Cultural Experiences

Rama was loved by all the men and women in the city as he was soft-spoken and tried to serve the king in every way possible. He was loved because he spoke softly but wisely even when someone tried to take advantage of him or spoke badly towards him. Dashararatha was the king who was thinking of his retirement which would happen soon and he was going to leave everything to his sons, Rama and Lakshmanan. The two princes along with their wives helped the king in every way possible. Although Rama was the one the people vouched for to become king, both boys were respected as heroes. Rama was filled with compassion and was always humble. He did not engage in unnecessary misbehavior and always looked for the good in other people. Dasharatha, the king, longed to see Rama as the prince reagent. They all unanimously agreed that Rama, the eldest son, was the rightful heir to the court and to the throne. He was the most popular choice amongst the people however, the royal astrologers thought ...

Granny's Blackie A rich man gave a baby elephant to a woman and she took good care of him and was fond of him. Everyone called her Granny and they called the elephant Granny's Blackie. Blackie would play with the kids in the town but never did anything productive. Blackie went looking for a job and found a man who was willing to pay two pieces of silver for each wagon Blackie pulled across the river. The man put one piece of silver for each wagon and when Blackie figured out he was being tricked, he did not allow the wagons to pass through till he was paid the right amount. When Granny heard the work that Blackie did for her to gain money, Granny was so grateful and they were both very happy. I felt that this story was something that was super touching as it relates to some of us as college students. In the story plot, it shows that Blackie makes an effort to pay back to what Granny has done for him and likewise, some students work to pay for their tuition or to pay back par...

The Sandy Road - A merchant had goods in his cart on his way to the country opposite of the desert. It was too hot to walk in the sunlight so he waited till it was dark and then started walking. He ended up taking water, rice and firewood along with his goods so that he could cook and eat rice along the way. In the daylight, he guided the drivers while he took off in the night time. Him along with his men built fires and cooked rice. They did this for all of the journey and then the last day as they thought, the pilot took his place at the front of the line and laid down in the wagon with the cushions. The oxens went on and then they all realized that they were lost. This was bad as they did not have any water left and no water meant no rice or food could be made. They found a rock which had flowing water underneath and they busted it open so that they could bathe, drink and use the cool water. What I learned from reading this jhataka is that through will and determination, you ar...

Princes and the Water-Sprite - A king had three sons: Prince of Stars, Moon Prince and the Sun Prince. King was so happy for the third child being born he granted the queen a boon. When Sun Prince was 21, the queen asked the king for him to have the kingdom before his elder brothers. King refused and told the elder sons to go live in the forest till the king dies as they can take over the kingdom then. Sun Prince joined them as well. The water-sprite each of the brothers what the good fairies like. Sun Prince didn't give a good answer so he was taken down into the cave, and later the Moon Prince joined him as well. The elder brother went to go find his brothers and answered the question correctly and was given the opportunity to choose which brother to save. He chose the younger one as he was the reason why they got sent away and because of his kindness, the water-sprite sent both brothers back up from the cave. The king later died and the eldest brother was made king and ruled al...

Banyan Deer - Once upon a time there was a gold deer with a red flowerlike mouth and bright hoofs. He resided in the forest and was the king amongst 500 other deers. They lived close to the Monkey deer population. Townspeople wanted to make the deer locked into a park so they could carry on with their errands. They drove the deer there and shut the gate and told the king. The king would hunt the deer from that stable. The Banyan deer king had been granted his life so he will not be killed by the king and one day, a mother of the baby deer was chosen to fall and since the Banyan deer put himself as tribute, the king ordered that no more deer in the park or the forest will be hunted because of his kindness. This jataka stood out to me as it shows us the value of friendship and treating people the way you want to be treated. Even though the Banyan Deer King had the opportunity to save himself and not get his life taken away and to choose someone to get killed by the king, he still pu...

The Woodpecker, Turtle, and the Deer - Deer lived in a forest next to the lake close to the Woodpecker and next to the turtle. A hunter wanted to trap the deer going into the water and he did. The hunter came into the house with a knife and the woodpecker struck him in the face. The turtle had blood all over his mouth because of the leather. The hunter picked up the turtle and threw him into the bag. The deer tried helping the turtle by coming into site of the hunter and the hunter started running after the deer. When he lost the deer, he went back after the turtle and the turtle was gone as well. The turtle and the deer teamed up and found and rescued the woodpecker and they all lived happily ever after. This jataka stood out to me when reviewing the jatakas from the list of additional jatakas to read as it facilitated teamwork and standing up for one another. When the deer was in trouble, the woodpecker and turtle came to help out. When the woodpecker was in trouble, the deer and ...

The Three Fishes - Thoughtful, very-thoughtful, thoughtless were the three fishes who lived in the river near town. Very-thoughtful sensed danger amongst them all but the other two fish kept staying back and did not want to leave yet. One day thoughtful and thoughtless got caught by a fishing net and very-thoughtful saved them both. Since very-thoughtful saved them, thoughtful and thoughtless decided to leave and to go back to the wild country and all lived safely ever after. This story was meaningful as the three fishes stood up for each other and did not leave each other in the dirt. As they are brothers, once they got caught up in the net, all of them vowed for each other and none of them left either one of them behind which was super powerful to read. Even though the king wanted one of them to take over the palace and the other two brothers had all the chance to leave him behind to get ahead in line of taking over the throne, the eldest brother did the right thing and saved bo...

Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking - Two geese and the turtle became friends and later, the geese asked the turtle if he wanted to join them on the journey home and the turtle decided to join as he wanted to go. Geese said that they will take the turtle in their mouth and he will need to be quiet up until they reach the destination. They took off and the turtle could not stick to his end of the deal and started talking to people below and the geese ended up dropping the turtle and making him fall to his death. This jataka stood out to me since it showed that the turtle was given directions to follow by the geese and he could not so he was met with the consequences. This relates to real life stories by indirectly telling you to follow directions because in some situations it can be a life or death situation. I can relate to this because a while back when I was learning to ride my bike, I was getting the hang of it when I wanted to try riding the bike without holding on especially w...

Turtle Saved His Own Life - A famous courtyard with a lake was present for young princes to play, swim, boat and raft in. Later, the king put fishes in the lake. There was a turtle in the pond with the fishes and the boys thought that the turtle was a demon as they have never seen one before. King ordered the boys to catch the turtle and to bring them to the palace. Once this was done, he ordered the men to kill it by throwing it into the lake. Turtle heard their plans and planned to do reverse psychology and say that throwing him into the lake would be the worst option and once the king heard that the turtle was scared, he ordered the men to throw him in the lake and that's what happened to him which as a result, rescued him. This story really stood out to me because it showed how cunning and intelligent the turtle is. Knowing that if he acted scared to one of the ideas that the king and his boys suggested, the king and the boys would do exactly that so that they can give him...

Hawks and Their Friends - A family of hawks resided on an island close to the great forest. Near the north shore, King of the beasts took over who was the Lion. On the east shore, it was a Kingfisher. On the south shore, it was a turtle who occupied the area. Mother hawk told father hawk to go make some friends on the island. Some men hunted in the forest and on the island and made beds to stay the night under the hawk nest. The hunters heard the birds and decided to eat them for breakfast. The father bird asked the kingfisher for help as the fire was burning from the men. Time after time, the kingfisher helped by putting out fires and got very tired. Father hawk went to go ask the turtle for help and after a while, the turtle became tired as well. Father hawk went to get the Lion's help and the lion scared the men away. The hawk was glad to have made friends with all of these animals as they had saved their lives. Foolhardy Wolf - A lion went all around his lair looking for...

The Three Fishes - Thoughtful, very-thoughtful, thoughtless were the three fishes who lived in the river near town. Very-thoughtful sensed danger amongst them all but the other two fish kept staying back and did not want to leave yet. One day thoughtful and thoughtless got caught by a fishing net and very-thoughtful saved them both. Since very-thoughtful saved them, thoughtful and thoughtless decided to leave and to go back to the wild country and all lived safely ever after. Tricky Wolf and the Rats - Wolf saw a group of rats and wanted to catch them to eat them. The wolf stood on his hind legs since it hurts him to stand on his front legs. Every time that the rats left the wolf, the wolf would grab the last rat and eat it. Every night there would be fewer rats in the nighttime. The Chief of the Rats decided to go last and when he did, the Wolf sprung to eat him. They caught him in a lie and killed him. The rats ended up living in peace from there onwards. Turtle Saved His Ow...

Elephant Girly-Face - There was an elephant called Girly face that was owned by the king because he was so kind and gentle and doesn't hurt anyone. The robbers were talking amongst each other to kill whoever stands in their way and to show no mercy and Girly face took the tip as well. Next morning, Girly face killed the keeper and another individual. The king realized it was from bad men that Girly face was learning bad acts. The next day he assembled good men to talk behind the stable and one Girly face heard good things, he went back to normal and was tame. Banyan Deer - Once upon a time there was a gold deer with a red flowerlike mouth and bright hoofs. He resided in the forest and was the king amongst 500 other deers. They lived close to the Monkey deer population. Townspeople wanted to make the deer locked into a park so they could carry on with their errands. They drove the deer there and shut the gate and told the king. The king would hunt the deer from that stable. T...

Turtle Saved His Own Life - A famous courtyard with a lake was present for young princes to play, swim, boat and raft in. Later, the king put fishes in the lake. There was a turtle in the pond with the fishes and the boys thought that the turtle was a demon as they have never seen one before. King ordered the boys to catch the turtle and to bring them to the palace. Once this was done, he ordered the men to kill it by throwing it into the lake. Turtle heard their plans and planned to do reverse psychology and say that throwing him into the lake would be the worst option and once the king heard that the turtle was scared, he ordered the men to throw him in the lake and that's what happened to him which as a result, rescued him. Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking - Two geese and the turtle became friends and later, the geese asked the turtle if he wanted to join them on the journey home and the turtle decided to join as he wanted to go. Geese said that they will take the tur...

The Pandava princes went into the forests that they were kicked to while Draupadi followed and joined them. Later, Yudhisthithira decided to join and then Surya joined the forest and fed them as they didn't have much to eat. The Pandavas resided in the woods for the longest time and it was their twelfth year living there. The Pandu brothers were the grandsons of Vyasa and Vyasa was the author of Mahabarata. Additionally, he came up with the Vedas and Brahma told Vyasa that Ganesha is the scribe and Ganesha put a requirement on this offer and said that he'll be a scribe when he is given the ability to be immortal and not ever die. Brahma passed up on this offer and told him to take another request. That's when Ganesha asked for only if his pen was made continuous. Brahma agreed to that request and they both agreed and Vyasa introduced him to Vaishampayana who was his disciple. Vaishampayana sacrificed a snake in order to take up this request and then took the snake...

King Shantanu (Hastinapur) met Ganga and they fell in love and all their children were drowned in the river up until their eighth child who King Shantanu stopped since he was getting annoyed that she kept killing all the children. The reason she did it was because she believed in the Vasus and that they are supposed to kill them up until the eleventh. She also left King Shantanu since they married each other on one condition - no matter what she does, he cannot get mad at her and he agreed up until the point that she killed the eighth child and when he got onto her about it. The eighth child, Devavrat grew up around his father and ended up being taken good care of up until he grew up older. He later grew into a young Bhishma and ended up taking the responsibility of the entire village and grew up to be a noble, and powerful man who grew up without his mother. This made Bhishma not like growing up without his mother and the fact that everyone kept wondering about whether or not h...

- Pandava princes went into the forest while Draupadi followed - Yudhishthira also followed - Surya joined the forest and gave him food - Pandavas have lived in the woods for 12 years - with wives Draupadi and Dhaumya - visited holy shrines - bathed in sacred waters - did all the devotions - dwelt in pleasant places - went around fruits and flowers - Ganga agreed to being his wife if he was good to her - gave birth to a son and sent him to the Ganges - king couldn't say anything or else she would leave him - Ganga killed seven of their children - on the 8th, king Shantanu spoke up breaking the vow - she revealed her true self to the king before leaving - Devavrata: 8th child's name - gave him to the king and departed for good - maiden was Satyavati who was adopted by her reputed sire - fish carried two unborn babies and she was one - father was a great raja - everyone was aware of Satyavati's beauty - brahmin Parashara wanted to be the fa...

- Mahabharata author: Vyasa - came up with the Vedas - Brahma told him Ganesha is his scribe - Ganesha agreed only if his pen was continuous - Vyasa's disciple: Vaishampayana - Vaishampayana sacrificed snake by Janamejaya - Janamejaya: king of Hastinapura - Janamejaya: great grandson of Arjuna - Arjuna: one of the five Pandu brothers - Pandu brothers: grandsons of Vyasa - Uparichara: king of Chedi - devoted to asceticism - gods were scared he would rob them of power - sent Indra to bribe him with crystal car - crystal car carried him through the sky - springtime while flying, his semen fell into river - swallowed by female fish and got pregnant - boy and a girl came about - king took possession of the boy and left the girl - girl name: Satyavati - foster father: ferryman on Yamuna river - girl made a deal and lost her fishy smell - Dwaipayana: island born child - king Bharata: sire of king Hastin - king Hastin built Hastinapura - king Hastin begot king...

- Rama = avatar of Vishnu. - builds a bridge to Lanka and defeats Dashagriva. - Dashagriva known as Ravana - killed in battle. - Vibhishana - king of Lanka (Ravana's brother). - Rama flies the Pushpaka back to Ayodhya and gives the chariot back to Kubera. - Dasharatha welcomed Vishvamitra - promised him any gift - Vashishtha cheered Dasharatha's heart and wanted him to win - Rama got father's blessing and went with Vishvamitra and Lakshman - Vishvamitra led the way carrying bows and swords - reflection of radiance - Vishvamitra and other priests began sacrifice - rakshasas obscured the sky and rused in horrid shapes - Rama wounded and put to flight Maricha and Suvahu - days of sacrifice took place - ritual at Siddhashrama - Rama asked Vishvamitra for more tasks - Vishvamitra said that Janaka: Raja of Mithila celebrating a sacrifice - behold a big and grand bow - all the Brahmas of the hermitage set out for Mithila - bi...

- Valmiki desired to hear all about Rama - Valmiki returned to the forest hut and passed through the woods - came across the bird man and bird woman singing and dancing - hunter shot the bird man - came across Brahma: creator of the world - Valmiki set himself to make the great Ramayana - fulfillment of desire and wealth - yoga powers were beheld by Rama and Sita - Lakshmanan and Dasharatha continued on with their day - he chose Kusi and Lava: accomplished sons of Rama and Sita - lived in the forest hermitage and learned the Vedas - Valmiki taught Ramayana to them so that they can recite it - brothers went to Ayodhya - Rama's city - Rama found them and then were brought to the court - Ayodhya: beautiful city in Koshala - men were righeous and happy, educated, truthful, charitable - king was Dasharatha: good man - under him were many smart counsellors - some were Kashyapa and Markandeya - saintly priest under him: Vashishtha and Vamadeva - great sage: Rishyasri...

The Bridge - Rama performed sacrifices so that vanar forces would pass over to Lanka - this was done to propitiate the God of the Ocean - since this didnt work out, Rama seized his bow and shot weapons to the deep - earth and sea were mad and darkness flooded the heavens - lightning, thunder, breaking of mountains started to take place - Rama seized a fiery dart and threatened to dry up the waters of the sea - King of the Ocean rose along with shining water snakes - addressed that Rama must go with the laws - son of Vishwakarman = Nala = vanar chief - divine artisan = Nala - Nala was called upon for help - constructed a causeway of rocky islands between the mainland and Lanka - Rama's Bridge --> came to be known as - Rama set up linga symbol of god Shiva - worshipped on the island and called Rameshwaram Rama Attacks - earth shook causing clouds to rain down blood and a fiery circle fell from the sun - monkeys roared at the rakshasas - Rama beheld Lanka whi...