Reading Notes: Krishna and the Gods B
Bibliography: Tales of Ancient India by Edmund Charles Cox
Surya:
This story was kind of confusing. I guess he's like the god of everlasting light and the reason is because of his wife paying attention to him?
Waruna:
This one is kinda cool. There's a king that desperately wanted a son because a son performing funeral rites would speed his ascension to heaven. So he prayed to a god named Waruna and said he would sacrifice his son so that he can have a son. Waruna granted him the son but as the king spent the years together with his son, he realized he didn't want to sacrifice him. His son then came up with this plan where he would go around and trade money for a son so that the king can sacrifice that guy in his stead. They finally found a Brahman with 3 sons who gave him the middle child. They brought that kid to be sacrificed but then he started singing and it touched all the gods' hearts so Waruna let them all go free.
Ushas:
There's this really beautiful girl named Ushas who turned heads wherever she went. The sun god Agni was smitten with her and wanted to marry her. He kept pursuing her and then she eventually agreed.
Indra:
Indra is this super cool god of thunder. All the humans loved and worshiped him because he brought them rain to help their crops crow. Another god, named Ahi, was super jealous at all the attention that Indra was getting so he hoped to usurp him by crafting thunderbolts stronger than Indra's and creating this mega stronghold that can stop his attacks. He also brought along the sun so that all the human's crops can't crow. Indra obviously was angry by this and killed Ahi. None of Ahi's countermeasures worked. Those lightningbolts bounced off of Indra and his warrior's armor and he easily destroyed the stronghold. After defeating Ahi, the rain was brought back again.
Soma:
Soma was lord of the goblet and revel. He would inspire people with hope and noble thoughts. It was super magical and would heal sick people and fill others with hope. It was so addicting that this human Brahman wanted to bring Soma down to earth. He had his beautiful daughter wow him. It worked at first but as Soma was going down to earth, suddenly all the music started being terrible in the land of the gods and they knew that Soma was leaving. So they caught Soma before he left. Eventually, this girl that was really good at talking tried to wow the gods so that Soma can sneak out. He did and while the people on earth enjoyed it at first, that enjoyment slowly became evil as people become obsessed with it. There ended up being a war between the gods and this evil and Soma was defeated.
Brahma:
Brahma was super cool and had this wife named Gayatri. Brahma, one day, had to perform a ritual that needed his wife. Gayatri refused to come since none of the other wives were there yet and she had to attend to her duties first. Brahma, realizing that the time for ritual is passing, needs to find a wife ASAP so Indra brings in some random milk lady to be his wife for the ritual. Gayatri walks in during the ritual and finds Brahma married to this random lady and gets super upset. She then curses Brahma so that people only worship him once a year and curses other gods too.
Vishnu:
I was kinda confused in this one but what I got from it was that Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva make up a god call Brahm. Vishnu is known as the creator and the destroyer. There were some things about his legend but I was confused about that so I need to read up on it.
Shiva:
Shiva is the god of light and he loved this woman named Uma. Uma, however, eventually died and Shiva was super upset. Indra took pity on him and revived Uma as a human but also made her go through a ton of trials to prove that she is worthy of Shiva's love. She overcame those trials and her and Shiva ended up together forever. She also killed some big name Ashura which is why she is worshiped.
Ganesha:
Ganesha is the lord of wisdom and he acts as the balancer, balancing between good and evil. He also has the head of an elephant.
Savitri:
Savitri is this girl that fell in love with this guy named Satyawan. Savitri's seer, however, saw the future and knew that Satyawan only had a year to live. Savitri didn't care and they got married and lived a really pure love. As the days pass by and that one year got closer, Savitri started to feel super anxious. On the fateful day, Satyawan said he is going to the forest and Savitri asked to accompany him. As they were walking, suddenly Satyawan felt a pang and started to collapse. He then died in Savitri's arms. The lord of death, Yam, then showed up and said he is taking Satyawan's soul away. As he is walking away with his soul, Savitri followed. She kept on following despite her feet blistering and her body aching. Yam then granted her a boon, except for Satyawan's life, for her dedication. She said she wanted Satyawan's dad to regain his sight. Yam agreed then kept on walking but Savitri still followed. This kept on happening for a long time until, finally, Yam recognized her dedication and gave Satyawan back. They then lived happily ever after and Savitri name is written in history.
Vedavati:
Vedavati is the prototype for all the epics women? The only thing I really got out of this was that she was later reborn as Sita who was married to Rama.
Rama:
I've read about Rama already haha.
Surya:
This story was kind of confusing. I guess he's like the god of everlasting light and the reason is because of his wife paying attention to him?
Waruna:
This one is kinda cool. There's a king that desperately wanted a son because a son performing funeral rites would speed his ascension to heaven. So he prayed to a god named Waruna and said he would sacrifice his son so that he can have a son. Waruna granted him the son but as the king spent the years together with his son, he realized he didn't want to sacrifice him. His son then came up with this plan where he would go around and trade money for a son so that the king can sacrifice that guy in his stead. They finally found a Brahman with 3 sons who gave him the middle child. They brought that kid to be sacrificed but then he started singing and it touched all the gods' hearts so Waruna let them all go free.
Ushas:
There's this really beautiful girl named Ushas who turned heads wherever she went. The sun god Agni was smitten with her and wanted to marry her. He kept pursuing her and then she eventually agreed.
Indra:
Indra is this super cool god of thunder. All the humans loved and worshiped him because he brought them rain to help their crops crow. Another god, named Ahi, was super jealous at all the attention that Indra was getting so he hoped to usurp him by crafting thunderbolts stronger than Indra's and creating this mega stronghold that can stop his attacks. He also brought along the sun so that all the human's crops can't crow. Indra obviously was angry by this and killed Ahi. None of Ahi's countermeasures worked. Those lightningbolts bounced off of Indra and his warrior's armor and he easily destroyed the stronghold. After defeating Ahi, the rain was brought back again.
Soma:
Soma was lord of the goblet and revel. He would inspire people with hope and noble thoughts. It was super magical and would heal sick people and fill others with hope. It was so addicting that this human Brahman wanted to bring Soma down to earth. He had his beautiful daughter wow him. It worked at first but as Soma was going down to earth, suddenly all the music started being terrible in the land of the gods and they knew that Soma was leaving. So they caught Soma before he left. Eventually, this girl that was really good at talking tried to wow the gods so that Soma can sneak out. He did and while the people on earth enjoyed it at first, that enjoyment slowly became evil as people become obsessed with it. There ended up being a war between the gods and this evil and Soma was defeated.
Brahma:
Brahma was super cool and had this wife named Gayatri. Brahma, one day, had to perform a ritual that needed his wife. Gayatri refused to come since none of the other wives were there yet and she had to attend to her duties first. Brahma, realizing that the time for ritual is passing, needs to find a wife ASAP so Indra brings in some random milk lady to be his wife for the ritual. Gayatri walks in during the ritual and finds Brahma married to this random lady and gets super upset. She then curses Brahma so that people only worship him once a year and curses other gods too.
Vishnu:
I was kinda confused in this one but what I got from it was that Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva make up a god call Brahm. Vishnu is known as the creator and the destroyer. There were some things about his legend but I was confused about that so I need to read up on it.
Shiva:
Shiva is the god of light and he loved this woman named Uma. Uma, however, eventually died and Shiva was super upset. Indra took pity on him and revived Uma as a human but also made her go through a ton of trials to prove that she is worthy of Shiva's love. She overcame those trials and her and Shiva ended up together forever. She also killed some big name Ashura which is why she is worshiped.
Ganesha:
Ganesha is the lord of wisdom and he acts as the balancer, balancing between good and evil. He also has the head of an elephant.
Savitri:
Savitri is this girl that fell in love with this guy named Satyawan. Savitri's seer, however, saw the future and knew that Satyawan only had a year to live. Savitri didn't care and they got married and lived a really pure love. As the days pass by and that one year got closer, Savitri started to feel super anxious. On the fateful day, Satyawan said he is going to the forest and Savitri asked to accompany him. As they were walking, suddenly Satyawan felt a pang and started to collapse. He then died in Savitri's arms. The lord of death, Yam, then showed up and said he is taking Satyawan's soul away. As he is walking away with his soul, Savitri followed. She kept on following despite her feet blistering and her body aching. Yam then granted her a boon, except for Satyawan's life, for her dedication. She said she wanted Satyawan's dad to regain his sight. Yam agreed then kept on walking but Savitri still followed. This kept on happening for a long time until, finally, Yam recognized her dedication and gave Satyawan back. They then lived happily ever after and Savitri name is written in history.
Savitri and Satyawan
Vedavati:
Vedavati is the prototype for all the epics women? The only thing I really got out of this was that she was later reborn as Sita who was married to Rama.
Rama:
I've read about Rama already haha.
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