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| Hindu deities who arrive with Narayan's awakening. |
Ananta and Adi Sesha were sister serpents who were the masters of time. One was known as the primal and the other as the endless. So together they were the beginning and the end but never stopping.
They would glide around the ocean of milk with Narayan as he napped in their embrace. If he was napping, the world was silent. The ocean was calm; their job was easy. They had no worries.
When Narayan awoke, however, many things would happen. He would change so that he could be with his people and creatures of the world. He would become Vishnu, protector, and guardian of the world.
He did not need the care and protection of Adi and Ananta, but they were still needed for the world. Since they were the masters of time without them, time did not exist.
Adi and Ananta never knew when Narayan would wake. They only knew that the day the sea started to churn, his eyes would open.
They did not have much to do once Narayan was awake, but they had much more entertainment.Narayan, as Vishnu, would bring many creatures into the world with his awakening.
The goddess of wealth and his consort, Lakshmi would appear first. Sometimes she would be there as the cosmic cow, Go-Mata. They much preferred to see her as Lakshmi, but both were the same soul.
Brahma would sprout from a lotus flower as if he was giving birth to Vishnu. His job was to organize the world as Narayan sees fit at that time.
Shiva is the one who can destroy the world when he closes his eyes. His mind refreshed from the cycle of sleep and ready to try again will step forth with his family, eyes open wide.
Parvati, Shiva’s wife and goddess of love and devotion, will be brought forth along with their two sons. She will be there to spread her love across the world.
Ganesha, with the elephant head and exceptional intellectual capacity and his six-headed brother, Kartikeya with his great physical capabilities will be able to solve anything together.
Garuda, the cosmic hawk and a natural predator of serpents is brought forth as he is the protector of Narayan in Vishnu’s form. The cosmic hawk has a heavy responsibility which Adi and Ananta respect him for doing. They do not fear this hawk.
Hanuman the monkey will be brought forth. Hanuman is also known as sankat-mochan or the trouble-shooter. He too is a protector of Vishnu in his many avatar forms in the world. When he is present Adi and Ananta know that Narayan will be safe because when troubles are created, he will help find solutions.
The dueling musicians will be there to sing their praise to Narayan’s awakening. The horse-faced Tumburu, playing his lute will entice everyone to enjoy the new world, while Narad plays his lute, envious of Tumburu’s skill. This possessiveness and envy will ignite the troubles that Hanuman will help to squelch one day.
I based this from Chapter two of “7 Secrets of Hindu Calendar Art” retold as a video book by Epified on YouTube. This chapter is about Hindu beliefs of creationism. As we have learned throughout this course, Hindus do not believe in one life. This chapter describes an image that is a symbol of their beliefs about the cycle of life. Adi and Ananta are two different names that the serpent is referred to but I decided to make them siblings since the serpent has multiple heads. I chose the same image so that you could see the characters as I described them in my story.
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I really like this story because it seemed that you really described each of the characters in an excellent way for someone who may not know much about the characters. I saw that you used the Epified videos on YouTube for your inspiration! I loved listening to those. It was an excellent story but the one thing that I might suggest would be use less characters next time. This story seemed to have way too many characters for the length. Great job though!
ReplyDeleteHi Amber,
ReplyDeleteI really liked this story! You definitely were able to give each character their own personality, and detailed contribution to the workings of life. I like how this all goes back and ties with Narayan. This was a great way to represent an aspect of Hinduism regarding Hindus not believing in one life as you mentioned. This story was detailed, and I felt like I was able to imagine everything that you described here. Nice job!
Hi Amber! I really enjoyed reading your story. The font made this story so much easier to read and follow. My favorite part was how you included a description behind each character. I could easily picture what you were trying to say in your story. I like that there is enough detail to portray the original story, as well with your own uniqueness. Great work!
ReplyDeleteHow cool a story about serpents! I haven’t read any other stories like this, so this was exciting to read. So I take it both serpents are boys? I was a little confused while reading because it seemed like you were setting up a background information with all the characters and then the story ended all of a sudden. However, your author’s note cleared it all up for me. Good job!
ReplyDeleteHi Amber! This was a really interesting story, I haven't read any like it this semester! Your creativity really shined through on this one. I like how you described each character, that helped. Also, your author's note really brought the whole story together nicely! You did a good job of connecting your readers to your story. Great story!
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