Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Part A

Vyasa

Vyasa dictating to Ganesha

I really think it's interesting that Vyasa was a man and he dictated the Mahabharata to the god Ganesha to write down. Most other religious texts are thought to be dictated to man from God so its an interesting role reversal to me. The story of Vyasa's birth was quite confusing the first time around. The second tellin was much clearer

1st telling summary

• Indra set to bribe king Uparichara of Chedi with a crystal (flying) car because the gods feared he was trying to steal their power. 
• The king was flying when his semen fell into a river where a female fish swallowed it.
• A fisherman caught the female fish 10 months later and she gave birth(?) to a boy and a girl.
• The king took the boy but left the girl with the fisherman and his wife. 
• The fish girl was named Satyavati and she helped her father who was a ferryman on the river Yamuna.
• A rishi made a deal with Satyavati, she would accept his embrace as long as she should remain a virgin and lose her fishy smell
• Vyasa, or Dwaipayana is born on an island (presumably by Satyavati?) 

2nd telling summary

• A fish once carried two unborn babies in it's stomach whose father was a great rajah. 
• A fisherman found the children when he caught the fish. 
• He sent the boy to the rajah and kept the girl, who was reared as his own daughter. 
• Satyavati ferried the brahmin Parashara across the Yamuna
• Parashara wanted her to be the mother of his son and he promised she would always smell good (not like fish) afterward. 
• Satyavati gave birth to Vyasa; 
• Satyavati became a virgin again through the power of Parashara, and a she retained a pleasant forever.

Bibliography:

The Mahabharata, A Summary by John Mandeville Macfie (1921).

Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).

Amba

Amba Thirsts for Revenge

Amba sounds like "Amber" pronounced with a thick Boston accent. This is my chance to write a Survivor story like I had considered doing for my Storybook.

Plot Summary:

• Amba tells Bhishma of her engagement to the king of the Shalwas. 
• Amba leaves Hastinapura to the be with the king of the Shalwas.
• The king of the Shalwas sucks. He casts off Amba, rejecting her affections.
• Amba is humiliated, she leaves the city and takes refuge in one of the great forest-hermitages.
• She grows angry with Bhishma and starts to seek rvenge
• She fasts and undergoes penances unconcerned by beauty. Her hair became matted and she grew thinner and thinner.
• Shiva  appeared before her and questioned her as to the boon she sought.
• Amba tells him she wants the defeat of Bhishma and Shiva says she will slay him
• Amba asks how she as woman can achieve victory in battle
•  Shiva says she will be born as a man with memory of her life as Amba and will slay Bhishma
• Amba builds and enters her funeral pyre. Peace out time to kill Bhishma

Bibliography:

Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914).