NYMM 50: I'll Take your Shiny Skin and Earrings Please. Artwork

Not Your Mother's Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is this epic Indian work that encapsulates a great deal of Indian Mythology. It is a magnificent story that is constantly being rewritten and retold since its inception that was somewhere between 3000 BC and 1500 BCE

‘Not Your Mother’s Mahabharata with SP Jayaraj’ is a podcast where S.P. Jayaraj tell the story conversationally to his wife Azure Anderson and to friends, most of whom have never heard of the tale. Listeners familiar and unfamiliar with the epic are treated to their entertainingly honest first reactions.
Doing it conversationally as opposed to it being a straight up reading allows there to be variations in the story and the chance to pick apart some of the ideas about life that the Mahabharat brings to the forefront.

This podcast’s goal is to make this great work accessible, and entertaining to an adult audience. Come in expecting some laughs, some pop culture tangents, and some adult language.
This is a labor of devotion to the Mahabharat quite unlike any other you might come across.

All Episodes

Not Your Mother's Mahabharata

NYMM 50: I'll Take your Shiny Skin and Earrings Please.

April 27, 2026 • S.P. Jayaraj, Azure Anderson • Season 4 • Episode 50

0:00 | 1:01:26

Christine Mounts joins us for... a Karna mid-redemption story?

Every day, after his morning prayers to the Sun god Surya (also his dad though he doesn't know it,) Karna will give anything asked of him to brahmanas. Knowing his intentions to kill his son Arjuna, Indra decides to take advantage of this by disguising himself and asking Karna for his golden skin/armor and earrings that make him invincible. But Surya sees all and decides to warn Karna- but will it make a difference?

Also, how does one even 'remove' ones golden skin armor anyway? We discuss various options- each more frightful than the last.

S.P. Jayaraj is the creator of the mythic world of Adijari that is the setting of his two novels, The Secret of the Zipacna Dragons and Legacy of the Crow. He is also a Creative Life Coach through his business Imagination Life Coaching. The Mahabharata and other global mythology inspires him in all his projects.

spjayaraj.com

Azure Anderson-Jayaraj is a musician, a maker, a cat mom, an arts administrator and now a podcast editor.

Christine Mounts is the co-founder of the American School of Storytelling in Minneapolis. She is a writer and poet who loves to support the art of storytelling through her devotion to the American School of Storytelling- a program of classes, performances, and resources dedicated to oral storytelling and other narrative art forms.

https://americanschoolofstorytelling.com/

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Have an imaginative day.

Artwork and music by Azure Anderson