Reading Notes: Epified Krishna Part A

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I really enjoyed the Epified video series on the Mahabharata, and so for this week's reading assignment I have chosen to watch the Epified video series that tells the story of Krishna.

Durga
-When Durga made her fiery appearance, I was immediately struck by the power and prestige of her character
-Although there are many intriguing female characters in the Indian Epics, they are most often portrayed as wives, mothers, or sisters; very few women appear as individual entities as Durga does
-A strong female character among a pantheon of women described as weak, helpless, and at the mercy of the male characters

Demoness
-I love words with traditional male connotations that have the "ess" added to them in order to feminize the subject
-Here again the demoness proves the strength of female characters in the epics
-Strong villains are not only male

Story Idea: Wicked Women/Dangerous Dames/Beastly Belles of the Epics
-Putana, Soorpanaka, and Thataka get together to take revenge on the male villains that overshadow them
-They are more than servants of their rules/husbands/brothers
-They have the power to wreak havoc independent of the male characters
-Like the Powerpuff Girls, but evil

Musical Maladies
-Although I was probably subconsciously aware up until this point that these videos are set to music, it was not until I watched Episode 4 that I really began to pay attention to how the music interacts with the story
-There was a particularly eery musical phrase involving a flute that was used repeatedly in Episode 4, and it highlighted the darker moments of the story, including Krishna's kidnapping and the death of the demoness



A sculpture of the powerful Durga. Source: Flickr

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Bibliography:

"Krishna: Part A." Video Series. Epified. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrWYQjLLbXchvrnCibGQXZjo3FLHppHWD

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