Cooperative Learning

INDIA
• Worlds 7th largest country in South Asia
• Second most populous country
• Indai and Bharat are both official names
• Derives from Indus River used by Greek
• More than 200 languages are spoken in India
• Four major religious traditions
 Hinduism, Jainism, Budhism and Sikhism
 INDIAN LITERATURE
Background
• Indian Literature produced on the Indian
subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic
of India thereafter.
• One of the World’s oldest and richest
literature around the world with over 22
official languages. Each language has its
regional literature
• Oral Literature is the first
literary work which was the
collection of Sanskrit hymns that
was orally transmitted.
• Indian Literature is influenced
by a religious doctrine karma.
• Mythology of the dominant
Hindu deities.
• Sanskrit literature begin with the oral
literature of the Rig Veda a
collection.
• The Sanskrit epics Ramayana and
Mahabharata are the greatest Indian
epics ever written and it forms an
important part of Indian religious and
literary history.
• The family is important in
Indian literature and
drama.
• Indian Literature is based
on piety, a deeply religious
spirit.
• Indian literary
masterpieces are written
in epic form.
SITA-Rama’s wife
 RAMAYANA
(Summary)
Dasharatha was the King of Ayodhya and had three
wives and four sons. Rama was the eldest and his
mother was Kaushalya. Bharata was the son of
Dasharatha’s second and favorite wife, Queen
Kaikeyi. The other two were twins, Lakshmana and
Shatrughna whose mother was Sumithra. In the
neighboring city the ruler’s daughter was named Sita.
When it was time for Sita to choose her bridegroom
(at a ceremony called a swayamvara) princes from all
over the land were asked to string a giant bow which
no one could lift. However, as Rama picked it up, he
not only strung the bow, he broke it. Seeing this, Sita
indicated that she had chosen Rama as her husband
by putting a garland around his neck. Their love
became a model for the entire kingdom as they
looked over the kingdom under the watchful eye of
his father the king.
 A few years later, King Dasharatha decided it was time to give his
throne to his eldest son Rama and retire to the forest. Everyone
seemed pleased, save Queen Kaikeyi since she wanted her son
Bharata to rule. Because of an oath Dasharatha had made to her
years before, she got the king to agree to banish Rama for fourteen
years and to crown Bharata, even though the king pleaded with her not
to demand such a request. The devastated King could not face Rama
and it was Queen Kaikeyi who told Rama the King’s decree. Rama,
always obedient, was content to go into banishment in the forest. Sita
and Lakshmana accompanied him on his exile.

One day Rama and Lakshmana wounded a rakshasas (demon)

princess who tried to seduce Rama. She returned to her brother
Ravana, the ten-headed ruler of Lanka. In retaliation, Ravana devised
a plan to abduct Sita after hearing about her incomparable beauty. He
sent one of his demons disguised as a magical golden deer to entice
Sita. To please her, Rama and Lakshmana went to hunt the deer
down. Before they did though, they drew a protective circle around Sita
and told her that she would be safe for as long as she did not step
outside the circle. After Rama and Lakshmana left, Ravana appeared
as a holy man begging alms. The moment Sita stepped outside the
circle to give him food, Ravana grabbed her and carried her to his
kingdom in Lanka.
Rama then sought the help of a band of monkeys offer to
help him find Sita. Hanuman, the general of the monkey
band can fly since his father is the wind. He flew to Lanka
and, finding Sita in the grove, comforted her and told her
Rama would come to save her soon. Ravana’s men
captured Hanuman, and Ravana ordered them to wrap
Hanuman's tail in cloth and to set it on fire. With his tail
burning, Hanuman escaped and hopped from house-top to
house-top, setting Lanka on fire. He then flew back to
Rama to tell him where Sita was.

Rama, Lakshmana and the monkey army built a causeway

from the tip of India to Lanka and crossed over to Lanka
where a cosmic battle ensued. Rama killed several of
Ravana’s brothers and eventually confronted the ten-
headed Ravana. He killed Ravana, freed Sita and after Sita
proved here purity, they returned to Ayodhya where
Bharata returned the crown to him.
 The Summary of Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is an epic that comprises one hundred thousand stanzas of

verse divided into eighteen books, or parvas. It is the largest single literary
work in existence. Originally composed in the ancient language of Sanskrit
sometime between 400 BC and 400 AD, it is set in a legendary era thought to
correspond to the period of Indian culture and history in approximately the
tenth century BC. The original “author” was Vyasa who tried to tell about the
Great War between the Pandavas and the Kauravas - cousins who claimed to
be the rightful rulers of a kingdom. The background to get to where the epic
starts is very confusing (in medias res). I’ll present the background a bit here
just to lay the groundwork
Background
King Santanu married a strange woman he found by the river. They had many
children and she drowned all of them (I told you she was strange). The king
stopped her from downing the last child (a boy). She then said she was a
goddess and that this child was a god but had to remain on earth as
punishment for stealing a sacred cow in a past life. The child was named
Devavratha, but to confuse you he is called Bhishma (one of firm vow)
The goddess went back to wherever it is that goddesses go, and the king
continued ruling. One day he fell in love with a woman who ran a ferry; her
name was Satyavathi. King Santanu asked her father if he could marry her,
and he said yes, but only if Satyavathi’s children inherit, leaving poor
Bhishma out in the cold. Bhishma was actually cool with this and said he
would remain celibate so that he never had children. Thus, King Santanu and
ferry woman Satyavathi married. They had two boys: one had no children
and died in battle, and one (Vichitravirya) grew to adulthood and married two
women (Ambika and Ambalika). But before either of his wives had children,
Vichitravirya died and not long after that King Santanu also died. Thus, the
only surviving member of the royal family was Bhishma who had taken a vow
of celibacy and refused to break it. What Queen Satyavathis had not told
anyone that before she was married she had actually been born from a fish
and had had an encounter with a sage and given birth to a son named
Vyasa. So even though Vyasa isn’t exactly the heir, he can still kind of inherit.
Everyone agreed that Vyasa should sleep with Vichitravirya’s two wives and
their children would inherit. Ambika gave birth to a boy named Dhritarashtra.
He was a nice enough guy and should have became king, but he was born
blind. Meanwhile, Vichitravirya’s other wife got with Vyasa and she gave birth
to a boy named Pandu. Dhritarashtra, being blind, realizes he can’t really
rule, so he gives his kingdom to his brother Pandu
Pandu is a pretty nice guy and loves to hunt. One day he is out hunting
and he kills a deer while it is in the middle of “love play.” Turns out this is
no ordinary deer but a god who curses Pandu and says essentially that
since you interrupted me, I’m going to mess with you. The curse states
that if you have sex you’ll die. Pandu has no kids at this time, but he does
have two wives: Kunthi and Madri. He decides that he can’t rule, so he
and his wives hang out in the woods. One day Kunthi (Pandu’s wife #1)
calls out for the sun god. He actually appears and she is freaked out. He
says, don’t call me unless you want me. He essentially ravishes her,
though it’s presented in the book as somewhat consensual. She gives
birth to a boy names Karna but sends him down the river in a basket. He
is discovered and raised by a soldier and his wife. He comes back later as
a force to be reckoned with. Pandu thinks that maybe things will work for
him if he plays the system. He tells Kunthi to have relations with some
other gods and have children. Kunthi gets with Yama (god of death and
justice) and she gives birth to Yudhistira. Then she gets with Vayu (god of
the wind) and has Bhimasena. Finally she does the deed with Indra (chief
god) and gives birth to Arjuna. Meanwhile, Pandu’s second wife, Madri,
entices the gods Aswins and has twins Nakua and Sahadeva. They are all
boys, they are all awesome and they are collectively known as the
Pandavas. The epic focuses on these guys.
Pandu just can’t resist his urges and tries to have sex with his
wife Madri. He dies in her arms and she flings herself on his
funeral pyre. Kunthi (Pandu’s other wife) takes the boys to the
blind brother of Pandu, Dhritarashtra, so they can be raised to
inherit the kingdom. Meanwhile, Dhritarashtra (Pandu’s blind
brother) married the princess Gandharai and becomes a blind
king (not a desirable leader but a nice enough guy). She
blindfolds herself in sympathy of his blindness and never sees
again. While Pandu was out in the woods with his two wives
avoiding sex, Dhritarashtra became king, and he and Gandharai
had 100 sons (I think they are all born from a metal ball that she
harbors in her womb for years. When the ball “drops” she wacks
it with a stick and out pop the boys). These sons are not good
boys and fight with their cousins all the time. The oldest of these
children is named Duryodhana and he’s a real baddy. This
collection of boys is called the Kauravas All 105 boys are looked
after by Bhishma who is constantly trying to train them and have
them get along. The epic is essentially an ongoing feud between
the Kauravas and the Pandavas. If you haven’t figured it out, the
Pandavas are the good guys.
 Details of the story
The evil brothers were envious of their cousin Yudhistira and started
scheming to dethrone him. Their first attempt to kill the Pandavas
was by burning them inside a palace. The Pandavas managed to
escape, but then the evil brothers once again attempted to gain
control. One challenged the eldest brother Yudhisthira to a game of
dice which led Yudhisthira to lose everything, including his and his
brothers' wife, Draupadi. He, along with his brothers and their wife
Draupadi, were exiled from the kingdom. For twelve years they had
to live in the forest and upon the thirteenth year they were to hide in
a city in disguise. It was during those thirteen years that the
brothers grew to learn what it was like to live with the bare minimum
and became more knowledgeable. After the thirteenth year
Duryodhana decided that he would fight against them which led to a
huge war and the deaths of many. Many died from both sides and
after the war, they realized that nothing was really gained. The most
dramatic figure of the entire Mahabharata, however, was Krishna
who was the supreme personality of Godhead himself, descended
to earth in human form to reestablish his devotees as care takers of
the earth, and who practiced Dharma.
Krishna was the cousin of both parties, but he was a friend
and advisor to the Pandavas, became the brother-in-law
of Arjuna, and served as Arjuna's mentor and charioteer in
the Great War. Krishna is portrayed several times as
eager to see the war occur, and in many ways the
Pandavas were his human instruments for fulfilling that
end. Throughout their lives and the terrible Great War,
there were examples of the ethical gaps between men
which were never resolved. In the aftermath of the war,
Yudhishthira alone was terribly troubled, but his sense of
the war's wrongfulness persisted to the end of the text.
This was in spite of the fact that everyone else, from his
wife to Krishna, told him the war was right; even the dying
patriarch, Bhishma, lectured him at length on all aspects
of the Good Law (the Duties and Responsibilities of
Kings).
In the years that followed the Great War, the only survivors on the
part of the Kauravas, Duryodhana's parents, King Dhritarashtra and
his queen, Gandhari lived a life of asceticism in a forest retreat and
died with yogic calm in a forest fire. Kunti, the mother of the
Pandavas was with them too. Krishna departed from this earth thirty-
six years after the Great War. When they learned of this, the
Pandavas believed it was time for them to leave this world too and
they embarked upon the 'Great Journey,' which involved walking
north toward the polar mountain that is toward the heavenly worlds,
until one's body dropped dead. One by one, beginning with
Draupadi, the Pandavas died along the way until Yudhishthira was
left alone with a dog that had accompanied him from the start.
Yudhishthira made it to the gates of heaven and there refused the
order to drive the dog back, at which point the dog was revealed to
be an incarnate form of the God Dharma (the God who was
Yudhishthira's actual, physical father), who was there to test
Yudhishthira's virtue. Once in heaven Yudhishthira faced one final
test of his virtue: He saw only the Dhartarashtra Clan in heaven, and
he was told that his brothers were in hell. He insisted on joining his
brothers in hell, if that were the case! It was then revealed that they
were really in heaven, that this illusion had been one final test for
him.
In essence, the epic story represents an
extended exploration of the
responsibilities set forth by the code of
dharma. In addition to recounting a heroic
tale, the Mahabharata contains a
collection of writings on a broad spectrum
of human learning, including ethics, law,
philosophy, history, geography,
genealogy, and religion. It also features a
number of legends, moral stories, and
local tales all woven into an elaborate
narrative
Moral Lessons of Mahabharata
 Be focused, and you will always succeed.

 A teacher can guide you and inspire you, but practice will make you perfect.

 Keep good company. Bad friends will bring about your downfall.

 Respect women. The disrespect shown to women will bring disasters upon you.

 Don’t indulge in vices like gambling. You will end up losing everything.

 Don’t give up easily. Fight for what is rightfully yours. Truth always wins in the end.

 Don’t apply half-learned knowledge to your actions. It will only lead to failure.

 Don’t support the wrong acts of your close friends and relatives. It will bring trouble
upon you as well.

 Do not seek revenge. Vengeance spells the end for the seeker and the sought both.

 War is never good. Matters can be resolved with dialogue.

• Like all great epics, Mahabharata is the story of victory of good against evil. The
word ‘Mahabharata’ has become synonymous with any great confrontation in day
to day life also. But its moral lessons will be synonymous with the right and truthful
way of life for years and years to come.