Katha Sagar, Ocean of Stories: Hindu Wisdom for Every Age
160Katha Sagar, Ocean of Stories: Hindu Wisdom for Every Age
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Overview
Vivid dramas—featuring gods, goddesses, kings, sages, and fools—have been selected from ancient Hindu epics, myths, and folk traditions across India. Sarah Conover, Abhi Janamanchi, and illustrator Shanthi Chandrasekar bring to life the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the land and people of Southern India, creating a captivating collection. The stories themselves convey key values, such as honesty, generosity, and justice but also introduce readers to unique religious and cultural observances. Additional resources provide further information on Hinduism.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781558967762 |
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Publisher: | Unitarian Universalist Association |
Publication date: | 12/01/2016 |
Pages: | 160 |
Product dimensions: | 8.90(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.40(d) |
Age Range: | 11 - 14 Years |
About the Author
Abhi Janamanchi serves as the Senior Minister of Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda, MD. He was born and raised in Southern India but moved to the U.S. in 1994. He is a third-generation member of the Brahmo Samaj, a liberal Hindu reform movement. Before coming to Bethesda, he served UU congregations in Florida, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Abhi has been actively involved in international interfaith and multicultural work for over two decades including as President of the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF). His Unitarian Universalist-Hindu faith, his Indian heritage, and his American citizenship inspire and guide him in this work.
Shanthi Chandrasekar is trained in the traditional South Indian art form of Tanjore-style painting. While many of her works are influenced by her Indian heritage, her true inspiration comes from the mystery and majesty of the world around her. Shanthi's work has been displayed in a variety of locations throughout the Washington, DC area, and she has won numerous awards, including the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in both 2013 and 2016 for works on paper and the Maryland Traditions Master Apprentice Award to teach Kolam drawing in 2010.
Read an Excerpt
At last, the relentless monsoon rains of summer end. Rivers, swollen and furious, race from the mountains to the sea. The rays of the long-missed sun wedge through the tangled jungles bordering every village, waking all of creation with light. Claiming small kingdoms, the koels, cuckoos, sing one over another while the last drops of water on their feathers vanish with the dawn. The lowing of cows, oxen, and buffalo fills out the bass notes of the chorus. Giddy children spill out of the doorways and run into the sunshine. On this first day of clear-blue skies, they know to seek out their pauranika, their village storyteller, Lakshmi, for she will have some special tales to celebrate the day. And maybe tonight, they hope, she will begin a days-long story from one of the holy epics—the Ramayana or the Mahabharata, the Vishnu Purana or the Shiva Purana. Rising from her bed, Lakshmi, the storyteller, smiles at the hubbub of creatures. Out her window she glances at the rain-plump rice fields blazing green in the daylight. “Hunger will gain no foothold this year!” she says aloud to herself.
She showers, dries off, dresses in a sky-blue sari, then examines her face in the mirror, chuckling at her wrinkles—the tiny bird feet that have perched at the edges of her eyes. Opening a small ceramic pot, she dips an index finger in the vermilion powder to make a bright red tilak, a small decorative circle, on her forehead between her eyebrows—the tradition of Hindu women from ancient times. Tilting her head, she brushes her long, black hair one side at a time before braiding it, noticing that the fine strands of silver are multiplying. Because they show the gift of years, she is grateful for each one. Next, Lakshmi takes a few minutes to complete the daily puja, her home worship, and then steps outside. From the flower garden just beyond the front door, she fills her basket with blossoms. Today, Friday, is an auspicious day, and she will pay a visit to the village temple with her collection. Only a few minutes’ walk from home, the temple’s granite walls look more a part of nature each year, shrubs and vines sprouting from the crevices in the mortar. But as soon as she nears the temple mandap, or pavilion, the village children spot her and she’s surrounded. They tug at her sari, jostle and cajole her, until she can make no further progress forward. “Tell us a story, Amma!” they say, calling her Mother as they do all the older women in the community. “Tell us a really good story, but not too long, because our parents are expecting us home for breakfast!” Lakshmi looks down at eager faces. The young adults—including her youngest son and daughter—have abandoned the village to pursue jobs in the big cities, so she knows it to be her life’s task, before these young ones disappear, to make sure they carry within them an ocean of stories to see them through life.
Table of Contents
PrefaceThe Pauranika
The Miracle of the Banyan Tree
Brahma and Vishnu
The Egg of the Universe
The Dhoti
Heaven and Hell
Yudhishthira’s Wisdom
Lord Kamadeva, the God of Love
The Barking Dog
Shankara and the Outcaste
The Birth of Ganesha
The Wise Girl
Chaitra and Maitra
Indra and the Ants
The Wise Minister
The Story of Goddess Durga
Ganesha and the Mango
Churning the Ocean of Milk
The Well-Digger
Krishna and the Serpent Kaliya
Maya
God Is in Everything
On Hinduism
Story Notes and Sources
Glossary
About the Authors