Seven Epic Sins: Lust
We’ll start with lust, though you’ll soon see each sin perpetuates a sort of poison into the soul that can lead to its counterpart crimes.
King Shantanu’s life is rife with this excess of passion.
His existence begins with his prior self, King Mahabhisha, cast from Indra’s heaven as a punishment for his leering lecherousness towards the goddess Ganga.
Then he weds an incarnation of the very same, and the retribution continues with the drowning of their first seven sons.
Yet again he wishes to wed, and his only surviving child must sacrifice for the sake of his father’s desire.
By: Chris Trulock
Seven Epic Sins: Pride
Pride, that most insidious of transgressions, born of an excess of ego. We see this many times during the tale of the Pandavas and Kauravas, but perhaps the corrupting nature is best shown in the pride of the mentor Drona.
A pride not entirely unfounded, as Drona possesses great skill and knowledge to impart… but the excessive ego becomes rapidly toxic when held too tightly.
Drona’s pride which leads him to manipulate his Pandava pupils so that he may share the status of “king” with his once-friend Drupada: an act that sows the seeds of so much vengeance between the clans.
By: Chris Trulock
Seven Epic Sins: Envy
It wouldn’t be unfair to blame the envy Duryodhana held towards his Pandava brothers for the ensuing calamitous war.
Reductive, perhaps, as there were many more players with fates and faults alike… but not unfair.
After all, there could never be enough to sate him – not enough land nor wealth, not a sufficiently grand palace, not even enough games of dice won versus his foes; jealousy so sharpened no longer serves the self at all.
Did he have the power to put an end to the feud, or was his need to be better than his peers simply his fate?
By: Chris Trulock
Seven Epic Sins: Gluttony
Envy, as ever, is not alone in this complex cacophony of soul-crime.
Gluttony has its own feast in the opening moments: when Drona seeks nourishment for his child from the overflowing tables of his friend Drupada, who rejects him seemingly without reason.
But, at heart, gluttony exists beyond reason’s reach.
By: Chris Trulock
Seven Epic Sins: Sloth
Sloth is perhaps the most insidious of these notions, as the excess of apathy leads us away from our life’s path, but there is no avoiding dharma.
Consider King Dhritarashtra’s part in the fate of the Kauravas and Pandavas – the king who refused to deny his son Duryodhana’s rampant avarice and wrath, despite knowing better… fatally compliant indeed.
Imagine the outcome, when Arjuna struggled with sloth and sought to ignore his duty as the battle began to escalate, had Krishna not intervened and counseled him.
Worse still, what if Yudhishthira had refused the throne after so much bloodshed and suffering?
By: Chris Trulock
Seven Epic Sins: Greed
What of Yudhishthira? It’s true that in the end he reached enlightenment, but that requires overcoming the faults of the self.
Agreeing to the duplicitous dice games was a result of steadfast nobility, perhaps.
Losing himself within the game of chance, though, wagering his entire kingdom, himself, his brothers, their wife – once, twice… for what?
It could simply have been greed. We all want to win, but falling victim to the same twisted scheme from an utter inability to temper the intensity of that desire… that’s not the mark of a man who has ascended.
So of course, his story continued.
By: Chris Trulock
Seven Epic Sins: Wrath
Once upon a time, the Pandavas and the Kauravas succumbed to wrath to the tune of an inevitable war that destroyed them both in turn.
By: Chris Trulock
Revenge
Tears stream down his face as he cradles his mother in his arms. Her body stiffened by death’s icy touch. The feeling of loss gnawing away at his insides, consuming him, emptying him of all feeling.
In that void grows a burning darkness that desires only one thing. Revenge.
Maricha turns his cold gaze upon his brother, Subahu. An unspoken agreement forms as Maricha gently lays his mother back on the ground, the arrow still protruding from her chest.
Taking up their arms, the two brothers turn southward, determined to take their revenge upon Rama.
By: Connor McNeely
Confidence: This Man Will Lift the Bow
He stood in front of me and my heart stopped.
He was the one I was going to marry. I could feel it in every bone in my body.
Even if he fails my father’s test, I know he is the one.
But he won’t fail. I have no doubt that this man named Rama will be the one to lift the bow.
But what if he is not, you ask?
Well, I guess I have to do things my own way.
We could run away together and live a happy life. That will be my husband. He is Rama.
By: Keana Jones
Hanuman on the Lookout
It was almost night time in the big city. The bright sun was sinking deeper behind the earth and hushes were being whispered throughout the city.
It was my time to pounce.
I looked high and low for the beautiful Sita, but she was nowhere to be found.
Slinking around corners and peering into the windows of the palace I laid my eyes upon a terrible thing. That must be the dreaded Ravana, but he has no Sita.
Still, I was not going to give up until I found her for my friend Rama.
Still on the lookout.
By: Keana Jones
Makara the Mythical Creature
Makara is said to be a mythical creature, being part crocodile and part dolphin.
Makara symbolizes strength, growth, beauty, and pushes us to outgrow fear in facing problems.
Perhaps this is why Makara allows Ganga, the River Goddess, to ride upon his back as she carries the souls of the dead closer to liberation from the cycle of life and death, which requires the most strength, growth, and beauty.
Makara gladly is the vehicle for Ganga, and both mythical beings reside together in the river.
By: Ashley Maggia
Makara Carries the Souls
Makara obeys Ganga, his goddess.
One day, Ganga married a handsome king, Shantanu.
Makara remained in the river, waiting for Ganga.
Many nights later, Ganga returned to Makara carrying a beautiful baby boy. “Take this child to the heavens, Makara. Give his soul strength to carry on.”
Makara brought the baby to the heavens to be with Indra.
Makara did this seven more times for Ganga.
When Ganga brought Makara the eighth child, Shantanu begged her to spare the child.
She agreed but took the child for a short time; she returned to Makara, and they dived into the river.
By: Ashley Maggia
Makara the Protector
Makara is always in the water, never appearing on land.
People would travel on the river and Makara would watch them, protecting them from demons that might lurk about.
The people saw Makara and feared him, as he was an unknown creature.
They began to carve Makara onto their boats and their oars, in hope that Makara was indeed a protector.
They even began to add Makara to the gates of their temples, as they noticed whenever Makara was around, all travel went well.
To this day, Makara continues to watch and keep evil forces at bay.
By: Ashley Maggia
The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal
“Help!” yelled Tiger, trapped in a pit.
A passing Brahman heard him. “I’m scared to help you,” he said.
“Don’t be scared!” Tiger begged.
The Brahman helped Tiger out… then Tiger grabbed him.
“Help!” yelled the Brahman.
Jackal arrived. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I’m HUNGRY!” roared Tiger.
“But I rescued him from the pit!” protested the Brahman.
“What pit? Where?” Jackal asked.
“That pit! There!” snarled Tiger.
“You could never fit in there,” Jackal replied.
“But I did!” yelled Tiger.
He jumped into the pit, and then realized his mistake.
“This time,” said Jackal to the Brahman, “leave him there.”
By: L.K.G.
A Goblin’s Riddle: The Brahman Who Died By Poison
One night, a Brahman’s wife disappeared forever.
The despairing Brahman gave up his belongings and searched through the desert with lonely travelers to find her.
Having no luck, he eventually collapsed near another Brahman’s house.
The compassionate wife gave him rice.
As he ate, a snake being eaten by a hawk overhead leaked poison into the bowl of the oblivious man. Before he died, he said to the generous woman, “You are guilty of murder if you cannot save me from this poison!”
Which party is to blame—the woman, snake, or hawk?
The correct answer is…………….
The dead man himself.
By: Catherine Frerker
A Goblin’s Riddle: The Old Man’s New Body
An old hermit-magician saw a youth on a funeral pyre and made a decision.
He wailed loudly, then danced around, and then magically entered the boy’s body, leaving his old one behind.
Why did he cry and dance?
The correct answer is…………….
He mourned the loss of his old body, but celebrated newfound youth.
By: Catherine Frerker
