ebooks - 7-9 years, 10-14 years - spiritual letter land a - l

7/23/2019 eBooks - 7-9 Years, 10-14 Years - Spiritual Letter Land a - L

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2/58HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE // HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

Gopals Fun School (GFS)

INDEX

1. Invocation Prayers

a. Sri Guru Pranama.

b. Sri Pancha tattva Pranama.

2. A Arjuna.

3. B Balaram.

4. C Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

5. D Damodar Lila.

6. E Elephant King, Gajendra.7. F Friendship.

8. G Ganesha.

9. H Hanuman.

10. I Indra.

11. J Jagannath.

12. K Krishna.

13. L Laxman.

14. Prasadam Prayers


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Gopals Fun School (GFS)Spiritual Letter Land - A to L

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE // HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

1

A - A rjuna

Long ago in the kingdom of Hastinapura, whichwas ruled by the Kuru Dynasty lived the royal

princes known as the Pandavas and the Kauravas. ThePandavas were 5 princes namely Yudishthira, Bhima,Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. The Kauravas were100 princes namely Duryodhana, Dushyasana and 98others.

Dronacharya was the royal Guru or Teacherof these princes. He would train them in the artof war which included archery, gada fighting, sword

fighting, spear fighting and other arts of fighting withweapons.

ARJUNA AND THE EYE OF THE BIRD

Arjuna is one of the ve Pandavas. He is the greatest archer. He is a friend of Krishna.Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-Gita to Arjuna in the battle eld of Kurukshetra.

Who is Arjuna?


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A ll the princes were extremelyclever and had learnt theteachings of their Guru very well.Yudishthira was expert at throwingspears and chariot fighting, Bhimaand Duryodhana were very good ingada-fighting, Nakula and Sahadevaat sword fighting, and Ashvatthamawho was the son of Dronacharya wasexcellent in using magical weapons.Arjuna was an all rounder, excellent atarchery (bow and arrows) and could

fight with sixty thousand soldiers atthe same time.

One day, Dronacharya decided totest his students. He therefore

placed a toy bird on top of a branchof a tree and called all his students.He said, I want all of you to aimat the eye of that toy bird situated onthe tree with your bow and arrows. Iwill call each one of you turn by turnto do so.

First, he called the eldest prince

Yudishthira. When Yudishthiraplaced an arrow on his bow and aimedat the bird, Dronacharya asked him,O prince, tell me what do you see.Yudishthira replied, O Gurudev, I cansee you, my brothers, the tree andthe bird. Dronacharya asked him thesame question again and again andeach time received the same reply.Dronacharya was very angry withYudishthira and said Keep your bowand arrows down and go back to yourseat.

D ronacharya then calledDuryodhana and asked him.O prince, tell me what do you see.Duryodhana too, gave the same replyas Yudishthira. Angry Dronacharyaasked Duryodhana to go and didnot allow him to shoot either. Oneby one, Dronacharya called all theprinces and asked them the samequestion, to which all of them gave

the same answer. He was extremelydisappointed with them and sent all ofthem back without letting them shoot.

F inally, Dronacharya called Arjunaand asked him, O prince, tell mewhat you see? Can you see me, your

brothers, the tree or the bird? Arjunareplied O Gurudev, I can only see thebirds eye and nothing else.

This reply of Arjuna, madeDronacharya extremely happyand he immediately asked Arjunato shoot the eye of the bird. Arjunacarefully aimed at the birds eyewith full concentration and releasedhis arrow from the bow. The arrowperfectly hit the eye of the toy bird,and the bird instantly fell down to theground.

D ronacharya was extremelysatisfied and pleased withArjuna. He hugged Arjuna tightly andpraised him for his qualities and abilityto focus and hit the target perfectly.

Arjuna accepts Krishna as the SupremePersonility of Godhead.


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During the construction of the Taj Mahal there was an expert plastererwho worked on the construction site. The construction manager wasinspecting the construction every day, noticed for three days in a row theplasterer was sitting in the same place and mixing the same plaster. Theconstruction manager became angry and said, Why are you still simply sittingand mixing this plaster? You are so lazy! The man who was mixing the plastertold the inspector Let me show you what i have been doing The plasterer thenthrew some mixed plaster on the wall and then he challenged the constructionmanager to take out the plaster.The construction manager tried with all hismight but was unsuccessful. The plaster was so well mixed; it became solidand hard, that no one could get it off the wall, and it is still there today. Sochildren, next time you visit the Taj Mahal try to spot the plaster!

Value - Story 1


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When one is absorbed in whatever he does it will have a great andlasting impact

Value - Story 2

Once upon a time, Kapil and hisfriend Sudhir were walking ina busy, crowded road. Suddenly Kapilturned towards his friend and with abeaming smile said, Thats the voiceof a cricket. Not the game cricketbut the insect cricket! Come lets

nd it.

S udhir immediately began tond the tiny insect (cricket) onthat busy road. But it was this natureloving Kapil who found that cricketsome feet away in a road side bush.Sudhir was surprised at Kapils abilityto hear the voice of a small cricket on

such a busy road. Kapil was not at allsurprised rather he was very happy.They continued walking on the road. Afew steps later Sudhir asked How isit possible for you to recognize sucha small sound on such a busy road?With a mischevious smile Kapil saidIll show you! Kapil took out a coinfrom his pocket, icked into the airand allowed it to drop on the groundwith the sound Clin Clin Clan...

As soon as the coin fell on theground, the entire crowd ofcommuters came to a stand still:-as each one heard the sound of thecoin falling to the ground. The publicstarted checking their pockets tosee if it was their own coin that fell.Seeing this Kapil started laughing andtold his friend If you love something,if you pay attention, you can hear!


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B - BalramBALARAM DESTROYS THE DEMON PRALAMBASURA

When Krishna was a littleboy, He, Balaram andtheir cowherd friends wouldgo to the beautiful forest ofVrindavana each day to play andgraze their cows. They wouldpluck delicious fruits from the

trees and eat them, play games,chase birds, imitate the sound

of birds and animals, swingbelow the trees, sing and dancein the beautiful forest wherethe cool breeze would bring

fragrant scents from the brightand colourful flowers.

One day when they were allenjoying and playing in the

beautiful forest of Vrindavana, ademon known as Pralambasura

joined their group disguisedas a cowherd boy. Krishnaimmediately understood thatthis new cowherd boy was

a demon who had come to

kill him. Knowing his plans,Krishna called Balaram andall his cowherd friends to playa wrestling match. Balramasteam won the match. As apunishment for loosing thematch, Krishnas team wasrequired to carry Balaramsteam on their backs and walk in


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the forest.

T aking advantage of thisgame, Pralambasura carriedBalaram on his back and misledhim far away into the forest.Soon, Pralambasura showedhis original demoniac form withbig sharp teeth, tall and strongbody with fire blazing from hismouth. Pralambasura startedexpanding higher and higherand with his demoniac strength,tried to crush Balaram to death.But, Balaram beat Pralambasurahard on the head with his strong

f ists and with one single punchPralambasura fell to the groundwith a tremendous thud, with asmashed head and blood pouring

from his mouth.

O n seeing the demon dead,Krishna and all the cowherdboys cheered, clapped, huggedand praised Balaram for theheroic strength displayed by Himin killing Pralambasura.

1.Krishna and Balaram are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Godis in our heart and is always watching our thoughts and activities.So, we cannot cheat or fool Him.

2. If we try to cheat God or others, initially we might win like thedemon Pralambasura but ultimately we will loose.


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Once upon a time there was a man called Lobhimal.

He was a cruel and atheistic (one who is faithlessor hates God) person. He bought a huge cloth factory.Immediately Lobhimal passed an order, From tomorrow, noone in this factory will be allowed to wear tilak or any other

marks on their body connected to God. If anyone disobeysthis order then he will be thrown out of the job!

Next day, all the workers removed their tilaks and kanthimalas and all other Godly decorations from their bodies.Only one worker, Prahlad, was still wearing his tilak. He was immediately takento the of ce of the owner, Lobhimal.

Lobhimal thundered, Dont you know that if anyone is found with tilak inthis factory, I will kick that person out of here! Prahlad replied, If Ilove my lord, whats wrong if I show my love for Him? Every national governmentbuilding has a national ag on top of it. Every policeman wears a police uniform.Similarly every true devotee of God should be allowed to wear a tilak and carrya bead bag as a part of his spiritual uniform!

Lobhimal was very impressed by the boldness of Prahlad. He said, Prahlad, you are the only true devotee here. You have great courage, faith anddetermination to serve the Lord in all circumstances. So from today, I make arule that only you will be allowed, to wear tilak and all others will not!

1) God helps those who help themselves. We must be bold and courageous inperforming our duties. Do your best andleave the rest to God!

2) We must take guidance from our seniors,parents and teachers so that we do not

fall into unnecessary trouble. Eg. Boldlycrossing a busy road when the signal isgreen!

BRAVE LOBHIMAL


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Lord Chaitanya was called Nimai when hewas a little boy. One day when little Nimaiwas playing with His friends in a garden, fourpuppies came there. When Nimai saw them,He pointed at one of the dogs and said, Look,what a sweet little puppy! He is going to be Mynew pet. Little Nimai started playing with thepuppy, laughing and rolling on the ground forhours together. He then tied a piece of twine

around the neck of the puppy, got it home andtied it outside the house.

A s Nimai entered the house, His mother,Sachi, was going out. She said, I amglad You came, Nimai. I am going down to theGanges to take a bath. Stay here and I will beright back. As soon as mother Sachi left, littleNimai untied the puppy and got him inside thehouse. He was playing, running and jumpingwith the dog all over the house. When MotherSachi returned home she saw the puppy andshouted, Eeech! A dirty dog! What is he doinghere? Nimai, You are a Brahmana boy and Youare not supposed to play with dogs! But he isMy new pet, Nimai said. What is wrong withthat? Mother Sachi said, Dogs are unclean.They eat dead animals and all kinds of thingsthat we would not even touch. You must get rid

of him immediately.

N imai begged His mother, to let Him keepthe little puppy. Ok, we will let him stay,Mother Sachi said. But, You will have to tie himoutside the house. An overjoyed Nimai tied thepuppy outside the house and went to the riverto take a bath.

When little Nimai had gone to the river,

Mother Sachi untied the puppy andlet him free and the puppy ran away. One ofthe neighborhood boys saw what happenedand ran down to the Ganges to tell Nimai theterrible news. Nimai! Nimai! Mother Sachi has

Lord Chaitanya was as naughtyand playful as Lord Krishna!

By his personal example, LordChaitanya taught us how to worship

Lord Krishna.


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just let your pet loose! What?! Nimai jumped up onto the bank and ran homeas fast as His little legs could carry Him.Nimai could not find His pet anywhere.He looked and looked, but the puppywas nowhere to be found. Someone

has stolen my puppy, Nimai cried.

Mother Sachi held Him and triedto comfort Him. Do not cry,my little Nimai, Mother Sachi said.Please do not cry. Somebody tookMy puppy! Nimai said. I cannot findhim anywhere. He is gone. I want mypuppy back. Oh, that is why you arecrying, Mother Sachi said. Nimai justcried and cried. Mother Sachi tookHim on her lap and tried to calm Himand comforted Nimai with her gentlevoice. She said Look, we will try to

find him tomorrow, so please do not cryanymore, my sweet little Nimai. Shegave Him some tasty prasadam and Hewas soon very happy again.

In the meantime, the puppy hadreached the other end of the

town. Because Nimai had touchedand embraced the dog, the puppy wasdancing and rolling on the ground andon top of his voice started singingRadha-Krishna, Radha-Krishna,Gauranga, Gauranga! People lookedat each other with amazement whenthey saw how the puppy was dancing.

People began to gather around thedancing dog. They had never seen suchan event in their whole lives and theycould not understand what was goingon.

They did not know that Nimai hadtouched the dog and given himlove of Krishna. For a few days thepuppy kept on dancing and singingHare Krishna, Hare Krishna, KrishnaKrishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama HareRama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Thenone day while singing and dancing the

Lord Krishna incarnated as LordChaitanya and Mother Yashoda as Mother

Saci.

Lord Chaitanya also all the animals andbirds in Vrindavan just like Lord Krishna

had done.


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Lord Chaitanya makes cruel and envious animals chant Hare Krishna and dance in ecstacyin Jharikhand forest.

puppy suddenly fell down and died.Suddenly, a brilliant light came from thesky and a shining airplane, decoratedwith flowers and thousands of jewelsand a beautiful satin seat, came down

form the sky. The airplane stopped andGandharvas began to sing and blowconchshells. All around, one couldhear the sound of Hari, Hari!

Then a brilliant light came out ofthe body of the dog. A beautifulperson, dressed in divine clothesappeared and climbed on to the

flowered airplane. It was the spirit soulwho had just left the dogs body. Nowliberated, he was sitting on the airplaneready to go back to the spiritual worldto be with Lord Krishna eternally. Thedemigods showered flowers, offeredprayers and bid farewell to the spiritsoul.

All glories to

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu!


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1) Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhuis the incarnation of LordKrishna in this modern ageof Kali Yuga.

2) In the previous yugasLord Krishna and otherincarnations killed thedemons with weapons likeSudarshan Chakra, bow andarrow etc.

3) Now, in this Kali Yuga,Lord Chaitanya defeats thedemons and makes them intodevotees, by giving themthe HARE KRISHNA MAHA

MANTRA, Mahaprasad andHis loving mercy

Lord Chaitanya dancing His in front of

Lord Jagannath during the Rath yatrafestival.

Poem:

Nimais puppy

When Nimai was in the woods one day,A small puppy came along to play.

Nimai brought him to His home,And tied him so he would not roam.

Mother Sachi said, Oh, no!Then untied the dog to let him go.

The people they did crowd around,As the dog chanted and rolled on the ground.

Back to Godhead went the soul of the pet,For Nimais mercy he did get.


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One day a rich mans son waslost in a town fair. That littleboy was crying and weeping for a fewdays lost in the streets. One goodhearted man saw his sorry stateand gave him some food, clothes andmedicines. Again this boy startedfeeling very sad and started crying.Another person took pity on him andspoke some sweet and inspiring wordsto pacify his heart. Again a few days

passed and this boy started feelinguseless. He started developing badhabits like smoking and gambling topass his time. Another person tookpity and admitted him to a school tolearn proper behaviour and have goodeducation. Finally a man recognizedthis boy and took him back to his

billionaire father. The father wasso overjoyed and gave his son the

best clothes, food, affection andeducation! He also gave a huge rewardto the man who bought his son back.

1) We all must show compassion to those who are in difficulty. Noone likes to live with a selfish person.

2) Selfish people are always fighting with others to get what they

want and are never satisfied with what they have.

3) We can show compassion for the body (give food, clothes, medicineetc), for the mind (speak sweetly) and for the intelligence (givebooks, knowledge and education)

4) The best compassion is to connect the person (the spirit soul) withhis Supreme father (Lord Sri Krishna) who can give all happiness

to His surrendered children and His devotees. Such people willget the highest reward from the Lord!

Compassion should be shown for the body,mind and souls of others.


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D - D AMODAR LILA

Krishna was very naughty when

he was a little boy. He wouldsteal butter from the house and feedit to the monkeys and run all aroundVrindavan as fast as His little feet couldtake Him, so that mother Yashodacould not catch Him and punish Him.

O ne day when mother Yashodawas churning butter and singingbeautiful songs of the childhoodpastimes of baby Krishna, littleKrishna, who was hungry and wantedmilk came to her. He sat on motherYashodas lap and she lovingly started

feeding Him her milk. Suddenly,she remembered that she had keptsome milk on the stove to boil. Sheimmediately kept baby Krishna on theground and rushed to the kitchen.

K rishna got very angry whenmother Yashoda had to place

Him on the ground and leave; as Hewanted the love of mother Yashoda. Inthis anger, He broke the pots of butter

and started eating the butter andsharing it with His monkey friends.

When mother Yashoda cameback, she saw what little Krishnahad done. On seeing her, Krishna fledin the fear of being punished. With astick in her hand, mother Yashodachased Krishna all around the houseand finally caught Him. In order topunish Him, she decided to tie Himwith a rope to a huge grinding mortar.But, when she tried to tie Him, she

found that the rope she was using wasshort by 2 inches. She gathered moreropes from the house and added to it,but the rope was still 2 inches short.

Mother Yashoda was astonishedand wondered to herself How

Yogis, jnanis etc. perform great tapasyafor many many years and still cannotcapture Krishna in their hearts. But he isvery easily captured by the devotees who

have great love for him.

Even the demigods in the heavensoffer prayers to Krishna, the SupremePersonality of Godhead. Here Nalakuveraand Manigriva (sons of Kubera) are

praying to him.


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Once upon a time, a littlesparrow was searching for anice, safe and warm place where shecould lay her eggs. After many daysof searching, she found a beautifulbeach with crisp white sand gleaming

in the bright sun. She then laid hereggs in the soft and warm sand onthe beach.

Awhile after the sparrow hadlaid her eggs on the warm sand;the ocean created a big wave, cameup to the shore and washed away thesparrows eggs. Not being able to nd

her eggs, the sparrow got extremelyworried and started ying helter-skelter around the sand where shehad laid her eggs. When she couldnt

nd the eggs she started crying. OhOcean, please, please give me backmy eggs. I beg you to please returnmy eggs she cried. But the ocean didnot even consider her appeal.

T he sparrow told the ocean,I am going to empty all thewater from you, so I can nd my

eggs. Please help me Krishna. So,with strong determination, the littlesparrow lled her tiny beak withsalty ocean water, took it acrossthe sand and emptied it. She did thesame thing again repeatedly; wentback and forth, for lling the waterin her beak and emptying it acrossthe sand.

All the animals and the sh inthe ocean saw what she was

doing and laughed at her impossibledetermination and said, Foolishsparrow, you will never be able toempty the ocean. But the sparrowwas not discouraged and did not stop.The news of her activity spread andat last Garuda (the huge bird carrierof Lord Vishnu), ew down to helpthe little sparrow. Garuda warnedthe ocean and bellowed, Oh Ocean,return the eggs to mother Sparrow,else I shall dry you up and locate hereggs

On hearing Garudas threat, theocean got extremely scaredand terri ed since she knew that abird as huge as Garuda could swallowup the whole ocean in just two orthree gulps. She quickly returnedMother Sparrows eggs in the nextwave that rolled onto the shore.

T he sparrow was very joyfulon getting her eggs back bythe grace of Garuda and Lord SriKrishna. Then she ew away with hereggs to build a nest far away fromthe waves.

Krishna is very eager to help His devoteeswho serve Him with great determination.


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E - Elephant King, Gajendra.

G ajendra, was the king ofelephants. He lived in the valleybeneath Trikuta Mountain which was

inhabited by many varieties of jungleanimals. There, beautiful birds chirpedin sweet voices in the trees whichstood in gardens, maintained by thedemigods. There were monkeys, lions,rabbits, deer and other animals, largeand small, wandering in the woods.Trikuta Mountain had many lakesand rivers, with beaches covered bygems resembling grains of sand. Thedemigods would bathe in the fragrantand crystal clear water.

One day, Gajendra was thirsty.He went to a lake to drink water

with his other elephant friends. Theelephants entered the water and drankto their hearts content. Suddenlya big crocodile in the water caughtthe leg of Gajendra. It started pullingGajendra into the water. Gajendra

fought back with all his force but thecrocodile would not let go. He triedpulling the crocodile out of the water

but the crocodile was very big andstrong. It pulled harder and harder.All the elephants said in despair, Godalone can help you, and left the placeone by one.

G ajendra and the crocodilepulled one another, in and outof the water. The fight lasted for onethousand years! During the 1000-year

fight, Gajendra could not eat becausehe was not meant to live so long in thewater. His home was the jungle. But,the crocodile had plenty of food to eatbecause his home was always in thelake. Therefore, the crocodile stayedstrong, but Gajendra grew weakerand weaker.

When all the elephants hadleft him, it appeared that the

crocodile was going to win the fight.Gajendra knew that the end of hislife was near. He then began to prayto the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu. Hesincerely cried out to the Lord, Ioffer my respectful obeisances untoyou. You are the hope of those whohave no other hope. What is the use

of an elephants body covered byignorance? Please release me frommaterial life. He offered many suchprayers to Lord Hari.

When Gajendra was in dif culty, hesincerely called out to the Lord for help.Lord Krishna immediately came to help

him.


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Narayana in Vaikuntha heard his devoteescry of despair. How can the Lord bear ifhis devotees suffer even a little? At once hemounted Garuda and came to the lake whereGajendra was, and hurled the SudarshanChakra, at the crocodile. Blazing like athousand suns and revolving round andround, the Sudarshana Chakra shot forwardand cut off the head of the crocodile. Thecompassionate Lord brought the elephant outof the lake. He accepted with all affection, thelotus flower devoutly offered by Gajendra.

In this way, the Lord saved Gajendra.Because the hands of the Lord directlytouched him, Gajendra was immediately

freed from his material body and assumedhis spiritual form. By turning to Lord Vishnu

for help, Gajendra returned home back to thespiritual world.

1.Lord Krishna loves you and all Hisdevotees very much. He cannotbear to see His devotees suffer.

2.Lord Krishnas devotees alwayspray only to Him to save them fromsuffering and difficult situations.

3.One should chant the Holy namesof Hare Krishna Maha mantrathroughout ones whole life.

4.Then one will remember Krishnaat the time of death. Such a personwill go back to the spiritual worldfull of happiness and bliss!

Lord Krishna gave Gajendra bothmaterial and spiritual bene t.

Materially the Lord saved him fromsuffering and gave him a spiritual

body full of bliss!


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1. To be enthusiastic one must be convinced of the truth and followthe path of God.

2. If we have too many material desires then, one will be forced tofollow the fashions of the people of this world.

3. With too many choices to decide from, we will always beconfused about our goals. By blindly following others our personalenthusiasm and convictions hardly grow!

friend came and sat down. WhenCharlie got up-Prabhupada laughedas he told the story-his coat toreup the middle!

Prabhupada told how the couplehad returned to the dance,

unaware of what had happened.But now they drew stares from theother dancers. Wondering why hewas suddenly attracting so muchattention, Charlie went into thedressing room and saw in the mirrorhis ripped coat. Deliberately, he

then tore his coat all the way up tothe collar, returned to his partner,and began dancing ecstatically.

S eeing Charlies enthusiasmanother man joined, rippinghis own coattails and dancing with hispartner, as if to compete with the

rst couple. One by one, the otherdancers followed, thinking it to bethe fashion, ripping their coattailsand danced joyfully!

B y the conclusion of the story,the devotees in Prabhupadas

room were all laughing uproariously.Prabhupada had expertly answeredhis question. By their bold,enthusiastic, con dent preaching,they would attract people.

Not everyone wouldimmediately join in thedancing, as had thepeople in

t he CharlieChaplin lm;the devoteesmight even

be consideredcrazy at rst.But they wouldbe offering Krsnac o n s c i o u s n e s s ,the highest andrarest gift, andintelligent peoplewould gradually

appreciate this,even if at rst theydid not understand.(Srila PrabhupadaLilamrta Vol. 3)


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F - FRIENDSHIP

Which was unfit for His eating.My dear friend, Krishna said,certainly I am not in need of anything,but if My devotee gives Me somethingas an offering of love even though itmay be very insignificant I accept itwith great pleasure.

S udama still felt ashamed to offerthe chipped rice to Lord Krishna.He bowed his head out of shyness.How can I offer such insignificantthings to Krishna? he thought.

Krishna then snatched the bundleof rice that was hanging from

Sudamas shoulder. What is this? Mydear friend, you have brought Me nicepalatable chipped rice! I considerthat this quantity of chipped rice willnot only satisfy Me but will satisfy thiswhole creation.

While Lord Krishna was speakingto Sudama, He ate one morsel

of chipped rice from the bundle andwhen He attempted to eat a secondmorsel, Rukminidevi stopped the Lordby catching hold of His hand. My dear

Lord, Rukmini devi said, this onemorsel of chipped rice is sufficient tocause him who offered it to becomevery opulent in this life and to continuehis opulence in the next life. You areso kind to Your devotee that even onemorsel of chipped rice pleases Youvery greatly.

O verwhelmed by all this Sudama forgot to ask for what he actuallycame to ask. But the Lord realiseswhat His devotee needs, and theLords consort Rukminidevi who isincarnation of Lakshmi, gifts him withhis desires. On his return journey,

Sudama pondered his circumstancesand was thankful for the great friendhe had in Lord Krishna. When Sudama

finally returned to his home, to his greatsurprise he found a palatial mansioninstead of the hut he had left. He also

found his family dressed in extremelynice clothes and ornaments waiting forhim. He understood that the Lord hadlistened to his heart, and provided himthese opulences. He always used theseopulences in the service of Krishna.

Krishna comes into this world to invite all of us to join His lila with His eternal friends inthe spiritual world.


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A young man was getting ready tograduate from college. For manymonths he had admired a beautiful sportscar in a dealers showroom, and knowinghis father could well afford it, he told himthat what all he wanted. As Graduation Dayapproached, the young man awaited signsthat his father had purchased the car.Finally, on the morning of his graduation, hisfather called him into his private study. Hisfather told him how proud he was to havesuch a ne son, and told him how much heloved him. He handed his son a beautifullywrapped gift box.

Curious, and somewhat disappointed,the young man opened the box andfound a lovely, leather-bound Bible, withthe young mans name embossed in gold.Angry, he rose his voice to his father and

said with all your money, you give me a Bible? and stormed out of the house.Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. Hehad a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was veryold, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since thatgraduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegramtelling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to hisson. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things. When hearrived at his fathers house, a sudden feeling of sadness and regret lled hisheart. He began to search through his fathers important papers and saw thestill gift-wrapped Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he openedthe Bible and began to turn the pages. His father had carefully underlineda verse, Matt.7:ll, And if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to yourchildren, how much more shall your Heavenly Father which is in Heaven, give tothose who ask Him? As he read those words, a car key dropped from the backof the Bible. It had a tag with the dealers name, the same dealer who had thesports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and thewords PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss Gods blessings because we cant see past ourown desires?

PA I D I N F U L L


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1. A grateful person can see the many blessings the Lord showersupon them. Filled with blessings one can be happy in life.

2. An ungrateful person only sees problems, counts the curses andalways remains miserable.

3.We can thank the Lord for the sunlight, moonlight, the air, thefood we eat, for our parents, teachers, clothes and millions of

other things and remain happy.

4. So we have a choice to be grateful or a GREAT FOOL!


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1) This story teaches us how one lie can lead to another and produceserious consequences.

2) We get in a lot less trouble, in the long run, if we just go aheadand tell the truth.

3) But someone may ask, I can lie and no one will know. Who iswatching me anyways? Then we should know that God is alwayswatching, and we will be rewarded or punished for our actions.

One day Nishatold a little lie.She wasnt suppose tofeed dinner to her dog,Tommy, but she fedhim from her plate.When her mothercame in and saw her

plate all clean, Nisha said that shehad eaten it all. (That was a little lie,wasnt it?) The dinner had coconutrice (with dried coconut pieces) andTommy got a piece of dried coconutin his throat. Pretty soon he startedto cough and snort and act veryuncomfortable. Do you know whatswrong with Tommy? asked Mother.No, said Nisha. (That was anotherlie, wasnt it ?) But Nisha had to doit so that mother wouldnt know shetold the rst lie. Mother lookedin Tommys mouth but couldnt seeanything. Did Tommy eat something,Nisha?

I dont know, Mommy. (Thatwas another lie, wasnt it? Butshe didnt want her mother to know

about the rst two lies.) Tommygot worse and Mother took

him to the animal hospital.Nisha went too.Whathappened tothe dog? askedthe doctor. Wedont know, said N i s h a .(That was another lie, wasnt it? Butif Nisha had told, the Mother andthe doctor would know she had liedbefore.) The doctor said, If its justa food particle, we could get it outwith an instrument, but it might beglass, so we may have to operate.

Nisha decided it was time totell the truth. She said, Its acoconut piece, and I did know Tommyate it, and I didnt eat all my dinnerand I did give it to Tommy, and I wonttell lies anymore, because if you tellone, you might have to tell more andmore. Nisha started to cry, but hermother loved her, and she decidedshe really would tell the truth fromthen on.


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There are 3 types of people:

1) Those who are dishonest. They lie, cheat, steal and becomemiserable in the end.

2) Those who are honest, They speak the truth and do good forothers but they do not have faith in worship of the Supreme Lord.Their honesty is like the honesty amongst thieves and they alsosuffer in the end.

3) Those people who are devotees of the Lord. They worship the Lordand chant His Holy Names with great love. They share Krishnasblessings with everyone and are actually happy.

Once 3 thieves, Tom, Jackand Harry decided to loot a

bank. They collected a large amountof money and ran away into theforest. Tom went to collect somefood while the other 2 thievespatiently waited for him. Jacksuddenly had an idea, Hey! I thinkthis is the best moment for us.Tom will take some time to return.

Let us divide the money betweenthe two of us and run away!

Harry replied, No! Never! We should be honestin sharing what we have. All 3 of us have workedtogether to rob the bank. Now we should share it togetherand live peacefully.

What kind of honesty is that? After all the moneythey are going to share is stolen money. Similarly

everything belongs to the Lord and those people who takeGods property, without offering it back to Him and sharingwith others are THIEVES !! inconiplite ??


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father, I dont think you need to worshipany demigod for getting rains. Sincewe are engaged in cow protection,mother cow is our worshipable deityand cows live on fresh grass and water,which is so mercifully being providedby the Govardhan Hill. I thereforerequest you let us do a sacrifice whichwill satisfy the local Brahmanas, cowsand Govardhan Hill.

The honest and simple cowherdmen, headed by Nand Maharajaccepted Krishnas proposal. Afterall they simply loved Krishna andHis satisfaction was their life andsoul. Nand Maharaj called all thelearned brahmanas and began toworship Govardhan Hill by chantingVedic hymns and offering prasadam.The Brajvasis came together,decorated their cows and beganto circumambulate the Govardhan

Hill singing and chanting Sri GiriGovardhan Ki Jai ! Govardhan Nath kiJai !!. The Gopis dressed in beautifulclothes and ornaments sat in bull

driven carts, chanting the glories ofKrishnas pastimes. Krishna thendeclared to the Brajvasis that He wasHimself Govardhan Hill and gladlyaccepted their offerings.

Meanwhile, Indra seated in his

palace heard the news ofthis festival and got very angry. Heshouted, the brajvasis have stoppedmy worship and are worshippingthe cows and hills, on the adviceof Krishna, the little son of NandaMaharaj. By believing in this child, theyhave angered me and now, they shallhave to pay a heavy price for this.Indra immediately called Samvartaka- the clouds of devastation andordered them, go to Vrindavan and

flood entire village with your full forceof rain. destroy that village and all theBrajvasis along with it. Samvartakasaid, But, but the Brajvasis are underthe protection of Lord Krishna.Dont be afraid of anything. Indrasaid. You go ahead; I will use my full

strength to punish the Brajvasis.

B ack in Vrindavana, strong windsstarted blowing and big blackdark clouds covered the sky. Soonthere was loud thunder and lighteningand it started raining very heavily likenever before. Out of fear, the Brajvasisapproached Krishna for help and said,O Krishna, kindly protect us. We are

being harassed by Indra and we haveno other shelter than You. We arehelpless.

K rishna understood that Indrawas showing his anger in the form of this storm, thus misusing thepower given to him. Instantly and veryeasily Krishna lifted the GovardhanHill with the little finger of His lefthand. He said, O residents of Braja,you may all come under this hill withyour cows. Sri Govardhan can giveshelter to all the three worlds. Do not


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1. All talents, beauty,

intelligence, fame, wealthetc. come from God.

We should work hard tobuild on these gifts fromGod. At the same time begrateful for and not proudof the fact that we happen topossess them. Why?

2. Because a proud person wantsall attention for oneself, byhook or by crook!

3. Indra, being proud as theking of heaven, forgot thatKrishna was his Lord andMaster. In his desire to getattention and worship forhimself, Indra was ready to

kill all the Vrajbasis.

4. Krishna defeated Indra bylifting the Govardhana Hill.Krishna did this to freeIndra from his pride andto convince people not toworship the demigods but toonly worship the SupremeLord.

5. In India, people feel scaredto give up the worship of thedemigods and only worshipthe Supreme Personalityof Godhead. But Krishnaprotects His devotees justas He did by lifting theGovardhana partvat. Jai SriKrishna!

fear, this mountain will not fall from my hand. Comeunder this great umbrella. Lord Krishna, forgettinghunger and thirst, stood there holding the Govardhanhill for seven days and seven nights. The residentsof Vrindavan, and their cows who had taken shelterof Govardhan hill looked at Krishna with joyful eyesand chanted His praises.

When Indra saw Lord Krishnas suprememystic power of lifting Govardhan Hill, he wasastonished and ordered Samavartaka clouds to stoppouring rains. When the floods and rains stopped,Krishna told the cowherd men, to go home withtheir wives, cows and valuables. A repentant Indrarealised that Krishna was the Supreme Personalityof Godhead and the master of this universe andall the demigods. Indra then bowed humbly beforeKrishna and begged forgiveness for his mistake and

bathed the Lord with the milk of the Surabhi cow and the water from the Ganges.After satisfying the Lord, King Indra took Krishnas permission to return to hisheavenly abode.


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1) In the above story thelittle child is compared tothe spirit soul.The home iscompared to the spiritualworld and the mother iscompared to the SupremeLord, Krishna. The waterin backyard is compared tothe material world and thealligator is compared to thepainful bad habits.

2) All the bonafide scripturesteach us that God loves us.And we will be happy only ifwe love him. Rejecting Hisaffectionate company, we

have left the Lords shelterand foolishly wade intodangerous situations of thematerial world, not knowingwhat lies ahead. The nondevotees suffer from thescars of the alligator. Thesescars are of a painful past

from mistakes that we havedone!

3) Then why do the devoteessuffer? In the midst of ourstruggle in the materialworld, God has been thereholding on to all of us,

trying to help us get outof the mess that we havegotten ourselves into. Thatswhen the tug-of-war begins

(between our alligator likebad habits and the lords

affection) - and if you havethe scars of His love on yourarms, be very, very grateful.God is like the mother whowould never like to let usgo.

4) Every great endeavorrequires a great inspiration.For eg. Shivaji maharajused to hear the stories ofgreat Vedic heroes from hismother Jijabai when he wasa child. Also Prahlad heardfrom Narada Muni andbecame a great devotee. Toachieve great success in life,we should also associatewith great devotees and hearinspirational stories.


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J - J AGANNATH


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may be I can find Nila-madhava. Visvavasuwent out regularly everyday, and returned inthe evening very freshand fragrant. One dayVidyapati asked Lalita,Please tell me whereyour father goes everyday for worship, andwhere that fragrancecomes from? After a lotof persuasion, Lalita toldVidyapati that her fatherwent to worship theDeity of Nila-madhava

everyday. Vidyapatipersuaded Lalita andVisvavasu to take himto worship the deity ofNila-madhava.

F inally Visvavasuagreed to takeVidyapati to the Deityon the condition that he

would blindfold him tillthey reached the Deity.Vidyapati thought,Iwill take some mustardseeds with me and go ondropping on the way &

after some days it will sprout & I can trace back again the path to Nila-madhava.When they entered the temple, Visvavasu removed the blindfold and Vidyapati sawthe most beautiful deity Nila-madhava. Vidyapati became very happy and thought,I have been searching for Him for such a long time so many months and now Imust go back to Avanti & inform this to the king. Saying this Vidyapati left forAvanti and to inform the King Indradyumna.

When King Indradyumna heard about the location of Nila-madhava, hedecided to go to Neelachal in Orissa and worship Him. However, when KingIndradyumna was informed by the king of Orrisa that there was a massive cyclonewhich destroyed the entire kingdom and the deity of lord Nila-madhava disappeared.A heart broken King Indradyumna on the advice of Narada Muni performed 1000ashwamedha sacrifice to please the Lord. Soon enough Lord Krishna appeared inhis dream and He told the king that the time for His advent as Lord Jagannatha hadcome. He directed the King to go to a sandy beach where the Lord would arriveas a great log floating down. Truly enough a sacred wooden log marked with foursymbols of Lord Vishnu, appeared there. The Lord had manifested Himself as thetree-Daru Brahma.


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1) Material comforts can giveus temporary pleasureswhereas values like gratitude

and devotion to the lord isthe secret to joyful living.

2) Why do possessing materialcomforts do not satisfy usfor long?

a) Just like pouring butterinto fire only increasesthe fire, similarly gettingthe things we desire onlyincreases the fire of desireswhich burn us more andmore. It becomes a game ofendless addiction.

b) Anything that has abeginning will have an end.The things we get in timewill be lost in time.

c) Getting materialisticpleasures is compared tolicking honey off the edge

of a sword. The honey istasty but the sword cutsthe tongue! So initially thethings give us joy and we

become attached to them.Then we begin to worryabout looking after them or

losing them.

3) Does it mean we shouldnot buy or enjoy thingsand comforts? We all needcertain comforts to live welland we should surely getthem. However we should

understand that comfortis one thing and happinessanother.

4) There are many rich peoplewho are unhappy thoughthey are surrounded byflaterers, mansions, yatchsand everything money canbuy. The true joy of living,beyond simply having thingsis to use them in the serviceof the Supreme Lord.

5) Such devotional service

to the Supreme Lord witha grateful heart awakensour eternal nature of joyfulliving.

Seeing the geniuine devotion of the old man, the students were stunned indisbelief. In his brief answer he had spoken volumes of wisdom. Carrying thedeep impression, of the old mans love for Krishna, in their hearts they returnedhome. From that day, instead of cribbing, crying and complaining they weremore patient of others, tolerant, grateful to the lord for his every blessingand shared HIs compassionate affection with everyone they met.


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Personality of Godhead and You haveso kindly appeared in my home to killthe demoniac kings of the world likeKamsa. Knowing that You will kill himand his followers, Kamsa has alreadykilled Your six baby brothers beforeYou. As soon as he hears that You tookbirth, he will try to kill You, too.

D evaki was very afraid of herbrother and prayed, My dearKrishna. Please save me from thecruel hands of Kamsa. As soon ashe knows that You have taken birth,he may hurt You. So please hide Your

four-armed form our eyes.

K rishna answered, I know youare thinking about Me out ofgreat love and are afraid of Kamsa.Therefore, take Me now to GokulVrindavan and exchange Me with thedaughter who has just been born toYashoda.

Then the Lord turned Himself into asmall baby. Vasudeva quietly tookhis little son out of prison. Because ofKrishnas power, everyone in Kamsaspalace including the doorkeepers,

were in deep sleep and all the doorsautomatically opened. The night wasvery dark and it was thundering andraining. While Vasudeva carried littleKrishna in the heavy rain, Lord AnantaSesa spread His serpent hood overthe head of Vasudeva like an umbrella.Yamuna was roaring with big wavesand foam. But Vasudeva could crossit by Krishnas mercy. On the otherside, he went to the home of NandaMaharaj in Gokul Vrindavan, whereeveryone was in deep sleep becauseof Krishnas power. He walked insidequietly and put Krishna down next toMother Yashoda. Then he picked up

Yashodas baby girl and went backwith her to the prison of Kamsa, wherehe put her next to Devaki. Prisondoors closed on their own because ofKrishnas power.

Later the gatekeepers woke up andheard the new baby crying. Theyinformed Kamsa. Kamsa was so afraidthat his hair stood on end. He jumped

out of bed and cried; Now the crueldeath of my life is born! Then hehurried to the prison.

D evaki said, My brother, Kamsa,please do not kill this baby girl.You wont be killed by a girl. CruelKamsa grabbed the new born child, tothrow her down hard on the stone. Butthat baby girl slipped right out of his

hands and went into the sky! Actuallyshe was Goddess Durga. She wore abeautiful dress, flower garlands andshining jewels and ornaments. In hereight hands she held a bow, spear,arrows, bell, conch shell, disc, cluband shield. Goddess Durga shoutedat Kamsa, You rascal, you cannotkill me! The child, who will kill you, isalready born before me somewherewithin this world. Dont be cruel to yourpoor sister. Then she disappeared.


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Once upon a time a boy wasinspired to go to the Valleyof the Gods, where he heard thatthe God of the mountains livedand spoke to people. Reaching hisdestination, he waited for God ofthe mountains to speak. But hewas met with silence.

Becoming impatient heshouted, Are you dumb?Cant you say something? The Godof the mountains replied, Are you

dumb, cant you say something?

Getting angry, he shouted loudly, How rude of you to shout! The replycame again, even louder, How rude of you to shout!T he boy got so angry that he yelled, I hate you Immediately cam theresponse, I hate you. The boy turned around and walked out of thevalley never to return.Days later a great sage came from the Valley of Gods and described itas a very sacred and beautiful place. This boy spoke angrily about his

bitter experience. The sage understood the problem and requested the boy tocome there again.

T his time the sage led the boy and shouted, Greetings to you. The Godof the mountains replied at once, Greetings to you!

T he sage then shouted back, I love you. The reply came back loud andclear, I love you.T he sage turned to his surprised companion and said, Just see, life is likethis. If you are respectful, good and spread love, kindness and cheer,

you will receive the same. If you are disrespectful, bad and have only hate,hurt and rudeness to offer to the world, again you receive the same. So, if youwant to be happy, give happiness to others. That is the advice of the God ofthe mountains!

God of the mountains


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1) Just as there are laws of gravity, physics, chemistry amd the state,

similarly there are laws of life.

2) Newtons law of motion says For every action there is am equalamd opposite reaction. This is true in life also and is called thelaw of karma.

3) Then, someone may ask, Even if Im good to people and havenot harmed anyone then why are people still rude to me. Why

bad things happen to good people? The answer is that there areinstant reactions and delayed reactions to our karmas.

4) Karma can be compared to sowing seeds. Mustard seeds take aweek to grow and mango seeds take years to give fruits. Thensomeone may ask, We dont remember what we have done in thepast. So why dont we get all the karma in the same lifetime?

5) Just like Dhrtarashtra, as a hunter had poked the 2 eyes of a birdand burnt hundreds of eggs, was cursed to be born blind and havehis 100 sons killed before him. For 50 lifetimes he was doinggood karma to be born as a king and have 100 sons. Then the badkarma done 50 lifetimes back acted on him. So good karma andbad karma dont cancel each other. We have to suffer for themindividually.

6) Law of karma is like seeing in a mirror. When you see a blackspot on your reflection in tue mirror do you clean yourself or thereflection?

7) Many of us make the same mistake the village boy did. Whenwe have problems we fail to look inside and take responsibilityto tranform ourselves. Instead we blame the world - our family,

friends, home, school, soceity, and even little things like traffic,weather and the population or ultimately God! Better to changeourselves and the reflection will automatically change.


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L - L AXMANALaxmana, the younger brotherof Lord Rama is considered

to be an Avatara (incarnation)of Ananta Shesha - the thousand-headed Naga (snake) upon whomrests Lord Vishnu in the ocean ofmilk.

Laxmana was born to Sumitra, thesecond wife of King Dashrathaand also had a twin brother calledShatrughna. However, despite beingthe twin of Shatrughna, Laxmana

was specially attached to LordRama, and was inseparable fromHim right since he was a little baby.Unless Laxmana was present, LordRama would neither sleep nor eat.Whenever Lord Rama went out tothe forest to hunt, Laxmana would

follow Him, guarding Him on allsides. When Lord Rama married SitaDevi, Laxmana married the youngersister of Sita Devi named Urmila.

Lord Rama, Laxmana, Bharatand Shatrughna were the foursons of King Dashratha. Theseprinces were tigers among men yetthey were modest, wise, far-sightedand glorious in every way. They wereattached to Their studies and soonbecame well versed in all aspects ofkingship.

S ome years later, Kaikeyi themother of Bharata beinginfluenced by Mantara a maidservant, desired to King Dashrathathat Lord Rama be sent to exile of14 years and that her son Bharatshould become the king instead.

Accordingly accepting Kaikeyiswish, Lord Rama left for exile with hiswife Sita Devi. At that time, Laxmanawent along with Lord Rama and Sita


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his strength and lifted the entire mountainand brought it to Lanka, where Laxmanawas lying unconscious. The magical herbwas found by the doctor, and Laxmanawas cured and revived. Later in the battle,Laxmana fought and killed Indrajit. Hiskilling of Indrajit was considered to bean important turning point of the war,as Indrajit had a boon from Indra that hecould not be defeated by anyone. Later,alongwith Lord Rama, Laxmana also killedKumbhakarna, the great giant demon andbrother of Ravana.

Lakshmana is known for his absolutedevotion to Lord Rama, as he was readyto perform any service for the pleasureof Lord Rama, such as leaving behind Hiswife, to come serve Lord Rama and living inthe forest, constructing cottages for LordRama and Sita Devi, fighting with demonsand protecting Lord Rama and Sita Devi.Laxmana did all, this as a service to LordRama.

The performance of his duties as a

younger brother is considered to be agreat sacrifice and greatness of Laxmana,character since such duties are verydifficult to perform, in difficult conditions.Laxmanas life is an example, of the dutiesthat one should do to their elders.


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Mohan went to a pet store to buy a parrot. Two of them were sittingtogether in a cage, priced at Rs. 500 each. Then there was one sittingalone in a corner in another cage. The boy asked if it was for sale, and whyit was sitting alone. The store owner replied, This is from the same parentsbut is deformed and so not for sale. The boy asked what the deformity was.The store owner replied, The parrot was born without a wing and had a legmissing. The boy asked, What will you do with this one? The reply was thatit would be put to sleep. The boy asked if he could play with the parrot. Thestore owner said, Sure. The boy went to the parrot ans spoke some sweet

words. Immediately the parrot jumped closer to him and repeated those words.Instantly, the boy decided that this was the parrot that he wanted to buy.

T he store owner said, That one is not for sale! The boy insisted. Thestore owner agreed. The boy pulled out Rs. 100 from his pocket andran to get Rs. 400 from his mother. As he reached the door the store ownershouted at him, I dont understand why you would pay full money for this one

when you could buy a good one for the same price. The boy did not say a word.He just lifted his trouser-he had one leg less and was wearing a brace there.The pet store owner said, I understand. Go ahead, take this one. May God bless

you!

Mohans Parrot


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