Weeks 10-11 Krishna/Tales

For Week 10 and 11, you will take a break from the epics to look at two important Indian storytelling traditions related to the epics: the Buddhist jataka tales and the legends of Krishna. You can choose to do two weeks of jatakas or two weeks of Krishna, or one week on each topic. It's up to you, and there are lots of different options to choose from.

Note: You will have free choice reading during Weeks 12-15, so if you are interested in one of the reading options below that lasts longer than two weeks, no problem: you can carry on reading the book in Week 12 and so on.

* * *

JATAKA TALES. You read some jatakas way back at the beginning of the semester. This is an ancient collection of folktales as told by the Buddha which he explained as being the stories of his former lives. Some of the same stories are also told by the sages and gurus of the epics.

ONLINE BOOKS. There is a wonderful variety of jataka books online, and because these are short stories, you can choose to read each book for a half-week, for a week, or for longer, depending on the book.

Retold for Children: Each of these books is divided into two halves (A-B), so you can use them for a half-week of reading, or for a whole week:

• Babbitt. Jataka Tales
• Babbitt. More Jataka Tales
• Inayat. Twenty Jataka Tales
• Rouse. The Giant Crab

Traditional Versions: These are longer books, divided into more parts (A-B-C-D and so on), which means you can use them for a half-week of reading, or a week, or two weeks, or more:

• Shedlock. Eastern Stories and Legends (two weeks)
• Speyer. Arya Sura's Gatakamala (four weeks)
• Francis and Thomas. Jataka Tales (six weeks)

COMIC BOOKS: Half-Week. Each comic book on Reserve in the Library counts for a half-week of reading, and there are lots of Jataka comic books to choose from. Read a comic book, write up your Notes and then do a Reading Declaration.

* * *

LEGENDS OF KRISHNA. You met Krishna in the Mahabharata, but there are many legends about his life before those epic events, beginning with his miraculous birth and his demon-slaying exploits as a young man. Here are your options:

VIDEO: One Week. You can watch the Epified Krishna videos, which I've divided up into Part A and Part B, so that counts for one week of reading.

ONLINE BOOKS: One Week. There are two good free books online to choose from that work for one week of reading (Part A and Part B):

• Shri Krishna of Dwarka (with Wikipedia links)
• Sister Nivedita's Krishna

BIZZELL BOOKS. There are several books available for checkout from Bizzell, so those are first-come, first-served:

• Krishna Krishna: a fantastic short Krishna novel = 2 weeks
• The Krishna Key: a modern thriller, Dan-Brown style = 3 weeks
• Bhagawat: The Krishna Avatar: a multivolume comic book= 4 weeks
• Blue God: A Life of Krishna: a long Krishna novel = 4 weeks

KINDLE BOOKS. Two of those books from Bizzell are also available as inexpensive Kindles: Krishna Krishna is just $3 and The Krishna Key is $1 (not a typo! it really was just 99 cents last time I checked).

GRAPHIC NOVEL: Two Weeks. Shweta Taneja's graphic novel Krishna: Defender of Dharma is on Reserve in Bizzell. This is divided up into Parts A-B-C-D, so it is good for two weeks of reading.

COMIC BOOKS: Half-Week. Each comic book on Reserve in the Library counts for a half-week of reading, and there are lots of Krishna comic books to choose from. Read a comic book, write up your Notes and then do a Reading Declaration.