Spring 2018 Indian Epics

The Theft A priceless pearl necklace, belonging to the queen, is stolen by a girl monkey when the queen's attendent is not watching. The Blame A peasant flees the guards when a large search party combs the city, and his actions are interpreted as guilt. Apprehended, he chooses to accept the charge in hope that he will not be beaten or tortured, and he names the guildmaster as the plan initiator. The guildmaster in turn passes the blame along to the priest, then he to the chief musician, and finally the chief musician states that it was actually a courtesan who held the pearl necklace. The Plan Realizing that each of these prisoners are unlikely candidates, the Bodhisatta (who is the king's minister in this story) deduces that the culprit must reside within the palace and that they never left. He chooses to leave bead necklaces around the palace grounds, and each of the girl monkeys residing are carefully scrutinized. The monkeys begin to wear the beads, and the thief can...

Vidura , quick facts: the third of Vyasa's sons (of base heritage through Ambika's handmaiden) brother of Dhritarashtra and Pandu human incarnate of Dharma voice of reason, intelligence, wisdom, and inner consciousness aided the Pandavas to escape from Duryodhana's trap protested the disgrace of Draupadi at Duryodhana's hands chose not to govern following the war This is a man with complexity and a keen conscience. My original interest in Vidura was the conspicuous lack of concern showed for any of the low-caste family who burned to death in the ol' switcheroo during the House of Fire. This family, having come to beg on that fateful night, experienced a fate legally referred to as "premeditated murder." The Pandavas, of lofty and noble heritage, could likely have seen the murder of low-castes as trivial and insignificant. But, what about Vidura? This is a man denied the throne on the basis of his low breeding. Could Vidura have possibly counte...