Reading Notes: Jataka Tales Part A

Title: Jataka Tales Part A
Author: Ellen C. Babbitt
Illustrator: Ellsworth Young
Year: 1912

- The crocodile talks too much. If he hadn't told the monkey that he was going to kill him for his heart, he wouldn't have gotten duped.

- The way the story is told, it seems that the crocodile is always watching the monkey, while the monkey is never told to be watching the crocodile; however, the monkey clearly has much better knowledge of the crocodile than the crocodile does of the monkey. 

- A talking turtle would probably scare me too. I don't know that I would try to kill it, though.

- The little girl's greed (along with the kindness of the second merchant) actually led to her family getting many things instead of just one or nothing, while the first merchant's greed kept him from having something worth a lot of money for very little. If he was going to give up something for it anyway, he should have just done so in the first place, but then there wouldn't be much of a story.

- The flying turtle's bad attitude led to his death. Perhaps the geese could have given him more of a warning that he would die if he talked during their trip instead of just telling him not to. It would also be interesting to think about the turtle's thoughts as he fell from the sky.

- I think the story of the ox would be kind of funny (and a bit sad) if the ox went back to pull the carts the second time after having the talk with his owner just to find out that he wasn't actually strong enough to pull 100 carts. Maybe the owner could have sold him for all the money he lost.

- Never give up water, especially when you do not have another source. The men weren't even carrying it, it was being pulled by the oxen. No reason to throw it away.

- The fowler's wife was made that he wasn't bringing home any quail. If she would have worked with him the way the quails were working together, they would have caught more. 

- The king could have chosen anyone to be his valuer, but he chose an uneducated peasant. He really just needed to choose someone who thought in a similar manner as him, not someone of less intelligence. 

- The timid rabbit reminds me of the saying "If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?" Under many circumstances I would assume that if everyone is doing it, there might be a pretty good reason, but now I will wonder if everyone is just simply uninformed and assuming that someone else must know something that they don't.

The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking

Image Author: Ellsworth Young

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Kincaid's Shri Krishna of Dwarka Part B

Title: Shri Krishna of Dwarka and Other Stories
Author: C. A. Kincaid
Year: 1920

- One of the nobles of Dwarka is given a jewel from the Sun God. It brings good fortune to good men, and death to bad men. Krishna did not think a noble was worthy of this jewel. A story could be told about Krishna looking down upon those not as fortunate as him.

- To recover the jewel, Krishna and the Bear King were locked in a "death struggle" for 21 days. A story could be told about this struggle.

- After recovering the jewel, the Bear King offers his daughter as a wife to Krishna. Satrajit also offers his daughter to Krishna once the jewel is returned to him. A story could be told about Krishna's first wife becoming jealous and leaving Krishna.

- The Sun God's jewel seems to bring deceit and jealousy among any who covet it. Balarama even believes that Krishna is lying to him about having the jewel.

- After the jewel returned to Dwarka, Balarama and Satyabhama, Krishna's third wife and daughter of Satrajit, both claim the jewel. Krishna could have wed those two so they could share the jewel.

- Krishna's first son was thrown into the ocean by a demon named Sambara. He was swallowed by a fish, but unharmed. The fish was caught by a fisherman who sold the fish to Sambara in the marketplace. This story could be told in a lot more detail.

- Another dice game leads to misfortune and death. I should write a story about dice games becoming illegal.

- Usha and Aniruddha fell in love, married, and lived together in the women's apartments with Aniruddha in hiding. This story could be told more in depth.

- Krishna sometimes seems quick to anger and just as quick to act from his anger. In disposing of Prince Shishupala, he tried once to avoid a fight, then kills him with a discus without a fight. I would have liked to see Krishna at least give Shishupala a chance to fight back before killing him.

Death of Balarama

Image Author: Ramanarayanadatta astri

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Kincaid's Shri Krishna of Dwarka Part A

Title: Shri Krishna of Dwarka and Other Stories
Author: C. A. Kincaid
Year: 1920

- Krishna's birth was weird to say the least. I could write a story about a prison escape, although I would probably have Vasudeva be the only captive.

- Kansa does appear to have some sense of compassion. He did not kill Devaki's first seven children in the beginning, and he also lets Devaki and Vasudeva be released from their cells once he finds out that Krishna has already escaped. He also allowed Devaki and Vasudeva to be in the same cell (I assume), which is why they were able to continue to having children....he probably should have separated them.

- But he also kills every male child in his kingdom, so maybe he doesn't have that much compassion.

- Krishna being in the town of Gokula brought many tragedies upon the village. Male children were killed by Putana and a Trinavarta, taking the shape of a whirlwind destroyed property and animals. Perhaps the people of Gokula could force Krishna and his family to leave the village since they are bringing such misfortune. - Actually, the villagers do end up realizing the pattern of happenings, but blame it on the town instead of Krishna. 

- Kansa keeps sending demons to kill Krishna and they keep failing. He should try to make peace with Krishna and change his ways if he wants to continue living.

- Pralambha, a demon, took the form of a herdboy and played with Krishna and his friends before trying to kill him. An interesting story would be Krishna and Pralambha becoming lifelong friends.

- The story or Krishna reminds me of Hercules. 

- Krishna and Balarama killed many people in Mathura. It's like the Wild West out there, completely lawless. 

- Rukmani sent a letter to Krishna because she wanted to marry him and not who she was matched with. Krishna "captures her" and destroys the army of her suitor. This story could be told differently. Krishna could not be interested, or Krishna could be the one interested while Rukmani isn't. Or, after her and Krishna are together, they could flee to a different part of the world (Lanka maybe?) to be together without fear of consequence. 

Krishna Eating Butter

Image Author: Shrinet27

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons