Epics of India

Old Age, Sickness and Death by Akuppa John Widham, via flickr King Suddhoda was so worried that the brahmans' prediction that his son, Prince Siddhartha, would abandon his royalty and wander as a hermit seeking truth that he cloistered his son in the palace most of his life. Siddhartha was given access to everything he could possibly desire. The king was so worried his son would want to leave that he brought him all sorts of pleasures to temp him. The king also kept any evidence of pain, unhappiness, or suffering outside of the palace walls. Because of this Siddhartha had never even seen old age, sickness or death. One day Siddhartha overhears some people talking about how spring has arrived and the flowers are blooming in the forest. The prince decides he wants to leave the palace and see the beautiful spring flowers. Even though it scares the king he cannot deprive his beloved son what he wants. To continue his son's protection from the unpleasant aspects of the ...

By Dalbera (https://www.flickr.com/photos/dalbera/2790476302/) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons After the Nina character receives the email from Dave, her boyfriend, breaking up with her there is an extended musical and dance sequence. There is one main female dancer that uses aspects of classical Indian dance, Bollywood dance, and Western dance. Some elements from classical Indian dance include the hand positions called mudras , and the characteristic body posture called  tribhanga composed by bending of the body into an "S" shape. There is also a segment when the Hindu gods cycle through the video replacing each other showing how they are essentially the same being. Fire is a common theme throughout the sequence as Nina's rage and grief burn after Dave's cruel breakup, and Agni, the fire god, can be seen riding his vahana the ram at various points in the sequence. The fire grows and envelopes more and mor...

Indrajit attacks Rama and Lakshmana Source: Wikimedia Commons In the episode "Indrajit" Ravana's son enters the battle against Rama and his invading forces, and when the two forces meet the moral difference between Rama's honest warriors and the dishonest rakshasas is highlighted. When the two groups enter the battlefield the monkeys are organized into parties and shouting, "Victory for Rama and for Sugriva!" The rakshasas however suddenly charge out of their castle with raucous trumpeting. When night fell even though the rakshasas are stronger at night, Rama's forces are able to rally through their own will and push them back. Indrajit then reenters the battle after turning himself invisible so that none of his enemies except his uncle Vibhishana can see him or defend from his attacks. Indrajit is willing to use trickery and magic to attack an enemy that can't defend themselves while Rama and his allies fight their enemies head on with t...

In this episode Sita is being kidnapped by Ravana and is desperately trying to find help from the animals in the forest and the forest itself. Since she and Rama are well loved by the forest for being good virtuous people, she seems to have faith they will side with her instead of Ravana. Sita asks Jatayu the great vulture to help her, and in response he tries to dissuade Ravana from taking Sita. Rama and Lakshmana's reputation as valiant and skilled warriors has already spread throughout the forest, and Jatayu tells Ravana that Rama will surely kill him in revenge. Image: Killing of Jatayu By: Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi, via Wikimedia Commons Ravana does not head the vulture's warning, so Jatayu attempts to save Sita by force. While Jatayu successfully destroys Ravana's flying car and two of his bows and injures the rakshasa, Ravana was able to cut off Jatayu's wings. At this point Sita embraces her dying friend who is "motionless and silent like an ex...