Overview

I just finished up my initial look at the course materials, and I think I'm going to start off with Narayan's Ramayana. Overall, I found the language to be a lot more natural and easier to follow, but I think the main reason I chose his version was the presentation. The PDE version had tons of information and was well organized, but there was so much to it that it felt a little bloated. I think after I have become somewhat familiar with the stories, the PDE version will be more appealing, but for my introduction, I wanted to go more with the very natural flow and convenience that the novelized version offers.

I'm actually particularly excited to take a look at the graphic novels. I always enjoy seeing modern artists renditions of classic mythology. I'm purposely avoiding looking too deeply into them yet, though. I want to get my own visualization of the stories through the text alone, so that I can see how it compares with the contemporary art.

As far as my background goes, I have little to no knowledge of Indian mythology. The only exposure I've had to it is through literature references in books like the Life of Pi and hearing some of my Indian friends talk different figures from time to time.

I haven't taken any classes in mythology or religion. Although, I have studied some mythology for social studies and literature classes in high school. That mostly consisted of Greco-Roman and Native American myths. When, I think about mythology, my first thoughts usually go to creation myths like "How the Possum Lost It's Tale," and as far as epics go, the trials of Heracles and the Odyssey are pretty much the first things that come to mind. Also, I have actually meditated before. It was part of the yoga routine I used to do.

Krishna holds up Mt. Govardhan
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Even after looking through the various other pictures on the images sites. This first one of Krishna still strikes out to me. Krishna seems like such an amazing character. Whether he's holding up a mountain like above or containing the entire universe within his mouth, he always seems to be doing something both ridiculous and amazing.