Well to be honest, I had never heard of Mahabharata until
this class. My first feeling reading the first few paragraphs was utter
surprise. I definitely was not expecting to here about semen falling from the
sky into a river and two children coming of it.
The beautiful Ganga agrees to marry Shantanu on the
condition if he ever speaks ill to her that she will leave him. She has seven
babies and destroys all of them. On her eighth baby, Shantanu cannot take it
any longer. After, “He upbraided his heartless wife,” Ganga reveals that she is
truly the river Ganga. Ganga takes the eighth baby with her only to return him
back to the king. The son “was endowed with the virtues of the Vasus,” and he
was named Devavrata.
King Shantanu meets Satyavati and falls in love. Satyavati
is the mother of Vyasa. Satyavati’s story of birth it very interesting to me. I
am reading this story with a Christian lens, so it is fun to compare this story
to the Bible. It sounds kind of like the story of Jonah and Moses mixed into one.
Jonah was swallowed by a fish and survived, and Moses was found in a papyrus
basket on the Nile and was brought up by Pharaoh’s daughter. This is very
similar to Satyavati’s brother because the king took him. I am not sure if that
is me taking a big leap, but I find it very interesting in comparison. However,
Satyavati was adopted by the fisherman that found her.
Author: Laura Gibbs
Hi again Jordan, I just finished reading your Week 5 Story and I thought it was very good. I like the form you put it in. It is always interesting to read a story when the characters are talking to each other. I like the little details that you added to make your story your own. The father talking reminded me of when I was younger and how my dad would talk to me before I was going to bed. Unique story!
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