Week 5: Reading Diary A

The Mahabharata begins by introducing us the background of the story, explaining the author is Vyasa, who will be an important character throughout the story. We meet Devavrata, who the author explains will later be known as Brishma.  Brishma is a human, but has special powers- Vasus.  Next is the love story of Satyavati and Shantanu.  I enjoyed this one because I love love stories, so this may be a possibility as the basis of my storytelling post this week.  Vyasa is born and more detail is given about his importance.  Next, we learn why Devavrata was a named Brishma, and I was a little confused.  I re-read this part a couple of times.  So far the reading has been very detail oriented, and a bit of an information overload.   Brishma means "terrible" because of the vow that was taken.  I enjoyed learning about Kunti and her son, Karna and how he will also be an important part of the story.  Karna has "the eye of a lion and the shoulders of a bull."

This reading was a lot of information and I felt like I read so much and understood little, or forgot a lot by the time I had finished reading it.  I feel like I will definitely need to go back and read through it again before moving forward with the reading tomorrow.  It felt like it was moving a lot faster than the Ramayana, and I felt like we were introduced to so many characters that I need to go back through and make a little character guide so that I do not get lost along the way.

Brishma (Wikipedia)

Mahabhrata