Indian Epics Blog

I began my Wikipedia trail on Indra in order to learn more about the god. Indra was mentioned as bowing down to Krishna, and I was curious to see how powerful the god was. Indra is an ancient deity in Hinduism, and his role parallels other Indo-European deities, such as Zeus, Thor, and Jupiter. He's considered the king of heaven, lightning, thunder, storms, and rain. He's celebrated for his powers and his defeat of evil, which is represented by Vritra. The article mentioned that Indra is worshiped by the Kalasha religion, which led me to the second Wikipedia page on the Kalash people . The Kalash people are the smallest ethnoreligious group in Pakistan and practice a religion that's classified as ancient Hinduism. They're considered an indigenous group to Asia, with their ancestors migrating from the Chitral valley. The neighboring group once practiced a culture similar to the Kalash people, and they were called the Nuristani people in Afghanistan. This led me to my th...

 I began my Wikipedia Trail on the page for astras , or super-weapons, as I read up on them when posting comments for feedback on various projects. It was a really interesting read, with astras representing super-weapons possessed by deities and containing special powers that could cause huge impacts. It's claimed that Arjuna had more astras than any other warrior. One of the weapons that caught my attention was the Trishula, which belonged to Shiva, the destroyer. It's considered the most powerful weapon according to Shiavism. I was interested to learn more about Shiavism , and this led me to my second Wikipedia page. This is one of the major Hindu traditions that worships Lord Shiva, and it's considered to be one of the oldest religions in the world. It was developed as a pre-Aryan religion and was later incorporated. Archaeological discoveries show how ancient it was, with seals similar to Lord Shiva found in the Indus Valley civilization. One of these seals was the Pash...

I began my Wikipedia trail on Ganesha , as I was reading up on the deity when providing feedback on projects. Ganesha is one of the most well-known and widely worshiped deities in Hinduism, and his characteristic elephant head makes him easy to spot. His image is found across South Asia, from India to Bangladesh as well as in countries with large Indian populations, such as Trinidad. The article mentioned principal texts on Ganesha and included the Ganesha Purana , which led me to my second Wikipedia page.Ganesha Purana is the primary text on Ganesha and includes a range of information from yoga, theology, geology, cosmology, philosophy, and others. The text was estimated to be written in the medieval period during Islamic rule in South Asia, and it was a time of political turmoil. More specifically, it was written during the time when the Maratha Empire was fighting the Islamic Sultanates in central India. I wanted to learn more about the Maratha Empire , which led me to my third Wiki...

I began my Wikipedia trail on Narada , an important sage in Hinduism and the main character for a story for my project. I wanted to learn more about Narada in the Mahabharata, and the Wikipedia page explained how Narada was capable of arriving at specific conclusions with wealth, devotion, and religion. Narada was intelligent and had a powerful memory, harboring knowledge of all of the universe and everything surrounding it. Specifically, Narada was capable of answering Brihaspati. This led my to my second Wikipeda page on Brihaspati . Brihaspati is a Vedic era sage who counsels the gods, but medieval texts portray him as Jupiter. He was important in teaching both Bhishma and Vidura the duties of a king. In astrology, Birhaspati is part of the Navagraha in the Hindu zodiac system. This led me to my third Wikipedia page on Navagraha , which are the nine important heavenly bodies in Hinduism. These celestial objects are told to influence life on Earth. Furthermore, specific planets, such...

 I began my Wikipedia Trail on Vyasa , who was both the author of the Mahabharata and an important character. I wanted to read up more on who he was and what he accomplished during his life. Vyasa lived near the banks of Ganga near what is now known as Uttarakhand. His Wikipedia page mentioned that this area was also home to the sage Vasishtha , who I had never heard of. This led me to my second Wikipedia page on Vasishtha, one of the oldest and most revered Vedic rishis. He and his family are mentioned in many Vedic texts, including the Rigveda. Furthermore, Vasishtha is credited for writing Mandala 7 of the Rigveda. Although I had heard of the Rigveda, I was interested in learning more about it. This led me to my third Wikipedia page on the Rigveda . The Rigveda is ancient collection of Sanskrit hymns, and it's one of the oldest texts of any Indo-European languages. The dating of the texts were difficult, but some scholars consider it to be written around 1200-1000 BCE in the Kur...

 I began my Wikipedia trail on F.J. Gould , since he was the author of The Divine Archer . I wanted to learn more about him, and his Wikipedia page indicated he was extensively involved in secularism and humanism. He worked to influence society and focus on rational, secular thought through a variety of institutions. Eventually, he became the Secretary to the International Moral Education Congress , which became my second Wikipedia page. This academic conference was held in Europe from 1908 till 1934 and aimed to create a moral education across many countries. It was a diverse representation of people that were all interested in cultivating a better moral education. I noticed the president of this conference was John Stuart Mackenzie , which led me to my third Wikipedia page. John Stuart Mackenzie was a British philosopher. He studied at Glasgow, Cambridge, and Berlin, and his work was focused on the political economy. He was considered an idealist philosopher and a Hegelian. After...

 For this week's reading notes, I went to the Wikipedia page on Sita to learn more about the character and refresh myself on the Ramayana. The article mentioned Sita choosing Rama from the crowd of suitors and their exile into the Dandaka forest. I wanted to learn more about this forest, and it led me to my second Wikipedia page on Dandakaranya . This is a historical region in the central-east part of India, and it spans across a variety of states. This area is considered a sacred land for Hindus, and exiled people had to cross it in order to reach the Vindhya Mountains. I was curious on what the Vindhya mountains were as well as their significance, which led me to third Wikipedia page on the Vindhya Range . This article described it as a complex chain of mountains in west-central India, and they play a significant role in Indian mythology. The mountains were described as dangerous and inaccessible, and there were a variety of stories about the mountain. One story that caught my e...

 I began with the Wikipedia page on Hanuman since I previously read through it for this week's storytelling. It was an interesting read, and one part that caught my attention was how there was limited archaelogical evidence of the worship of Hanuman. Even though the deity played a prominent role in the Ramayna, movements dedicated to the god emerged about 1,000 years later. One of the first movements that worshipped him with significance was the Bhakti movement , and it lead me to the second Wikipedia page. This movement was influential in the social reform for Hinduism and was the catalyst for Sikhism. I was reading through the history of the Bhakti movement, and American Indologist Wendy Doniger suggested that this movement was significantly influenced by Islam, especially with the idea of surrendering to god. I was curious to learn more about Wendy Doniger , and this led me to the third Wikipedia page. Dr. Doniger was born in New York City and attended both Radcliffe College an...

 I began my Wikipedia Trail with the Wikipedia page on Maya , which I visited for this class when writing up my post on the Hindu idea that reality may be an illusion. While the Wikipedia page initially defined Maya as "illusion" or "magic," the page also provided a more nuanced look at the definition. One definition stood out to me, with Monier Williams defining maya as "wisdom and extraordinary power" initially but later meant unreality. I've never heard of this man, so I clicked a link to his Wikipedia page, where I learned more about Monier Monier-Williams . He was born in Bombay during British colonialism, and he was educated at Oxford as well as the East India Company College. He eventually became a professor of Sanskrit at Oxford, and he was knighted in 1876. He was made KCIE in 1887, but I had no clue what that meant, so I followed the Wikipedia link. KCIE stood for Knight Commander in the Indian Empire and was a ranking under the Order of the ...