Storybook Plan: Sanskrit in the Indian Epics

LINK TO MY STORYBOOK HERE

Hello VagaBuddies!

Storybook from Shrek: Shrek Wiki

First of all I want to say I am excited to begin this storybook process! I am excited to learn a little bit about the Sanskrit language, and deepen my understanding of these Indian Epics in the process!
Organizationally, here is how I imagine my Storybook going. I will be focusing on a few words of Sanskrit in total, one or two for each story. I will provide the definition, a pronunciation guide and maybe even some other interesting uses or etymology of the word if it applies!
Next, I will connect each word to a mantra that focuses on that word. (ie - if the word is devotion then I will find a mantra about devotion). The mantra (or mantras) will then lead into a story from an Indian epic like the Ramayana or the Mahabharata.

For the first page, I want to cover the Ganga origin story from the Ramayana as the main story. I really admired Bhagiratha's devotion to his family, and the interplay between Shiva and Ganga as gods. For my Sanskrit words, I would choose either 'devotion' (for Bhagiratha) or 'goddess' (for Ganga). Both of those would have great mantras to choose from!
For the second page, I want to focus on the word 'purity' or 'faith' (or 'dharma' and compare Rama's dharma as a king vs. his dharma as a husband), because I want to talk about the story of Rama testing Sita's faithfulness at the end of the Ramayana. That scene in particular always interesting me, because Rama seems too harsh, so maybe the mantras I use will help explain Rama's actions.
For the third page, I want to do something with Hanuman, because he is literally the best. I would probably focus on something such as 'loyalty' or 'intelligence' or 'strength' since those are some of the most defining characteristics of Hanuman that come to mind for me.

Overall, I hope to convey a little bit of understanding and appreciation for Sanskrit through my Storybook. I aim to enrich an understanding of the Indian epics with an understanding of the language that it was originally composed in.

Language:
Alphabet: Omniglot
How many Ramayanas are there? : UC Press


Story References:

GANGA
Ganga Storam
- भगवति  Bhagavati: Goddess (Wikipedia)
- Devotion


-जय Jaya: Victory (Wikipedia)

Images:

Sanskrit in Sanskrit (Wikipedia Commons)


Top10Central


Ceas Yoga