Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part A

Reading Notes from The Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan

I know I've only read the first part of The Mahabharata, but I am not as connected to these characters as I was to the characters of The Ramayana. I think I'm going to use this to my advantage as a writer, however, and try a new storytelling style. I'm going to replicate what I did with my first story where I take main characters, settings, and plots and remake them into new stories instead of crafting new retellings.

The story of Santanu and Ganga, where she remained his wife only until he questioned her actions, would be an interesting plot to a story. Santanu allowed the deaths of seven infants all to follow his wife's request, but what if he refused? In The Mahabharata, there was a reason for the first seven infants dying and the eighth one being spared; it was a curse to live on Earth which was lifted from the first seven infants but the eighth child still had to live as a human. I think I'd like to change the otherworldly aspect from a lifted curse to some kind of test, posing an age-old question: do you do the right thing, or go along with the wrong of another?

In my retelling, Ganga will still be some sort of celestial figure. She will be a goddess who wants to test the devotion of her followers. She'll disguise herself as a beautiful maiden and offer them the same promise she offered Santanu: to be their wife only until they question her actions. All of the men agree, and when Ganga breaks one of her rules and the men allow it, she reveals herself as the goddess and punishes the men for their negligence in following her rules. Eventually, a man will come along that stops the disguised goddess in spite of his love for her, and the goddess will reveal her true nature and praise his unflinching devotion.

(A painting of Sati, wife of Shiva, the humble stance she has taken is how I see my disguised goddess looking. Wikimedia Commons)