Reading Notes: More Mahabharata (film)
I was excited to get to watch a film over the Mahabharata because Sita sings the blues was super helpful in my understanding of the Ramayana. Because I am such a visual learner and there are so many different characters that are all interconnected, I found that the film was extremely helpful in individualizing the characters.
I thought it was so creative that the narrator explained the story while the illustrator drew the pictures (sped up a little). It gave me something to watch while I was listening. However, I found that since the pictures weren't completely drawn out as the narrator was explaining, I was still trying hard to concentrate on who was who in the story.
There are over 50 videos, so to keep it somewhat short I'm going to describe the first few.
It begins by explaining that the Mahabharata is very karmic- each of the different events occurs as a result of what happened/what people did before. It begins when King Shantanu falls in love with Ganga and asks her to marry him. She says yes but only if he never questions her decisions. He agreed, and they were happy for a while. But when they had their first child, Ganga drowned it. Shantanu was devasted but didn't ask any questions. She did so with the next seven babies, and Shantanu was so upset that he couldn't hold it in anymore when they had their eighth baby. When Ganga was about to drown the baby, Shantanu asked why. Ganga explained that she promised she would give birth to the 8 celestial spirits to free them from mortality. Then, she left Shantanu and took his last remaining son.
Bibliography: Mahabharata Episode 1: Shantanu the Unfortunate- Epified
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