Week 10 Storytelling: A Family Reunited

Bhishma and his mother, Ganga, were together at the beginning of his life. They had to be separated, because he was cursed to live his existence on earth. He lived a long life of celibacy, and died in battle. Arjuna shot him from behind, which was fatal to Bhishma. Before his death, Bhishma talked to Yudhishthira about becoming king, and then asked him to return him to his mother.He needed to return to his family. Yudhishthira had Bhishma cremated on the shores of the Ganges. Ganga watched this event as it occurred, and she could not wait for her son to return to his true home.

Ganga was so pleased that her son could finally return to her. They had to spend their lives apart, because he was forced to live on earth. She hated that he had to die to be able to return to her, but it was the only way. She washed up onto the shore to take her son's ashes away from the wretched earth. They could return to heaven now.

Ganga took her son up to heaven. They finally got to speak to each other again.

"Oh my son, how I have missed you dearly," Ganga said.
"I have missed you too, mother," Bhishma said happily. "It was horrible to have to spend my life on earth without you."
"It was horrible for me, as well, Bhishma. Your brothers and I missed you so much," Ganga replied.
"Now we can all be together again. This time forever!" Bhishma said excitedly.

Ganga took Bhishma to his brothers. All seven of the brothers were so happy to see their brother. Bhishma was also pleased to see them. It had been so long. They talked for hours and hours filling each other in on what they had missed throughout the years. Now the whole family was reunited and they lived together happily in heaven forever.

The death of Bhishma

Author's Note:

I chose to tell the story of Ganga reuniting with her son because I was intrigued by their story in the beginning of The Ramayana. I thought that it would be interesting to explore Ganga's feelings about her son's death and his return to her. I retold the story of Bhishma's death from the book, and then added my own details about him reuniting with his mother and brothers. This part was not told in the book.

Bibliography:

Narayan, R.K. (1978). The Mahabharata.

Week 10 Reading Diary B: Finishing Narayan's Mahabharata

-Krishna sees Kunti in Hastinapura and tells her about her sons. Duryodhana refuses Krishna's plea for peace.
-Krishna speaks to Karna and tries to convince him to leave Duryodhana. Karna doesn't, but promises Kunti that he will only attack Arjuna in the battle.
-The war begins on the field of Kurukshetra.
-Arjuna shoots Bhishma in the back and Bhishma dies. Karna now wants to fight because of this.
-Drona dies because he is tricked. They make him think that his son is dead.
-Karna and Arjuna fight. Karna's chariot wheel gets stuck and he begs for mercy. Arjuna kills him.
-Bhishma is cremated on the shores of the Ganges. Many, many deaths at the end of the story.
-Arjuna's son is the king of Hastinapura at the end of the story.

Arjuna and Bhishma

Week 10 Reading Diary A: The Thirteenth Year of Exile

-Dhritarashtra has people spying on the Pandavas. He wants to humiliate them, but this ends up backfiring.
-The Pandavas find a lake and want to drink from it. Nakula finds it first and a voice tells him he must answer questions first. He ignores it, drinks the water, and dies. Yudhishthira is the only brother to answer the questions. It was a test from his father, and all the brothers are brought back to life.
-The brothers receive the gift of being unrecognized for their 13th year of exile. They use this gift to be in the court of King Virata.
-Draupadi is raped by the brother of the queen. She gets Bhima to avenge her. He kills Kichaka. The king and queen want to send Draupadi away.
-Karna lost a fight with Arjuna.
-The Pandavas try to make peace
-Bhishma calls Karna conceited and boastful. This makes Karna very angry.

Bhima avenging Draupadi