Tech Tip: Behappy.me

I've been using Canva tonight to make different graphics, but I thought I would try another site to see what my experience was like with it! I chose the Behappy.me site simply because I liked its name. It was probably simpler than Canva, but because of that, the options for what you can create are limited. It has a very narrow purpose, but it does that well. I found that you could easily make your quotes stand out more by playing with the line spacing the make different parts larger/smaller/etc. Overall, I like Canva better because of its versatility, but this is a great way to do a quick design for a quote!

(Created using Behappy.me)

Growth Mindset: DREAM

I decided to create an acronym that I can work with for the remainder of the semester to reach my goals and remind myself that you can never dream too big of a dream. Time and time again, I've felt like I couldn't obtain something or get somewhere, but it always ends up working in the end, even if not exactly how I planned. I try and remind myself to continue to dream even when it seems unobtainable, because only the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world ever really do.

(Created using Canva)

Wikipedia Trail: From Sati to the Pollyanna Principle

• I just read all about Shiva, so I thought it would be interesting to start my trail reading about Sati. 
• Sati: Sati is the first wife of Shiva, and her later reincarnations are his later wives. She is the goddess of longevity and bliss in Hinduism. She plays a big part in bringing Shiva away from his isolation and getting him to interact with the other gods and the rest of the world, until she dies and sends Shiva into a rage, of course. 

(Shiva carrying Sati's body after her death; Image Source)

• Sati contained yogic powers, which brought me to my next article.
• Yoga: A group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices from ancient India meant for meditation and spiritual focus. In the late 20th century, it became a popular form of Western exercise, but that is not at all true to its roots. It was likely developed in the 6th century BC as a form of worship.
• The article mentioned yoga being studied as a potential treatment for schizophrenia, which I thought would be an interesting article. 
• Schizophrenia: A mental disorder classified by abnormal behavior and a failure to distinguish reality. People with schizophrenia often see themselves as experiencing a distorted reality, struggling with false beliefs, confused thinking, hearing voices, and struggling to relate with others in social constructs. There are many treatments for schizophrenia and efforts are being made to help those individuals who have schizophrenia. 
• People with schizophrenia often tend to remember words in a list equally regardless of their connotation, which is different from the norm, leading to my final article. 
• Pollyanna Principle: Also known as positive bias, the Pollyanna principle is the tendency for people to remember more pleasant items or words than unpleasant ones. It is thought that this occurs subconsciously, and this principle fades when mental disorders come into play. The article discussed that the subconscious mind has a tendency to focus on the positive, while the conscious mind often dwells on the negative which I found to be quite interesting. 

Growth Mindset: My Motto

"It's our motto."
"What's a motto?"
"Nothing! What's a motto with you??"

Disney jokes aside, this week is a stressful one like I've mentioned in a couple of my other posts tonight. There's been a lot going on at home and just stress of school of course, but I like to remind myself that there is always a reason to hope and a reason to be joyful. My motto for this week is inspired by the book of Job in the Bible, and it is "After darkness, light." I believe that there is light in the midst of the darkness and at the end of each dark period, so I'm expectant for what's to come!

(Created using Canva)

Famous Last Words: Almost Done!

Boy, it's been a wild semester and I can't believe that we're winding down to the end. At my time of writing this, there's 31 days and 18 hours until graduation...but who's counting right? I'm trying to use the free time I had today and tonight to finish up this class. I'm doing a bit of extra credit now and then I think that after doing my revision for my storybook, I'll be completely through! In finishing this class in the next couple days, I think it'll give me more free time to dedicate to wrapping up the remainder of my classes as there are a lot of projects and papers coming up that I want to be able to dedicate my full time to.

Outside of this class, I had my last 'normal' chapter for Phi Lamb last night, which was really bittersweet. The next chapter will be nominations, and then elections. I can't believe that a year ago is when I was first nominated to be chaplain, a task I never thought I was good enough for, yet here I am a year later and I have loved every minute. It has been such a blessing to get to serve my sisters and Jesus this semester through this position and while I'm tired, I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything.

I don't think I ever officially posted on here, but I did end up getting into two vet schools and getting waitlisted at another. Honestly, that was the surprise of a lifetime because I never imagined I'd get in anywhere, let alone two (and a half!). There's so much to be done in the coming weeks, but I'm honestly so excited to move into this next chapter of my life. It's all a big mixture of sad and exciting as I go through a lot of "lasts," but I'm so happy to be here and have had the last 3 years at my home. Boomer sooner forever.

(Personal photo at the Rose Bowl)

Reading Notes: Nivedita's Shiva, Part B

I think I preferred this storytelling style to the one in Part A of this week's reading, as I felt like I was more able to follow the story and get a clearer picture of Shiva.  Since it is longer bursts, I decided I'd do my notes in bullet format for this reading.

The Story of Shiva, the Great God
By: Sister Nivedita

• Shiva's favorite places are wild and lonely places
• He doesn't appear to be a god, he dresses as a lowly traveler with matted hair and a begging bowl
• Constantly rapt in meditation
• His one true desire is to destroy the ignorance of souls and let light come
• He has infinite compassion, desiring to reveal the cause of sin and error to men so that they may overcome
• Only keeps devotees who call themselves masterless
• Rides on a shabby old bull rather than a horse or elephant 
• Regards the lame and crooked and blind as his own - loneliness and deformity and poverty are passwords to his heart
• His third eye pierces to the heart of all hypocrisy and he can burn anything untrue to ash in a glance with it

(Shiva meditating; Image Source)

Sati, the Perfect Wife

By: Sister Nivedita

• Duksha hates Shiva because Shiva would not bow to him, but in reality, he was protecting him, because it is a great curse when someone mightier than another bows at the weaker one's feet. Shiva thought he was respecting Duksha, but Duksha took it as a mighty insult
• Sati means being and existence, proving her goodness because "nothing really exists but goodness"
• Her heart was devoted to Shiva, but their love was forbidden by Duksha. However, at her swayamvara, Shiva wins her hand and Duksha has no choice
• Duksha exiles his daughter and Shiva takes her away
• Sati is angered when she finds out that her father is holding a feast and she and Shiva weren't invited. Shiva begs her not to go to him, but she does anyways
• After a mighty fight between Sati and Duksha, she drops dead
• Shiva's wrath burns and he wages war. He chooses not to kill Duksha, but to put a goat head on his human body.
• He caries Sati's body across the earth as Vishnu follows and breaks her body into pieces so he can have peace
• Sati is born again in Uma/Parvati

Reading Notes: Nivedita's Shiva, Part A

Sati
By: Sister Nivedita
Sati was the youngest daughter of the chief of the gods, Daksha. She became Shiva's wife, but that was unpleasing for her father, Daksha, because he did not like Shiva. However, Daksha was coerced into allowing the marriage when he held Sati's swayamvara and Shiva won her hand. Later down the road, Dakhsa holds a festival without inviting Shiva. This insults Sati greatly and she confronts her father, grows very angry, and falls dead at his feet.

The Anger of Shiva
By: Sister Nivedita

Shiva is seriously angry when he hears about Sati. He births a demon from a lock of his hair and ordrs it to lead his army against Daksha. Brahma advises all the gods to make peace with Shiva because he could easily destroy the entire universe. After speaking to Brahma, Shiva decides to give Daksha a goat head and to restore his broken limbs. We're reminded that Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma are a trinity, not their own sole entities. They are three in one. 

Earlier Myths

By: Sister Nivedita

Shiva carries Sati's body across the earth, his sorrow destroying nature with every step he takes. Vishnu is trailing behind him, restoring the earth and slowly cutting up Sati's body so that Shiva is carrying less and less weight. Once the weight is gone, Shiva retires alone to keep to himself in meditation. We learn that Sati's body was cut into 52 pieces, which is tied to the 52 weeks of the year. 

(Shiva carrying Sati's body, with Vishnu close behind; Image Source)

Shiva's Fishing

By: Sister Nivedita

As I read more stories about these gods, the more they remind me of the gods of Greek and Roman mythology I'm more familiar with. Shiva is making one rash decision after another. Here, he grows angry with Parvati because she daydreams while he's explaining a difficult Veda to her, and casts her to earth to be a fisherman's wife. He quickly realizes he has made a mistake because Parvati is his love and she should only be with him. Years pass and when Parvati's fisherman father declares that whoever can capture the treacherous shark causing mischievous will marry his daughter, Shiva takes his chance and wins his wife back. A rash decision caused years of trouble, which is a common theme when it comes to mythology. 

Shiva's Dance

By: Sister Nivedita

Shiva learns of 10,000 rishis who were teaching that souls have no god and salvation is achieved through works rather than faith. He decides he needs to teach them the truth, so he and Vishnu enter the forest disguised as a wandering yogi and his wife. The rishis soon realize something is wrong so they begin to cast curse after curse, but Shiva easily knocks down each challenge. When they send a great goblin after him, he begans to dance on the goblin's back. The rishis realize that they are in the presence of a god and give themselves to his worship. 

Reading Notes: Inayat Jatakas, Part B

The Patient Buffalo

By: Noor InayatA buffalo was sleeping under a tree when a mischievous monkey decided to bother him. Time after time, the monkey bothered the buffalo and caused him hardship, but the buffalo did not slay him (although he easily could have). The buffalo recognized the monkey had a small brain and he didn't want to harm him just so he could live happily. A fairy got rid of the monkey and blessed the buffalo so nobody could every bother him again.

(The patient buffalo; Image Source)

The Great Elephant
By: Noor Inayat

A beautiful elephant lived in an oasis all alone when he heard voices one day. The voices are those of men who have been exiled by their king and are starving and thirsty. He points them to a hill where he says an elephant is there to feed them. He runs on a different path so the travelers won't see him and he jumps from the highest point on the mountain to his death so that he can feed the travelers. Once the travelers recognized his sacrifice, they were hesitant to eat the elephant, but didn't want his death to be in vain. His sacrifice sustained them until they could reach the next town where they lived happily. 

The Forest Fire

By: Noor Inayat

Seven quail siblings are being raised in a fire, but one of them only ate grass and did not grow strong and mighty wings. A forest fire comes and the parent quails with the six other children fly away, but the seventh is stuck in the nest. He commands the fire to leave him alone and be just, and the fire avoids him just like that. 

The Noble Horse

By: Noor Inayat

The king's knight rode on a mighty horse to defeat the seven invading kings who were trying to take over the kingdom. Before the seventh king, the horse was injured and the knight moved to take another horse, but the horse told him that he would never survive on another. His wounds are bandaged and he is ridden into the final battle, which is excruciating for him. After claiming victory, the horse asks the king to not kill the prisoners, but to let them go under vow to never attack again. The horse succumbs to his wounds, but he was remembered for his nobility. 

Reading Notes: Inayat Jatakas, Part A

The Guilty Dogs
By: Noor Inayat
The royal dogs were naughty and chewed up the king's harnesses for his horses, but the king doesn't realize it was them. He orders all the dogs of the city to be killed, except for his own royal dogs. When the chief of the dogs hears this he goes to the king and demands justice, explaining that the royal dogs are the guilty one. Those dogs are made to vomit and are proven to be guilty, and the king immediately retracts his order and takes good care of the city's dogs.

The Fairy and the Hare
By: Noor Inayat
The hare and his friends decide that they will fast for a day and give any food they find to the poor and needy. The three friends steal food to give away, but the hare has nothing so he decides that he will give his own body up to eat if someone passes by. A cruel fairy takes advantage of the situation and disguises herself as a beggar to coerce the hare into giving his life. Luckily, the hare jumps into the flames but they are cool and did not burn him.

The Golden Feathers
By: Noor Inayat

A poor man leaves his family to go find money, when he stumbles across a fairy who turns him into a goose with golden feathers. He goes back to his wife (of course, she doesn't know it's him), and tells her to pick one of his feathers and go sell it and that he will come back every day. This continues for some time and the wife is doing quite well for herself. One day, she gets greedy and decides to fully pluck the goose. However, an enchantment was placed that if the goose was ever stripped completely, his feathers would no longer be gold, so they all turned white and the wife had nothing. Her greed prevented her from getting anything. 

(The goose after only white feathers 

grew back; Image Source)

The Master's Test

By: Noor Inayat

A master encourages his students to go to a place where no one is watching and steal money to sustain him. All of his pupils jump to it except one, who says that even when no other people are around, his own self is watching and he would rather beg than watch himself steal. The master was happy at his student's understanding of his task. 

Wikipedia Trail: From White Elephants to Final Fantasy

• One of the Jataka tales this past week talked about a white elephant and I figured it was referencing an albino elephant or something along those lines, so I thought I would begin there. 
• White Elephant: This term generally isn't referencing the elephant's color at all, but rather it's beauty and purity. Most "white" elephants have a soft brown color with fair features and are gentle in nature. In paintings, the elephants are generally painted snow white, but this is a misconception, even those who are albino are pink, and many so called "white elephants" are not albinos at all.  
• Indra owned a white elephant named Airavata, which took me to my next article. 
• Airavata: Indra's white elephant with five heads. He is the king of all elephants and can even fly. One of his names means "the one who knits or binds the clouds," because traditional tales have told stories of Airavata's trunks creating the clouds. 

(Airavata; Image Source)

• Airavata is a character in a popular Japanese video game series, which brought me to the next article.
• Megami Tensei: A Japanese video game franchise developed by Sega consisting of multiple series of various role playing games. The game took its original storyline from a book, but it has grown from there into its own franchise and being. The story is shaped by the player's choices as they can fight and recruit other characters and make their own decisions. 

• In looking at Japanese game series, this article also mentioned the Final Fantasy series which brought me to my final article.
• Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy is a Japanese video game, but it is popular across the world (and happens to be a favorite game of my brothers and me). Most of the games are stand alone, but there are some story arcs that last throughout different installments, so it's fun to play the games in order if possible. The Kingdom Hearts series was also a spinoff, which is one of my very favorite games. 

Tech Tip: Fotor Collage

I decided to use Fotor this week to create a collage of some of my favorite things (which, coincidentally, are all related to ocean) to try and take a minute to relax. I'm super stressed going into this week so I thought this would be fun!

Week 12 Story: The Haughty Woman

Once upon a time, there was a woman named Blair who laid around her mansion all day as her brothers waited on her. She never lifted a pinky to help with any of the household chores, she couldn't even make toast for herself. Her brothers didn't seem to mind her laziness, though, as they enjoyed the work and led quite the lavish lives themselves. Day in and day out, she would tell her brothers what she wanted them to do for her that day and they would return with gourmet food and shopping bags in hand.

Despite Blair's poor attitude, there was no denying her beauty. Her beautiful brown hair flowed like the waves of the sea and her skin was the shade of honey. All the men in town admired Blair and her good looks, wishing that they could take her hand in marriage.

A young man named Augie was particularly enamored with Blair. The problem was, Augie was not a ladies man by any aspect of the imagination. He was likable enough and everyone around town stood up for Augie if anyone had the audacity to say something mean to him. On a day where he felt particularly filled with confidence, Augie went to Blair's house after her beefy brothers had left and knocked on her door.

(Matt Bennett as Augie; Image Source)

"H-h-h-hi Blair!"

Blair just glared at him.

"I'm just gonna spit this out before I chicken out, would you like to go to the zoo's black tie event with me tonight?"

Blair scoffed in disgust and slammed the door in Augie's face. She couldn't believe that a guy like that would ever dare ask someone like her to go to the benefit night. Augie was saddened by this dismissal, but he decided he would go to the event, with or without a date.

When Augie showed up that night, news quickly spread how Blair treated him earlier that day. Everyone there was outraged with Blair's behavior and avoided her the whole night. She had her riches and beauty but she would never have friends or love with her bad attitude.

Author's Note:
This story was inspired by The Jackal Would A-Wooing Go by W.H.D. Rouse. The original is about a haughty lioness who is offended when a jackal asks for her hand in marriage. In the original, the brothers go after the jackal and end up dying from their ignorance and the jackal dies of fear, but I decided that in this story, I would just stick with Blair becoming an outcast. Her beauty couldn't make her friends or win her love.

Reading Notes: Rouse Jatakas, Part B

Spend a Pound to Win a Penny
By: W. H. D. Rouse
A monkey steals a bunch of peas from men below his trees while they tend to their horses, but then accidentally drops one. He is in such a greedy state that he goes after that one pea without realizing that all of the other ones are falling in the process. He searches and searches for the one pea until the men come back and throw stones at him, and not until he clambers back up his tree does he realize that he lost everything else. Instead of being so consumed with one thing that went wrong, he should've focused on everything else he had.

Union is Strength
By: W. H. D. Rouse

A hunter lures quails to him by imitating their call, and then netting them all when they gather. The quails begin to work together to fly all at once and take the net with them, then escape from it later by landing on a bush where the net gets caught. The hunter begins to worry because he's not getting any sustenance, but he figures that the quails will soon begin to quarrel and argue. Sure enough, a petty argument begins and the quails no longer work together, allowing the hunter to kill them and eat them all. 

The Jackal Would A-Wooing Go

By: W. H. D. Rouse

It's actually kind of sad to read all of these Indian stories written in the past when animals like lions and elephants were so prevalent in the area, but now lions are confined to few parts of Africa and elephants have had such drastic decreases. The conservationist in me is saddened about how the animals that once inspired these stories are no longer in the areas they were written. In this story, a jackal proposes to a lioness and offends her greatly. She was insulted that a measly jackal would have the gall to propose to a queen like her. Her first two brothers get offended quickly and go after the jackal, but die when they try to jump at him while disregarding the crystal. The third brother realizes there is crystal protecting the jackal and scares him to death just by calling out to him. The sister is not at all sorry about her two brothers having lost their lives, along with the jackal who really didn't try to cause harm. Nobody else ever proposed marriage to her because she was so snotty. 

(The haughty lioness; Image Source)

Lacknose

By: W. H. D. Rouse

Three little boys want to persuade a gardener who has no nose to give them some flowers to take home. The first two boys try to flatter the gardener but end up insulting him about his nose. Because they beat around the bush and were trying to please their way into getting what they wanted, they ended up being rude and didn't get anything at all. The third boy simply asks for a posy and the gardener is so pleased that he doesn't have any tricks up his sleeve and is simply honest that he sends the boy home with a bunch of flowers. 

Reading Notes: Rouse Jatakas, Part A

The Giant Crab
By: W. H. D. Rouse
This story is about a monstrous crab who tortures all the animals coming to one of the only lakes around to drink. He kills the innocent animals and feasts on them until a pair of elephants decides they've had enough and they trick him then kill him. I pictured the crab as Tamatoa from Moana, a giant crab who is only out to benefit himself and doesn't care about anyone else!

(Tamatoa; Image Source)

The Dishonest Friend

By: W. H. D. Rouse

A man steals his friend's plough to sell as his own, and when his friend finds out he takes matters into his own hands. He takes the dishonest friend's son for a "walk" where he actually places him in the home of another friend, but tells the father that the son was taken away by a hawk. Of course, the dishonest man knows a hawk didn't steal his son, but the man uses this to make his point that obviously a rat didn't eat his plough. In the end, the dishonest man returns the plough, gets his son back, and learns that he should be more honest. 

The Mouse and the Farmer

By: W. H. D. Rouse

A farmer takes a liking to a resident mouse, bringing him dinner every night and enjoying his companionship. When the farmer's cat tries to kill the mouse, the mouse makes a deal that he'll bring the cat juicy meat every night in exchange for not eating him. The mouse grows skinnier and skinnier and when the farmer notices, he decides to kill the cat rather than coming up with some other solution like giving the mouse and the cat both meat. A little extreme.

The Pious Wolf

By: W. H. D. Rouse

This story is actually pretty deep, talking about the problem of people pretending to be pious and put on a holier-than-thou act, when in reality they go back to their own ways in the snap of a finger. The wolf claims he's going to fast and is so holy, but the second a temptation comes forward he turns into his normal self. 

Typing Game Tech Tip

I started by playing the Ninja Cat game, which I thought was fun! I got frustrated a few times because the game wasn't picking up the letters I was typing so I would have to go back and redo it. I then played the TypingRace game which I liked a lot better since it was full sentences with capitals and the like. I've always really enjoyed typing and had fun during computer classes when they brought out those blackout covers for the keyboard. Everyone else groaned when we had to do that, but I thought it was fun, probably because my parents really emphasized being good at typing when I was at home from an early age.

Reading Notes: Babbitt's Jataka Tales Part B

The Elephant Girly-Face
By: Ellen C. Babbitt
An elephant hears bad men talking about killing and being mean, so he resorts to killing the keepers and being very cruel. Upon discovering this, the king sends mean to talk kindly near him, and the elephant reverts to its kind ways. This story has a two-fold meaning, first showing the influence our talk and action has on others. We must be cautious, especially around the impressionable, to not sway them to do our bidding. Second, we must be wise in not falling prey to doing whatever we hear around us, the elephant was only doing what he heard, but that didn't make it right.

The King's White Elephant
By: Ellen C. Babbitt
After the carpenters help an elephant with his injury, he helps them with their work every day and his son, the white elephant, is raised to do the same. Because of this, they both get a good and full life and then his son ends up as a prized possession of the king. They repaid their debt and it worked in their favor in the end.

Granny's Blackie
By: Ellen C. Babbitt
Blackie sees that Granny is growing old and feeble, so instead of playing with the children like he liked to do, he goes off to find work. He gets paid a good price for moving wagons across the river and makes sure to get fair pay to take home and surprise Granny. Blackie is happy that he cvan help Granny and makes sure to work hard to help her live comfortably.

(Blackie going to find work; Image Source)

Reading Notes: Babbitt's Jataka Tales Part A

The Monkey and the Crocodile
By: Ellen C. Babbitt
The crocodile tricks the monkey onto his back before revealing his plan to eat his heart. The monkey quickly says that he left his heart in his tree so he won't be able to indulge the crocodile. The stupid crocodile takes the monkey back to the tree to retrieve his heart, where he is safe. Later, the crocodile tries to trick monkey again, but he is outwitted a second time.

The Merchant of Seri
By: Ellen C. Babbitt
An old woman tries to trade a golden bowl for something brass or tin for her granddaughter, not realizing the worth of her bowl. A greedy merchant tries to convince her that her bowl is worth nothing so that he can come back later and get it for nothing, conning the woman and her granddaughter. Another merchant comes through afterwards and informs the woman of her treasure, giving her all his money and product to have the golden bowl. The greedy merchant is angry when he returns to collect the bowl for nothing, and the kind merchant is well off for many days to come.

(The grandmother's gold bowl; Image Source)

The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking
By: Ellen C. Babbitt
Two geese are carrying their turtle friend on a branch between them, where turtle is holding on. They tell him not to talk on the journey, but he can't resist opening his mouth. Of course, he falls and dies, illustrating the dangers of speaking without thought.

The Ox Who Won the Forfeit
By: Ellen C. Babbitt
This is a sweet story about an ox who works hard for his kind master. When one day the master brags and gambles that his ox can pull a heavy load, he takes it too far and whips his ox and calls him names. The ox doesn't move an inch. After a heartfelt conversation that night, they go back the next day and when the man treats the ox with kindness, the ox easily moves the load and wins back the man's money two-fold. This goes to show the power of kindness.

Week 10 Story: A Little Love

Hastin was the meanest kid on the playground. If any other kid had the audacity to look at him strangely, Hastin was ready to fight. He was the strongest kid at Mathura Elementary and the other students quickly learned to stay out of his way. One day at lunch, an arrogant fifth grader, Richie, decided he would try and provoke Hastin to get him expelled. He began to shoot spit balls at Hastin and mocked the way he looked and spoke. Hastin began to get really angry, but then one of the smallest fourth graders sat down right next to him.

"Hiya, my name is Krishna! I'm new to this school and could really use a friend, can I sit here?"

Hastin was baffled by this small boy coming to sit by him, but he grunted out a "sure" and got back to his rectangle pizza. Krishna carried on the conversation, with Hastin replying with mostly grunts and nods. When the bell rang for recess, Krishna asked Hastin if he would like to stay inside with him and go to the music room. Hastin, still amazed by Krishna's kindness, agreed.

Hastin realized quickly that Krishna was a very talented musician and asked if he could play some of his favorite songs on the flute. Krishna happily obliged and Hastin was singing along by the end of recess.

(Krishna playing for Hastin; Image Source)

This continued for the next couple of weeks, with Hastin growing more and more friendly to those around him. He explained to Krishna what it was like at home for him and that he was mean to kids at school so that they didn't have a chance to be mean first. Krishna patted his friend on the back and reminded him that violence was never the way. Hastin chuckled and agreed with his new friend, thanking the gods that Krishna transferred to Mathura Elementary.

Author's Note:
This story is inspired by Episode 12 of the Epified Krishna videos, "Krishna Rides Hastin." I decided to make Hastin a misunderstood bully who everyone was scared of, and that some even antagonized just to get a reaction. These character traits are fairly constant with the original, but he is now a boy rather than a bull. I thought it would be neat to have Krishna display his kindness to Hastin and show the transformation that can occur when someone is kind, because this story is just as applicable to people as it is to bulls.

Reading Notes: Epified Krishna Part B

I'm finishing up the Krishna videos, these have been super helpful in understanding Krishna's life and legacy! 

Episode 11: Krishna Humbles Brahma

• Brahma, the creator of the universe, appears when Krishna is having lunch with his shepherd friends
• Brahma shames Krishna for sharing his food with cow herders
• Brahma kidnaps his friends and the cows
• Krishna quickly learns it was Brahma behind this trick
• Krishna recreates his friends and the cows from himself so that they don't appear to be missing
• Brahma returns a year later and realizes that everyone around him was Krishna - he falls to his knees and apologizes to Krishna, then returns the people and cows

Episode 12: Krishna Rides Hastin

• Hastin was the biggest and strongest bull. He was the sire of every cow in the area
• Krishna declares that he will ride Hastin and of course, no one believes him
• For the next month, Krishna visited Hastin every night and played the flute, fed him sweet food, etc. 
• Hastin became quite docile and at the next full moon, Krishna rode Hastin through the village
• The villagers came to understand that kindness is the ultimate strength

Episode 13: The Saviour of Dharma

• Radha and Krishna could not live one moment without each other, but when Krishna told his mother he wanted to marry Radha, she did not approve
• The priest told Krishna he couldn't marry Radha because his destiny was something else - the truth of his birth was revealed to him and he realized he was the deliverer the sages talked about
• The revelation made him very sad because he couldn't stay with his people or with Radha

Episode 14: Akrur Invites Krishna

• Kamsa sends Akrur to invite Krishna to an event
• Akrur had the purest feelings toward Krishna
• Akrur warns Krishna that Kamsa means to kill him at this event 

Episode 15: Krishna's Farewell

• All of Krishna's people tried to stop him from going because they couldn't imagine life without him
• He said he had to leave his safe shelter to perform his duties
• Akrur sees Krishna's true form, Vishnu, but Krishna is not aware

Episode 16: Krishna Arrives at Mathura

• As Krishna arrived in Mathura, he quickly made friends with the people 
• Stories of his kindness and heroics quickly spread
• An old woman goes to Krishna and asks for healing from her deformities, and he grants her health
• His fame spread, and reached the ears of Kamsa

Episode 17: Krishna Kills Kuvalayapida

• Kamsa knew that his life was in Krishna's hands
• He knew this was his last chance to do away with Krisha
• Kuvalayapida was a full grown, aggressive, uncontrollable elephant - Kamsa plans to use this elephant to trample and kill Krishna
• When Krishna found the elephant, it attacked him, but Krishna grabbed hold of the trunk and threw him away, then knocked him unconscious 

Episode 18: Krishna Kills Kamsa

• Krishna effortlessly lifts the divine bow, which was meant for Vishnu
• When Krishna began to string the bow, the bow snapped
• Kamsa flips out, as the breaking of the bow sealed his death
• Krishna and his brother fight all of Kamsa's men
• When Krishna approaches Kamsa, Kamsa sees Vishnu's face
• Krishna defeats Kamsa, much to the joy of the people

Episode 19: Freedom for Mathura

• Akrur frees Krishna's grandfather from prison
• Next, Krishna's parents are freed from prison
• Kamsa's father becomes king of Mathura
• Krishna and his brother continue to live in Mathura instead of going back to their home

Episode 20: Dwarka - Krishna's Kingdom

• The allies of Kamsa were very angry at the turn of events in Mathura
• They waged war against Mathura, leaving it in ruins
• Krishna asked the king to shift Mathura to another place, but the king was worried that they'd be seen as cowards
• The king finally agrees and the divine architect builds a new city for Mathura in Dwarka 
• In Dwarka, Krishna becomes king and takes over the administration of the new city
• Everyone knew Krishna could've defeated the other armies, but he spared them because he knew that later, they would meet their end at the hands of the Pandavas

(Krishna playing his flute; Gif Source)

Reading Notes: Epified Krishna Part A

I liked the Epified videos for the Mahabharata a lot, so I thought I would watch the ones for Krishna as well! I'm going to continue the same basic notes format I did when watching the past videos because it helped me understand the facts that I often get jumbled up in, so that I could later refer back to those as needed. 

Introduction: Krishna Comes

• Krishna had enemies before he was even born who tried to prevent him from ever being born, and then from ever growing up.
• He kept surviving, then went on to become a king and so much more 
• "They did not know that he was not a part of their world, they were a part of his world."

Episode 1: Kamsa

• On the same day Arjuna was born, Krishna was born as well
• Kamsa was a cruel king 
• He was told that the eighth child of his sister would kill him, so he locked her and her husband up, swearing to kill their eighth born
• He killed every child they had, but the seventh child was transferred to another's womb due to an act of a goddess
• The eighth child filled the prison cell with a divine light because Vishnu had come to the earth as Krishna

Episode 2: Vasudev Meets Yamuna

• Vasudev (Krishna's father) was worried because he knew his brother in law would come for Krishna
• Suddenly, the prison gates were opened and Vasudev heard a voice telling him that it was safe to go outside
• A sleep had fallen over the whole kingdom
• Vasudev went to the Yamuna (river) and asked her for help
• A serpent appeared and protected Vasudev and Krishna from the storm and the river as Vasudev walked across to the other bank
• He enters a camp and leaves his son with another woman, taking the newborn in exchange (Maya)

Episode 3: Durga Speaks to Kamsa

• Kamsa laughs when he sees the "eight child" is a girl, thinking that he is safe since he could never be killed by a woman
• The moment he raised his hand to kill the girl, she turned into Durga
• Durga tells him he is a fool for judging her for being a woman
• She says that his destiny will still consume him, as his slayer had already been born and was safe far away 

(The goddess Durga; Image Source)

Episode 4: Putana

• The mother who Krishna was left with was perplexed when she woke up next to a boy, rather than the girl she had given birth to
• Holy men and travelers from all over came to visit her and see her children, speaking blessings and love for Krishna
• A woman, Putana, came and grew very close to the family (in reality, she was sent by Kamsa)
• One night, she changed into a demonness and stole Krishna away from the house
• She fed Krishna poisoned milk, but Krishna was feeding on her and taking everything from her

Episode 5: Maakhan Chor

• A cart came rolling down a hill at Krishna, but he kicked it and it was destroyed
• Krishna became a troublemaker in the village - he and his friends liked to steal butter, giving him his nickname of Maakhan Chor 

Episode 6: Krishna's Mouth

• Krishna ate mud and when his mother came out, she forced his mouth open
• When she looked into his mouth, she didn't see mud, she saw the entire universe (sun moon, stars, planets, every creature, eternity, etc.)
• Just as her mind was about to burst, she came back to reality
• She came to terms with the fact that her son was the Brahman himself (Vishnu, just like Rama)

Episode 7: Dreams and Music

• Krishna's village travels to a new home
• Around this time, he became very interested in music
• He picked up the flute and learned it quickly, like he had always known how to play
• One day when he was playing, it suddenly got silent
• When he went to his friends, he found that they were all unconscious. He challenges the snake of the river who had poisoned them all
• Krishna begins to play his flute and to its rhythm, he jumped on the snake and danced, forcing the snake to withdraw
• It became clear to everyone that Krishna was an avatar

(Krishna with his flute; Image Source)

Episode 8: Kamsa's Terrors

• Krishna grew into a young man
• Every demon who came after the village met its end at Krishna's hands
• Kamsa was quickly running out of monsters, but he kept trying to get Krishna killed

Episode 9: The Govardhan Hill

• Krishna tells his neighbors to honor the Govardhan Hill rather than Indra
• Indra gets very angry and sends a terrible storm to the people
• Krishna consoled the people and lifted the Govardhan Hill with his little finger, making it an umbrella to protect them from Indra's wrath
• Indra descends and begs Krishna's forgiveness

Episode 10: Radha's Love

• Krishna loved Radha
• They grew up together and their love for each other made them one soul

Week 9 Story: Hidden in the Himalayas

The man grew more and more excited as he watched a dark figure skitter through the trees, ducking between branches and hiding behind trunks. He quickly pulled out his flip phone and took a grainy photo. A few minutes passed and then the trees began to shake as though a large animal was leaping through the trees. He ran back to the cottage and quickly dialed the number for those in his inner circle.

(Sahil's photo of Hanuman; Image Source)

~~~~~~~

The phone rang furiously off the hook as the group stomped back into their makeshift home at the base of the Himalayas. The leader, Rohan, ran to answer the phone, shaking with excitement at the news it may hold. As the watcher on the other end reported his findings, Rohan's pulse quickened. At the news that Sahil had even captured pictures, Rohan thought he might faint. He quickly rallied his team and they practically sprinted to Site 17, where Sahil was waiting.

~~~~~~~

"Alright gang, we've spent our whole lives preparing for this moment. Today's the big day. Hanuman has evaded us this long, but we know he is somewhere in these mountains, walking the earth as long as Rama's praises are sung. Sahil was able to capture pictures earlier today and they closely resemble the monkey king, so we are led to believe that he is in these parts. He must have a divine message for us or he wouldn't be lurking so closely. Let's split up into teams - I'll go with Anaya to the west. Kiara, you and Himmat take the east. Sahil, as our tracker, you go straight ahead. Sound the whistle if you find something worthwhile, otherwise, we'll meet back here at sunset."

~~~~~~~

"Hey Rohan, look at this! It must belong to Hanuman!"

Rohan jogged over to where Anaya was and saw her standing in the biggest footprint he had ever seen. Hanuman had the ability to change his size, so the only explanation for this footstep was Hanuman in his large form. Rohan let out a giddy laugh, his years of searching were finally coming to fruition with his best friends by his side. With a whoop, he sounded the whistle to tell the others of the news.

(Hanuman's footprint; Image Source)

~~~~~~~

Hanuman sat in the tree directly above the group, chuckling to himself as they fretted about looking for him. Of course, he was thankful for their devotion to him, but he also liked to have a bit of fun. If nothing else, it was a way to pass the time. Someday, when the group most needed it, he would make himself known to them. However, today was not that day. Looking for Hanuman brought these friends together and gave them purpose, and he did not want to remove their central cause just yet. As the group split up again, Hanuman leaned back and closed his eyes, reminiscing over his adventures and looking forward to leading his devoted followers on even more. 

Bibliography: 
Bhima and Hanuman from "The Mahabharata, A Summary" by John Mandeville Macfie
Author's Note: 
The original story focuses on the meeting of Bhima and Hanuman, who are actually half brothers by their father, Vayu. Bhima tries to move a monkey laying across the path, but is unable to despite his massive strength, and it turns out to be Hanuman. The two have a lengthy chat and brother bonding time. My story is obviously nowhere like this, but it was simply inspired by the reminder that Hanuman is in fact immortal, as long as the praises of Rama are sung. I thought it would be fun to do a story pulling from bigfoot enthusiasts, but instead having them focused on finding Hanuman in the Himalayas. I tried to use multiple perspectives which is not something I had done, but I think it worked to show the excitement of each group member with every discovery, as well as portraying Hanuman's fun side. I have always seen Hanuman as a bit of a jokester, so I think this fits him, but he also does care about these people and has used their draw to him as a bonding agent for the group to form friendships.

Reading Notes: Epified Mahabharata, Part B

I really enjoyed the first section of these videos, as I am able to get a much better grasp of the basic story line. Laying out the notes in this format has helped a lot too, so I'm hoping to continue with that!

Episode 9: Son of the Sun

• Kunti, Pandu's wife, has a secret - she had a son with the sun god
• Her sun had armor and celestial earrings - he was clearly divine
• Since she was unmarried, she sent her son down the river in a basket (like Moses)

Episode 10: Pandu's Curse

• Pandu and his wives enter the forest to enjoy nature - he took to hunting
• One day, he accidentally shot a hermit couple having sex, thinking they were deer
• The hermit cursed Pandu so that the moment he entered intimacy with a woman, he would die
• Pandu decided to stay in isolation along with his wives
• Kunti decides to tell Pandu about her gift to be able to summon gods and make them fall in love with her (without mentioning her child)
• Pandu's thrilled and asks Kunti to quickly summon a god and bear Hastanaput's future kings

Episode 11: Sons of Pandu

• Kunti first calls Yama, god of truth, who gives her a son - Yudhishthira (mental rock)
• Kunti then calls the wind god, who gives her another son - Bhima (strong and fast)
• She then calls Indra, who gives her another son - Arjuna (great warrior/archer)
• She uses her mantra to call gods for Madri
• Madri has sons with the Ashwin twins - Nakula and Sahadeva
• Pandu loses control and forces himself on Madri, which kills him due to his curse
• Madri follows him into a funeral pyre, leaving Kunti as the mother of the five Pandavas

The sons of Pandu; Image Source

Episode 12: One Hundred Sons

• When Gandhari (Dhritarashtra's wife) hears that Kunti has borne sons, she is nervous because the eldest born child of either brother (Dhritarashtra or Pandu) would inherit the throne of Hastanaput
• She becomes pregnant with Dhritarashtra's child, but it was a very troubled one
• She gave birth to a lifeless lump
• In her despair, she ordered a maid to cast that lump of flesh into the forest
• Vyasa stops her and divides the lump into 100 pieces, immersing each piece into a vat of oil, which began the future of the Kuru clan
• Gandhari's children began forming in those vats
• Bad omens began forming around Hastanaput
• There was something demonic about the 100 sons 
• Now Kunti returns...

Episode 13: Hate and Hurt

• Gandhari and Dhritarashtra's eldest child, Duryodhana particularly disliked Bhima because grandfather Bhishma favored Bhima
• Duryodhana found that he could not defeat Bhima in wrestling matches - Duryodhana grew to hate Bhima as Bhima became more and more beloved
• Duryodhana's uncle, Gandhari's brother, became his mentor - he told Duryodhana that the Pandavas were pretenders and he needed to defeat them
• He puts sleeping herbs in their food and pushes Bhima into a lake to drown

Episode 14: The Magic Potion

• As Bhima falls, poisonous snakes begin biting into him, yet he is not killed
• Instead, he woke up and fought off the snakes, reversing the situation
• The king of the serpents ends up being Bhima's grandfather and Bhima was given a drink that enabled him to face and defeat many threats to his and his brother's life
• Gave him the strength of a thousand elephants and transformed him into a hero

Episode 15: Drona

• Duryodhana is confused and unhappy at Bhima's return to Hastanaput
• Bhishma realized that the boys needed a teacher to master the way of war - Drona

Episode 16: Drona Trains the Pandavas

• The boys soon began displaying their prowess to Drona
•  Yudhishthira - excellent charioteer
• Nakula & Sahadeva - talented swordsmen
• Bhima - strongest son of all, talented at the mace
• Arjuna - perfect warrior, wielded all weapons with equal ease and was adept at hand to hand combat. He was most drawn to archery
• Drona decided he could be taught the use of the divine weapons

Episode 17: Ekalavya's Story

• Ekalavya - a hunter who proved to be the most talented of archers
• Not a warrior/prince/etc.
• Arjuna asks him who his guru was and how he learned the art of archery
• He answers, Drona
• Arjuna is furious, accusing Drona of betraying him and his ambition, but Drona has no knowledge of Ekalavya
• Ekalavya tells him that he had gone to Drona to be trained but Drona had denied him due to his humble background
• This pushed Ekalavya to be extremely devoted and become the best archer in the world
• Drona orders him to cut off the thumb of his right hand to prevent his talent from remaining

Reading Notes: Epified Mahabharata, Part A

I had a more difficult time understanding the Mahabharata than I did the Ramayana, I think because of all the different characters involved. I enjoy these kinds of videos and I'm hoping that they will help me understand the story more thoroughly.

Episode 1: Shantanu the Unfortunate

• King Shantanu marries Ganga (goddess of the Ganges), under the promise that he will never question her choices
• She drowns their first 7 children and he says nothing due to his promise, but at the 8th child, he stops her
• She had promised 8 cursed vasus that she would give birth to them and then immediately kill them to free them from mortality
• After telling Shantanu this, she leaves with their child, the 8th son

Episode 2: Devavrata Returns

• 16 years later, Shantanu is mourning on the banks of the Ganges, lamenting the loss of his wife and son
• He sees a skilled archer, which Ganga reveals to be his son, Devavrata
• Shantanu is thrilled and brings Devavrata back to his kingdom
• Not long after, he falls in love with a fisherman's daughter, but the fisherman refuses to grant her hand because her children would always be second to Prince Devavrata and his children

Episode 3: Devavrata Becomes Bhishma

• Devavrata vows to give up the throne and become celibate, never marrying and never having children so that his father could marry his love, Satyavati
• He was renamed Bhishma: "he of the terrible oath"
• His father was heartbroken and filled with doom because of his son's oath, but he declared that his virtuous son would be able to choose the moment of death - death could never touch Bhishma without his consent

Episode 4: Desperation of Bhishma

• Bhishma watches over the throne as a guardian, but keeps his oath
• After his father's death, he becomes a father figure to his two half brothers, bringing them up to be capable kings
• One of the boys dies, and the other (who is in poor health), inherits the throne
• Bhishma worries that if something happens that there will be no heir to the throne, so he finds his brother, Vichitravirya, a wife
• He kidnaps three princesses - Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika

Episode 5: Amba's Ruin

• Amba, the eldest, confesses that she is in love with another king and to please let her go
• Bhishma lets her go and apologizes
• Amba goes to her beloved, but he denies her, telling her that she had been taken by another man and he could no longer accept her
• Amba returns to Bhishma, begging him to marry her so that she is not humiliated by being alone, but he refuses due to his terrible oath
• Amba was furious and blamed Bhishma for ruining her life
• A sage who had been one of Bhishma's mentors hears Amba's story and grows furious at Bhishma, and they fight furiously for 23 days
• Amba's warrior gives up and leaves
• She declares that she is going to get revenge on Bhishma

Episode 6: Satyavati's Secret

• King Vichitravirya dies - the kingdom now has no king or prince (he never had children)
• Bhishma still refuses to father the children of Ambika and Ambalika
• Satyavati is forced to tell Bhishma that she actually had another son before meeting Shantanu
• They had Vyasa, a child blessed to be the greatest poet the world had ever seen
• Vyasa grew into a man within moments and promised to appear when she summoned him
• Vyasa comes and Satyavati begs him to father the children of Ambika and Ambalika
• The women are terrified, Vyasa is scary to look at and they do not want to be with him

Episode 7: Sons of Vyasa

• When Vyasa visits Ambika, she closes her eyes - the child born to her was blind (Dhritarashtra)
• He grew to be strong and kind
• When Vyasa visits Ambalika, she turned pale with fear - the child born to her was pale and unhealthy (Pandu)
• He grew to be a great archer who was loved by his people
• Satyavati is furious and tells Vyasa to visit Ambalika again
• Ambalika sends in her place a servant girl, who didn't fear Vyasa - she gave birth to a healthy child (Vidura)
• He grew to be wise and extremely learned
• Considered an avatar of Yama (god of truth)
• All were taught about politics, warfare, etc.
• Unspoken rivalry between Dhritarashtra and Pandu
• Uncle Bhishma never noticed, but Vidura did

Episode 8: The Blind Bride

• Dhritarashtra takes the throne when the time comes
• Pandu had no objections and was content to serve as the army commander
• Everyone knew that while Dhritarashtra was the king, it was Pandu who really ruled Hastanaput
• When it came time to create alliances, Bhishma arranges a marriage between Dhritarashtra and Gandhari
• The wife vows to give up her sight, blindfolding herself for life
• Her brother could not bear to see her ruin her life, and he vows to avenge his sister (even though it was her choice..)
• Pandu marries two wives - Kunti and Madri
• Pandu soon finds out that his elder queen, Kunti, has a secret that she has been keeping

Gandhari, the blind bride; Image Source