Week 6 Planning: My so called Naivety

Davavrata vows to give up the throne: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bheeshma_oath_by_RRV.jpg

• Mahabharata is composed by Vyasa with Ganesha being the scribe
• This epic seems to have a lot more backstory to how it was made than Ramayana. I find it interesting that Ganesha never stopped writing once he started, and I wonder why this was included in Brahma’s instruction.
• The king Chedi’s semen fell into the river and was consumed by a fish 
• This is one of the more obscure beginnings to any story I have ever read. I don’t understand why a fish had to consume the semen. It makes sense that a fisherman found the fish, but it would’ve made more sense if the children were born into the fisherman’s family, or something of the sort.
• King Shantanu meets Ganga while walking along the Ganges and cannot tell Ganga what to do.
• Why didn’t Ganga tell the King her reasoning for throwing the children into the river? Maybe it was fate that she couldn’t’ tell him or something of the sort. The fact that Devavrata was given to the king makes sense in the context of the story though. 
• King Shanatanu meets the girl born in the fish named Stayavati, and the fisherman refuses to marry the two until Devavrata says that he will give his place up on the throne. 
• Why did Devavrata do this? His father is obviously important to him, but it seems like the king could’ve found another girl without Devavrata having to give up his place on the throne. Devavrata having his name changed to Bhishma to indicate his stupid and terrible oath he gave is entertaining.
• The next to kings on the throne, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya, were naïve leaders. Bhishma takes three women in battle to be Vichitravirya’s wives. 
• This part of the story solidifies Bhishma’s new name. He could’ve easily toppled the kingdom with his naïve move to renounce his place on the throne. Not only that, taking the women in battle seems like a lot less noble way of getting a wife than Rama’s method of having Sita in marriage. One of the wives also leaves which indicates they had no real bond to the new king Vichitravirya. 
• The queen Stayavati gave birth the Vyasa years ago but remained a virgin before marrying Shanatanu. When the king died and there was no one left, Vyasa came back to propose a solution. Vyasa proposes that a child be born under Bhishma to keep the kingdom in line in addition to the two other children that the wives of Vichitravirya had before marrying the king.
• Vyasa seems to comeback whenever he is necessary. He does not seem to be the most important person in the Epic, but his presence is integral to how the plot progresses. It makes sense that he was repulsive to look at because of his lonely way of life, but his solution is effective and keeps the kingdom from falling.
• Research Notes:
• I will most likely write about Bhishma for my story. His vow to give up his place on the throne set in motion to entirety of the rest of the plot for part A of the Epic. His character also intrigues me because there was no real reason for him to give up his place on the throne. His king could have found another wife, so why did he decide to make that vow?
• The Wikipedia article Bhishma says that maybe he was acting noble. His naivety was possibly not based on lack of experience, but his nobility to serve his father.
• From the same article, it also appears that he took a vow of celibacy so his children could never be put on the throne. 
• Ganga also took Bhishma to different realms to become a great sage. The one I find most interesting is Markandeya. There he learned the way of everlasting youth from an immortal son named Mrikandu.  
• While the rest of the realms have their own interesting part to them, Markandeva is my favorite realm because he learned how to have elogated life which he was not supposed to have because Ganga was supposed to throw him into the river whenever he was born. 
• Bibliography:
• 1. 
• Author: Various Contributors
• Title: Mahabharata
• Source: PDE Mahbharata
• 2
• Author: Wikipedia
• Title: Bhishma
• Source: Bhishma
• 3
• Author: Wikipedia
• Title: Markandeva
• Source: Markandeya