Week Thirteen Reading Diary Continued: More Jataka Tales, Ellen C. Babbitt

While reading the second half of More Jataka Tales, I found it to be more interesting.  The stories were longer, and I was able to get more out of the characters and how they interacted with others. 

The Brave Little Bowman

Looks can be deceiving: A little bowman disguises himself as a page in order to be a part of a king’s army.  The bowman recruited a large man and told him that they both could share the pay that the king would give them; the small bowman will do the work while the large man would be the face. The large man took credit for every act the small bowman did, and was paid for them.  He soon became greedy, and was found out by all.  

The Foolhardy Wolf

 A starving wolf asked a lion for help.  He, the wolf, would be his servant and look for animals for the lion to kill.  As time passed, the wolf began to become larger and stronger from all of the killings and wanted to take the place of the lion.  The lion agreed, but knew the wolf was not tactful, only full of pride.

The Stolen Plow 

A town trader loses his son to a large bird, and a village trader’s plow was eaten by mice.

Prince Wicked and the Grateful Animals

A prince by the name of Wicked was ungrateful towards an old man who saved his life, but he promised to make him wealthy once he became king. When Wicked became king, he denied the old man of the promise and wanted him killed.  The old man told the townsmen of his act of kindness, and he soon became the king of the land. 

More Jataka Tales

Bibliography: Written by Ellen C. Babbitt 

                       Illustrated by Ellsworth Young (1922)

Week Thirteen Reading Diary: More Jataka Tales, Ellen C. Babbitt

More Jataka Tales

More Jataka Tales written by Ellen C. Babbitt, is a continuation of her first volume of the tales.  These stories are a combination of Aesop fables and fairy tales.  Each story expresses a message pertaining to vanity, greed, pride, or generosity. 

The Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls

A queen and her friends went for a swim in the lake.  The servant who was guarding the queen’s jewels fell asleep and noticed her pearls were missing.  She thought jewels had been taken from a man, but no man had entered the guarded gate.  A guard came up with the idea of placing beaded necklaces around the courtyard to find the thief.  Monkeys from all around were happy to show off their new necklaces except for one, who stole the queen’s pearls.

The Golden Goose

A goose with golden feathers gave his feather to a poor woman and her two daughters. The mother of the daughters became greedy and wanted to catch the goose and rip out all of his golden feathers.  One day when he visited the family, the mother caught the goose and ripped his feathers away.  The gooses feathers grew back white, and never turned to gold.

The Red-Bud Tree

Seeing the same thing but gaining a different perspective as time passes.

The Otters and the Wolf

Two otters fought over the ends of a fish, but were swindle by a wolf who taught them a lesson in greed. 

Bibliography: Written by Ellen C. Babbitt 

                       Illustrated by Ellsworth Young (1922)

Week Twelve Storytelling: A Father with Unknown Intentions

I could hear Vaayu’s wails even after I covered his mouth.  His warm tears would travel down his cheeks and touch my hands. I held him down as tightly as I could while he tried to squirm from beneath me.  I repeated to him,

“It won’t last long.  We are doing this for goddess Chandi.”

He tried to roll around and his small legs would kick. I then proceeded to cut him from limb to limb, with my large blade that I carried when I went doe hunting.  It was a prized possession of mine, a gift from my father the night that I became a man after I married my wife Hema.  After each kill I would slit the doe’s throat and wait to feel the spirit leave its body. I would watch the blood sprayed from its neck, and when it was done, I would taste the blood and that the god that blessed with such a beautiful kill.  Vaayu’s death would not be any different. I wanted my son to endure the same treatment.  Separating each body part, I would cut him from limb to limb. I threw his parts at different ends of the river leaving his head for last.  I smoothed his hair down as I gazed into the eyes that his mother gave him. His blood was of a sweet scent and he displayed much innocence. A year old he would be tomorrow, but I knew that I had to prove Hema wrong.  Who was she to claim that the goddess Chandi would always reverse the evil doings that happen on this earth? 

Sunrise Seen Through Forest [Manitou Springs]

I sat near the riverbank, and the sun started to creep in from the dark sky. I lay in the pool of my son's blood waiting for her Chandi to “bless” me with her presence.  Where was she when my mother died? Or when my sister lost her dear daughter in birth? Pray Hema says-- pray! I pray to no one who does not show me favor. She is only a picture that stands on the wall in my home.

[Bajra grew impatient waiting on Chandi to appear.  He rose from when he lay and stepped into the river to wash the remains of his son.  When he finished submerging his body is the cold waters, he walked to the shore, shivering and seeing his breath in the air after each breath that he took.  Bajra lived closed to the river and knew someone was bound to find his son’s body parts.  As the sun rose from the sky he said happy birthday in his mind. Bajra walked home and changed into something warm.  He lay next to Hema until she woke.] 

“You are cold, Bajra. It is time to wake and begin the planning for Vaayu’s birthday. Wake him please and take him to your father’s home.”

[Hema was too busy to realize that Bajra left the house alone.  Later that evening everyone gathered to the river to begin the pujah for goddess Chandi.]

                                             

“Bajra, where is Vaayu?”

“With you mother,” Bajra answered.

[Hema went to her mother and began to question everyone where her son was.  She walked into the forest where she met an older woman.]

“Hema, Vaayu was lying here.  You must watch him closely my dear.”

Baby in the Woods

[Hema did not know the woman, but thanked her for finding her son. The women and Vaayu walked back to the river and began the pujah to goddess Chandi.]

“Hema, you found him!” Bajra said in delight.

[Bajra felt guilt as he watched his wife hold their son in her arms]

“Of course, Chandi is always watching over this family Bajra.”

[And Chandi was watching over their family.  She was the older woman in disguise who returned Vaayu back to his mother.]

Author’s Note:This story was inspired by “The Joymangalbar Ceremony, Joyabati -The Gift of Joya” from "The Sacred Tales of India,” written by Dwijendra Nath Neogi.  Joya, a servant to the goddess Chandi, disguises himself as a poor and hungry Brahman.  When he is approached with food, Joya refuses to eat food from a daughterless man by the name of Kanak Sen.  Kanak Sen apologizes to Joya and asks him to be kind and bless him with a daughter.  Joya gives Kanak Sen and his wife a drug to take to help them reproduce a child.  With much success the couple is blessed with a daughter and they name her Joyabati, after Joya. When Joyabati is of marrying age, she exchanges nuptials with a young man by the name of Joydev.  After the two are married, Joydev notices his wife’s devotion to the goddess Chandi.  He does everything in his power to prove to Joyabati that Chandi is not real.  His determination soon becomes desperation, and ends in him killing their son.

My inspiration for my story came from Joydev.  His character was unlike any other character in “The Sacred Tales of India.” I enjoyed finding out the mischievous acts that he was planning, and I loved the outcome of each situation.  No matter how hard he tried to bring ill will to his wife, Chandi reversed the act as if it never happened. 

Bibliography: The Sacred Tales of India by Dwijendra Nath Neogi (1918) 

Week Twelve Reading Diary Continued: The Sacred Tales of India, Dwijendra Nath Neogi

The Goddess Shashthi

The Nil-Sashthi Ceremony

The Fatal Oath

Bijaya learned that her mother had died when she went to visit her family.  She asked her sister-in-law who her mother had entrusted Sashthi with, and they told her that her mother had passed Sashthi down to her.  Bijaya questioned her inheritance, and after doing so, her husband, children, brothers and their children fell to their deaths.

Bijaya left to find the goddess and called upon her for answers. Bijaya with humility, asked Sashthi to bring her family back.  Sashthi told her the pujah that she must perform.  Bijaya performed the pujah and her family came to life.

The Manthan Sashthi Ceremony

The Sacrificed to Varuna

Varuna came to a Brahman in a dream and told him, in order to be blessed with water his grandson must be cut into five pieces with his body part spread over the land.  The Brahman’s son learned if the secret and sacrificed his son for Varuna.  Water appeared and a feast was planned. 

The mother went looking for her child and called upon Sashthi. She performed a pujah ceremony and an old woman appeared.  She gave her infant child to her, and rejoiced while returning home to see her husband and father-in-law in shock.

The Joymangalbar Ceremony

Joyabati-The Gift of Joya

Joya in disguise as a hungry Brahman refused the food of a man by the name of Kanak Sen who was daughterless.  The man asked the “Brahman” to bless him with a daughter.  Joya gave the man a drug for him and his wife to consume. Joya then told the man to name his daughter Joyabati when she is of marriage age, and marry her off to a boy by the name of Joydev.  Joydev has six sisters, and he is the only male in his family.

When the two had married, Joydev questioned Joyabati’s devotion to Chandi.  He believed that no such goddess could do the great things that his wife mentioned.  He threw her jewelry into the ocean, severed their child’s head off of his body, threw their child in fire, and drowned him.  In each occasion their son was saved, and Joyabati’s jewels were recovered.

The Aranya Sashthi Ceremony

Saved from the Cat

A grandmother who was a Brahman experienced her grandchildren being taken away by the cat of the goddess Sashthi.  Sashthi told the Brahman that her grandchildren were taken away because her daughter in-law had anointed herself with oil on the day of her pujah. She will be given another son, but she must not allow him to anoint himself with oil.  The grandmothers did so, and helped those who she had encountered on her way meeting Sashthi.

The Pashan Chaturdasi Ceremony

The Wife Who Used to Eat the First Morsel

A Brahmani woman questioned why her grandchildren had all dies in the cradle where they slept.  A wise man told her, it was because she always ate the first morsels, and that she has never given the opportunity to her daughter in-law.  The woman sent her daughter in-law away and cleaned their home, and cooked as well.  She came home happy and saw that the day of the Chaturdasi Ceremony she would be the first to eat.  When she did so, she was blessed with birthing the children that she had lost.

The Guha-Sasthi Ceremony

The Wife Who Cooked Beef

A Brahman wanted his daughter in-law to prepare a feast of tortoise and curry.  She ate all of the food after what should have been a taste.  The servant of the daughter in-law went outside to a nearby field a killed a calf.  The calf would not cook right and she believed it to be a forbidden meat.   When it came time to serve the meat the daughter in-law fell and the servant touched the pot, making the food not edible because she was of lower caste touching the food.  The daughter in-law performed a pujah and the calf was brought back to life, and the women were forgiven.

The Cawra Cawra Ceremony

The Banished Girls

Amuna and Jamuna were banished from their home by their stepmother.  Lakshmi found them in the forest and disguised herself as an old woman.  She wedded the sisters.  One sister wedded a prince, and the other a minister.  Jamuna continued to praise Lakshmi for all that she had done and was blessed for it.  On the other hand, Amuna stopped worshiping Lakshmi and suffered greatly.  After much misfortune she began to worship Lakshmi again.  

Bibliography: The Sacred Tales of India by Dwijendra Nath Neogi (1918)

Week Twelve Reading Diary: The Sacred Tales of India,Dwijendra Nath Neogi

Sacred Tales of India

The Sankata Ceremony

The Gift of the Ascetic

A king married three wives that bore him no children.  The townspeople believed that an omen had been placed on him.  One day a yogee came to the palace with a drug for the king and his wives.  He told the king that this drug would help his wives bear children but he must give one child to him.  The king told his wives to share the elixir equally, but that did not happen.  The first two wives greedily took the elixir and left the last wife with a drop.  Raged with jealousy she licked the vial until it shone. The first two wives bore children and the last a conch. 

She kept the shell, and for three nights it split into two and a young man came from within.  She kept this to herself, not uttering a word to anyone.  When the secret was found out, the young prince would be tested by the yogee.  His mother called upon Sankata-Narayan for help. Sankata-Narayan promised the queen that her son would return.

The prince went with the yogee and was told to never travel south from the cottage where they would stay.  One day the prince wandered and found a young maiden who he would later marry.  The maiden told him that the yogee sacrifices people for the goddess Kali and they both were to be the next sacrifices for the Tantrik.

The Kula-Mangalbar Ceremony

The Sun’s Twin Sons

Jokai, a young woman with much piety was shown favor by the king.  He lavished her with gifts after granting her the appearance of the sun.  In order for the sun to shown, Jokai gave promised herself to the sun god and became his wife.  She bore two male children, Sukli and Akli.  During the day they were in liquid form and at night in human form.  Jokai has her sons live in a tree, and when they did so, they would scare people who would walk underneath the branch, for they could not see the young boys.

The Dan-Sankranti Ceremony

The Consequences of Generosity

A very wealthy Brahman woman was friends with a poor milk maid.  She prayed upon Narayan, and was blessed with great wealth.  Her friend asked if she could borrow the image of Narayan and too be blessed with great riches.  The Brahman agreed, and soon saw her wealth diminish.  She and her husband were no longer recognizable, and were treated badly by those who were their former tenants, friends, and even their own daughter.  The two were accused of stealing from those they stayed with, although they had not committed the acts.

After a year passes, the Brahman received the picture of Narayan back from her old friend, and began to praise the picture heavily.  She regained her wealth and confronted those who had done her wrong.  They all shared the same response, they has not recognized her and her husband they possessions they believed to be stolen reappeared out of thin air. 

The Brahman forgave them, for their acts and commenced with festivities.   

The Kalika Ceremony

The Brahman’s Ban

Indra, king of gods, was having a party and made the mistake of throwing flowers from a dancer upon a Brahman.  Out of disgust, the Brahman cursed Indra and sent his spirit to live within a car for twelve years.  Sachi, Indra’s wife, was away on a trip and did not know what happened to her husband.  When she returned the other gods had told her, so she went to see the Brahman in order to find her husband.

The Brahman could not reverse the curse, but told Sachi where Indra could be found.  He also told her to call upon Kalika.  Kalika could not reverse the curse but with Sachi’s permission, she out her and Indra to sleep until he became a man. 

The Satya Pir Pujah

The Pir’s Power

A poor Brahman encounters a man who tells him about Satya Pir.  He tells the Brahman to pray to Pir for riches since he is poor.  The Brahman refuses the idea and believes that it goes against his beliefs.  He cannot pray to Pir when Narayan is the one he has prayed to all of his life.

The Brahman gives in and prays to Pir and was blessed.  He shared the pujah with his neighbor Dhanapati. He was blessed with, and later a daughter by the name of Kalabati. When she became older, his daughter married Sankhapati, a young merchant. When Sankhapati and Dhanpati set to sail the seas, they went to the kingdom of Raja Kalandhi.  Here, they were sentenced to prison because the king’s daughter’s necklace was stolen. 

Kalabati and Lilabati, her mother, prayed to Pir and he sent a vision to the king when he was sleep.  The king released the men.  When the men returned home, their riches had disappeared.  Pir wanted to teach the men a lesson. Dhanapati prayed to Pir and was forgiven.  He possessions were returned to him.

The Subachani Ceremony

The Gander-eater

A poor Brahman has a son by the name of Satybrata.  After talking to his friends from school about what they eat, he goes home and questions his mother.  Not satisfied to hear they are poor and vegetables are the only thing that she can afford, Sasybrata steals from the king.  Knowing the bird that he brings home is stolen, she does not question her son, but prepares it for dinner. The kinsmen locate the feathers of the bird near the Brahmans house and imprison her son. 

The Brahman encounters women who are worshipping Subachani.  They show her how to perform a pujah, and she does so.  She asks Subachani to help free her son, and she does so.  She visits the king in his dream and tells him to free Satybrata, wed him and his daughter Sakuntla, and give Satybrata half of his kingdom.  The king follows Subachani’s oders, and they all remain faithful to Subachani through worship.

Bibliography: The Sacred Tales of India by Dwijendra Nath Neogi (1918)

Week Eleven Storytelling: Love for Death

There is always haze, and the tumultuous screams that surround me have become white noise. This is an everlasting punishment I was once told.  My soul is being devoured by the engulfing flames, and I can feel my skin melting as I crawl on the ground from being suffocated by the heat.  Crying does not help.  The salt from our tears welt our faces before we feel the evaporating stings.  More and more women and children are thrown into the fire each day.  Yesterday, I saw Yama fling a three year old into the fire by her leg.  It was there where she lay on the ground screaming piercing cries, before she was accompanied by her mother.

“Dare you throw a child into the depths of hell Yama?” The woman cried out. “I only steal bread for my children to eat! Should she too suffer from my sins?”

Woman in hell

I looked at who I believed to be the man that I would marry. He wore dark clothing and stood six feet high.  Broad-like shoulders and he has beautiful eyes. When seeing him, you would have not have known that you were encountering death. His words were sweet, and his touch was gentle. He would gain your trust, and believe that the words he speaks are true.  The capture was never sudden nor felt immediate.  He enjoyed being a predator comforting his prey. The day he met me, I was sitting near the shore of the Godavari River watching my brothers capture fish for our dinner. 
There he stood looking at me, and I blushed each time I looked away.  I would see him in the market where I would buy fresh fruits, and walking near the school I attended. As time passed, the stranger that watched me from far away asked me my name.

“Sumatra,” I told him. He whispered that my name was beautiful and matched me perfectly.  I began to meet him daily at the Godavari River and share my life stories to him. Months began to pass, and he was well known by my family and friends.  We would share our lives together--forever.

It was the day after we announced our engagement, I told Yama I had a secret. We left during the night when the moon filled the sky.  The Godavari River shone as the moonlight reflected its beauty. We held hands as we sat along the shore listening to sounds around us.

“Yama, I must tell you a secret that no one knows.  I have guilt in my heart that I cannot bear. Two years ago I saw a woman laying in the street. She was crying and begging for food. I stared at her like she was infected with disease.  Her hands were dirty, and hair disheveled. Her clothes were rags that barely covered her skin. A man walked by and gave her money for her and her child to eat.  As the man walked away, she continued to thank him generously. She looked towards the sky and thanked the gods for her small fortune. I stared at her in disgust and looked at her child as she watched me.   I grabbed the money from her hands and told her that she did not deserve it.  I told her that beggars must earn wealth, not be given it.  Do you believe that too Yama?”

Poor Woman and Child in Kanyombya

[Yama sat in silence and watched the ripples in the water.]

“Yama?”

“Sumatra the life we are given we do not choose, but the choices we make can better our lives.  Not all people choose to be poor, and what you see as poor some see as wealth.  You took her wealth and food from a child’s mouth. That woman stole because of you. She committed a sin so she could feed her child. Because she stole, she had taken wealth from another man and his family. I gave you many chances to repay the woman all those times I saw you in the market.  That woman sat in her same place with her hungry child, and you were only concerned with me. Do you remember the day when she stopped you by pulling on the hem of your skirt? She asked you for forgiveness for being poor, and you scoffed. I cannot be with a woman who steals from the poor and is vain. ”

“I will repay her back!”

“No you still don’t understand. You knew what you did was wrong and guilt shall remain in your heart.”

Yama rose from where he sat and walked into the brush.  I followed him only to see a horse and a dark chamber behind it.

“What is this Yama?”

“Sumatra I am the god of death and you are no longer apart of the living. When we held hands I separated your spirit from your body.  Your body will lay where we sat near the river.  It will be recovered by your family in the morning, but your spirit shall stay with me.”

Woman by A River

Author's Note: This story is inspired by the Budhastami Ceremony: The Bride if Yama, the King of the Dead.  In the story there is a woman by the name of Bijaya who is in search of a missing bull that was stolen from her and her younger brother Kausik.  They find the bull being danced around by celestial beings, as they traveled deep into a forest.  One of the beings tells them that they must go home and perform the Budhastami Ceremony in order to receive the bull back.

After the siblings perform the ceremony, goddess Paravati grants them one boon each.  Bijaya prays for a devout husband, and her brother Kausik prays for wealth.  Goddess Paravti guides Bijaya to her husband.  Bijaya meets a man, and Paravti lets her know that he is the devout man that she seeks. The man turns out to be Yama, the King of the Dead. 

When Yama and Bijaya get married, he warns her not to travel to the southern grounds of their property.  Out of curiosity and disobedience, Bijaya travels to the south grounds and sees women who are being burned by the eternal fires of hell.  In that fire, she sees her mother who is crying out for help.

Since Bijaya sees many women who are entrapped by the fire, I wanted to create a story that involved one of the many women that she sees.  When Yama met Bijaya, his appearance and demeanor was not one that seemed threatening.  I pictured Yama as a man of great stature an d morals, and wanted him display those characteristics in the story. 

Bibliography:  The Sacred Tales of India by Dwijendra Nath Neogi (1918) 

Week Eleven Reading Diary Continued: Sacred Tales of India, Dwijendra Nath Neogi

The Budhastami Ceremony

The Bride of Yama, the King of the Dead

Kausik and Bijaya search for their missing bull that was stolen from them.  When they find their bull, they see celestial beings dancing around the bull.  They were told by on e of the beings to go home and do the Budhastami ceremony, and once they finish the bull will be returned to them. Once they finish the ritual, Paravati grants them two boons.  Kausik will become king and Bijaya will marry Lord Yama. 

When Bijaya marries Yama, he tells he where she may and may not travel around their home.  Curiously, she travels to the south grounds on their property and sees her mother burning “in hell”.  She asks Yama to release her but he cannot. He tells her to visit her brother first and see if he would be willing to give up a portion of his riches.  Kausik declines to help his mother because he does not want to become poor.  She then visits a poor Brahman woman who is willing to sacrifice a portion of her reward that she was given when she practiced the Budhastami Ceremony.

The Mangal-Chandi Ceremony

The Goddess who Devoured Elephants

Lahana and Khullana were married to a man by the name of Ratnakar.  Lahana was jealous of Khullana.  Because of her jealousy, Ratnakar banished her form their home.  When Lahana walked through the forest she met people who were worshipping.  They told her of the goddess Mangal –Chandi, and the blessings that she gives.  After hearing a story about a hunter and his wife, Lahana began her pujah.  She wished for her husband to take her back, and he appeared. 

She was blessed with a child, Sadanand.  When Sadanand grew older, Ratnakar was not present.  He travelled to Sinhal and never returned.  Sadanand wanted to look for his father.  He and his mother called upon Mangal-Chandi for her guidance, and the Sadanand left for Sinhal.

Like his father, Sadanand saw Mangal-Chandi sitting on a floating lotus forest eating elephants.  He told the king, and the king ordered Sadanand to be executed.  Mangal-Chandi appeared, and told the king to release Sadanand and his father from the jail.  Mangal-Chandi ordered the king to give Sadanand a wife and half his kingdom.  After all was done, they set sail back home where they met Khullana.

The Janmashtami Ceremony

The Slayer Kangsa

The gods had came together to petition Kangsa for his behavior.  He was being a tyrant, and had killed all of the children of Devaki.  Vishnu had order the gods no to act upon killing him, but let him do it.  Vishnu would be born to Devaki in human form, and when he is older, he will commit the act.  Kangsa tried to kill Vishnu when he was born, but he was switched with Yasoda’s daughter.

Vishnu grew up as Yasoda’s son.  When it was time for him to complete his task, he broke Kangsa’s great bow and killed Kangsa.  Kangsa was sent to heaven although he committed grave acts on earth. 

The Padma Pujah Ceremony

Chand, the Unbeliever

Padma was born to Mahadeo, a god.  When he took her to heaven, her stepmother Bhagavati saw her as competition and was filled with jealousy.  Bhagavati ripped one of her eyes out and had Mahadeo banish her from the heavens and have her sentenced to live on earth. On earth Padma found a man by the name of Chand.  Chand was rich and had an ill-stricken wife and six sons.  Padma wanted Chand to take her as his wife but he refused.  He believed that she was an imposter. 

Padma had Chand’s children killed, and ordered him to worship her.  Many times, he refused until Lakhindars was brought back to life.  

Goddess Bhagavita 

Bibliography: The Sacred Tales of India by Dwijendra Nath Neogi (1918)