and loses
• Vyasa is the grandfather of the Pandavas
• Vyasa urges the Pandavas to send Arjuna in search of celestial weapons
• Arjuna gets the weapons
• Bhima captured by a snake in a cave
• Snake tells Yudhishthira that he will free Bhima if Yudhishthira answers enough questions correctly, and Yudhishthira does so

Draupadi as she is being gambled away by Yudhishthira. Image courtesy
of  Wikimedia

Bibliography

"The Mahabharata". C.A. Kinkaid. Found online here

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part D

Characters

Information

The Conclusion of the Mahabharata

In the previous reading part, I wrote about the beginning of the war between the Kauravas and Pandavas. I left off with Duryodhana trying to relieve Bhishma of his duties, and that's right where we pick up. Once again, Duryodhana tries to get Bhishma to let Karna take over, but Bhishma denies the request. However, Bhishma also announces that he will either die on the battlefield or defeat the Pandavas that day. Ultimately, Bhishma ends up fighting with Arjuna, and after hours of battling, Bhishma is slain and both sides of the battle are at his side as he passes away. Following Bhishma's death, Drona takes over for the Kaurava's side. Drona promises to capture Yudhishthira and Arjuna promises to defend Yudhishthira. Then, Arjuna's son, Abhimanyu, was brutally killed by the Kaurava forces, and Jayadratha was the killer. Arjuna vowed to slay Jayadratha in the next day, or Arjuna would not have gone to heaven. The Kauravas became aware of Arjuna's vow, and did their best to hide Jayadratha. After going through many of the Kaurava soldiers, Arjuna eventually located Jayadratha right before nightfall. After some strategic planning with Krishna, Arjuna tricked the Kauravas into thinking it was already night and that Jayadratha would be safe. Arjuna then killed Jayadratha. Then, Bhima's son, Ghatotkacha, was slain by Karna, using Indra's dart. The next day, Duryodhana was wanting Drona to hand over the army to Karna. Like Bhishma, Drona stated that he would either slay Arjuna the next day or die trying. However, the Pandavas tricked Drona. Drona's power came from his son being alive. The Pandavas slayed an elephant named Ashwatthaman, Drona's son's name, and stated that Ashwatthaman was dead. Drona fell for the trick, and ultimately perished. Next, Arjuna and Karna fought. An arrow of Karna's struck the bowstring on Arjuna's bow, and Karna would not wait for Arjuna to restring his bow. However, Karna's chariot wheel got stuck and Karna requested a ceasefire for the time being. Krishna then stated that Karna had killed Arjuna's son, and Arjuna immediately fired an arrow that killed Karna. Then, one by one, the Kaurava army was decimated. Soon, Duryodhana and Ashwatthaman were the only two notable warriors left. Duryodhana was slain by a blow to the knee from Bhima. The war starts to wrap up with Arjuna killing Ashwatthaman and grief being everywhere. Nearly everyone has lost a family member in the war, and some had family members on each side of the battle.

Arjuna slays Karna as Karna fixes the wheel of his chariot.
Image found on Wikimedia

Bibliography

"Indian Myth and Legend" by Donald A. Mackenzie [Online]

"Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists" by Sister Nivedita

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part C

Characters:

• 
  

Information:

War between the Pandavas and Kauravas started in this section of reading. The reading started out with the Pandavas, once again, wandering through the forests since they had lost possessions due to gambling. However, the time spent in the forest was worthwhile as Arjuna became more powerful while on a journey where he met Shiva amongst many other gods and received many gifts. Soon, the Pandavas' twelve years of exile were up, and they returned to wage war with the Kauravas. Krishna wanted the argument to be settled peacefully, and Krishna retreated to his kingdom peacefully and asked to be left out of the war. Then, Arjuna and Duryodhana set out to ask for Krishna's help. Duryodhana arrived slightly before Arjuna, but they arrived on the same day. When they arrived, Krishna was asleep. Both Arjuna and Duryodhana sat by Krishna's bed, and when Krishna awoke, he offered to grant one his army, and one himself. Arjuna got first choice because he was younger, and Arjuna chose to have Krishna, who was not allowed to fight, be on his side. Duryodhana was pleased to get the full army. Arjuna asks Krishna to drive his chariot, and Krishna agreed. While armies were being put together and getting ready for war, the Pandavas tried one last time for peace. When no immediate answer was given, Krishna went to the Kauravas to attempt to get the Kauravas to agree to peaceful negotiation. When Krishna became aware that the Kauravas were plotting to capture and harm him, Krishna showed his true form as Vishnu, in the All-Form that contained many other gods as well, all of the Kauravas and their men except Duryodhana trembled in fear. Krishna then tried to negotiate Karna to the Pandavas' side by telling Karna that he is the brother of the Pandavas and that the Pandavas would proudly elect him king as the eldest brother. However, Karna politely rejects by saying that he wants to stand by the Kauravas, his friends, even though it is certain to fail. Karna says Arjuna and he must meet on the battlefield as destiny intended. Kunti then tells Karna that he is her son, and begs for him to join the Pandavas. Once again, Karna declines. However, Karna promises to only do battle with Arjuna, and to spare the other four Pandavas. As the battle begins, the Kauravas and Pandavas trade-off with victories, eventually the Pandavas take the upper hand. Bhishma, the leader of the Kaurava forces, tells Duryodhana that they will surely lose, and Duryodhana wants Karna to take over as leader. However, Bhishma is not yet ready to relinquish his duty as leader of the forces.

Arjuna and Krishna ride in Krishna's chariot. Image from Wikipedia

Bibliography

"The Story of the Great War". By Annie Besant 

"Indian Myth and Legend" by Donald A. Mackenzie [Online]

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part B

Story Information

Bhima's Adventures

Prince Vidura, the brother of Pandu and Dhritarashtra, was good to the Pandavas and Kunti. Prince Vidura was not eligible to be king because his mother was a slave, but he was a prince. Prince Vidura came across a plot that Duryodhana had to kill the Pandavas - he had built the Pandavas's house out of wood and soaked many household items in oil. Vidura told the Pandavas of the plan to murder them, and then Vidura schemed to get them out. Vidura planned to dig a tunnel to the forest so the Pandavas could escape. After the house had burned down with the Pandavas and Queen Kunti escaped to the forest, the town of Hastinapura was sure that the Pandavas and their mother had passed away. In the forest, a rakshasa attempted to eat the group. Then, the rakshasa, named Hidimba, decided to charge the attack towards his sister, Hidimbi. However, Bhima fought off the rakshasa as Bhima did not want him to attack Hidimbi and snapped the rakshasa's back, and the rest of the group remained unharmed. Bhima's fight with the Rakshasa lasted a very long time, but Arjuna told Bhima to finish off Hidimba before morning as the rakshasa would grow stronger in the morning. The rakshasas's sister had taken the form as a beautiful woman to trick Bhima, but Bhima did not fall for the trick. However, the raskshasi fell in love with Bhima, and pleaded with Queen Kunti to be Bhima's wife. Kunti agreed and Bhima married the rakshasi. They had a son named Ghatotkacha who vowed to come to help the Pandavas whenever called upon. Soon, the group was in Ekachakra, and were waiting for Bhima to return to help slay a demon that had been attacking the town's rice cart. Bhima went out with the rice cart, and surprised the demon (named Baka) and killed Baka by grabbing his neck when Baka was charging with a club and then breaking his back. 

Bhima and Hidimba fight while everyone else watches.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia

Sources:

"Indian Myth and Legend" by Donald A. Mackenzie [Online]

"The Indian Heroes" by C. A. Kincaid [Online]

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part A

Characters

• Vyasa - tells the Mahabharata to Ganesha
• Satyavati - mother of Vyasa, daughter of Uparichara
• Parachara - rishi/father of Vyasa

Information

Story of Vyasa's Birth: Found online here

There was a king named Uparichara who was so noble that the gods were worried that he was trying to gain too much power. Indra decided to bribe Uparichara with a flying crystal chariot made by Vishvakarma. Uparichara decided to take the chariot. The chariot was like other chariots made by Vishvakarma, and Uparichara loved it a lot. In fact, "Upari" means upward and "Chara" means going, so Uparichara's name literally translates to "upward going". Uparichara was flying over a river when his semen landed in the river, and, then, a fish had two of Uparichara's kids. A fisherman caught the fish and kids, and gave the boy to the king and raised the girl. The girl's name was Satyavati, and she met a rishi named Parashara. Parashara and Satyavati had a kid and named him Vyasa. Vyasa went on to tell the Mahabharata to Ganesha.

Other Sources: "Uparichara Vasu" on Wikipedia

Story of Bhima:

The Pandavas, Pandu's sons, and Kauravas, Dhritarashtra's sons, lived together on the bank of the Ganges. Duryodhana, the evil son of Dhritarashtra, one day conspired to kill the Pandavas. Duryodhana poisoned Bhima, one of the Pandavas, while Bhima was eating. Duryodhana then threw Bhima into the Ganges where Bhima sank to the bottom and was bitten by the poisonous serpents known as Nagas. The poison from the Nagas counteracted the poison from Duryodhana and Bhima woke up. At this point, Bhima was in the city of serpents and the king of the serpents, Vasuki, was in awe of Bhima and granted him a wish. Bhima wished for strength and was given extraordinary strength. Bhima then slept for eight days before returning to his home, besting Duryodhana's assassination attempt.

Sources:

"Indian Myth and Legend" by Donald A. Mackenzie [Online]

Bhima with the Nagas in the underworld
Image courtesy of Wikimedia

Story of Drona:

Drona was the son of Bharadwaja, a brahmin. Drona's best childhood friend was Drupada, a son of a king. Eventually, Drupada became a king when his father passed away. A sage passed away and left celestial weapons to Drona, so Drone went to Drupada's kingdom to share the weapons with Drupada. However, Drupada had no intentions of continuing the friendship with Drona and Drona left without saying another word after Drupada's reply. Drona then became the teacher for the Pandavas and Kauravas, under the condition that they would one day help him defeat Drupada. However, Drona favored the Pandavas, and Duryodhana grew jealous. Drona only ever turned away Ekalavya, the son of a king who was notorious for robbing travelers. Eventually, Ekalavya became a good archer and Drona told Ekelavya that he would take him on if Ekalavya would cut off his thumb, and Ekalavya cut off his thumb. One day, Drona's pupils were sparring but it became serious between Bhima and Duryodhana, and the fight was won by Arjuna, Bhima's brother. Drona sent the Pandavas and Kauravas to Drupada's kingdom, and after Drupada's army was slain, he was brought to Drona by the Pandavas. Drona again requested Drupada revive the friendship and Drupada agreed.

Sources:

"Indian Myth and Legend" by Donald A. Mackenzie [Online]

"Mahabharata, Epic of the Bharatas" by Romesh C. Dutt [Online]

Reading Notes: "Heroes of Hampi: The Mythology of Kishkindha" Comic

Characters

• Hakka
• Bukka
• Shiva
• Sati - Shiva's wife
• Daksha - Sati's father
• Pampa - Sati's rebirth as a river goddess
• Vali - king of Kishkindha, monkey, gains half the strength of every opponent he fights
• Jambavan - bear king
• Surya - sun god
• Sugriva - Surya's son, Vali's brother
• Mayavi - demon

Setting

• Hampi - ancient town on Tungabahdra river
• Kishkindha - monkey kingdom
• Rishyamukha Hill - hill in Hampi region
• Vijayanagara - city/empire created by Bukka and Hakka

Plot

• Hampi is attacked where Hakka and Bukka must defend themselves
• Hakka and Bukka go hunting and see a very brave rabbit which is a sign that they will become kings
• Mysterious old man tells Hakka and Bukka the story of Hampi
• Sati's father, Daksha, does not want Sati to be married to Shiva and Sati is aware of this
• Sati sacrifices herself to spite her father
• Shiva is angry and summons a warrior named Veerbhadra to kill Daksha
• Gods are scared of Veerbhadra
• Vishnu calms Veerbhadra with lotuses and Veerbhadra gives him the Sudarshana Chakra in return
• Sudarshana Chakra is a very powerful weapon created by Vishvakarma
• Different stories depending on where you look as to how the Sudarshana Chakra was created
• Some say Vishvakarma wanted his daughter to be able to hug the sun, and he collected stardust to make three inventions, including the Sudarshana Chakra
• Some say Vishnu killed Hayagriva on Chakravana Mountain (constructed by Vishvakarma) and stole the Sudarshana Chakra from Hayagriva
• Sudarshana Chakra is a disk weapon that has 108 edges
• Sati becomes the River Goddess Pampa
• Shiva falls into the river and is saved by Pampa
• Pampa and Shiva marry and gold is rained down creating Hemakuta
• Old man now tells about Kishkindha
• Vali is king of Kishkindha
• Anjana, who was cursed to live as a monkey, gives birth to Hanuman who Vali wishes to kill
• In this comic, Hanuman is the child of Shiva
• Anjana gives Hanuman to Jambavan for protection
• Hanuman ties a lion and elephant together by the tails and is cursed to forget his powers
• Surya teaches Hanuman the Vedas and Shastras
• Hanuman then agrees to protect Sugriva
• Vali wants to kill Sugriva
• Mayavi wants to fight Vali
• Vali agrees, follows Mayavi into a hole, and Sugriva sees blood coming out of the hole and closes it, returning to Kishkindha as king
• Turns out that Vali was not actually dead
• Vali chases Sugriva and Hanuman out of Kishkinda to Rishyamukha Hill where they hide away in a cave that Vali cannot get to
• While in the cave, Sugriva and Hanuman see Lakshmana and Rama searching for Sita and decide to talk to Lakshmana and Rama
• Rama and Lakshmana help Sugriva take down Vali, and Sugriva becomes king of Kishkindha
• In return, Sugriva and Hanuman help search for Sita
• Sugriva, Hanuman, and Jambavan at southern tip of India and learn of Sita's location in Lanka
• Jambavan reminds Hanuman of his powers that he was cursed to forget
• Hanuman jumps to Lanka and finds Sita
• Sita is rescued by Rama
• Rama helps Hanuman receive a reward for helping save Sita by having Hanuman pray to Shiva to ask for a favor
• Shiva has Veerbhadra give Hanuman an idol that grows into a temple
• Temple is named Uddana Veerbhadra Temple
• Old man leaves Hakka and Bukka and they decide to start an empire
• Track down old man, whose name was Vidyaranya, and name city Vijayanagara
• Vijayanagara was the second largest city in the world as of 1500
• Very established trading center with Europeans and other Asian/Middle Eastern countries
• Empire spanned entirety of Southern India

Image of temples in Vijayanagara from Wikimedia

Bibliography

"Heroes of Hampi: The Mythology of Kishkindha" published by Amar Chitra Katha

"Vijayanagara" from Wikipedia

"Sudarshana Chakra" from Wikipedia

Reading Notes: "Kubera: The Lord of Wealth" Comic

Characters

• Brahma - Great-Grandfather of Kubera
• The ultimate god in Hinduism
• Kubera - Lord of Wealth
• Heti - first rakshasa
• Sukesa - Rakshasa born son of Parvati and Shiva
• Malyavan, Sumali, Mali - Evil sons of Sukesa
• Vishnu - the preserver
• Kaikesi - daughter of Sumali
• Vishrava - Father of Kubera
• Dashagriva - Ravana

Setting

• Lanka
• Alakapuri - where Kubera retreats to

Plot

• Kubera wants to be a lokapala (guardian of the world)
• Brahma makes Kubera the Lord of Wealth and gifts him Pushpaka
• Pushpaka is a chariot made by Vishvakarma
• Described differently in many stories
• Can be a flying temple, chariot, etc
• Said to shine very brightly
• Origin of Lanka is discussed
• Vayu and Vasuki were testing who was more powerful, and Vayu (wind god) blew hard enough that the top of a mountain blew into the sea, forming Lanka
• Mountain top blown away belonged to Mount Meru
• Mount Meru has still not been identified by scholars
• In mythology, Mount Meru is the center of the universe
• Mount Meru is supposedly approximately 1,000,000 km high according to mythology
• Possibly Mount Kailash?
• Brahma accidentally created rakshasas while reciting the Vedas because Brahma got hungry and his hunger created two children, one being a rakshasa
• Heti, the first rakshasa, had a grandchild who was ditched and recovered by Shiva and Parvati
• The city of Lanka was created for Shiva and Parvati by Vishvakarma as a wedding gift
• Parvati and Shiva named adopted son Sukesa, who was gifted wealth by Shiva
• Sukesa had three sons who became evil and took over Lanka
• Mali, Sumali, and Malyavan attack the gods, and Vishnu respons by killing Mali and forcing Malyavan and Sumali to leave Lanka
• Vishnu uses Sudarshan Chakra - weapon made by Vishvakarma
• Kubera moves into Lanka and becomes king
• Sumali takes note of Kubera's wealth and becomes jealous
• Sumali forces Kaikesi to marry Vishrava
• Have four kids - Shurpanakha, Vibhishana, Kumbhakarna, and Dashagriva
• Dashagriva cuts heads off and gains boons from Brahma, he wishes to become invincible but he is not invincible against humans
• Sumali tells Dashagriva to take over Lanka from Kubera
• Dashagriva agrees, pushes Kubera to Alakapuri
• Dashagriva invades Alakapuri, fights Kubera's Angeyastra (fire sword) with a Varunastra (water sword)
• After defeating Kubera, Dashagriva steals Pushpaka
• Dashagriva now has complete power over Lanka with his army of rakshasas
• Rama invades Lanka by building a stone bridge to Lanka and killing Dashagriva
• Vibhishana is named king of Lanka
• Rama takes Sita home to Ayodhya
• Pushpaka is returned to Kubera

Kubera, the God of Wealth, in an
image from Pexels

Bibliography

Kubera: The Lord of Wealth published by Amar Chitra Katha Vol. 839

Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana Part D

Characters

Nala - Monkey son of Vishvakarma
Indrajit - Son of Ravana
Garuda - God of the birds
Kumbhakarna - Giant rakshasa that awakens once every six months to eat humans
Mandodari - first wife of Ravana

Setting

Lanka - designed by Vishvakarma

• "towering up to pierce the heavens" [1] - Rama's first thoughts of Lanka

Plot

• Rama was devising a plan to cross to Lanka with all of the monkeys and bears
• Tried to get god of the oceans to help, but the god was unresponsive
• After Rama fired arrows into the ocean, the King of the Ocean told Rama to seek Nala
• Nala decides to build stone bridge to Lanka 
• Rama and his crew reaches Lanka
• Ravana had monkey spies with Rama who returned to tell Ravana that he should surrender Sita before Rama gets the chance to attack
• Ravana brings fake head and bow of Rama to convince Sita that Rama is dead
• Rama launches his attack on Lanka and Ravana's forces
• Thousands of vanaras killed and eaten
• Rama and Lakshmana hit by Indrajit's arrows after Indrajit turns invisible
• Garuda saves Rama and Lakshmana but does not state why he helped
• Rama's forces start to beat back the rakshasas
• Rakshasas awaken Kumbhakarna to attack
• Kumbhakarna defeats Hanuman but is slain by Rama's fiery arrows
• Once again Indrajit uses invisibility and this time a Brahma weapon to defeat Rama's forces
• Hanuman jumps to the Himalayas and brings back mountain top with herbs needed to restore the injured and dead
• Indrajit attempts to convince Rama that Sita is dead
• Vibhishana tells Rama that Indrajit is simply using magic and gives Rama a plan to slay Indrajit (at a place named Nikumbhila)
• Lakshmana slays Indrajit
• Ravana hears of Indrajit's death
• Mourns Indrajit's death heavily and decides to kill Sita
• Rakshasis tell Ravana not to kill Sita as it would make him dishonorable
• Ravana goes out to the battle 
• Tries to kill Vibhishana but Lakshmana saves him
• Ravana throws a dart through Lakshmana's heart
• Hanuman returns to the Himalayas again to get the herbs to save Lakshmana
• Rama and Ravana are about to do battle when Indra decides to send Rama his chariot, armor, and sword
• Vishvakarma made the armor himself
• Rama and Ravana begin fighting and Rama is attacked first but uses Garuda's weapon to save himself by shooting arrows that turned to birds to eat the snakes Ravana had fired at Rama
• Rama begins shooting heads of Ravana off, but is unable to weaken Ravana as heads grow back faster than they can be removed
• Rama slays Ravana by shooting Brahma's weapon given to him by Indra
• Rakshasas cease fighting as soon as Ravana is slain
• Vibhishana performs funeral rites and is proclaimed King of Lanka
• Mandodari mourns Ravana's death and states that she knew Rama would end Ravana
• Rama gets to see Sita
• At first both seem very happy to see each other
• Then Rama says that he can't have Sita back as she was with Ravana for so long and Rama assumed that she had been with Ravana as she was unharmed
• Sita casts herself into a fire to prove that she has been loyal
• Gods come to Rama and plead for him to stop
• Fire announces that Sita is absolutely pure
• Rama and Sita take a ride back towards Ayodhya and Rama tells the stories of his quest to get her back along the way
• Rama returns to Ayodhya right at the end of the 14 years
• He was named ruler as soon as he arrived
• After a while in Ayodhya, citizens of the kingdom became untrusting of Sita as she had been taken by Ravana
• Rama exiles Sita for 16 years
• Sita has Rama's two children - Lava and Kusha
• Lava and Kusha sing about Rama, Rama eventually learns they are Sita's sons
• Sita comes to prove her purity and is returned to the earth
• Lakshmana, Rama, and others decide to ascend to the heavens

Rama and Ravana fight. This picture also shows all of the janara fighting
alongside Rama and Lakshmana. Image from Wikimedia

Bibliography

[1] Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita
[2] Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana Part C

Characters

• Sugriva - Monkey king sought by Rama
• Has had his wife and kingdom stolen by his brother, Vila
• Hanuman - Monkey god that is a devoted follower of Rama
• Sampati - Vulture, brother of Jatayu
• Jambavan - leader of the bears
• Vibhishana - younger brother of Ravana

Setting

• Kishkindha - Kingdom of Sugriva/Vali
• Lanka - Ravana's Palace of Gold
• Mahendra - Mountain range

Plot

• Hanuman intercepts Rama and Lakshmana as they approach Sugriva's location
• Sugriva tells story of Vali chasing him out of the kingdom
• Vali chased a monster down a hole
• Sugriva saw blood come out so he filled the hole with a mountain
• Vali actually had slain the monster, returned to Kishkindha and exiled Sugriva
• Rama gets Sugriva to challenge Vali for the kingdom and his wife
• Vali's wife, Tara, begs Vali not to fight as she knows that Sugriva has returned with Rama and Lakshmana
• Vali disregards this warning and decides to fight
• Vali is initially winning the fight until Rama kills Vali with an arrow
• All of the vanaras cry because Vali has died, even Sugriva
• Hanuman comes to Kishkindha
• All of the vanaras are awed by Rama's strength
• Sugriva promises to help Rama find Sita, but they must wait for the rainy season to pass
• Rama cannot enter the city with Sugriva due to his father's wish
• Rama does not want to wait a month as he is restless
• At end of rainy season, Sugriva still doesn't have forces together to search for Sita
• Lakshmana entered Kishkindha to threaten to kill Sugriva if he did not aid Rama as he had promised
• Immediately Sugriva organizes an army of monkeys and bears to search
• Varanas cannot find Sita
• Come across Sampati who tells the Varanas that Sita was taken to Lanka by Ravana
• Lanka is across the ocean
• Sampati tells story of him and Vatayu
• Vatayu and Sampati grew up in a nest in the Himalayas
• Sampati lost his wings because the sun burned them off
• Nishakara says that he will regain wings someday, but only at the hands of a noble person
• Vanaras devising a plan to ensure that Sita really is on Lanka
• Jambavan reminded Hanuman of his birth and stories of him jumping to try to reach the sun
• Hanuman was then convinced he could jump to Lanka and did so
• During his jump, a rakshasi tried to eat Hanuman, but Hanuman killed the Rakshasi and finished his trip to Lanka
• Hanuman wanders through Lanka to find Sita
• Finds Ravana sleeping amongst his wives, but Sita is no where to be seen
• Eventually finds Sita among ashoka trees, surrounded by rakshasis
• Ravana tells Sita that he will kill and torture her if she does not submit to Ravana
• Sita crawls to base of tree Hanuman is in
• Hanuman is able to talk to Sita as she is close 
• Initially, Sita is worried that Hanuman is actually Ravana taking Hanuman's shape, but Hanuman shows Rama's ring and Sita is assured that Hanuman is who he says he is
• Hanuman attempts to bring Sita back to Rama, but she refuses to be touched by a man that is not Ravana
• Sita gave Hanuman jewelry she had in her hair for him to take back
• Sita tells Hanuman that Ravana plans to kill her within 2 months and asks if Rama will save her and kill Ravana
• Rakshasas capture Hanuman after a fight
• Realize Hanuman could not be killed with weapons, they use a Brahma shaft to capture Hanuman
• Hanuman tied up more after being caught by the Brahma shaft, but other ties release the strength of the Brahma shaft
• Hanuman remains calm as he wants to talk with Ravana
• Ravana talks with Hanuman who tells Ravana that he needs to surrender Sita or he will be killed by Rama
• Ravana is angered and sets Hanuman's tail on fire
• Hanuman breaks out of the ties and burnt Lanka down after Sita prayed that the fire does not burn Hanuman
• Hanuman talks with Sita and tells her Rama will return shortly
• Sugriva organizes his forces to move to Mahendra
• Need to devise a plan to cross the sea
• Rakshasas need plan to fend off Rama and his army
• Vajradanshtra
• Dress up as Bharat's troops so Rama won't attack then launch an assault of arrows and spears
• Nikumbha 
• Will take on Hanuman and Sugriva
• Vibhishana recommends Ravana return Sita to Rama to avoid destruction of Lanka and death of Ravana
• Ravana is angered and casts Vibhishana away
• Vibhishana is angered and decides to join forces with Rama

Hanuman returns to Rama after burning Lanka.
Image from Wikimedia

Sources

Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie