Wikipedia Trail From Mount Meru to Iron Age

My interest for Mount Meru started when I read a storybook discussing the mountain and mythology of it. I scrolled down on that page and found a word that I was unfamiliar with. The word was yojana and is a type of mesaurement for distance used in ancient India. Yojana equates to be about 12-15 km and was used during the Vedic period. The Vedic period was between 1500 BCE- 500 BCE, the culture was tribal and pastoral. The end of the period challenged the Kuru Kingdom which was Indo-Aryan tribal union during the Vedic period and was located in the north during the Iron Age India. Iron Age in India is the prehistorical period.

Picture Information: Kuru Kingdom during the Late Vedic Period 

Week 9 Story: Romulus and Remus

"Oh no, where are we and how did we get here?! Last I remember we were having a leisurely stroll in the Amazon Jungle" Exclaimed Romulus to his brother Remus.

Remus calmly responded. "Well you see dear brother, our beloved city of Baia fell captive to the sea god, we lost all hope and retreated to the forest where we felt at home. While we were gathering ourselves and discussing our next move, you fell victim to a hunter who mistook you for a game animal. I fell victim to Glycon, the snake god."

In that instant all memories returned to Romulus and flashed in front of his eyes.

"What is wrong dear brother?" Remus asks Romulus.

Romulus responds, "It is because of me that we are here," he continues, "you see, if I had never told my loyal citizens to go to the shoreline and take offerings to appease the underworld god, we would not be here. It is my fault that they went crazy upon drinking the forbidden Meade. It is my fault that they decided the offerings needed to appease the underworld god, that they believed those offerings were meant to be that of human flesh and blood... of their own kin. It is my fault that my kingdom, my city, and my people have fallen to the sea god. Oh brother, what have I done?!"

Suddenly, Romulus recalls that he as five wives. With great concern he asks Remus, "brother, what has become of my wives?"

Remus responds, "Romulus, they are fine, our dear friend Hercules was sent to look after them. Hercules will stop at nothing to protect them."

Within that moment, knowing that his wives were OK, Romulus was finally able to be at peace and accept his fate for he was in the heavenly afterlife with his dear brother and his people. Here he was able to once again rule again, free of pain and harm.

                     Picture info: a statue from the sunken city of Baia still stands

Authors note: The original story from where I got my idea can be found here. This story from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenize (1913) discusses the death of Krishna. In the original story Krishna gets a vision from the underworld god at night that something bad was going to happen. Krishna had his people retreat to the shoreline to perform devotions to the sea god and while they were doing so they opted to drink wine, which was forbidden. While they drank this forbidden wine they lost their minds and began to violently fight, killing each other. While all of this was happening Krishna and his brother, Balarama retreated to the forest, where both died. Krishna by arrow in the foot (his only weak spot), and Balarama by world serpeant. In the original story Krishna had Arjuna sent after so that he could return and look after his wives, who also died. Arjuna then continued on to the city of Indraprastha

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part B

The Year of Disguise:
-Pandavas spent 12 years in the forest
-They plan to be in disguise at King Virata's court
-Yudhishthira is a good gambler and disguises himself as Kanka
-Bhima disguises as a cook named Ballaba
-Arjuna is Brihannala. a dancing teacher
-Nakula is Granthika, a stable worker
-Sahadeva is Tantripala, cowherder
-Draupadi is Sairanhdhri, Queen Sudeshna's maid
-They leave a corpse in a cremation ground (who's corpse?)
-They leave their weapons in a shami tree
-The Queen's brother, Kichaka asks for the maid (Draupadi) to be sent to him, he tries to rape her
-Bhima switches places with Draupadi, he crushes Kichaka, and rolls him into a ball
-Draupadi tells the queen that she has a celestial husband who killed him, the queen believes her


The end of the Exile:
-People want to burn Draupadi on Kichaka's funeral pyre
-Bhima rescues her
-Duryodhana attacks King Virata, Susharma takes the kind captive
-Yudhishthira declares they'll rescue the king
-Prince Uttara, the king's son has Brihannala (Arjuna) as his charioteer
-Arjuna has the prince be the charioteer while he fights
-Karna and Arjuna fight, both wounded and both survive
-Pandavas reveal identity to King Virata
-Arjuna's son Abhimanyu, marries princess Uttara
-Yudhishthira ties to have a peaceful treaty with King Dhritarashtra
-Duryodhana tells the king the Pandavas should be exiled for 12 more years


The Great Battle:-The Pandavas prep for war
-Bhima renews vow to drink Duhshasana's blood and break Duryodhana's thigh
-The armies meet at Kurukshetra
-Bhishma, Drona, and Karna are on the Kaurava side
-Pandava's are smaller
-Arjuna injures Bhishma by using a Shikhandi (soldier who wore women's clothing)
-Bhishma waits for death on a bed of arrows
-Bhisma's mother, Ganga sends swans to tell him to wait to die until solstice
-There's a truce until he dies, and Arjuna helps him until he dies
-After he dies, fighting starts again
-Dhristadyumna, Draupadi's brother wants revenge against Drona
-He tricks Drona, telling him that his son Aswatthaman is dead
-He beheads Drona
-Karna is now the commander
-Arjuna and Karna duel in chariots
-Krishna is Arjuna's charioteer
-Karna's wheel gets stuck in a ditch and Arjuna kills him
-Bhima kills Duhshasana and drinks his blood
-Only Kaurava's left are Aswatthaman and Duryodhana, they have allies Kripa and Kritavarman


Duryodhana's Death:
-Duryodhana is under a lake and won't face the Pandavas
-He agrees to a duel with Bhima
-Bhima finally breaks his thigh
-The Kaurava's, Aswatthaman, Kripa, and Kritavarman raid the Pandava camp at night
-They kill everybody but Yudhishthira, the brothers, and Krishna
-The Kaurava's tell Duryodhana who then dies
-All of Draupadi's sons are dead, Abhimanyu (Arjuna and Krishna's sister's son) is dead, and so are the 100 sons of Dhritarashtra\
-Uttara, Abhimanyu's wife, has a baby named Parikshit.. he carries on the family line
-Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti go into the forest, they die
-Yudhishthira becomes king of Hastinapura


The Death of King Krishna:
-Yudhishthira rules happily for a while
-Krishna kills King Kamsa, who tried to kill Krishna as an infant
-Krishna is king of Dwaraka
-Vishvamitra's cursed people of Dwaraka to kill each other
-Krishna doesn't allow wine drinking, in hopes that it will get rid of the curse
-Krishna's wife has a dream, he sends people to the shore to make an offering
-At the shore the people drink wine and kill each other
-Krishna's brother, Balarama leaves this world by giving up his spirit
-Krishna is meditating in the forest and hunter mistakenly shoots him
-A wave drowns the city Dwaraka
-Arjuna take Krishna's 5 wives to the land of 5 rivers, Punjab
-The wives are captured
-Yudhishthira hears this and decides the Pandavas should leave the world
-Parikshit is now king


The Reunion of the Bharatas:
-Agni (the fire god) tells Arjuna to cast the Gandiva bow to Varuna (the water god)
-They all climb the Himalayas
-All fall for sins
-Draupadi for loving Arjuna more than her other husbands
-Sahadeva for being boastful about wisdom
-Nakula for being boastful about his looks
-Arjuna for failing to kill Duryodhana in a second like he had promised
-Bhima for being boastful about his strength
-Yudhishthira is the only on left
-He continues on with his dog
-Indra appears to drive them to Amaravati
-Yudhishthira won't leave his dog and wins the test of loyalty
-In heaven he can't find his brothers or Draupadi
-He must go to hell to find them and stay there with them
-He does and so everybody is allowed into heaven
-Karna, Dhritarashtra, Bhishma, Drona, Virata, Drupada, Duryodhana, and all the warriors
-Everybody is at peace with each other and the Bharatas are reunited

    Picture Information: Krishna and Arjuna going to battle


Source: The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata- The Princes of Elephant City by C. A. Kincaid (1921).

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part A

Characters and The Princes of Elephant City
King Bharata- dead king
Vichitravvirya- king of Hastinapura.. also died
Dhritarashtra- older, blind son of Vichitravirya, brother of Pandu
Pandu- younger brother of Dhritarashtra, son of Vichtravira
        Pandu has 5 sons by 2 women
        Yudhisthira, Bhima, and Arjuna by Kunti
        Nakula and Sahadeva by Madri
        All 5 sons are called the Pandavas- son of gods

Dhri becomes king when Pandu dies
     Dhri and his wife Gandhari have 100 sons
     Oldest son is Duryodhana
     100 sons are called Kauravas

The Kauravas and Pandavas are the Bharatas.. descendants of Bharata.. dead king form above.

Drona- the boys' teacher
     He has the boys attack his enemy

Drupada- Droma's enemy, he's a king
Draupadi- girl who appeared when Drupada prays to the gods

Dury plots to kill Yudhi and his family b/c he was named king.
Vidura- Pandu and Dhri half bro.. he warns them and they escape

Hidimba and Baka:
the family flee into the forest as disguised peseants.
Hidimba and sister Hidimbi plan to eat them
Hidimbi falls in love with Bhima and warns him of Hidimba's plan
Bhima kills Hidimba and marries Hidimbi but Bhima leaves to go back to family
Bhima kills demon Baka when he arrives.. demon was making family give blood tax

The Winning of Draupadi: 
Draupadi is a sought after woman
There's an archery contest for her marriage
Karna almost wins but Arjuna who is still in disguise wins
Arjuna fights Karna, and Bhima fights king Shayla
Arjuna wins
Kunti tells Arjuna to share his winnings, not realizing he won a bride so he shares with his 4 brothers and she is wife to 5 men
Her father was happy to know they are royalty when he finds out from following but is angry she marries all 5.. finally agrees

The Adventures of Prince Arjuna:
Bhishma tells Dury to make peace with Pandavas once he realizes they're alive
The Pandavas get half of the kingdom and build a city
Arjuna enters Draupadi's room while Yudhish was in there and goes into exile in the forest
Yudhish goes to underwater world with water nymph Ulupi and they wed
In a dream the fire-god Agni tells Yudhish to burn the Khandava forest and destroy the nagas who live under protection of Indra
Agni gives Arjuna the gandiva bow, and arrows from the sea-god Varuna.. Arjuna is son of Indra
Arjuna sets forest on fire
Indra appears and pours rain down to put fire out

Arjune and Subhadra: 
Nagas flee and all are killed except Maya
Arjuna goes to Dwarka and meets Subhadra.. they wed
Subhadra is sister of Krishna
Subhadra and Arjuna go back to Indraprastha
Maya builds a palace for the Pandavas
Yudh declares himself emperor
Krishna tells him to kill king Jarasandha to be ruler
Bhima goes to wrestle the king and wins by tearing him in half
All captives are freed

Yudhishthira's Gambling: 
The palace where Dury lives is an illusion
Gamble ensues
Yudh losses his brothers, himself and Draupadi
Dury drags Draupadi by her hair, rips her clothes off but clothes are replaced by divine intervention
Bhima vows to drink Dushasana's blood and break his thigh
King Dhristarashtra gives her wishes.. she wishes all were free.. they are
Another bet goes down and the Pandavas go into exile for 12 years

Bhima and the Serpent
Endless food is supplied by the sun-god
People who followed them have food to eat
Vyasa tells Arjuna to find his father Indra for celestial weapons
He climbs the Himalayas
A hidden Indra tells him to find Shiva first
Arjuna battles a boar and realizes it's Shiva
Shiva goes away and Indra gives Arjuna golden armor
He returns to his brothers
Bhima goes missing.. Yudh finds him in the grip of a snake
Yudh answers the snakes question and a man appears
King Nahusha appears and is released from his curse b/c Yudh answers all of his questions

    Picture info: Arjuna and Subhadra Leave Dwarka with Krishna

Source info: Mahabharata. The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata - The Princes of Elephant City by C. A. Kincaid. (1921).