#thought that krishna arjun will look good in this one

[stxrrynxghts]

Arjun: you call yourself soul mate, but where were you when my meme had only 4 likes?

Krishna: making four accounts, bro

Arjun, tearing up: bro-

#mahabharat #mahabharata #hindu mythology #arjun #krishna #incorrect mahabharat quotes #saw this on the net somewhere #thought that krishna arjun will look good in this one #i have said before am saying again #not all of these memes are originals #some i just recycled from the net #some are from a quotes generator #but some are made by me #so dont wanna be accused of plagiarizm #thanks for coming to my ted talk

[bharatiya-naari-sab-pe-bhaari]

So I have been writing something on the mahabharata and thought to go through some of the popular media versions for inspiration.

[Instant regret intensifies]

I mean sometimes versions of the same thing might inspire you to do something different, I guess. I mean that was my logic but...hoooo mannn.. these are not different interpretations of the epic, these are like the Adipurush script writers had sold whatever they were smoking to the makers of all the tv versions.

I need brain bleach for atleast ninety percent of them.

I'll tell you what my opinions are (I just need to rant, please bear with me)

The StarPlus Mahabharata:

The Good:

Everyone (almost) looks good. Like casting was top notch. Eye candies walking around. The dialogues were pretty good. Some of their creative liberties hit the spot. It was the nicest version made tbf. And also, the best damned decision, SRJ as Krishna. (Say that again with me)

The Bad:

Inaccuracies galore. Also, stop simping so much on Karna. It looks pathetic. Arjun was charming alright but they managed to cut his badass skills to less than a half. My girl...Subhadra. What the hell did they do to you!!!! I hated how they showed her. The casting, the character arc... bleahhh! Duryodhan looked like a cartoonish villain and had little to no depth and Ashwatthama....whyyyyy *cries*

The RadhaKrishna Mahabharata:

The Bad:

Fucking everything. What was the casting? And why did everyone look so miniature? Except Karna and Bheem.. those dudes looked old. The story was shit. Even with their thousand and one fictional overtures. (What the hell was Krishna doing in Matsya during Virataparvam???). Kunti was a typical sasu mom villain. Arjun was a wimp.

The Good:

Sumedh is funny. And the guy playing Arjun looked like a baby. I wanted to pull his cheeks every time he came on screen (I dunno if that is good or just sweet). The only likeable scene was prolly Drau-Arjun making heart eyes at each other in that Mandir (cute couply moment and the bgscore is likable). Subhadra had some personality.

Sony's Suryaputra Karna :

:)

:)

The makers smoked weed and some combination of technicolour inducing hallucinogenic (most likely sourced from the Adipurush script writers)

:)

:)

WHAT THE EVER LOVING MIND FUCK WAS THAT?

See, I liked SP's Mahabharata's Karna (Aham Sharma.. ahem ahem) because of the creative liberties taken by the makers to make him likable. I didn't mind all of the inaccuracies. But this? THIS?

[*vomit inducing everything*]

The only two good things :- Dury was handsome (eye candy purposes) and Gautam Rode met his wife (can't help being starry eyed over meet cutes).

Karnasangini

See, at this point, I didn't go there expecting any canonical accuracy but just for creative purposes.

Good:

The sets were pretty. These dudes have money and they showed it (very cleverly copying Ek Dil ek Jaan music by changing the lyrics for Karn-Uruvi bgscore, they thought we won't notice, but we did) so everything was eye pleasing. Bhanumati was again... eye candy pretty. Karna himself (Asim Gulati meri jaan), too tragically pretty. I think this Arjun (baby but with beard, lmfao) was also the same guy as Radhakrishna MB.

Bad:

Uruvi (and I swear its not because I can't tolerate Tejaswini). The girl was the most annoying mc to have ever been written. I couldn't feel anything for her. I couldn't understand jack of what she ever did or spoke. The hypocrisy was sky high.

PS:- I would have totally enjoyed watching a version of Karna's life and the Kauravas pov of the mahabharata, had they made it properly (not whitewashing everyone on their side with fucking plaster while turning the Pandavas into cartoony villains.. sigh). Also I think, this one was adapted from the Kavita Kane book.

--------------------------------------------

One liners on the book [because, why not]

Arjun Without A Doubt (Sweety Shinde) :-

Literally ArDi fanfiction straight out of wattpad (just better writing to be completely fair) and the authot hated everyone else except Krishna.

Karna's Wife, The Outcast's Queen (Kavita Kane) :-

Could have been interesting had the writing not been so bad. Cartoony antagonist and protagonists and completely amateurish plot creation.

The Fisher Queen's Dynasty (Kavita Kane):-

I actually liked this one. It was a refreshing take on characters not usually written of.

The Rise of Hastinapur, The Winds of Hastinapur, The Rise of Hastinapur (Sharath Komarraju) :-

I liked his style and his storytelling. Wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea though. The characters are very controversially written. (Also, trilogy on the women of mahabharat.. count me in)

The Palace of Illusions (Chitra Banerjee Divakurni) :-

I had high expectations from her but... it fell flat on its face. This was the worst portrayal of Draupadi I have ever come across, anywhere, across any platforms.

The Amar Chitra Katha comics :-

Some of the most authentic retellings of the epic and I truly enjoyed going through all the individual copies and also the full three set volume they had.

The Song of Draupadi (Ira Mukhoty) :-

I loved this one. Very opinionated and very open to interpretation as well. It was a good read.

PS :- I haven't read any of Devdutt Patnaik's books (tbh I dont like the guy very much, as little as I know him from interviews on the internet) and I want to read Ajaya but haven't got around to it. Any more books that I should check out?

-------------------------------------------

PPS :- All of this has been written from a creative point of view. I did not see any of them for getting to see the actual mahabharata. It was mostly for fun. But now I wish people would make more individual versions of other characters depicting their story (EXCEPT FUCKING KARNA again)

#mahabharat #desiblr #desi tumblr #indian aesthetic #hindublr #hindu #mahabharata #arjuna #karna #draupadi #subhadra #krishna #meta #popular media versions #shows #rant #books #books on the mahabharata #book rec

[ginazmemeoir]

okay so i know you're super interested and knowledgeable about mythology, so i thought that there's no harm in asking for help, right?

i kinda have to do a 60+ page project on the Mahabharata and the role of women in Mahabharata. do you have any fun facts or anything? all of it will be greatly appreciated

 ok the reason this has taken me a significant time to respond is because i was thinking - what best way to answer this. so i have chosen the analysis of different aspects of their lives, rather than do a full character-by-character analysis cause that would end up being a full fledged book. also this is still gonna be like 6 pages. so here we go.

1. BIRTH : 

Most of the women in the Mahabharata have an unusual birth, all predestined to do something. Ganga is said to be born from Vishnu’s feet and descended form the heavens. Urvashi and Menaka were the Queens of the Apsaras, born from Brahma’s thighs. Devayani and Sharmishtha were the daughters of Shukracharya and the asura king Virupaksha respectively. Shakuntala was Menaka and Vishwamitra’s daughter, who was found abandoned beneath some flying cranes. Satyavati was born out of a fish which ingested a king’s sperm and was then adopted by the chief of fishermen. Gandhari was born to bear a hundred sons, which she requested from Shiva in her previous birth (some also say her present birth). Amba was reborn as a transman after she burnt herself alive to have revenge on Bhishma. Draupadi was born out of literal fire, cursed to bring the destruction of a thousand clans, and gifted to marry five husbands, each with a quality she wanted. Subhadra was born as an incarnation of Yogamaya, while Kripi (Drona’s wife) was born from a deer.

2. LOVE AND MARRIAGE : 

There is a pretty contrasting change in the way women choose their partners, and got married in the Mahabharata. This reflects their declining status in society.

Urvashi and Menaka have had several affairs and marriages. Urvashi left Pururavas when he failed to fulfill her conditions, and later asked her descendant Arjun to have sex with her. When he refused, she cursed him to become a transwoman for a year, which he could choose. 

Devayani and Sharmishtha ended up getting married to the same man. Devayani’s husband Yayati, whom she married out of love, cheated on her with Sharmishtha. Devayani, however, had Yayati cursed with sterility and old age as revenge. So technically, women also had a right to a divorce i guess? not officially, but they could definitely leave their husband’s house or humiliate him.

Shakuntala marries Dushyant through the gandharva rites, with the forest as her witness. Their conflicting accounts about the end of her story - Vyasa states that mortified by her indignation at Dushyant’s hands, she leaves him with her son and returns to the forest. Kalidasa states Dushyant ends up remembering her and bringing her back as his lawfully wedded wife.

Ganga is the first wife of Shantanu, and she married him only on the condition that he would never question her. Finally, when he stops her from drowning their eighth son, she breaks her marriage and goes away with the child who grows up to be Devavrata.

Satyavati actually has two meaningful encounters - once with Parashara (son of Vashishtha) and the other with Shantanu. With Parashara, she was ferrying him across the Yamuna when he professed he wanted to have sex with her. Satyavati agreed on two conditions - if she gets pregnant, she would deliver within a day and the child wouldn’t be her responsibility and secondly, Parashara would grant her any boon she wanted. Thus, she gave birth to Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa (the dark skinned boy born on an island) who was brought up by Parashara, and plus got blessed by an intoxicating smell. With Shantanu, even though she was young enough to be his daughter, she holds up a condition that only her children would inherit the Kuru throne, to fulfill which Devavrata takes his terrible oath and becomes Bhishma. Only then does she marry Shantanu. She literally forged her own destiny and had control over her decisions, something which she herself denies later to other women.

Satyavati orders Bhishma to abduct the three princesses of Kashi - Amba, Ambika and Ambalika, as brides for her drunkard son Vichitravirya. Thus, she snatches away the same freedom of marriage she had enjoyed. Amba resists her abduction, however ends up being rejected from her boyfriend King Shalva, for she was now “another man’s property”. She demands Bhishma marry her to salvage her honor, which he denies due to his oath of celibacy. Satyavati could’ve made him break the vow, which she doesn’t. Amba goes to all the kings in the world, seeking one who would salvage her honor. None do, for all are afraid of Bhishma, so she curses all that their lineages would go extinct in a war fought to salvage another woman’s honour in another time. Finally she approaches Parashuram, Bhishma’s teacher. Enraged, Parashuram fights Bhishma but realizes that their fight could end the world. That is one Amba burns herself alive, and curses Bhishma that she would be reborn, and reclaim her revenge. Later, Satyavati forces Ambika and Ambalika to undergo niyog with Vyas after Virya’s death (niyog was practiced when a man died without an heir, so another male member of the family was called to produce an heir with the widow). Thus she also snatches the same sexual freedom which she enjoyed from her daughter in laws. Some say this was also a part of Satyavati’s plan to ensure that only her lineage sits on the throne, because biologically Vyasa is Satyavati’s son, and not Shantanu’s, thus making the children he fathered Satyavati’s blood, and not Kuru blood as they legally claim.

Kunti was forced to have a child with Surya, just because of a childish boon she wanted to try out. Later, she choses Pandu, Ambalika’s son, from a select swayamvara of princes. She couldn’t have chosen another man as others before her had.

Satyavati yet again snatches the same freedom she took for herself. Bhishma is ordered to march to Gandhara and get it’s princess, Gandhari, as a bride for the blind prince Dhritarashtra. When her father Subala resists, Satyavati has him destroy the entire kingdom and kill all of Gandhari’s family, sparing her and her youngest brother Shakuni. Thus Gandhari has no say in her own marriage, for the first time in the Kuru dynasty. Even her act of remaining blindfolded in solidarity with her husband is often pedestalized, the pain behind it overlooked. This is also what gives birth to Shakuni’s burning thirst for revenge and the destruction of the entire Kuru dynasty, just like his family was killed in front of his eyes. One has to understsand that the Mahabharata was simply the sum of past sins and curses and boons and births. Pinning it on Draupadi, who was the last character in this play of power, reduces this epic’s magnificence.

Duryodhana’s marriage with Bhanumati is like the typical fairy tale we hear - she specifically tells him to abduct her and marry her so she doesn’t end up marrying some random dick she doesn’t even know. Again, the woman is in control of her marriage, however the fact that a marriage is being forced on her comes to the fore now.

Hidimbaa, Bhima’s first wife, was a rakshas princess and she marries Bhima by having him kill her brother who wanted to eat him instead. Hidimbaa never goes with Bhima, and instead raises her son Ghatotkacha single handedly and looks after her queendom. This shows a major shift in the status of a woman - the so called “civilized” society keeps reducing the freedom and space given to them, while tribal customs continue to uphold individuality.

Draupadi’s marriage symbolises the status of women perfectly at the time. She’s not a woman with a say in her marriage - instead she’s reduced to a prize, a political alliance to be won in an archery competition. Had Arjun not won, Draupadi would’ve had to keep her head down and just marry the other person because she has no choice.

Subhadra’s marriage is in stark contrast. Arjun is her second cousin (barf) and she abducts him from her own wedding (which was happening to Duryodhana) and marries Arjun with Krishna’s blessings. Subhadra takes the same freedom that Draupadi was never offered. Also, Draupadi and Subhadra would become Arjuna’s only wives - none of his other “companions” would get the same title or status.

Dushala is married to Jayadrath, king of Sindh. The marriage was an unhappy one.

Balarama’s daughter Sulakshana runs away with Ghatotkacha’s help and marries her first cousin Abhimanyu, while Uttara is offered as a political alliance. Again there’s a stark contrast between the two, and it holds a mirror to society - how once the same freedom offered to women had now become a thing of legends.

3. POLITICS AND AMBITIONS

Devayani had wanted to snub Sharmishtha her whole life because of the one major fight they had which she lost. Being the daughter of Shukracharya, Devayani had more resources at her disposal, and she makes good use of them by transforming Sharmishtha, a princess, into her slave. Later, she also makes sure Yayati is punished for his adultery.

Shakuntala played kingmaker - according to the Mahabharata she went back to the forest only after securing her son’s right to the throne. According to Kalidasa, she has no ambitions whatsoever.

Satyavati’s political ambitions have already been discussed above - her rise to power, her way of ensuring that only her blood claims the throne, and the fact that she was willing to do anything for what she wanted. Another factor into this is caste - Satyavati is often ridiculed as Daseyi (daughter of a slave) and is discriminated against because of her caste as a fisherwoman.

Amba’s ambitions have also been discussed above - her burning desire for revenge. When she is reborn as Shikhandi, she deliberately has her gender changed before her marriage so that she transforms into a man.

The tussle between Kunti and Gandhari for power is an actual stuff of legends. While Kunti is mostly projected as a hapless widow raising five boys, most people forget that she’s a powerful princess, and was originally the Empress of Hastinapur, later turned widow. She knows the deadly game of politics and it's nuances, and the same goes for Gandhari. According to the epics, the game played between these two queens was subtle, and not open. For example, Gandhari had took over Kunti’s quarters and had her sleep close to the servant’s quarters. Kunti too secures her own future by convincing Bhishma to back her and her son’s claim to the throne. One famous tale recounts that during a particular festival, Gandhari calls in a hundred elephants covered in gold for the worship. Since Kunti has no resources of her own and instead has to use toy elephants made of clay, she asks Arjuna to do something, who promptly goes to the heavens and brings back Airavata, the king of all elephants and Indra’s vahana, for Kunti. This rivalry comes to the open when the kingdom is divided and the wastelands and forests, Khandavaprastha, is handed to the Pandavas. Kunti accuses Gandhari of deliberately giving the useless part to her sons, while Gandhari accuses her of nurturing the wish for the throne in her sons’ hearts. This rivalry, however, comes to an end with the war, and both reconcile.

Kunti is also shown to be heartless/overprotective when it comes to her kids, which is understandable given the circumstances in which they were brought up. However, that doesn’t justify the fact that she made Bhima leave Hidimbaa in the forest. It also doesn’t justify the fact that originally, when she got to know that she and her sons were to be burnt alive in the Varnavata Summer Palace, she burnt alive another mother and all her children who had come there from the forest as guests, along with the caretaker Purochana who was in on the plan, as a cover so they could escape. It also doesn’t justify her making Draupadi marry all five brothers so there could never be “a fight over a woman”. Her masterstroke, however, comes during the War. What I believe is, she should have told Karna the entire truth and accepted him the moment she saw him. However, she waited, and then finally when the War arrives, she tells him the truth and emotionally manipulates him. Softening Karna’s heart, she protects four of her sons, and she had enough faith in Krishna to protect the fifth. It could also be genuine affection, but I refuse to believe that.

Draupadi has to face a much tougher life though. Kunti had already tied her to all five brothers as their “mutual” wife. One can only imagine the pain and endurance she goes through, battling her in-laws and her own family. She later has the Pandavas promise that no other wife of their could get the title of wife or the status, and couldn’t enter the Kuru household or Indraprastha. Even Subhadra was never allowed inside Hastinapur and Indraprastha, and instead spent her entire life in Dwarka. Her “laugh” at Duryondhana’s stumble in Indraprastha could be genuine fun, and also her own way of getting back at him for all those years of injustice. In the forest during exile, she has to keep all her wits about her, as she encounters wrathful sages, vengeful spirits, and kings with ill intents. As a hairdresser, she had virtually no power and so could do nothing herself when the queen’s brother, Kichak, tries to rape her. However, she invites Bhima over (who’s living as a cook) and he easily kills Kichak. What’s really infuriating is the way people pin the entire carnage that follows on her head - essentially victim shaming. People say “so what if she was disrobed publicly? does that mean she would destroy that entire clan, who stood mum and watched?” Yes. Yes it does. And you can’t give the excuse “she is fire’s daughter” and all. NO. Then, she wasn’t the weapon summoned to destroy a thousand clans, daughter of fire, Empress of Indraprastha or Princess of Panchala. At that moment, she was a woman being disrobed publicly. A woman lost in a wager like cattle. Nobody rose to defend her, except Vikarna, a Kaurava and Krishna, the man she regards as her own brother. This is what makes a bold statement about women - she’s no longer a person, but a commodity to be owned by someone. It reflects the rot and decay of our society, which increases day by day. What I believe is, Draupadi’s demand for retribution is perfectly justified - her wish to bathe in the blood of the one who disrobed her, dragged her by her hair all the way to the Imperial Coury, perfectly justified. Her wish to see the corpse of all those who stood silent as she was being disrobed, or those who mocked, pile up in the great blood soaked field of Kurukshetra. Her heart however melts the instant she sees the “great army of widows and orphans” who arrive at Kurukshetra.

4. CHILDREN

A recurring, patriarchal theme in all Hindu epics is the fact that a woman’s happiness was linked to her children, most of all sons.

All of Devayani’s five sons were banished and cursed when they refused to take up their father’s old age and sterility while in their youth. The same fate awaited Sharmishtha’s sons. Only the youngest, Puru, agrees and is then pronounced king after a thousand years, when Yayati returns him back his youth. Moreover, Devayani has to give her daughter Madhavi to a priest on Yayati’s order, who is later raped by four kings as a teenager and gives birth to four great sons. These sons are later asked to give up a quarter each of their merit earned on earth to Yayati, who was denied passage to heaven for all of his sins. This shows the fact that Indian/South Asian society continues to be dominated by those before us – our parents and their parents – and we have to comply. This is in contrast with Western philosophy, which makes way for the younger generation. In South Asian society, both have to co-exist, with the older often domineering.

 Ganga’s sons were actually the eight Vasus who were cursed to live terrible lives as humans. By drowning seven of them the moment they are born, Ganga ensures that they spend minimum time in the mortal realm and return back to the heavens. The eldest, Prabhas, was cursed to live the most terrible life of them all, which ends up happening - Devavrata, later Bhishma, couldn’t be killed after birth. He lives a terrible life - a prince reduced to a slave of the throne, innocent blood on his hands, no family of his own, and he couldn’t even decide whom he wanted to fight for. This shows the theme of overlapping stories, something which keeps recurring in Hinduism in general.

Satyavati’s elder son Chitrangada was killed in a war with the gandharva king, Chitrangada. Her other son, Vichitravirya, gave himself up to wine and intoxication and died young. Her son with Parashara, though, outlives till the time of Janmajeya, Arjuna’s great grandson. Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa ends up compiling all the Vedas and writing the famous Mahabharata. He also keeps coming here and there in the epic, for example Satyavati inviting him to perfrom niyog forcefully with her daughter in laws and produce heirs.

Ambika had her eyes shut the entire time during her rape/niyog, and so the child born - Dhritarashtra, was blind. Ambalika was shaking and fearful the whole time, so her son Pandu was born weak. Vyasa had consentful sex with a palace maid, and the son born to her, Vidura, would’ve been the perfect heir. However, Dhritarashtra was denied kingship by virtued of his blindness, while Vidura was denied the throne by virtue of his mother’s caste. Pandu later retires following a curse, and so Dhritarashtra takes up the kingship. He is shown to be a spiteful character initially, frustrated that despite being the elder one and perfect, he was denied the throne because he was blind. He passes on the same frustration and poison to his children.

Gandhari’s pregnancy was special. She was pregnant for two full years, in which time Dhritarashtra had another son, Yuyutsu, through a palace maid. Gandhari’s gestation period was equal to that of an elephant, and had she had just a little more patience, she would’ve given birth to a literal god. however, frustrated with the fact that her husband had cheated on her, she kept beating her womb each night with a red-hot iron rod, until she gave birth to an undeveloped foetus. Vyasa intervenes by cutting it up into 101 pieces and “hatching” them in vats of ghee in an incubation chamber (historians and scientists say this could be the earliest documented evidence of IVF or incubation chambers), resulting in the 100 Kauravas and their only sister, Dushala. Some say that evil omens were there during their birth. This also demonstrates that a woman’s social holding was also related to the no. of children she had, especially sons. 

 Kunti had received a boon from Durvasa that she could have a child with any god she wanted. Her experimentation with the boon leads to her unwanted and forced pregnancy of Karna. Historians suspect this could be a teen pregnancy, logically, and ill equipped emotionally and physically handle a baby at that stage in her life, she cast him away in the river (still unjustified i think). This baby grew up to be Karna, filled with resentment over his fate. Later, when Pandu is cursed with sterility and the fact that if he dares touch a woman out of love he would die, Kunti uses this boon again to have three sons from three gods – Yama, the god of death and law; Vayu, the god of wind and Indra, the king of the gods and god of rain and thunder. Historians speculate this could be a cover for niyog (mentioned above). Later, Kunti begrudgingly bestows this boon upon Pandu’s favorite wife, Madri, who begets twins from the twin gods the Ashwin Kumaras.

Draupadi has five sons with her husbands - Prativindhya (from Yudhishthira), Sutasoma (from Bhima), Shrutakarman (from Arjun), Satanaka (from Nakul) and Shrutasena (from Sahadev). None of them have children of their of their own and die a gruesome death, killed by Ashwatthama in his murderous frenzy.

Subhadra’s son Abhimanyu features more prominently in the epic. Legends say he knew how to enter into a chakravyuh from the moment he was born, but not how to exit. During the war, he enters a chakravyuh formed by the Kauravas, where he is unfairly killed - surrounded by ten men, and defenseless. He dies trying to defend himself by using a chariot wheel.

The other wives of the Pandavas suffer for a war that they weren’t even a part of. Hidimba’s son Ghatotkacha helps the Pandavas and turns the tide towards them. He grows into a strong Asura and uses his magic, and is eventually killed by Karna using Shakti, the weapon he received from Indra. Uloopi’s (Arjuna’s Naga wife, daughter of the Naga king Vasuki) son Iravan is killed before the war itself as a sacrifice to appease Chamundi, and his head is mounted on a hill so he can survey the war. The same fate awaited Ghatotkacha’s son Barbareek. Since he was the strongest warrior any side and could finish the war in a second, Krishna demanded his head as a sacrifice so that he couldn’t participate in the war, in return promising him eternal worship (Barbareek is worshipped as Khatushyam in Rajasthan). Chitrangada (Arjuna’s androgynous warrior wife, Queen of Manipur) strategically protects herself and her kingdom from harm. However, owing to a curse Ganga gives to Arjuna, Chitrangada’s son Babruvahan ends up killing his own father Arjuna and then later commits suicide. They’re both revived by Uloopi using the Nagamani.

Duryodhana’s wife, Bhanumati, also suffers. Her son Lakshmana, who was originally a poet, was killef by Abhimanyu when he was defenseless, while her daughter Lakshmanaa was raped by Krishna’s son Samba and then later married to him to save face.

Karna’s first wife Vishakha loses all her sons and commits suicide. His other wife Uruvi’s only son, Vrishaketu, is spared because he was only 9 at the time of the War and thus, lived.

Dushala’s sons die defending Sindh from the Pandavas, and only Dushala and her grandson are spared. Another account says she forced her sons to enter the war, and they all died there.

Uttara’s son Pareekshit was killed within the womb by Ashwatthama, when he fired the most powerful missile in the world, the Brahmastra, at her womb. Krishna revives the child through his powers, and then curses Ashwatthama to remain immortal, yet suffer through a thousand diseases every second for the sin of trying to murder an unborn.

Vyasa’s son Sukadev, blessed with “the memory of a parrot” memorises the entire Mahabharata.

Pareekshit is later killed by the Naga king Takshak, as revenge for the murder of his family through Arjuna’s (Pareekshit’s grandfather) hands when he burnt the Khandava forest. In revenge, his son Janmajeya conducts a powerful Sarpa Satra where all the nagas of the world are killed. The genocide is stopped by Asita, a Naga sage, who along with Sukadeva and Jaimini recited the entire Mahabharata to him and made him revive the snakes killed.

5. DEATH

Satyavati dies along with Ambika and Ambalika in the forest after taking retirement. She drowns in the very same Yamuna which turned her life around.

Amba, reborn as Shikhandi, dies in the war.

Gandhari dies heartbroken, while Kunti dies in a fire.

Draupadi dies while trying to reach heaven via the Himalayas. None of her husbands so much as even look at her as she falls to her death.

Subhadra dies with the tsunami sent by Varuna (god of the seas) which destroyed Dwarka.

The deaths of all of these women are ironic, but also demonstrate the rule of Karma .

Not much is known of the death of the other women in this magnificent epic.

I hope this serves as a good and honest reminder about the women of the Mahabharata, and helps with your project.

[demonkidpliz]

Things I learned while re-watching Star Plus Mahabharata (Part 19/many):

Kansa’s death scene is A+, 10/10. 

Boy Krishna literally looks like Devaki!

I know where else I have seen Boy Krishna! He plays Pradyumna in Radhakrishna!

Arjun, Bhim and Drupad have no chill and I am here for this rage. Let’s keep this going until the war starts.

It is very sad that in Kalyug a woman has to fend for her own honour when ideally it should be a joint effort by men and women.

The only appropriate reaction to a man attempting to dishonour your wife was shown by Krishna and by Ram before him = decapitation. I will not be hearing arguments against this at this time.

We should not be resorting to war. WELL YOU AND YOUR NEPHEWS SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE THAT GAME OF DICE KAKASHRI VIDUR.

I am here for this Panchali. What did you decide? What did Madhav have to say?

Panchali is against the peace proposal and honestly I am on her side.

Panchali is 100% right. The decision to fight or not is Panchali’s. Not the Pandavas. Because for every action and reaction of men, it is the women and their children who suffer. She is 100/100 right.

At least she has Krishna on her side who has absolutely no qualms in pretending anything other than the fact that he really badly wants this war. This is literally what he was put on earth to do.

In the actual story, Duryodhan offers to put Krishna up in Dushasan’s palace which was allegedly bigger and better than the main palace. And Krishna declines because he wishes to stay in Vidur’s palace but StarBharat fails to show why. It’s because Krishna’s aunt, Kunti, lives with Vidur and I think it is the most natural thing in the world that he would want to stay with his aunt rather than with these random cousins by marriage.

I am sorry sweetie (Krishna) there is no dharm ka phool in Angaraj Karna’s heart. He's a social climber.

Aye hai laddoo Gopal really be here turning all this karela into laddoos.

Nice that they gave some screen time to Vidur’s wife. Now they need to do this 200x with all the female characters.

Krishna is…right? Yudhishthir should have been crowned Yuvraj the moment Pandu died and the Pandavas came to Hastinapur. Dhritarashtra was a placeholder king and his son cannot inherit this throne. It is a different matter altogether that Dhritarashtra was the rightful king and that they should have never crowned Pandu as king. 

Krishna coming at the Kauravas with one banger after another. Their behaviour towards Draupadi cannot be forgiven. And not just Duryodhan, every man in that Sabha was culpable.

Is Duryodhan really going to bind Krishna with those big ass fake looking gold chains? This seems like a bad idea.

Krishna is asking for five villages for the five Pandavas. But Duryodhan has nothing if not his principles.

Karna is sooo annoying. Oh my god, we get it. You would give your life for your rich pals.

At least Bhishma, Vidur and Dronacharya are showing some good sense now. Long overdue.

Oho! Even Dhritarashtra has the good sense to agree to this five village business.

Lol, I can’t wait for Duryodhan to try and imprison Krishna.

I’m also waiting for the needle’s head worth of land line. Will StarBharat oblige?

StarBharat has obliged! Duryodhan will not concede a needle’s worth of land.

Krishna looks...mildly discomfited.

Arrest this cowherd LMAAOOO 

The big ass fake looking gold chains are here.

The soldiers can’t even get up, let alone pick up the chains. How underwhelming.

Is StarBharat also going to show me the wondrous scene where Dhritarashtra temporarily gets his vision? Coz that would be cool.

Oh finally someone (Karna) has the sense to say that this is not how one behaves with a peace messenger.

Chal, gwale! I am ded 🤣

What happened to the Vishwaroop scene in the middle of the Hastinapur court??

Very attracted right now to moustached Krishna dressed like a guard.

Calm down, think of Jesus.

Is Krishna also dressed like Vikarna and Karna?

Accha, Drona also.

And Pitamaha.

This is fun! 

Mamashri Shakuni 😂

Kakashri Vidur. I could do this forever.

SRJ looks amazing as all these characters. Even Dhritarashtra.

Where did Krishna transport them? On the banks of the Ganga? Dwarka? 

Did Krishna strike Duryodhan’s thigh?

YAAAAS

Dhritarashtra can see the Vishwaroop! 

Apparently, after this, Krishna gave him the option of retaining his sight. And Dhritarashtra said that after having seen the Vishwaroop to see other sights on earth was simply not worth it. 

Should’ve kept his sight for the war but he has his satellite dish Sanjay.

Okay Krishna has left. This was anticlimactic.

Oh cool, Krishna is going to play the Kunti card.

I simply love Kunti’s character and every scene with Krishna and Kunti in the same frame is simply golden.

Kunti’s entire personality is so on brand with the no chill Yadav mood.

Please do not for one second pretend that you altruistically care about the child you abandoned at birth. You’re doing this to save the skins of the five sons you actually give a damn about.

At least Radha is slightly more realistic about Karna than Kunti is.

Radha and Vrushali are like, how do you know this, Vaasudev? Vaasudev (probably): I drink and I know things.

Nothing will astonish me as much as my progression in life going from a Karna Stan to an absolute Karna Skeptic.

Karna is a social climber. That is all I have to say on this topic.

The only thing admirable about Karna’s character is his loyalty towards Duryodhan.

Also, where is this conversation between Krishna and Karna taking place? On the banks of the Ganga? Yamuna? The sea beach at Dwarka?

Where is the big speech Krishna gives to Karna? Where he promised that Draupadi will marry him (HA, AS IF) and that Yudishthira will crown him King of Hastinapur (that fool might just) if he fights on behalf of the Pandavas.

Are all Radhas this terrible? Are they all hell bent on stealing for themselves things that do not belong to them? Why won’t this awful woman own up to the fact that she’s not Karna’s biological mom?

Okay Karna is back on the banks of this mysterious water body.

I will have you all know that Karna may be suddenly having feels for Kunti, but was totally okay to sacrifice her during the Varnavat episode.

Oh goddamn it, Starbharat! 

Hitting me right in the feels when I least expect it.

Karna thinking back to all the times he was with Arjun, not knowing that they were brothers.

I’m not going to lie. Karna is in an impossible spot. Damned if he did, damned if he didn’t.

Now I am remembering why child me Stanned Karna so much.

I may not like Karna but at least I respect him for supporting Duryodhan.

I can’t wait for Queen of Resting Bitch Face, Kunti, to come and beg for her sons’ lives from Karna, when she literally does not give a damn if Karna lives or dies. Kunti knows which side her bread is buttered. Such a Yadav.

Oh this Karna-Vrushali scene is A+, 10/10. I really wish StarBharat gave more screen time to its women.

Okay I feel bad for Kunti also, mostly because I love Kunti. 

But let us not pretend that given a choice between her Parth and this veritable stranger, she will always always choose Arjun.

She had to do this for Kuntibhoj, her poor father, who loved her so much, who couldn’t have children and all he ever wanted was a child of his own, so much so that he begged Shoorsena to give him one of his daughters.

I think what’s worse is that Kunti knew. Right from the beginning. And she stayed quiet. That was not right. 

StarBharat really be here trying to make me feel for Karna again. Smh.

How tf will Karna be a Pandava? When Kunti wasn’t even mf married to Pandu when she gave birth to Karna?

Karna talking about Duryodhana while the Dharmecha shlok plays in the background. Chills.

I have a story called The tree stump on Karna, in case you are interested. 

Yeah Kunti f*cked up here. I support Karna. He is nothing but a prisoner of birth. 

Pretty big of Karna to ask Kunti not to tell his brothers. Uncharacteristic of a social climber. He’s not a bad soul, I guess. 

I don’t know if it’s Kunti’s dialogue or her acting or the background score but I am tearing up. No assholes here.

Kunti might as well cry because if Karna refuses to call her Mata until Arjun dies, she’s never going to hear it from him. Coz he will be dead.

It’s okay, Kunti, you can relax. You got what you came here for (ish).

#mahabharata #mahabharat #starbharat #starbharat recap #siwt

[vaijayantheee]

random incorrect quote generator things (I’m legit addicted)

Krishna: *Kicks the door down looking panicked* Arjun: What did you do? Krishna: Nobody died. Arjun: WHAT KIND OF ANSWER IS THAT?! Krishna: In light of what you did for me, you can hug me for four to five seconds. Arjun: FORTY FIVE SECONDS?!? Krishna: No! Four to five seconds! Arjun: Too late!!! Krishna : I actually have a black belt. Arjun: In what, karate? Krishna : No, from Gucci. Arjun : How do I deal with my enemies? Krishna: Kill them Arjun : That's a bit extreme, I was hoping for a more passive solution Krishna: Kill them only a little? Krishna : It’s dark in here Arjun: Don’t worry dude I got this Arjun: *Stomps their feet* Arjun: *Skechers light up* *Subhadra has entered the chat* Krishna: I trust Arjun. Subhadra: You think he knows what he’s doing? Krishna: I wouldn't go that far. Krishna: HELP! I TOLD SUBHADRA I’D COOK DINNER TONIGHT BUT I CAN’T COOK! Arjun, pouring milk directly into the cereal bag: And you thought I could help? Krishna: I know you snuck out last night, Arjun. Subhadra: Play dumb! Arjun: Who's Arjun? Subhadra: NOT THAT DUMB!!! Krishna: Subhadra, can I talk to you for a second? Subhadra: Yeah, what’s up? Lemme guess. You and Arjun are having problems and you want me to teach you how to kiss? Krishna: What? No, stop that. I know how to kiss. I have 16,108 wives! Subhadra: But no husband... Krishna: Shut up!! Store Worker: Would a Mr. Krishna please come to the front desk? Krishna, arriving at the desk: Hello, is there a problem? Store Worker: points to Arjun and Subhadra Store Worker: I believe they belong to you? Arjun and Subhadra, simultaneously: We got lost :( Krishna: I didn’t even bring you guys here with me- Arjun: In my defense, I was left unsupervised. Krishna: Wasn't Subhadra with you? Subhadra: In my defense, I was also left unsupervised. Krishna: Hey, Arjun? Can I get some dating advice? Arjun: Just because I’m with Subhadra doesn’t mean I know how I did it. Krishna: If I die, my funeral is going to be the biggest party ever and you’re all invited Arjun: If? Subhadra: Great, the only party I’ve ever been invited to and they might not even die. *And now ol’ Dau joins the club* Dau: I think we're missing something. Krishna : Teamwork? Arjun: Cohesion? Subhadra: A general sense of what we’re doing? Dau: What are we doing anyway? Krishna: Plotting how to bring down Duryodhan... Dau: No he’s a good boi! 😢 Krishna, Arjun and Subhadra: *rolls eyes* Subhadra: Maybe you’re just the soft boi Dau: Krishna isn’t answering his phone Arjun: I’ll call Dau: Subhadra and I have both tried six times each, what makes you thi- Krishna : Hello? Dau: I currently have 7 empty notebooks and I have no clue what to put in them. Suggestions? Krishna : Put spaghetti in it. Dau: I'm currently taking suggestions from literally anyone but you. Arjun: Put spaghetti in it. Dau: I'm currently taking suggestions from anyone but you two. Subhadra: Put spaghetti in it. Dau: I'm no longer taking suggestions. Dau, banging on the door: Krishna ! Open up! Krishna : Well, it all started when I was a kid... Dau: No, I meant- Arjun and Subhadra: Let him finish. Subhadra, setting down a card: Ace of spades Krishna , pulling out an Uno card: +4 Arjun, pulling out a Pokémon card: Jolteon, I choose you Dau, trembling: What are we playing Dau: Krishna , I'm sad. Krishna : *Holds out arms for a hug* It’s going to be okay. Arjun: Subhadra, I'm sad. Subhadra, nodding: mood. Subhadra, Krishna , and Arjun are sitting on a bench Dau: Why do you guys look so sad? Subhadra: Sit down with us so we can tell you. *Dau sits down* Krishna : The bench is freshly painted. Dau: Why is Krishna so sad? Arjun: He took one of those “Which Character Are You?” quizzes Dau: And...? Subhadra : He got you. Dau: Can I be frank with you guys? Krishna : Sure, but I don’t see how changing your name is gonna help. Arjun: Can I still be Arjun? Subhadra: Shh, let Frank speak. Dau: Dammit, Krishna ! Krishna : What?! It wasn’t me! Dau: Sorry, force of habit. Dammit, Arjun! Arjun: Not me either. Dau: Oh...Then who set the house on fire? Subhadra: *whistles*

#incorrect quotes #chaotic trio - Arjun krish and Subhadra #and dau #hes just there

[hindumyththoughts]

A rare trip to nowhere

And they waited. Of course, for what else was there to do? The moment Draupadi started getting impatient was the moment he emerged from the building, smiling brightly at them. They were planning on going on a little excursion into the woods that day and who would have thought that getting a permission from/notifying the king (his own brother) would take this long. Nakul asked first, "so what took so long, Bhratashree?" But before Bheem could answer, Sahdev started, "I still believe we should have snuck out, by the time he would have noticed our absence, we would have come back". "At least let your brother speak first, I know you love teasing him but have mercy on him, he just came back from a god-knows-how-long discussion with his Jyesth bhratashree" Draupadi reproached the twins. Bheem joked, "thank Panchaali that she stopped both of you in time, or else I was going to smother you, Sahdev", Sahdev was outraged, "why only me?", "Because you are the smallest one, so Maatashree won't notice your absence for a few days, until then I could come up with a cover-up." Explained the second eldest, with a definite twinkle in his eyes. "So can we leave now?" Asked Panchaali after recovering from laughter. "I have a good news and a bad news" said Bheem, "good one is that Bhratashree has no need of our assistance for this afternoon, so he has given us the freedom to go anywhere we like, bad news is that he needs Arjun, so he won't be able to make it". There was disappointment, sure but also guilt in leaving both of them here, stuck with responsibilities, Yudhishthir was too much busy. One of these days, one of his brothers will definitely relieve him of his duties for the day and force him to take a break with someone. The man needed it desperately, but god knows he will never admit to it. Arjun could be relatively easily pressured into easing-up by orders from his elder brothers whenever he looked like he was pushing himself too hard, but who could order the king himself? The way to lure him into resting for some time was through emotional coercion. Maybe the next time they will send Sahdev with Maatashree to subdue him, that seemed like the most influential combination. These were the topics of discussion for the rest of the road to be covered. By the time they reached the woods, they had abandoned the chariots and started wandering aimlessly, for one time it was fine to be without a clear destination. The weight of always staying on a defined path leading to a distinct destination was scarcely perceptible, but it was consistantly present. So for once, it was great to desert it.

The dense canopies were kind enough to allow a few rays to reach the ground, creating a mosaic of light and shadow. The lake about a little distance from their starting point was breathtaking, shimmering ever so brilliantly. Better than the floors of their main palace. And of course, there was the racket created by the creatures residing around the lake, both animals and others. But a nice change of pace from the din created by people. They sat there for some time, having a little chat so rarely procured. "We definitely have to bring both of them here the next time" decided Bheem. "It is decided then, we will kidnap them if neccessary, but they will come here." agreed Krishnaa. "This place gives me the same feeling as recieving a smile from Keshav." Mused Nakul. "Getting poetic, are we?" Sahdev teased, "don't worry, I'll ask Jyesth Bhratashree to bestow upon you the title of Royal Poet" joined in Bheem. "This whole fortunate kingdom is blessed by Krishna, so no suprises there." remarked Panchaali with a fond smile. The others agreed with her earnestly. "Oh! I got it!" exclaimed Nakul, "you don't even have to order Bhrata Arjun to get him here, Bheem Bhaiyya. We can just tell him how this place feels and he will come here sprinting". This time everyone started chuckling, the whole scenario seeming extremely believable if someone had ever seen Arjun in front of Krishna. It was a good plan and it was a promise. They will all spend another good day, just like this one... together as if they were kids again, someday. It was a nice promise, and as sure as Krishna's smile, it was a nice afternoon.

This one is not tagged for the ongoing hindu mythology event because it's not on that level (with regards to it's quality)... but as this blog is for my ramblings so I had to put it here (you were warned- it's the blog title itself)

#hindu mythology #my fic #my works #draupadi #bheem #nakul #sahdev #mahabharat #mahabharata #this was fun #mahabharata rambles

[ambidextrousarcher]

Sarcastic StarBharat reviews: Episode 7- The episode in which Arjun should have been mentioned for the first time.

Tagging @ratnas-musings @avani008 @chaanv @iamnotthat @shellweed @butchcaroldanvers @mayavanavihariniharini @medhasree

This episode concludes the first arc, which is Bhishm’s oath and its (short term) effects. The long term effect can honestly be the whole mess that follows, so...

Anyway.

Here are the links to the first six episodes: 

1. Bhishm says hello to daddy

2. Bhishm’s Bhishm pratigya

3. Bhishm abducts the Princesses of Kashi

4. Bhishm watches his brother choke to death

5. Bhishm sanctions Niyoga

6. Bhishm chooses death over marrying a crazy princess

Parashuram emits blue light from his hands, taking a sword out of the light. Me: Huh? I thought only arrows can appear like that. Bhishm joins his hands, whispering, a sword lands from the air at his feet. Both of them leap. Camera focuses to Ganga entering, psycho Princess glaring at her. A fancy sword fight occurs, Bhishm falls, attacking Parashuram again. They dance around, cutting trunks, causing snowfall. Heaven knows how they aren’t shivering yet. Bhishm disarms Parashuram, who clamps his hand on Bhishm’s sword and knocks it off. Both of them summon divyastras. Ganga looks distressed. She calls out to Shiv. “If Parashuram’s parashu (axe) and Bhishm’s Brahmastr collide, the world will end!” she says. I’m not sure what actually happens in canon. Ganga does call to Shiv, though I doubt it’s this dramatic. I doubt she’d call her own son Bhishm. The warriors release the weapons. A globe of light sucks both the weapons in. Enter Shiv. Wait, this guy doesn’t have a blue throat! Anyway, all and sundry join their hands in respect. Shiv commands them to stop fighting to preserve the Earth. “I still haven’t gotten justice, Mahadev.” Ah, psycho Princess, yet again. “How can you stop this war? Until I get peace of mind, Parashuram has to fight. Fulfill my dearest wish, Mahadev. This man’s (Bhishm’s) death is my wish. I want to be the cause of his death.” “As Parashuram is bound, I have to fulfill your wish. But revenge cannot have my blessing. If you ever do something great and then pray for Bhishm’s death, then you will definitely be the cause of his death.” Wait, this prophecy is incomplete. Canonically, the prophecy says that Bhishm can’t be defeated and killed by anyone except the reincarnation of Rishi Nara, born as the son of Indra, Arjun. Seriously, they omitted my favourite part!! CANON FAIL x2, for good measure. This is the first chronological mention of Arjun!! I mean, yeah, it’s unfair on him that people are literally turning him into a death knell before that kid is even born…but he WAS mentioned in canon at this time. I remember that very well. Let’s continue. “If so, I do not wish to live.” Ofc, it’s psycho Princess. “Please let go of the hardness of your heart. When the day comes, I will lay down my weapons in front of you.” Mr. Paragon of Perfection. I can’t even. “I don’t need your generosity. I will not forgive you. Even 25 years later, I will take birth with your death as my objective in life. The throne you destroyed my life for will be the reason for your struggle day and night. That throne won’t let you sleep peacefully even for a day. You will keep running because of that throne, when your soul will be tired and old, I will come then, as your death.” I can’t see how suicide is a great thing, but hey, who am I to judge. Flash forward 25 years. A baby is born in Panchal. “Strength is born in Panchal” says the King. “Rajyotishi, I am certain that Draupad’s Queen has given birth to a girl child. I have been waiting for 25 years for the birth of this child, ever since I knew that Bhishm will be killed because of a woman. From then, I have been praying that that girl should be born in our family.” A young man enters with a baby. I guess that’s Draupad. “It’s a girl, father.” Mr. King of Panchal thanks maa Kali, lifting the baby in his arms. “All our wishes have come true. Bhishm has humiliated Panchal too much,” he flashes back to Bhishm’s grandiose words when he’d rescued drunk Prince. “The entire Panchal will burn like Lanka if you set fire to Bhishm’s heart.” He sees Bhishm slapping his face again. “Revenge is what we should look out for. This maiden will take our long due revenge from Bhishm.” He names the child Shikandini. I hope she’s less psycho than Amba. “Rajyotishi, what do you make of the time of my grand-daughter’s birth?” “She will be successful in her life objective,” he says, “But after a lot of struggle.” Before that, he says some astrological mumbo-jumbo that I don’t understand. “Struggle is the best teacher. I will poison this maiden against Bhishm. I have full belief that she will be cause of Bhishm’s death, that it will be the objective of her life.” CANON FAIL. Amba is reborn as Shikandini, it is because of that he/she fights against Bhishm. Panchal doesn’t have a long-standing enemity with Bhishm. Oh, Crap. Krishna gyaan again. He’s talking about how ancestor’s thoughts affect the future generation. Sorry not sorry. Skip. The camera focuses on the map of Gandhar. We enter a room lit with many diyas, our focus is on a girl sleeping. It goes without saying that this is Gandhari. The wind blows out the candles. Gandhari breaks out into cold sweat and bolts awake. “Sukhda!” she yells. “Sukhda!” “Kumari Gandhari, I am here. The diyas will be lighted again. The diyas will be lighted again.” She yells at two other women, reminding them that Princess Gandhari is scared of the dark. Seriously, these guys are adding drama everywhere. This show is less of the Mahabharata and more of a soap opera. The diyas are lighted again. “Why am I so afraid of the dark?” asks Gandhari. “It’s not only you, all of us are afraid of it. Only through our eyes can the world come near us. If we have eyes, we have everything. In darkness, we feel like we have lost everything. But there is no cause for fear now. You go to sleep.” Gandhari nods. Sukhda smiles as she leaves. We focus on a campfire. The wood moves due to wind, making the soldier to run. He sees the shadows of a large army. He mounts his horse and gallops towards Maharaj Saubala. The camera focuses on a man, I assume he is Maharaj Saubala. “A large army, talent beyond belief, richer than Kuber. In such a Kingdom shall my daughter be wed, Gurudev,” he says. “The groom too shall be stronger than Pavan and of more virtues than Indra.” I still don’t get why Indra is the gold standard of Virtue in Hindu myths. I mean, he isn’t really the best warrior, he’s literally defeated by mortals, one of whom is his own son, along with Krishna. And Nahusha also defeats him. He doesn’t really have much of a moral compass either, basically raping Ahalya by proxy. And yet, he’s the King of the Gods. Why so? No idea. “My Gandhari cannot marry a man with even a smidgeon of problems,” the King continues. “My daughter is like that, Gurudev” says the Queen. “Bhagwan Shiv has blessed her with the boon of 100 children, after all.” The Guru looks at them strangely. “What is the issue?” asks the King. “You look tense.” The Guru begins. “Forgive me, Your Majesty. I…” A servant enters then. “Maharani, the senapati asks permission to enter,” she says. “At this time?” asks the Queen, confused. “The King is busy now.” The senapati enters. “Forgive me for my offence,” he says. “However, the news is such that I need to speak to the King now.” “What is the news?” The King and his Senapati descend the stairs. He’s firing questions about the army at his gates. “Where is Yuvaraj Shakuni?” “He is out on an expedition for a special purpose.” They are getting angry at the enemy army. They are also boasting about their army. “This is going to be a terrible war.” The Mahabharat theme plays. I think this is CANON fail. I don’t think Bhishm goes to Gandhar with an army, canonically, but I don’t really remember. Someone who does, please help. Precap: Saubala asks whose army is at his gates. “That great man is as effluent as the Sun, Maharaj.” Ah, so it’s Bhishm. “His eyes are like two balls of fire,” Camera focuses on Bhishm. I was right. “On his forehead, the symbol of the moon is present.” Camera shifts to Gandhari. “I am going to join the war with Pitashree,” she says. “If death is certain, then I die in the battlefield.” With this, we finish season 1 of Mahabharat, according to the Hotstar app listings. See you tomorrow with season 2!

#sarcastic starbharat reviews #mr paragon of perfection #bhishma #ganga #shiva #last appearance of psycho princess #parashuram #the king of panchal #draupad #baby shikandini #gandhari #saubala #should have mentioned arjun #gosh i am pissed over that missing mention #scribbler gets salty

[tellywoodtrash]

Sanjivani - Weeks 7 + 8

Overall Plot

Sid and Ishani are about 10 minutes away from hardcore Love. And literally every single person knows and is rooting for it (including the security guards at Sanjivani/Ishani’s apartment complex!!!!!), except the two idiots themselves. Shashank is still dealing with the fallout of the thing with Juhi and the admin issues stemming from their unresolved issues, but small mercies, his relationship with Anjali seems to be looking up. Nurse Philo's daughter Jessica has been admitted mere days before her wedding and found to have a terminal illness and it's heartbreaking as fuck.

The Medical Stuff

Lol, does Ishani's "sickness" count? She's pretty convinced that she's dying of something serious, the way she was charting her symptoms and kept getting diagnostic test after diagnostic test, so I think it should. Glad she's finally gotten a diagnosis and the prognosis looks promising! Other than that, Nandini got operated on successfully by the Shashank-Juhi team, and the only active case we have is Jessica's Stage IV cancer. But I think that's going to focus more on the emotional side of things (getting her the dream wedding she wants), since it's at such an advanced stage that it wouldn't respond to treatment anyway.

The Acting

Thank the lord above, they have started giving Surbhi comedy to do, which is where she really shines as an actor. Namit is most excellent at heart eyes, and his crying has improved from the first few weeks; dialogue delivery still needs to be more polished though. Jason and Kunal are being used effectively by giving them hilarious, snarky scenes while they drill some sense into Ishani/Sid. Robin is still pretty much in the background other than to pop up and deliver the occasional wisecrack. Very sad to see Rashmi go, she'd really won my heart as Asha. The seniors got to ease up on the angsty scenes these weeks and I'm grateful for that; it's nice to see them loosen up a bit and smile and joke around. Special mention to Vedika Bhandari as Jessica, who's just ridiculously adorable and sooooooo likable, that I already am having trouble at the thought of letting her character go.

The Characters

Sid: MY DUDES, I DID NOT EXPECT TO FALL THIS HARD FOR SIDDHANT FUCKING MATHUR, BUT WELP, HERE WE ARE. I honestly cannot believe that this boy exists on Tellywood. Where to even start with him in these two weeks? How much younger than his years he seems when he was imploring his mom to stay to meet Shashank; his heart eyes when he wakes up to see Ishani first thing next morning (after waiting to see her the whole night!!!); his bashfulness at all the love he's getting from the whole hospital staff; his good-natured humoring of Ishani's weird behaviour... He's just so unassuming and Soft. I can't really recall seeing this lovable a male lead in tellywood in forever (all I can think of is Hussain K. characters in the early 2000s, in Krishna Arjun and Kumkum and all.) But by no means is Sid a pushover who tolerates any kind of BS. He rightfully rips Rishabh to shreds when he tries to discredit his relationship with Ishani, and understandably calls Ishani out on her nonsense when she's evading her duties, but in a decent way. There is some against-the-wall-caging (because Tellywood), but in a non-threatening manner; he maintains an appropriate distance, does not touch her, and while he does talk in a raised voice due to frustration, never does it veer into yelling that feels dangerous, and he repeatedly asks her if he said or did anything that's making her uncomfortable to be around him. I found it a little strange that he was so vehemently in denial of his feelings for Ishani in last week's episodes, because he seemed to readily accept after his conversation with Guddu Mama (“Halwa banaa ke leke jaaoon? Usko achcha lagega?" with the most hopeful smile; calling Ishani a "bohut hi pyaari si princess" to her face and specifying that he specifically made the halwa for her "pyaaaaar se", being open to the idea of marrying Ishani when Nurse Philo/Jessica jokingly suggest it....) but I guess it would be pretty incongruous for him to instantly fall hard for Ishani AND recognize it, with his past as a "player". So I like that they brought in one of his flings to contrast how different his feelings for Ishani are compared to the other girls he's dated; and subsequently how he's processing his many emotions about the situation. Most of all, I love that his feelings for Ishani don't hamper him from doing his job right; instead they just make him more sensitive to understanding her and making her feel good in any capacity that he can. He came all the way over to her house to apologize for making her cry, AND MADE HER PARATHAS!!!!!!! He slept over, but respectfully all scooched up on her tiny couch! What a goddamn Good Boi. Also, him crying over Jessica's diagnosis? Heart-fucking-breaking. We should all be so lucky to find a doctor who cares about his patients THIS much.

Ishani (or lol as Guddu Mama calls her, "Pareshaani"): I really was expecting the absolute worst with this "Ishani has Loveria" track. And it did not start out well; almost 3 whole episodes were just her puerile lovesick imagination waale music videos and that goddamn CGI titli and I was just like jfc whyyyyyyyyyy. BUT THEN!!!!!!! They finally started showing us the funny side of Ishani, and it's succeeded in making the character lovably kooky, instead of just unpleasant to be around. Her panic attack in the bathroom where she legit thinks she's having a stroke and tries to literally shake off the crush, making all the first year residents repeatedly do ECGs on her, her awkwardness around Sid, the rant where she bemoans falling in love with Sid of all people, her child-like crying to Asha when Sid finally gives her a dressing down for acting idiotic ("Mujhe ITNA daanta! ITNAAAA! Aur unprofessional bhi bola! *violently stabbing finger in the air* UNPROFESSIONAL!!!!!!!!"); all of it was just hilarious as fuck. We're finally seeing the endearing side of Ishani's addled personality. I'm also very glad she got the much-required wakeup call from Sid/Asha, that she's being very unprofessional by running away from her duties, and hopefully from here on, she'll be learn to focus on her job, even with Sid's distracting presence. She's also made quite a bit of progress when it comes to her germophobia; but realistically: it's only with Sid (and Asha) - the two people she's really close to; she's still seen being touch-averse with the rest, but slowly getting better; letting children touch her, offering to shake hands with Jessica and Jignesh, etc.

Asha & Aman: I'm super bummed that Rashmi is being replaced as Asha, because she was honestly so good in the role; cheerful and hilarious in most of her scenes, gentle and sensitive with Ishani, helping her out as much as she can with this inconvenient crush... It's not an easy role, with the accent and all. I hope this new actress is as competent as Rashmi, who always highlighted the humour but without making the accent the punchline; it was always the things she said and how she chooses to word it. It's an important distinction, to not make the regional background into a caricature.

Aman is Aman as usual, lol; vicariously getting kicks thanks to the shenanigans of everyone around. Also, to my surprise, Aman and Asha live together! They offer up their place for a party for Sid; when Ishani freaks out that the cake he ordered isn't Sid's favt. flavour, Aman just shrugs "Meri Asha ko butterscotch pasand hai." I still don't really know what his equation with Asha is, but whatever it is, I love it. Asha's a self-sufficient girl, but it's obvious that Aman feels really protective of her and wants to see her happy always. I really hope the new actress maintains this ambiguous chemistry with Robin too, till the writers decide what direction they wanna take this relationship in.

Dialogue of the Week: Asha [walking in on Ishani holding a sleeping Sid's hand]: Abbe! Humaare saamne toh badi "garma"phobic bani ghoomti hai, ab dekho Dr. Sid ke saath kaise touchy-wouchy ho rahi hai!!!!!!!!!!!

Rishabh: Fucking asshole. He Tried, but he's no match for the razor sharp wit of Sid, or Asha's jugaadu skills to relieve an overworked Ishani. Chal dafa ho, be! Manhoos kahinka.

Neil: He's really really enjoying Sid and Ishani's crushes on each other, taking the mick out of both of them at any given opportunity. I truly lmao-ed when he was seriously examining Ishani for an illness on her insistence and then eye-rollingly dismisses her with "Kuch nahi hua hai tumhe." Cutest snark bean.

Rahil: MY ACTUAL FAVE. Lmao, if Ishani’s got her little purple titli, then Rahil is Sid’s grownass plaid-shirt-wearing TITLA, who appears outta nowhere to serve up piping hot sass at his confused dumbassery. His acerbic, plain-speak snark seems to be the only language Sid understands (as opposed to the first years' gleeful teasing, or the good-natured ribbing of elders like Shashank and Philo and Guddu Mama), and him having to exasperatedly explain things to his boss-who-is-also-his-bff is just hilarious. I relish every single scene he appears in to the max! Also props to him for giving us the gem "same level ke ajeeb" as the OTP tag for SidIsha!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shashank: A much better fortnight for Dr. Shashank! Two of his idiot babies are very obviously in love (that scene of Ishani showing him her reports and describing the butterfly through pantomime though, lmao) and now his relationship with Anjali is defrosting (the exchange about the surgeon she was interested in and how he wants grandkids from her??? The cutest!!!!) Things still remain frosty with Juhi though, and I don't understand why he won't just address the issue and clarify things in a straightforward manner, instead of dragging it out like this and making it awkward with his COS/mentee. Anyway, good on him for getting that win on Vardhan, but I feel like he needs to stop being so damn stubborn on his issues without giving reasons. It’s not helping matters around here, personally or professionally.

Juhi: Literally the classiest female professional on TV??????? She hasn't stopped holding Shashank accountable for how he sabotaged her career, but I love that she has sorted it out enough to work with him, but also engages in minor acts of pettiness like gleefully scraping his car with hers, cheekily grinning and apologizing saying she needed to get out some of the angst before they operated on a patient together. For what it's worth, I was fully on her side during the argument with Shashank about the machines for the hospital; it sounded like a good deal, but of course, she should have had the foresight to know Vardhan would try to do some kinda fuckery. She’s right in not really trusting Shashank anymore, but needs to be a little more prudent with how she proceeds while making decisions for Sanjivani. In a way, it’s really sad how she doesn’t really have any allies at her level. Shashank was the only one she could really rely on, and he went and blew that relationship up, and now she’s kinda adrift in the organization. I hope Shashank does good by her and repairs the relationship.

Anjali: Phew, finally a good break for Anjali. I'm ecstatic. She's realized that Vardhan's manipulating her and broken free of his gaslighting nonsense. She's much smarter than both Shashank and Vardhan thought she was and yes sis, play them both!!!!!!! She got her COS post, but also isn't playing by Vardhan's rules. Ultimate winner! But does she also have some romantic feelz for V? Coz that last scene between them had very intimate vibes, from the way she walked into his office and knew where the booze was, to her pouring him a glass and casually lounging against the wall like a wife/girlfriend would. She wasn't even really fazed when he grabbed her; either she's a hella strong woman who cannot be trifled with, or she's familiar with this side of him. I really hope it's the former coz she deserves someone who's a grown up version of Sid (*cough* Atul Joshi *cough*) who's super good and healthy for her, not this deceitful fuckwad.

Vardhan: What is his deal? No honestly, does he have some kinda personal stake in saving Sanjivani from financial ruin? It seems so, with how overwrought and devastated he seemed at Shashank exposing the machine waala scam. Also, the way he manhandled Anjali? Unforgivable. Die in a fire, scum.

Rahul: Still haven't seen him but apparently he's hiding in that secret room in the luxury ward? What the everloving experimental fuck is he doing with pregnant women who look to be unable to afford medical care? Nothing ethical, that's for sure. I have a feeling this will maybe tie up to Ishani's parents waala plot, but for the meanwhile, jfc, just reveal yourself man, coz this shit is getting scary as fuck the longer you go unseen.

Overall Rating: 5/5

#sanjivani #tt reviews #sanjivani (new)

[inspirationminds]

The Circle Of Good Deeds

Once upon a time Shree Krishna and Arjun went for a short stroll around the city. They saw a poor looking priest begging. Arjun felt pity at him and he gave him a bag full of 100 gold coins. The priest became very happy and thanked Arjun. He left for his home. On the way, he saw another person who needed help. The priest could have spared a coin or two to help that person. However, he chose to ignore it. But on the way to his home, one thief robbed him of his bag of coins and ran away. The priest became dejected and went back again for beg. Next day again when Arjun saw the same priest begging and he was surprised that after getting a bag full of coins which can last a lifetime, the priest was still begging! He called the priest and asked him the reason for this. The priest told him about the whole incident and Arjun again felt pity for him. So, this time he gave him a diamond. The priest became very happy and left for home and he again saw someone who needed help but he chose to ignore again. Upon reaching home, he safely put the diamond in an empty pot of water with a plan to cash it out later and live a wealthy life. His wife was not at home. He was very tired so he decided to take a nap. In between, his wife came home and picked up that empty pot of water, walked towards the river close by to fill up the water. She had not noticed the diamond in the pot. Upon arriving at the river, she put the whole pot into the running river water to fill it up. She filled up the pot but the diamond was gone with the water flow! When the priest woke up, he went to see the pot and asked his wife about the diamond. She told him she had not noticed it and it must have been lost in the river. The priest couldn’t believe his bad luck and again started begging. Again Arjun and Shree Krishna saw him begging and Arjun inquired about it. Arjun felt bad and started thinking if this priest will ever have a happy life. Shree Krishna who is an incarnation of God smiled. Shree Krishna gave that priest one coin which was not even enough for buying a lunch or dinner for one person. Arjun asked Shree Krishna, “Lord, I gave him gold coins and diamond, which could have given him a wealthy life, yet it didn’t help him. How will just one coin help this poor guy?” Shree Krishna smiled and told Arjun to follow that priest and find out. On the way, the priest was thinking that one coin Shree Krishna gave him, he can’t even buy lunch for one person. Why would he give so little? He saw a fisherman who was getting a fish out of his net. Fish was struggling. The priest felt pity for the fish. He thought that this one coin won’t solve my problem, why not save that fish. So the priest paid the fisherman and took the fish. He put the fish in his small pot of water which he always carried with him. The fish was struggling in a small pot of water, and ended up throwing out a diamond from the mouth! The priest screamed with joy, “I got it, I got it”. At that same point, the thief who had robbed the priest’s bag of 100 gold coins, was passing through there. He thought that the priest recognized him and may get him punished. He got nervous and ran to the priest. He apologized to the priest and returned his bag full of 100 gold coins. The priest couldn’t believe what just happened. Arjun saw all this and said, “Oh Lord, Now I understand your play”.

Moral: When you have enough to help others, don’t let that chance go. Your good deeds will always be repaid to you.

#karma

[avani008]

"Give me a character and I will tell you…" Draupadi, the Pandavas, Karna, and Duryodhana please? Also Krishna and Balarama. (please feel free to pick and choose from this wide selection; I apologise for my thinly disguised greed. :P)

(Don’t apologize! Greed is good–in this situation alone ;)

Behind the cut because this is LOOONG. 

Draupadi

* How I feel about this character

One-half of my top two favorite characters in the entire epic and obviously a best beloved.

* All the people I ship romantically with this character…In a likely unpopular opinion, I only ship Draupadi/her husbands, and, honestly my preferred version is very much without angst at having to marry all five. My!Draupadi also doesn’t really have a favorite, other than a mild wistful partiality for Arjun; but both of them know for her to be married to him alone would work better in theory than practice, and that neither would really be happy were it so.

* My non-romantic OTP for this characterTEAM KRISHNA(A) FOR LIFE.

* My unpopular opinion about this characterRupa Ganguly was the One True Draupadi *tries to look fierce, fails*.

* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.B.R. Chopra brings up the tantalizing possibility of Draupadi volunteering to ride on Arjuna’s chariot when the Pandavas and Krishna are coming up with the plan to defeat Bhishma, and though they end up going with Shikandi instead….True, my headcanon-Draupadi is no warrior, but the thought of allowing her some agency in avenging herself is wonderful.

* Something about them I consider true, even though it’s only my head canon/fanon

….Not true, necessarily, but one of the more-realistic-alternatives for Draupadi’s miraculous birth I really love is that of it representing a rebirth in the form of a oath witnessed by fire that two of Drupad’s pre-existing children took to wreak revenge on the Kurus.

Pandavas

* How I feel about this character

Five arrogant, dorky, but essentially good-hearted heroes whose best quality is perhaps their devotion to each other against all odds. (Their brotherly love survived being wagered away by their big brother without losing their temper–how, I can’t imagine.)

* All the people I ship romantically with this character

Mostly Draupadi, honestly–though also Hidimbi for Bhima, and Subhadra/Ulupi/Chitrangada for Arjuna* My non-romantic OTP for this character

I don’t know if I could choose just one, though: but their relationship with Pandu as kids and Kunti much later fascinates me, just in the way they are kept together by love for their parent. * My unpopular opinion about this character

I…actually think that, while they are flawed, my favorite versions are still likeable and sympathetic protagonists as opposed to jerks who are just as bad as their cousins. * One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

…I wish the twins had gotten seperate personalities, and even the other Pandavas more characterization to get rid of the “goody-two-shoes other than the gambling thing”/ “strong but stupid” / “insufferable Designated Hero” flanderizations you so often see. * Something about them I consider true, even though it’s only my head canon/fanon

The Year of Disguise was one of the defining episodes in their lives. Prior to this, they’re so often casteist/classist/less concerned with the sufferings of others, and the forced walk in servants’ shoes must have done so much to make them better people.

Duryodhana

* How I feel about this character

Entertaining villain, often scores one of the most entertaining and talented actors out of the casts in most adaptations. * All the people I ship romantically with this character

I’m come around to Duryodhana/Bhanumati, but Duryodhana/Karna is also a Valid ‘ship. * My non-romantic OTP for this character

Duryodhana/Karna, even otherwise. Give me a version where Duryodhana is just using an sweet-ignorant-and-innocent Karna and you have a very unhappy Avani *side-eyes Starbharat, and, even more so, Suryaputra Karn** My unpopular opinion about this character

I–truthfully, I think the most unpopular opinion is irritation at how much pop culture wants to blame Duryodhana and Shakuni for everything, where Karna and other characters are…actually mostly responsible in actual canon.  The whitewashing of all other characters while Duryodhana is ridiculously evil to the extent where you wonder why no one drowned HIM at birth, is just….illogical. So that’s my grumpiest opinion. * One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I want to know so much about how he actually was as an administrator! The only indication we have Duryodhana’s dying speech about how he was an awesome King and is going to heaven, that’s….showered with flowers by the gods and not disputed by Krishna, and it just makes me wonder. * Something about them I consider true, even though it’s only my head canon/fanon

Duryodhana was a very loving and indulgent father and brother (to Dushala), albeit a hypocritical one–despite his treatment of Draupadi and others, he insisted that the women he cared for be held to a higher standard.

Karna

* How I feel about this character

Rather more irritation than most people in the fandom, I’m afraid. * All the people I ship romantically with this character

I never really–grew up with stories of Karna/His Wife, so I don’t really ship him with Vrushali/Urvi/Supriya/other variations of this character. Truthfully, it’s pretty much Karna/Duryodhana, or nothing. * My non-romantic OTP for this character

Karna & Arjuna as good, old-fashioned mutual loathing, rather than Starbharat’s near-constant ~SECRET BROTHERS~ song, is….always amusing. B. R. Chopra (I know, I know, despite its flaws, a whole bunch of its little character moments have stuck with me) has this part during Draupadi’s swayamvar where Arjuna watches Karna string the bow and just…smirks. He seems almost genuinely pleased, because well–of course his rival would be good enough to string the bow. He would expect no less of Karna.* My unpopular opinion about this character

Though Karna admittedly suffers quite a bit, and is unfortunately affected by bigotry, a) there are other characters who suffer just as much if not more and b) in no way does that justify the suffering he inflicts on other characters. It’s the Snape conundrum all over again. * One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Look, the only fanon I reliably want from any Mahabharat adaptation is the impossible scene where Duryodhana finds out Karna’s true origins after his death and mourns. I’ve said this before, but the “you [the Pandavas] have no right to perform his last rites! Only I do! He was MY friend!” made quite the impression on baby Avani. * Something about them I consider true, even though it’s only my head canon/fanon

Like many a solar hero before him (I’m thinking Gawain/Gwalchmai from Arthurian myth in particular, but I don’t think that’s the only one), Karna’s strength waxes and wanes with the rise and fall of the sun.

Krishna

* How I feel about this character

A warning: I am admittedly biased, because Krishna is the deity dearest to my heart: but a god dedicated to doing the right thing rather than blindly obeying law and tradition, whose response to a devotee saying “I don’t understand” is not to command them to stop asking questions, but rather to explain again and again, is one that I believe in. * All the people I ship romantically with this character

Krishna/Everyone is….pretty much canon, but I have a soft spot for Krishna/Rukmini* My non-romantic OTP for this character

Krishna & Arjuna (if you don’t ship them) is certainly an option, but *points upwards* I’m Team Krishna(a) forever.* My unpopular opinion about this character

I have to hope that Krishna’s offer to Karna that Draupadi would be his is more of a bluff–or rather, a way of guilting Karna rather than a sincere prediction of what would, or even should, happen. * One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.* Something about them I consider true, even though it’s only my head canon/fanon

Krishna’s “women are unreliable, so just go ahead and kidnap my sister instead of proposing” spiel to Arjuna re:Subhadra is honestly tongue-and-cheek and largely because Subhadra begged Krishna to make Arjuna actually get a move on instead of waiting until she got married off against her will. I don’t care that it’s blatantly ignoring canon; but it’s one of the few scenes of Krishna in the Vyasa Mahabharata that don’t fit in with my understanding.  

Balarama

* How I feel about this character

I really like Balarama! I feel like he hardly ever gets any attention, and many of the interesting stories/episodes concerning him often get glossed over. * All the people I ship romantically with this character

I’ve started shipping Balarama/Revati something fierce after getting on Tumblr! But consider: she’s literally from another age entirely, and they still find each other! She’s taller and wiser and stronger than he is! They have no son, only a daughter, and he still never marries anyone else!* My non-romantic OTP for this character

Krishna & Balarama snarking at each other is always great, no matter what the adaptation. * My unpopular opinion about this character

Not unpopular, but I suppose not universally accepted: Balarama is the reincarnation of Lakshmana/Shesh Nag, because Balarama trying to enjoy getting to be the big brother in this birth while Krishna continues to be cheeky and do as he pleases is great. * One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I would have loved to hear more about Yadava politics than what we get, and definitely even more about Revati and Balarama–there’s hardly any mention of her in the Mahabharata. * Something about them I consider true, even though it’s only my head canon/fanon

Balarama and Krishna have perfected bad cop/good cop (or grumpy raging Yadava/ charming compromising Yadava) to an art. Both of them are perfectly capable of exploiting their reputations for political gain.

#mahabharata #character meme #every character ever apparently

[madrascurrypowder]

thoughts on the 2017 indian movies i watched

telugu:

gautamiputra shatakarni: balakrishna’s answer to baahubali. good but not amazing, i guess. idk i liked shriya’s performance but it was super small and hema malini was disappointing. it was pretty forgettable even though it was a hit.

shatamanam bhavathi: cute rom-com as sharwanand movies usually are. anupama parameswaran, i loved (she was amazing in a...aa too!), and the whole caste did a great job, esp prakash raj. also, songs!!!! nilavade, mellaga tellarindoi, and shatamanam bhavathi are my faves!!

baahubali: the conclusion: oh. my. god. this was even better than the first!! everyone was so amazing the songs are wonderful strong female characters!!!! i loved the movie and it’s very hard not to! also, ramya krishna. just phenomenal. this is just a huge milestone and rajamouli deserves every ounce of praise he gets as does everyone who helped make the film happen. #jaimahishmathi!!

radha: action love story. standard, but good time pass. worth a watch.

rarandoi veduka chuddam: i thought it was not bad but my family did not like at all. just another love story with action at the end. jagapathi babu was good and naga chaitanya looks really hot. rakul is goals as always.

duvvada jagannadham: masala film, but entertaining. comedy was good and songs were good. allu arjun looks *heart eyes* and pooja hegde is pretty much perfect. it’s kinda copied-ish from jr. ntr’s adhurs and adhurs is better imho but it’s worth a watch.

ninnu kori: loved!! it’s a rom-com with a twist. nani films are usually good and this did not disappoint. the songs are really nice cinematography is picturesque and the art direction really deserves a mention bc it was sumptuous! niveda thomas did a great job as did aadhi. the comedy was subtle but hilarious.

shamanthakamani: cool story, not executed well. forgettable.

fidaa: i’m usually a huge sekhar kammula fan, i even liked life is beautiful even tho it was just a rehash of happy days. fidaa though, unpopular opinion, i just did not like. i liked sai pallavi and it was a pretty movie, and a lot of people loved it, but i guess it just didn’t do it for me? i loved his earlier films- anand, godavari, happy days, dollar dreams (his debut) so i was super excited for this, especially since it got such rave reviews, and i really liked the vachinde song but i ended up being rlly disappointed coming out of the theater.

goutham nanda: again normal masala movie. gopi chand (SPOILER) plays both hero and villain and excels in the latter role. not surprising tho since one of his strongest performances imo was as the villain in varsham. don’t know why it became such a big flop tho it wasn’t that bad.

lie: good idea, entertaining to watch. i’m lowkey a fan of arjun (gentleman, oke okkadu/mudhalvan, drohi/kurudhipunaal, to name a few favorites of his) and nithiin’s movies are usually watchable. again, idk why it was a flop it wasn’t that bad.

nene raju nene mantri: i usually like rana but this movie was best left alone in the 80’s/90’s. watch it for kajal looking rlly pretty and rana looking rlly hot.

anando brahma: was a surprise favorite. it was absolutely hilarious. one of the best horror comedies made in telugu after prema katha chitram blew up and everyone started making copy cats. there’s like a ten-twenty minute portion somewhere a bit later in the middle that’s just. incredibly funny.

arjun reddy: kind of problematic but also so progressive and idk i liked it a lot despite its flaws. to start off vijay devarakonda is just absolutely phenomenal and so is the guy who plays his best friend. the best friend’s comedy to his dad about pee/poop is hilarious. it’s darkly funny, the songs are soooo nice (i personally love love love madhurame!) and cinematography is very well done. overall, a very well crafted movie that depicts the human condition, almost a modern day devadas.

kathalo rajakumari: i got bored and fell asleep halfway thru and i don’t usually enjoy nara rohit movies so this was a let down

jai lava kusa: cool story and ntr was really really good, but that’s pretty much it. very masala.

spyder: it was so bad and i was so sad bc i like ar murugadoss movies generally, and i like mahesh babu movies generally, and i like rakul preet singh movies generally.

mahanubhavudu: cute romcom with a lot of bhale bhale magidivoy vibes. seriously, a lot. but, worth a watch.

raju gari gadhi 2: boring, not funny, ending harkened to 90s. different movie references were fun tho.

psv garuda vega: a lot of ppl liked this but i wasn’t one of them. i got bored and fell asleep halfway thru.

mca (middle class abbayi): usually nani films are different and cute but this was total masala straight from 90s/early 2000s. bhumika was good tho and sai pallavi and nani were cute together.

hello: was cute and i liked it but was more like three different movies in one. ramya krishna was good as was jagapathi babu. some songs were catchy, good cinematography and art direction. kalyani priyadarshan looks cute but doesn’t act that believably and akhil to me doesn’t look all that amazing. the parkour sequence seemed unnecessary and there was no chemistry between the lead pair.

movies i wanted to watch but couldn’t: ghazi, andhhagadu

hindi:

ok jaanu: not as good as ok bangaram/ok kanmani, which is not surprising. shaad ali can’t compare to mani ratnam.

half girlfriend: boring but camera work was nice as were the songs.

hindi medium: loved it!!!!!!!!!! irrfan khan was amazing as was saba quamar, who plays his wife. a very strong supporting cast as well. it’s an extremely funny movie that satirizes the lengths parents are going to to make sure their kids get into the “right” schools. again, i loved it. definitely definitely worth a watch.

dear maya: i absolutely adore manisha koirala and she was absolutely perfect in this film. the overall movie was really good but manisha’s performance just stands out. she did a great job and the film would’ve been even better if it had focused on her character more. songs were also catchy and fun and the overall vibe of the film is super fun too. cinematography is a+. give it a watch!!

mubarakan: funny entertainer that’s worth a watch. ratna pathak is good as always, as is anil kapoor.

movies i wanted to watch but couldn’t: mom, jagga jasoos, secret superstar, lipstick under my burkha!!!!!!!!, a death in the gunj!!!!!, trapped, newton!!!

tamil:

maragadha naanayam (marakathamani in telugu): super funny black comedy, I loved it!! aadhi was rlly good and the supporting caste was awesome as well. totally worth a watch!!

movies i wanted to watch but couldn’t: kaatru veliyidai (cheliyaa in telugu; i’m a huge fan of mani ratnam so hopefully soon!!!!!!), oru kidayin karunai manu

#telugu #telugu cinema #movies #movie review #movie recs #tamil cinema #hindi cinema #nani #mahesh babu #naga chaitanya #samantha #baahubali #andhra pradesh #prabhas #rakul preet singh #anupama parameswaran #allu arjun #pooja hegde #sai pallavi #gopichand #nithiin #kajal aggarwal #taapsee pannu #arjun reddy #vijay devarakonda #jr.ntr #akhil akkineni #bhumika chawla #aadhi pinisetty

[demonkidpliz]

Things I learned while re-watching Star Plus Mahabharata (Part 16/many):

1) As ever with Duryodhan, I cannot disagree with anything he says.

2) Oh god. This scene. Panchali’s curse. Her walking away as Arjun looks on. Gold.

3) Not sure I like this new version of Krishna seekh.

4) Also we have not seen Krishna fight once in this battle of Dwarka vs the King of Shalva.

5) I also don’t like crying Krishna. Not saying he can’t. But I can’t take him seriously when he cries. I need him to be infinitely more chill than SRJ is being right now.

6) Ah, Arjun swearing at the Kurus. A+ 10/10.

7) Oh my fucking god, Subhadra’s opening line to Arjun: how could you let this happen? I expect nothing less from her.

8) Madhav is back now, after chilling in his war. He’s still in a self-driven chariot.

9) Wow, he’s so pissed at the Pandavas and rightfully so.

10) Draupadi telling Krishna that she’s become impure. And anyone who comes near her would also become impure. No. NO. Every woman in the world knows this feeling.

11) Okay, first of all, Krishna, you moonlighting feminist, the first thing you should tell Draupadi is that she has not become malin because of what Duryodhana and Dushasan did. This is on them, not on her. I cannot but compare StarBharat with BR Chopra Mahabharat, the comparisons come very easily to me. And the truth is, they just did some things better.

12) Draupadi’s now fallen at his feet. Krishna is just like, Lord give me strength.

13) This scene is important because I feel like for once Krishna is putting his grand plans on hold for one second to give Draupadi back her peace of mind. Because first and foremost, the Lord is kind to those who follow him.

14) It’s so nice that StarBharat has shown this sort of sisterly solidarity between Draupadi and Subhadra, which is so important.

15) Draupadi is not even remotely impressed by Yudhishthira’s theatrics.

16) Draupadi’s pratigya makes her sound like Bhishma. Intentional or unintentional.

17) I cannot imagine Subhadra watching idly by as the Pandavas and Draupadi walk to the forest. I’m sure she put up a fight against her brothers to be allowed to go.

18) Speaking of, where is Balaram in all of this? His cousins are heading for vanvas and he is still chilling in Dwarka? Unrealistic.

19) Oh nice, Abhimanyu hasn’t even been born yet but somehow Krishna has managed to name him.

20) That scene where Arjun stops Subhadra from touching his feet. Some of StarBharat’s dialogueless scenes are just as touching.

21) Krishna’s glare as Shakuni enters the Indraprastha palace lmaoo.

22) A well executed scene but the watering hole scene happens only towards the end of the 12-year vanvas period.

23) This is hilarious. Yudhishthira is basically like Krishna is going to whoop my ass if I let something else happen to Panchali.

24) Oh god. Everyone loves Arjun the most. But I think Yudhishthira loves Bhim the most.

25) It’s time for Yudhishthira to meet his bio daddy!

26) Arjun doing tapasya for Shiv is my jam.

27) Bhim is such a cutie.

28) This Hanuman story is different though, right? Something to do with some lotus for Draupadi.

29) Is Hanuman a Yadav? He wears the same tilak. Or is this some Ram/Krishna connection we don’t quite know about.

30) I love Hanuman’s character! He’s so playful. And also the Hanuman Chalisa in the background score.

31) Oh so Hanuman knows that Krishna is Ram/Vishnu avatar and says he will chill on the chariot that’s being manned by God.

32) Oh no they never told us about the magic bowl Draupadi had that was gifted to her by Surya Dev which gave them unlimited food.

33) Also, do the Pandavas and Karna ever realise that they are all ‘gifts’ of Durvasa.

34) Krishna creeping in the background like some mega creep 😂

35) This is a conversation for another time but some day we need to talk about the incessant whitewashing of our gods such as Ram and Krishna in modern mythological serials. Also of Draupadi/Dhrishtadyumna/Arjun—basically anyone who’s described in canon as dark. There is some modern fetish for fair-skinned gods that just doesn’t sit right. I miss the dark-skinned Aruns and Nitishs.

36) Durvasa is still not impressed by Krishna. This man is literally god.

37) Arjun is fishing.

38) Oh nice, Indra is also here. Old gods and new.

39) Not sure whether I like this Shiv. Shiv in general I love.

40) Aaaand Jayadrath is here. Can’t wait for this guy to die in tomorrow’s BR Chopra Mahabharat episode.

41) Duryodhan low key throwing shade at Jayadrath is my jam.

42) Really, what does Dushala see in this man?

43) Kaun ho tum? Really? Draupadi doesn’t know her own brother-in-law? That seems highly unlikely.

44) Why is Arjun wasting time with all this trash talk?

45) Arjun is having a lot of second thoughts about keeping Jayadrath alive for Dushala’s sake but this is going to change very quickly during the war. Also Nakul rightfully points out that this man will give grief to Arjun later on.

46) This is by far the worst and most inaccurate map of Aryavarta to ever exist.

47) Oh no Jayadrath’s hair makeup is so not on point at this moment.

48) Mamashri Shakuni is literally fortune telling at this point and this is my jam.

49) So it’s canon that both Shakuni and Krishna are Slytherins, right? Yet they are the two most diametrically opposite Slytherins we have ever seen.

50) Also I want to see Dushala but these shows never give me what I want. When I make the Mahabharata I will make sure the women get equal and opposite screen time and character development as the men.

51) Yudhishthira is getting on my nerves.

52) This Draupadi is infinitely nicer than BR Chopra Mahabharat’s Roopa Ganguli who used to give it to her husbands every opportunity she got.

53) I also have lots of complaints. They didn’t show Dhrishtadyumna taking Draupadi’s sons home to Panchal to raise them.

54) They didn’t show Arjun chilling with his bio dad in heaven! They didn’t show Urvashi hitting on him and him rejecting her advances! Then she curses him, causing him to lose his manhood. And then she reverses the curse after Indra begs her and she limits it to lost manhood for one year of his choosing. That’s how Arjun uses the Brihannala guise for a year during agyaatvaas!

55) Shakuni training himself to think like Krishna. Looool.

56) Nakul bullying children is my jam.

57) Clearly this sattoo ke laddoo business is some sort of secret code amongst the Pandavas.

58) At least Uttar and Uttara are aptly shown as young teenagers.

59) My fav is back! Brihannala! 😍

60) Also what is this face covering nonsense by Sairindhri?! Women in the Later Vedic Age did not cover their faces or their heads behind purdah!!!

61) The Pandavas meeting together after a long time is giving me hope! This is what it’s going to be like when lockdown is over and I meet my friends 😭😭😭

62) This Keechak guy looks evil but I can’t take him seriously because his voice makes him sound like a prepubescent boy.

63) What is this casual classism from Keechak? Like Jesus, what a dirtbag.

64) Again there was no ghunghat back in those days?!?!

65) But iss Keechak ne toh consent ki maa behen kar di.

66) How happy the Pandavas are to see Panchali! Arjun the most, perhaps 😍

67) Virat making a dig at Dushasan. I’m here for this tea.

68) I can’t take Keechak seriously because of his voice.

69) This logic whereby if Draupadi has five husbands so she can have one more—like I will never understand this! She consented to five and no more???

70) Brihannala, my one true fav, is back!

71) Keechak vadh is my favourite episode, behind Shishupal vadh and Jayadrath vadh. Do you see the pattern?

72) Why is Draupadi here? I wanted to see Bhim’s giant form hidden as a lump under a blanket, enticing Keechak.

73) Bhim is here! 😍 Seriously, no one loves Panchali as much as Bhim does. Arjun toh is smitten by our Yadav homegirl.

74) Now Arjun is going to do his tandav dance. This should distract the others from the noise nicely.

75) Oh nice. Nakul and Sahadev are also participating.

76) Predictably, Jyesth Bhrata, Yudhishthira, is not invited to this Keechak vadh party.

77) King Virat is like oh no what a loss.

78) Yudhishthira looks pissed, as always, when his brothers have done something good.

79) Haha. Duryodhan has caught on to the fact that Bhishma is trying desperately to stall so that the Pandavas are not found out.

81) Now Duryodhan is now accusing Vidur of partiality. Again, he is not wrong. I’m so impressed by how well his character has been written. Not one word he says is incorrect.

82) Nice. Duryodhan has his father wrapped around his little finger. He knows exactly how to manipulate him so that Dhritarashtra rises to the bait.

83) After all these centuries Bhishma realises that Shakuni is after the destruction of Hastinapur.

84) Shakuni is admitting now that all of this is revenge for Gandhari. Oh man. Do you think Bhishma knew that the Mahabharat was the result of his poorly executed actions (intentional or otherwise)?

85) King Virat is so smart. I like him. I’m going to be so sad when he dies.

86) Brihannala is going to stay behind. Great. It’s so interesting to see this story in retrospect (which is how it’s told to Janamajeya and Vajra) in the first place.

87) I like Virat with open hair.

88) What the hell is this? I cannot be attracted to Pitamaha Bhishma and Mama Shakuni with their open hair and battle armour?! Adharm!

89) Oh what a cool sundial!

90) I’m glad they showed Uttar as nothing more than a teenager.

91) Mama Shakuni is so fit.

92) Do you think Bhishma recognises Arjun as Uttar’s chariot?

93) Poor Uttar is probably shitting his pants.

94) Arjun praying to Agni Dev to return his Gandiv. Old gods to the rescue.

95) This background score! It’s my absolute favourite! Parthasya Dhananjaya! My fav song on my fav, Arjun 😍

96) Bhishma looks thoroughly pleased. He recognises the sound of the Gandiv’s twang.

97) Now they will fight about the authenticity of the calendar. They should go to a calendar expert.

98) Bhishma looks proper chuffed at Arjun. How on earth will they fight against each other in the Great War?

99) Oh man, Karna is here. Ugh.

100) Karna is here to trash talk as per usual. Oh god both these men are useless. Fight no instead of talking so much.

101) Oh man, the charioteer’s son has been thrown from his chariot but not before taking a shot at Arjun.

102) Ah Karna’s divine armour makes an appearance!

103) Oh shit, this just got real! They’re calling on divine weapons!

104) Bhishma steps in. Of course.

105) Duryodhan’s hah! 😂😂

106) Arjun crying that if he is responsible for Bhishma’s death, it will be hell on earth for him. Oh, Arjun. You must still suffer, a lot.

107) Arjun’s threat, that all the Pandavas will come to avenge Draupadi’s insult. Yes. 100%. I hope in this yug even if men are not punished for their crimes against women on earth, they will suffer forever in hell for their misdeeds.

108) The Pandavas and Draupadi are ready. It’s time for the Great War. It’s time for Mahabharat.

#mahabharata #mahbharat #starbharat #siwt #starbharat recap

[liveindiatimes]

This phase will show us right direction for a better future: Nitish Bharadwaj - lucknow

New Post has been published on https://www.liveindiatimes.com/this-phase-will-show-us-right-direction-for-a-better-future-nitish-bharadwaj-lucknow/

This phase will show us right direction for a better future: Nitish Bharadwaj - lucknow

What’s keeping us busy in times of lockdown are numerous inspirational videos doing round on social media. One such clip is of Nitish Bharadwaj, who is best remembered as Lord Krishna of the epic Mahabharata.

In the clip, Bharadwaj plays Lord Vishnu and talks about how testing these times are and how they could be designed by god for a better tomorrow. HT City talk to the actor to get the context, and how is life in the times of Corona.

How are you spending time in the lockdown period?

Yoga, meditation (introspection), reading literature, listening to good music by masters, polishing my cinema skills with online masterclasses and cooking.

What are the thoughts that are occupying your mind?

This lockdown period is a momentary pause, like a momentary recoil of a gun before it fires the bullet. This is an opportunity to go deep within, both as an individual and as a society/nation, and introspect as to which walks of life, we are going wrong in. And, I am not saying ‘going wrong’ only from Covid-19 point of view, but overall. We must also accept our faults, if they spring from this ‘manthan (introspection), and correct them after this period, so that we (while we are live) and our children have a better, safer, healthier and peaceful environment to live in.

One of the ancient scriptures, ‘Shikshavalli’, refers to this as ‘Swaadhyaay’ or introspection. This ‘churning’ will show us the right direction for a better future.

A very thoughtful and relevant video from a mythological TV show is doing round on social media. Your take.

The particular video is from ‘Vishnu Puran’. I remember how Ravi Chopra and I had marathon sessions with the writer Ram Govind about using Lord Vishnu as the narrator, who is above board and comments on everything that we do as humans on earth. Both of us wanted to make the serial relevant for all times. That’s why the dialogues were written like that. I am doing the same thing with my Hindi play ‘Chakravyuh’, which is moving to its 100th show soon.

When u look back to your days of doing mythological shows and see them in today’s context how do you relate?

Man has not learnt his/her lessons. We are going more and more towards materialism at the cost of ignoring spirituality. We are forgetting the cosmic laws and that the only superpower is Nature. Even a small ‘karvat’ (small turn) by nature can destroy us. There was a time when Dinosaurs went extinct; if man doesn’t learn to respect nature, we don’t have a long enough existence. Catastrophes like COVID-19 should be seen as alarm for the mankind to correct its mistakes of the past and to build a better tomorrow.

From you understanding of ‘Gita’ and other scriptures what inferences you draw in today’s context?

I would answer this question with Covid-19 perspective. I would quote the very last shloka of the ‘Gita’ “Yatra Yogeshvar: Krishno ….” And say that there are a lot of honest, committed and knowledgeable environmentalists in the world who are warning us to correct ourselves. They are our guides, just like Krishna. All we need to do is to submit to their guidance like Arjun and act positively for a better future. If we do so, man’s existence will be ‘shashvat’ (permanent) and in ‘neeti sangat’ morality. We need to stop ravaging Mother Earth and respect her.

After ‘Kedarnath’, what’s happening on acting and theatre front?

As an actor I have some scripts for films and web series. Will utilise the lockdown period to read and choose something worthwhile. As a director after the success of my award-winning debut directorial Marathi film with Tanuja ji, titled ‘Pitruroon’, I have locked a screenplay for my Hindi debut. I am in talks with two producers, which will resume soon. I hope to release the said film next year.

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[ancienthinduism]

IDOL WORSHIP IN HINDUISM : DECODED #1

Hinduism has deep-rooted scientific knowledge wrapped up in faith and hope. Idol worship which is called as the ‘Murthi Pooja’ in Hinduism too has got its significance from nature and mysticism. There is both mystical and scientific aspect of this act.

Idol worship is a spiritual act that has been in practice since ages of time. Idols are the sacred material manifestations of the energies of the "Isha" or the divine which are placed in every Hindu temple, Hindus home and areas of commerce. Idols of God are the personification of the divine energies in materialistic forms, human forms, and that  shows us the likeness of the representation of gods' form and  brings us closer to them so that we can see them as a part of us and ourselves as the part of that divine. Every human being needs a friend and a companion who supports him in his good and bad times. There are people who have no one to talk to and who are being left astray in the course of life. The faith they put into this idol, symbolizing and channeling their faith and energies to the lord, helps them survive in bitter times of Kalyug and gradually helps them to overcome them. He who resides in heaven is just the energy and the idol a physical representation of that divine.

The scientific aspect, since Hinduism has its roots in science goes to prove that if a person prays to an idol or worships, it helps them to concentrate and focus on a single  thought. In Kalyug, spiritual beings are surrounded by distractions and worldly desires which diverts their focus. This has led to the spread of atheism. With the focus on the idols, our senses centralize and positive energies flow into our body. This activity intellectually improves our brain’s nervous system and the cardiovascular system. In a true sense, it instills in us, the ancient practice of meditation which helps us to understand things in depth.

The reason behind the idol worship has a got a specific and a special reason, though many other religions deny the fact of practicing it. As we know that everything has  two sides, in the same sense idol worship in Hinduism has got its own charm and divinity as it regulates focus in oneself and to assure the presence of God the almighty.

THE CONCEPT OF IDOL WORSHIP IN HINDUISM - IN DETAIL

The answer needs to be properly understood. In the Hindu tradition, God has been largely absent in traditional sense. For example, two of the major Hindu philosophies – Samkhya and Advaita – are primarily atheistic! Samkhya calls this existence to be a play between Purush and Prakriti. Which essentially means “Masculine” and “Feminine” energies. Or “Yin-Yang” as they are known in Far East. There is no Parmatama or God. In Advaita on the other hand, which is a non-dualistic school, there is no two. Only one indivisible existence in terms of Universal Consciousness!

In such a tradition, what is God then? The concept of God as described by Krishna in Bhagwad Gita’s 9th and 10th chapters is central to the Hindu tradition per the scriptures as well. When asked by Arjun “Who are you?”, Krishna points to discrete things – from mountains to Vedas to music, to emotions, the good things and bad, and equates himself with all of them. Once he has discussed a fairly vast expanse of discrete things, he declares “I am All”!

In mathematical terms,  Lord Krishna was describing Himself as the “Infinite curve�� with several discrete points, such that every discrete point describes the curve completely! In Spiritual terms, if everything is ONE Universal Consciousness, then how can one distinguish between point A and point B? In that state, there is no distinction of Space and Time. If that is so, then at the gross level, no matter what you look at, it describes the Divine completely.This concept of the Hindus has been proven to be in alignment to the distinction between Quantum world and the Physical world. Even though every molecule is distinct with its own properties, at the sub atomic level, it is one wave! Somewhere, the wave gives way to the material reality as one goes from subtle to the gross.

In this vast expanse of One Indivisible Universal Consciousness, everything conceivable is a manifestation of that same One showing up at the gross level as matter. That is why, even though Sanskrit term for Creation is Kriti, the Hindus never used it to describe this Existence. Instead they used the term Srishti! Srishti comes from the word Srijan. Srijan is the growing of a tree from a seed. Tree is the manifest form and seed the unmanifest.

So, to a Hindu devotee, it doesn’t matter whether it is a tree, a rock, a piece of metal or a cow – everything is but a manifestation of the One Universal Consciousness – or his Divine! On the infinite curve of the Divine, every discrete point describes and manifests the Divine completely.

Is a Hindu’s idol God? Scientifically and Spiritually it is a resounding YES! At a more mundane level, that idol has been consecrated or energized to bring well being to him. It is therefore a complete system of Spiritual and Social growth, something that those who denounce Idol Worship have never been able to comprehend. Both Spiritually and Scientifically they have made a fool of themselves!

{TO BE CONTINUED ..}

#hinduism #hindu mystery #hindu religion

[likelybysea]

Who's Driving this Thing, Anyway? Common Yoga Metaphors

Joe Walsh, apparently.

I spent too much time this weekend working on this drawing of a song I heard. It was probably worth it. When I was about 3/4 of the way through, I indignantly said to Chris “where did all of my ink go” since the pen was almost empty. He looked at the paper and replied, “It’s on the page”. Yes. It is. Lots of lines. Love these white opaque uniball pens for drawing on magazine paper. It’s a good thing I have 3 (well, now 2) of them.

If you make it through this whole article, I’m impressed. Having a good grasp of the cultural narrative is super important for everyone interested in yoga or teaching yoga in order to understand the nuances of the common yoga metaphors. It all started with this song.

What was the song?

Taming the Dragon

It’s a super campy narrative jazz piece by pianist Brad Mehldau and drummer Mark Guiliana that came on my Spotify at work. These musicians are traditionally more acoustic, but this song is a dream journey with each spoken word stanza punctuated by moments of jazz improvisation. In the dream, the narrator rides through LA in a convertible steered by an old hipster version of Joe Walsh/Dennis Hopper. Let’s call him Joe.

As the dream progresses, the vehicle morphs into a VW van and then a spaceship while Joe drives the narrator through this beautiful city. When some random dude comes up out of nowhere and cuts them off, our passenger gets a serious wave of road rage while Joe brings some clarity. It’s a good thing he’s the one driving.

So our narrator realizes Joe was actually taking care of him this whole time, and not the wild party influence he had originally thought. And how when you’re in a dream you may see all of these different people leading you to good or trouble, but they’re actually you. One side of you rages and the other holds steady, and they each try for your attention.

In the song, finding balance is like taming a dragon. You need Joe to keep you on the straights and narrow. In turn, Joe knows the dragon is part of you and not to try to kill it, because that’s where the good stuff comes from. You want to tame and make friends with the dragon, so you can effectively work with his creative energy.

Anyway, Brad Mehldau and Mark Giuliana make a good song. You can listen to it here:

Plato’s Chariot

When Chris hears stories like this he keeps coming around to Plato’s chariot, narrated through Socrates. The Charioteer of the human soul drives a chariot pulled by two winged horses. One is noble and the other quite the opposite, which makes steering the thing quite a challenge. The Charioteer is intellect, reason, and guides the soul to truth. The white horse represents rational and moral impulse while the black horse represents irrational passions. The Charioteer steers the entire thing toward enlightenment.

If overcome by the black horse or forgetfulness, the soul loses its wings and is pulled back to the earth. When this happens, it’s incarnated into one kind of person depending on how much truth it understood before falling. There are nine kinds of people in order of decreasing truth: (1)philosophers, lovers of beauty, men of culture; (2) law-abiding kings or civic leaders; (3) politicians and businessmen; (4) bodily health specialists; (5) prophets and mystery cults; (6) poets and imitative artists; (7) craftsmen and farmers; (8) sophists and demagogues; (9) tyrants. Plato uses this allegory to explain that love is a reflection of love of the forms, and thus a “divine madness”.

My only point of contention with Plato is the nine kinds of people. How can you be only one? Can’t a person be both a businessman and a man of culture, a civic leader and an artist, a bodily health specialist and philosopher? People are not so linear.

Krishna’s Chariot

In Indian culture, there’s also a famous chariot metaphor in the Bhagavad Gita, a central Hindu text. In this tale, the Warrior Prince Arjun prepares for war while talking with the god Krishna about the human struggle for self-mastery. According to this text, it’s a battle against that which causes sorrow – attachment, likes and dislikes, ego. Victory is achieved with the realization of the self, detachment from pleasure and pain, mastery of the senses, and wisdom in action.

Here the Self is again described with the metaphor of a chariot. The chariot is the body, the passenger the soul, the driver the Self, the horses the five senses, the reins the mind, and the road the object of the senses. Krishna advises Arjun to bear pleasure and pain patiently with detachment, as they are fleeting. Take hold of the reins of the mind to control the horses of the senses and guide them in life. Krishna further says to work for the sake of work alone, not the fruits of labor. When this is achieved, anxiety or worry will fade and you can find wisdom in action. The wise can thus draw their senses at will.

Common Yoga Metaphors

This can all come down to the chariot Or vehicle of transportation as a metaphor for the body in yoga, where the body is the vehicle through which your soul (or whatever you want to call it) experiences the world.

During JYU yoga teacher training we learned different types of metaphors you can use for a body: a car, a house, time, the elements, anything. Back in the day, chariots were a really common mode of transportation. But now we use cars. The same metaphor can easily translate to the vehicle of the car. The car is the body, the passenger and driver are the self and the soul, the wheels the mind, the engine the five senses, and the road the object of the senses. In turn, this lends new meaning to the Taming of the Dragon song.

Do you know of any other chariot metaphors, or hear any other mythical references in their song? Where does the taming of the dragon come from?

Who’s Driving this Thing, Anyway? Common Yoga Metaphors was originally published on Likely By Sea

#chariot #music #philosophy #reviews #yoga

[ambidextrousarcher]

Sarcastic StarBharat Reviews: Episode 12- The episode I hoped is the end of this farce…but isn’t.

This episode begins with Gandhari caressing the length of satin. Her hands shake, her breath comes out in huffs as she brings it over her eyes. Scene switches to the Kurus. The music is still happening. Dhritrashtra stands at the foot of the vivaah mandap. Pandu is describing the surroundings to him. And then he makes a misstep. He says that he sometimes tries to close his eyes and identify objects, but is unable to. Seems like the dude has stereognosis issues. Dhritrashtra gives his sarcastic laugh and they continue their conversation. He keeps describing, as he leaves to help another King. Dhritrashtra is left calling for him, coming to the attention of servants who make a good-natured joke about his impatience in his hearing, which seems improbable to me, as Kings and Princes are generally too highly respected for the same to occur. Also, if Dhritrashtra can hear Pandu’s footsteps as established before, why is he fumbling now? Guys, please try at least a semblance of keeping the story straight. Pandu returns, he apologizes. The both of them make a joke I don’t understand. The music begins again, seriously, at this point, I am watching this crap for the music alone. There is a faint sound of payals, followed by heralds heralding Gandhari. Everyone cranes their neck to get a look at them, but we can see only their lower halves. There is shocking music played. Can we get over with it? Dhritrashtra remarks he can only hear the sound of her payals and nothing else. “But what happened, why is everything else silent?” “Pandu, what happened?” “Stop!” calls Satyavati. “How dare you, why is there a cloth over her eyes?” Then the camera focuses on Gandhari. “Pandu, what is the Rajmata saying?” Pandu confirms the veracity of her words. The Queen of Gandhar asks for forgiveness and explains Gandhari’s oath. Satyavati calls it disrespect, betrayal. The scene drags on for some time, with Satyavati going all the way, saying that she was not given prior info, yada yada, what use is the girl if she doesn’t want to become Dhritrashtra’s eyes (excuse me?), so on and so forth. Dhritrashtra, the permanently pissed off guy, says he won’t marry her, as she has insulted him. Gandhari makes a declaration of pativrata dharm, stating that she will do Agnipariksha if he doesn’t marry her. Goodness, the melodrama quotient. “If you are here to marry, putri,” says Bhishm, ‘then what is the need for the cloth covering your eyes?” He further elaborates a wife’s duty as someone who fulfills her husband’s deficiency. She makes her definition of duty clear, of her sanskaar. Ugh. I hate this. And then Gandhari talks about understanding blindness, and about married life. She ends with her oath. The title music plays. “Before taking an oath, you should think over it.” Hypocrite much? Dude, you literally ruined your life without hesitating ‘coz your daddy had a boner. Gandhari says that thoughts can be misleading, but a pledge like hers is pure. The title music is still playing. Then Gandhari says “Who can know better than you about oaths?” Good question. The camera focuses on individual people before focusing on Gandhari, who asks for blessings about her pativrata. I have had freaking enough. So I am not quoting anything. The courtiers start hailing Gandhari, to which Dhritrashtra gives his characteristic eye twitch. Satyavati asks Kripacharya for advice, who says that when a husband and wife don’t love each other, the children will not be good, either. Ah, dramatic foreshadowing, I see. He also calls Gandhari’s oath a Bhishm pratigya that should be respected. He asks Dhritrashtra to accept Gandhari for the benefit of Hastina and the Kurus. Title music plays again, as Dhritrashtra gives his eye-twitch again. The wedding music plays (Nila, stop thinking of Arjun/Subhadra!!) as the wedding takes place. Dhritrashtra, as expected, keeps walking with no regard for Gandhari. Kripacharya pronounces the wedding complete. Scene switches to a bedchamber at night. Uh-oh. First night, ancient Indian version. Sukhda tries to arrange Gandhari’s clothes. Gandhari says that her clothes are not right. Man, melodrama again. Sukhdha describes the clothes very beautifully. “Who can see them?” Ouch. Gandhari asks Sukdha to bring flowers to decorate her. Knowing the git that Dhritrashtra is, this is not going to go well. She goes off on yet another spiel of Pativrata, and there’s Krishna. Uh-oh. Skip. This lecture is about Decisions, and it ends the episode. Y’all must be wondering why I am not pointing canon fails anymore. Here’s the clarification: It’s because nothing in these episodes is canon! That’s why. Hopefully, we go somewhere back into canon territory soon. Precap: “I, Dhritrashtra, son of Vichitraveerya, do forswear you today.” He pushes away Gandhari, swearing never to hold her as his wife. BTW: One enormous canon fail is that Dhritrashtra of the epic as slimy as he is, is not this much of a drama Queen. Nor did he ever reject Gandhari. I cannot imagine Gandhari as such a Mary-Sue either.

Tagging @mayavanavihariniharini, didi, please comment about Gandhari! @medhasree, @ratnas-musings @justahappyreindeer @butchcaroldanvers @allegoriesinmediasres @bleedinknight @ruminationsofaraven and @avani008

#sarcastic starbharat reviews #episode 12 #my goodness #such a dragfest #gandhari #dhritrashtra #and the cloth of misery #scribbler gets salty #nila rants