Week 6 Story: WWE, Indian Mythology Edition

Tonight, here on SportsCenter, we are going to show you the Top 10 plays in India this year. It was a year with many great athletic feats, but one athlete claims the top two spots. Many compare his bold feats to Rama, but I think he's even more impressive because he doesn't even need weapons. Here are SportsCenter's top two plays of the year. Both feature Bhima, a superhuman superstar in the WWE. Let's roll some footage.

Footage 1 - #2 Play of the Year - Bhima vs Baka

"Baka, an asura hailing from Ekachakra, has been harassing the townspeople. He's been eating one townsperson every week, and Bhima, the hero who trained under the legendary fighter, Drona, is going to attempt to put a stop to it tonight. They're entering the stage now!", Vyasa stated.

"Bhima appears to be taunting Baka; he has been eating rice while calling Baka's name. Surely this will upset Baka," Vyasa noted. "And it does! Baka is charging Bhima with a tree branch! What will Bhima do?!?"

The crowd fell silent as Baka charged, but cheered uproariously as Bhima caught the club with a single hand and grabbed Baka with his other hand. No one expected Bhima to be able to counter Baka so effortlessly. Then, Bhima threw Baka to the ground. The crowd roared, "Finish him!"

Bhima, using his signature move, the Bow-and-Arrow, placed a knee on Baka's back, one hand on Baka's neck, and the other at the waist of Baka and shattered Baka's back. Bhima hadn't even broken a sweat!

Following the fight, Bhima gave an announcement on the TV, "Townspeople of Ekachakra, Baka will no longer bother you."

Footage 2 - #1 Play of the Year - Bhima vs Hidimba

Vyasa announced, "In one corner, we have Bhima, who has not yet fought a rakshasa, and in the other corner we have the formidable rakshasa, Hidimba."

In one side, Bhima, his brothers, and his mother enter the room with minimal applause; no one knows exactly who Bhima is yet. On the other side of the room enters Hidimba and his sister, Hidimbi. Hidimba had plans to cheat. Hidimba forced Hidimbi to take the form of a very beautiful girl, and he was planning to distract Bhima so the fight would be quick and easy. Bhima noticed the beautiful girl, but knew not to fall for the trick. Hidimba and Bhima have now entered the ring. Hidimba notices that Bhima is not distracted, but now also notices that Hidimbi has fallen for Bhima.

"Can you believe what we're seeing?! Bhima has gotten Hidimba's sister to fall in love with him! Surely Hidimba will take offense!", Vyasa exclaimed.

And, as Announcer 1 had suspected, Hidimba had taken serious offense. He charged Hidimbi, but Bhima stepped in the way. The crowd fell silent, eager to here what the hero and rakshasa were going to say.

Bhima boomed, "You coward, you're here to fight me!"

Bhima and Hidimba fight while the Pandavas cheer Bhima on.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia

Hidimba turned his anger towards Bhima. Hidimba rushed Bhima, but Bhima caught him by the arms before Hidimba could land a blow. Bhima threw Hidimba to the ground, and then drug him offstage. The crowd was going wild. They had never known of Bhima, and he is manhandling Hidimba! After minutes of wrestling, it became obvious to the Pandavas that Hidimba was trying to make the fight last a long time so he could finish off Bhima once Bhima wore out. Arjuna, aware of the plot shouted, "Finish him, Bhima!"

Bhima climbed to the top rope, and the crowd fell silent. He was towering over Hidimba, who still lies on the ground. Bhima flew off the top rope, bodyslamming Hidimba. The crowd went wild, cheering Bhima's name. Bhima then showcased his signature move in front of the eager crowd - the Bow-and-Arrow. Bhima picked the rakshasa up by the neck and waist and then threw the rakshasa over his knee, breaking Hidimba's back. The fight was now clearly over. However, not only did Bhima defeat Hidimba, he then added insult to injury by marrying Hidimba's sister after she witnessed the stunning victory of Bhima over Hidimba.

Author's Note

While reading the Mahabharata, I noticed that described fights had a lot of drama and followed a common theme with Bhima ending the fights the same way. It was around midnight at the time of me reading the Mahabharata and my tired brain for some reason made me think of the Mahabharata fight scenes as a WWE-esque story. I adapted two fight scenes from the Mahabharata (Bhima vs Hidimba and Bhima vs Baka) into a WWE atmosphere while mirroring the plot points from the stories into my story. I put Vyasa as the announcer as he was the one who authored the Mahabharata so I thought it was fitting.

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]

Famous Last Words: A Very Busy Week

This week was extremely hectic. Between having multiple assignments due, deadlines for submitting PMAP (Project Management Advisory Panel) documents for Concrete Canoe, a budget interview with the Gallogly College of Engineering, concrete research for Concrete Canoe, and grading homework (I am a TA in a Structural Analysis class), I was unable to balance everything I needed to finish this past week unfortunately.

However, I really enjoyed the readings in Indian Epics this week. I read two comics - "Kubera: The Lord of Wealth" and "Heroes of Hampi: The Mythology of Kishkindha". The Kubera comic is going to help me a ton with my storybook as I am focusing on Lanka and Vishvakarma in my storybook. The Heroes of Hampi comic was very interesting and I ended up learning a lot about geography in India, and actually learned a little to help with my storybook in the Hampi comic as well.

My best writing in the past week was definitely an appeal with PMAP for revising a rule that they have instituted that hinders research, and I am excited to get to meet with PMAP tomorrow to further discuss this rule. They have been understanding and willing to work with engineering competition teams and I think they'll do what's best for the teams. However, this writing was not creative, and I am finding that I struggle to switch between technical writing and creative writing.

I read a story in this class this week that told a story using a diary to convey emotions. I had not considered writing a diary entry in the past, but the story was great and I am now considering writing a diary entry story in the future.

Unfortunately, I did not make it to writing a Week 5 story for this week. I got to it late Thursday night, and I was not able to think of a story in time. However, I'm not overly worried because I completed the readings and an extra credit assignment, so I should be fine. I am appreciative of the flexibility and extra credit in this class - it allows me to maximize my learning on my busy schedule.

Last year's concrete canoe - image taken by me

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

Storybook Plan

Who Will Tell the Story?

The stories within my storybook will be told by Vishvakarma. Vishvakarma will be discussing different inventions of his and the stories associated with his inventions. I think this is an effective way to discuss the story of Lanka while also analyzing just how much each god can affect a story within Indian Mythology.

Main Ideas

During this storybook, I want to learn more about what Vishvakarma is credited with inventing. Further, I want to see how Vishvakarma affected Indian mythology with his inventions. I also found myself interested in Lanka while reading the Ramayana, and I thought that there was plenty of information to dissect how Vishvakarma is subtly intertwined with many of the stories about Lanka.

Story 1: The City of Lanka

The first story will be a broad discussion on the architecture and history of Lanka. This story will focus on how the architecture has shaped stories told in the Ramayana and stories that took place before the Ramayana. This story serves as the background of the final story - the battle for Lanka.

Sources:

Lanka from Wikipedia

Kubera Comic

Story 2: Vishvakarma's Chariot Shop

This story will be a conglomerate of stories about various chariots made by Vishvakarma and a quick overview of the history associated with each chariot. Eventually, Pushpaka will be mentioned, which helps with tying the chariot story in with the overall theme of Vishvakarma and Lanka.

Sources:

Kubera Comic

Vimana from Wikipedia 

Indra from Wikipedia

Story 3: The Bridge to Lanka

This story will serve as a bridge, pun intended, to the final story of my storybook. Vishvakarma's son, Nala, constructs the bridge to Lanka which allows me to further tie this story together with Vishvakarma. The Thai version of the bridge to Lanka may be mixed with the Indian version to gather up even more information on the bridge. This story will end with Rama's army entering into Lanka.

Sources:

Nala from Wikipedia

Adam's Bridge from Wikipedia
PDE Ramayana (primarily focusing on Donald A. Mackenzie's stories)
Suvannamacha from Wikipedia

Story 4: The Battle for Lanka

This story will tie together all of the previous stories. Lanka, Pushpaka, and Rama's Bridge will all be discussed in this story. There will also be other inventions of Vishvakarma discussed in this story; many of the weapons used in the battle for Lanka were invented by Vishvakarma. This story will also discuss Rama's first thoughts when he entered Lanka, but I will somehow make a way to appear as if Rama told Vishvakarma his thoughts on Lanka so I can retain the Vishvakarma point of view throughout the story.

Sources:

Vishvakarma from Wikipedia

PDE Ramayana (primarily focusing on Donald A. Mackenzie's stories)

Kubera Comic

Indra from Wikipedia