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Indian Moral Stories for Children

and Youth

Compiled by B.Neelakar and B.P.Shasank Kalyan

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Published by Sun Consulting Plot No.82, Road No.4 Chandrapuri Colony, L.B.Nagar Hyderabad 500074, India Phone: 0091 40 24110024 Email: shasank.kalyan@gmail.com

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth, 2nd Edition, 2012 Compiled by B.Neelakar and B.P.Shasank Kalyan

Printed in Hyderabad, India

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Index

1. How the squirrel got its stripes Page 6 2. Saktuprasta Page 7 3. The Ant, Bird & Hunter Page 8 4. Pot of Gold Page 8 5. Saint Tyagaraja Page 9 6. Definition of Luck Page 10 7. Bharavi, the Humbled Poet Page 11 8. Ego & Arrogance Causes a Mighty Fall Page 12 9. Kirata Arjuneeyam Page 13 10. The Greater God Page 15 11. Normalcy Restored Page 16 12. Markandeya's Lifespan Page 17 13. Feeding Dattatreya Bestows Miracles Page 18 14. Gokarna Shiva Linga Page 20 15. Importance of Gokarna Page 21 16. The Test Conducted By Veda Dharma Page 22 17. Humbling Vedic Pandits Page 24 18. Chandalas Life Page 25 19. The Healed Leper Page 26 20. The Honest Disciple Page 27 21. The Persistent Student Page 28 22. Test of Attitude Page 29 23. Three Fish Page 30 24. Do Your Duty & Be Quiet Page 31 25. Everything Happens for Good Page 32 26. Signs of Danger Page 33 27. True Devotion to Abirami Page 34 28. Ekalavya Page 35 29. Karna's Benevolence Page 36 30. Krishna & Kuchela (Sudama) Page 36 31. Together we stand, Divided we fall Page 37 32. The Curse on Dasaratha Page 38 33. A Vile Wife Snubbed Page 39 34. Sayandeva Page 40 35. Karna A Man of his Word Page 41 36. Dealing with the Lazy Donkey Page 42 37. The Class Leader Page 43 38. Supra-natural connections Page 44 39. Suicide is Not a Solution Page 46 40. Persistence and Attention to Detail Page 47 41. Riding Two Wheelers Wildly Page 48 42. Death Redefined Page 49 43. Tiru Gnana Sambandar of Sirkali Page 51 44. Sharanagati Page 51 45. Koorath Alwar Page 52 46. Baktha Kannappa Page 53 47. Sri Kalahasti Page 54 48. Udhava's Quest Page 55

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49. King Janaka Page 56 50. Parvati Devi's Redoubled Devotion Page 57 51. Escaping the Vicious Cycle Page 58 52. King of Kasi Page 59 53. Rama's Word Page 60 54. The Gandiva Bow of Arjuna Page 62 55. Mass Feeding at Sri Guru's Ashram Page 63 56. Potana and Srinath Page 64

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Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 1 How the Squirrel got its Stripes

Hanuma had returned from Lanka after seeing the distraught Sita Devi and informed the same to Lord Rama. With no further delay, the Lord began his journey to Lanka from Rameswaram. Enroute, He encountered the great ocean between mainland India and Lanka. He prayed the Samudra Raja (King of the ocean) to let Him and His vanara (monkey) army pass through it. He waited for three days and nights. Finally, seeing His army getting depressed the Lord Rama shot a number of arrows at the ocean, which startled and woke up the King of the ocean. He saluted the Lord and said that a Setu (bridge) could be built over it by Nala and Neela, the architects in the army of Lord Rama. This is how the Lord got the name 'Seturama'.

All the chieftans of Lord Rama's army including Hanuma, Jambavan, Nala, Neela, Angada and Sugreeva began building the bridge post-haste. They smashed huge mountains which were nearby and took the huge rocks and hurled them into the sea. The ocean bank was abuzz with activity of the monkey army, who were busy filling the sea with huge stones. They were piling rocks in order to create the bridge to Lanka.

At this time a squirrel was watching all the activity. It saw the Lord Rama, and like all us who have a glimpse at Him, was highly inspired to support His activities. So it piled little loads of sand, mud and pebbles on its tiny back and began filling the gaps between the huge boulders, so that the feet of the Lord Rama would not be hurt while walking on the bridge.

The Lord Rama saw the sincere efforts of the squirrel and picked it up in his hand and caressed it with his fingers. The squirrel, which was fully grey in color till then, got four white stripes on its back because it had been touched by the divine fingers of the Lord. This is how the squirrels we see today have both white and gray stripes on their backs.

The moral of this story is that we may be very small people in this world, but in our own little way, having good intentions at all times, we must always support the mission of the Lord, without thinking of the eventual result or outcome, and thereby receive his divine blessings.

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Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 2 Saktuprasta

There once was a squirrel which was golden in colour on its right side and grey in colour on the left side of its body. Wherever there was a yagna (sacrifice) the squirrel would go and roll on the floor and in the water there. One day the eldest of the Pandava brothers, Yudhishtra or Dharmaraja as he is called, was conducting a great yagna. He was offering food, gifts and riches to all the poor, needy and the saintly that were assembled in the premises. Yudhishtra thought that he was greater than his cousin Duryodhana because he was conducting such a great yagna and giving away endless wealth. Just then the half-golden half-grey squirrel arrived at the premises and began rolling on the floor and water there.

All the elders and grand old men assembled in the yagna hall wondered what the squirrel was doing. They questioned it and it replied by relating the following story:

There once was a poor Brahmin living a remote and austere life. His name was Saktuprasta. He lived in a hut with his wife, son and daughter-in-law. They lived a life of penance and shared whatever food they had.

One day, a hungry visitor came to their home just when they were about to have their lunch. Immediately on seeing the visitor, Saktuprasta gave him his lunch, but the visitors hunger was not satiated. Saktuprasta's wife said that it was her duty to support her husband and gave her lunch to the hungry visitor. The visitor was still very hungry and even the two portions he had eaten did not satisfy him. Saktuprasta's son, seeing the nobility of his parents and understanding their greatness, gave away his lunch too to the ravenously hungry visitor. The daughter-in-law too, being a dutiful and devoted wife, gave away her lunch as well to the visitor.

In this manner, all the four members of Saktuprasta's family remained hungry for many days after giving away their food to the unknown visitor and upholding the Indian virtue of Athithi Devo Bhava (A visitor is equal to God). At that time the squirrel was lying there and the right half of its body which touched the ground of Saktuprasta's home turned golden in colour because of the holiness of the four people dwelling there.

Ever since that time, the squirrel had been searching for a place where someone was conducting a yagna or sacrifice so that the other half of its body also could be turned into golden colour from grey. But this was to no avail. Even in Dharmaraja's yagna, despite all the gifts and donations being distributed, the squirrel's left half of the body had not turned golden.

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The moral of the story is the great spirit of sacrifice of the already impoverished family of Saktuprasta, the equivalent of which was not present even in the families of great kings. As is said in the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, the Lord appreciates men who sacrifice unto the Gods, so that the Gods may in-turn nourish man.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 3 The Ant, Bird & Hunter

There was an ant which fell into a river accidentally. The river was flowing rapidly. The ant would have died after getting drowned in the river, but luckily for the ant there was a bird sitting on a tree above that saw the ant.

The bird plucked out a leaf from the tree, flew a short distance, and put it into the river just in time for the ant to climb onto the leaf. The ant floated on the leaf for a while and finally when the river was calm it reached land.

After it landed, the ant dismounted the leaf, felt thankful that its life had been saved by the bird and headed off to thank the bird on the tree which saved its life. In a few hours, it reached the place where the bird was seated. The ant was about to climb the tree to thank the bird but it observed a hunter was about to shoot down the bird on the tree. The bird had not noticed the hunter.

The ant decided to take action immediately, and thereby help its friend, the bird. The ant went and began biting the feet of the hunter. The irritated hunter could not aim carefully and missed shooting his prey, the bird, as his feet had been bitten by the ant.

The moral of the story is that we may all be very small persons but we must try our best to help our friends under all circumstances. Returning a favour is as important as accepting a favour.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 4 Pot of Gold

Once upon a time, there were a poor Brahmin couple. The couple were so poor that the husband had to beg for a living on a daily basis. Some days they could not find food. On some other days, they could get enough food to last a day. On the days when they could not

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beg enough food, the wife of the Brahmin would pluck the leaves of the small Tamma tree outside their hut, boil the leaves in water and serve the soup to the Brahmin man for survival.

One day Guru visited their hut. Everyone in the village wondered how such a poor couple would serve anything of significance to the Guru. As usual, the Brahmin woman served the Guru with soup made from the Tamma leaves. The Guru drank the Tamma soup, then thanked the Brahmin and his wife, told them that their days of poverty were over, went outside their hut, pulled out the Tamma plant, threw it aside and went away. The Brahmin husband and wife were shocked since the Tamma plant was their only source of food during bad days. Anyway they knew that everything was for their good only.

They dug out some soil where the Tamma plant was planted in order to replant it, and found a big pot of gold coins. They took the pot of gold coins safely inside their hut, locked their hut and went running to the Guru and revealed what happened to him. The good Guru told them to spend the gold cautiously and in a balanced way lest people doubt their source of income and lay evil eyes on them. The Brahmin couple lived happily ever after with the grace of Guru.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 5 Saint Tyagaraja

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Saint Tyagaraja was born on 04 May 1767 in Tiruvayyaru near Thanjavur in Tamilnadu. He was born in a Telugu Smartha Brahmin family which had moved from Andhra Pradesh to Tamilnadu in the early period of the 16th century. Tyagaraja's father was Rama Brahmam and mother was Seetamma.

Saint Tyagaraja is popular today because he is the father of carnatic music after having written more than 800 songs in praise of Lord Rama. His father, Rama Brahmam taught Saint Tyagaraja the Rama Taraka mantram. Tyagaraja's first song was Namo Namo Ragahavayya.

In his 18th year, Tyagaraja married Parvatamma, but she died by the time he turned 23. He then married Kamalamba, the sister of Parvatamma. He had one daughter by the name of Sitamahalakshmi, who had one son. The son of Sitamahalakshmi had no progeny and so Saint Tyagaraja does not have a living heir today.

Tyagaraja's teacher in carnatic music was Sonti Venkataramayya. The uniqueness of Tyagaraja was that he was so devoted to Rama that he refused to sing for the ruler, King Sarabhoji II. This was despite the fact that the King offered him the post of Samsthana Vidvan (Royal Scholar). Tyagaraja was always clear that his loyalty was towards Rama only and not towards any human being.

Tyagaraja's mother passed away in 1804. His own elder brother threw away his Rama statue into the river Kaveri. Deeply saddened by the time he entered his 37th year, Tyagaraja said the Sadakshara Rama mantra so many times that he had repeated the Rama nama 96 crore times in a single year.

Tyagaraja walked all the way to Tirumala Tirupati in 1839 and passed away in 1847. Tyagaraja means the King of Sacrifice. Truly, this King of Sacrifice laid down his life for Lord Rama and not for any human being.

Nowadays, if anyone sings Tyagaraja Kritis, it is only the blessings we have received from Tyagaraja, and singing is the best form of Bakthi (devotion) to Sri Rama. The Tyagaraja Aradhana Festival is held every year at Tiruvayyaru on Bahula Panchami Day of Pushya Month.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 6 Definition of Luck

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Once upon a time, there was a 30 year old man. He was being blamed as a lazy man by all his family members. He never studied well at school, nor had he attended school well. He never earned any money, nor did he possess any skill to earn money either. He never was even close or friendly to anyone who could help him earn money in the village. The whole family was worried about him and their worry translated into a regular dosage of unbearable scolding by one and all.

Finally, the man ventured out and tried many types of work. He eventually chose to become a snake charmer. He chose this profession because the snake would dance and he only had to play the charming music to make it dance. Therefore, for a few days, he worked under the tutelage of a snake charmer in the village. He learnt all the skills required to be a good snake charmer.

He then bought a small covered basket into which he would put a snake. He also bought a flute to play alluring music for charming the snake. Then he set forth into the forest to search for a snake. After a long day of walking and difficult search, he found a nice snake which he caught and put into the covered basket.

He was tired but determinedly began walking back from the forest towards his village. He reached a village which was midway between his village and the forest and decided to sleep there for the night as he was tired. Despite his hunger, he slept soundly in the village community hall.

As he slept deeply, a small mischievous rat came and bit the covered basket in which the hungry snake was housed. The rat thought there was tasty food inside the basket. When the hole was big enough for the rat to enter, the snake swallowed and killed the rat, and escaped from the basket.

There are some interesting questions this story throws up to us. They are as follows: 1. Did the normally lazy man not really work hard to become a snake charmer? 2. Did the normally lazy man not try to rid himself from poverty and hunger? 3. What wrong did the rat do in thinking there would be food inside the basket? 4. What is the correct thing that the snake did that it got both freedom and food at the

same time by eating the rat and escaping through the hole made by the rat? 5. Why did luck favour only the snake, and not the rat or the man, who lost the snake,

the basket, and all his effort? 6. Why does it happen sometimes in our life that we do all the correct things at our work

places and in our personal lives but luck does not favour us?

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 7 Bharavi, the Humbled Poet

There once lived a great poet called Bharavi. He was very learned, had great erudition, was very well read, was knowledgeable in all Vedas and had command over poetry.

Bharavi was praised by the King, by fellow scholars, by his mother, and also by his wife. However, his own father never ever praised him even once. There once was a ceremony in the Kingdom where Bharavi was honored as the best poet. Even after this ceremony Bharavi's father chose to ignore praising him.

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Bharavi was highly irritated by this. He often told his mother to ask his father why he was never praised by the father, but the mother was too scared to do this. Finally, Bharavi was so full of hate for his father that he took a big club, climbed the attic and waited for the father so that he could hit him on the back of the head with the club from above.

Coincidentally on the very same day, the mother asked the father why he never praised his son though the whole Kingdom praised him. The father replied that if he praised his son he feared that his son's lifespan would decrease, and his son may also not work hard to improve himself.

On hearing this, Bharavi realized how foolish he had been to even think of hitting his father with a club. His father only wanted him to do well. He set aside the club, jumped down from the attic and fell at his father's feet and asked his father to punish him for what he had intended to do. He told his father that he had intended to hit him with a club.

The father told Bharavi that there was no punishment needed and that he had been forgiven unconditionally, but Bharavi insisted. So, Bharavi's father asked him to go and stay with his in-law's for six months and then come back to his to father's house.

Bharavi left home, not knowing the implication of his father's word. On the first day, Bharavi was served very good food at the in-laws house and was treated very well. But with every passing day, he was treated with more and more disdain.

Towards the end of six months, Bharavi was not respected for his poetry or erudition at all but was treated as a man-servant in his in-laws house. He was responsible for cooking and cleaning, for washing the dishes and cleaning the soiled clothes and the dirt in the house, and for the farm-related work. He was treated like a cheap farm-hand. He was under-fed and over-worked.

He missed his King and Kingdom, his Vedas and his poetry, his mother and most of all, he missed his father and father's home. All of a sudden, he knew the true value of what it was to be in his father's home where silence meant nothing less than great praise!

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 8 Ego & Arrogance Causes a Mighty Fall

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There is a town called Vemulavada near Hyderabad in India. In this town there is a Shiva temple. The deity here is called Rajarajeswara. There once was a devotee of Rajarajeswara. He used to visit a concubine, and had a son from her. The devotee was a brilliant man and despite the son being born from a concubine, he too was brilliant. The name of the son was Bima. Since the son had poetic qualities he was known as Bima Kavi, as the word Kavi stands for poet. Bima Kavi grew up to become a highly educated and erudite man.

It so happened that the King ruling Vemulavada was a highly arrogant man. Bima Kavi once wanted to show his education and erudition to the King and so he went to the court of the King only to be thrown out disrespectfully. To avenge this, Bima Kavi went to the outskirts of the city and on the wall of the city he wrote the following words - O arrogant King! You will lose your Kingdom on the 3rd day of Poornima. Poornima is the full moon day. Accordingly on the 3rd day after the full moon day the neighboring King attacked Vemulavada and overwhelmed the arrogant King and took over his Kingdom.

The arrogant king became a beggar and wandered in the forests. One fine day when he was wandering in the forest, he came across Bima Kavi and told him his plight without any trace of his old arrogance and ego. Bima Kavi was impressed to see the arrogant King speaking frankly and honestly without any ego. Bima Kavi was moved, and told the King that the 3rd day after the next Poornima (full moon) he would again get back his Kingdom and his penury would end. The King could not believe his ears as he had no horse, no soldiers, no means to wage war, no shelter, not much clothing, and no food to eat either.

The poor King continued wandering. Suddenly, he met his Minister while wandering thus. His Minister told him that he had some money which he had saved when he was the Minister under him. Using this money he would pay some Deputy Ministers and soldiers who had worked under the old King earlier but now were forced to work under the new King. They would revolt if the chance arose.

The old King and Minister hatched a plot in which the old King would enter the Kingdom as part of a drama troupe and kill the incumbent King. As per the plan, on the 3rd day after the full moon, the old King entered the palace and beheaded the opposition King. The old King's horse recognized the sounds of his sword and began to neigh, and took the old King to safety while the Minister and the old King's soldiers fought with the dead King's men for a while before vanquishing them. Soon the old King was reinstated as per Bima Kavi's promise.

As soon as the Kingdom was back in the hands of the original King, the King and Minister had a serious discussion about Bima Kavi. They concluded that Bima Kavi curses a person only if he is annoyed. They decided that they should never act in such a way as to annoy him in future, and should accord him all the respect that should be accorded to a reputed poet.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 9 Kirata Arjuneeyam

There was a time when the Pandava, Arjuna fought with Lord Shiva. Arjuna was known as not having enough Bakthi or Devotion. That was because Arjuna had lots and lots of strength, so he could manage without much devotion to God. Hence, the story of Kirata Arjuneeyam.

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Kirata is another name of Lord Shiva. Kirata Arjuneeyam is the war of Lord Shiva versus Arjuna. Arjuna was hunting a Bison one day. Lord Shiva also took the form of a hunter and also began hunting the same Bison.

This was in order to teach Arjuna some lessons in devotion. Many arrows were shot at the same Bison. Some arrows were from the Gandiva, the bow of Arjuna. Other arrows were from Lord Shiva's bow.

Finally the Bison succumbed. Arjuna said the Bison was his, while Lord Shiva also said the Bison was his. In effect, both laid claim to the dead Bison's body.

So, soon a battle ensued between Kirata and Arjuna. Arjuna began to shoot arrows from the Gandiva towards Lord Shiva but somehow he just could not focus. Somehow he could never tell left from right. Somehow the arrows never seemed to hurt Lord Shiva. Finally a frustrated Arjuna even hit Lord Shiva with a spear on the forehead but it was Arjuna who fainted and not Lord Shiva.

When Arjuna regained his senses, he saw Kirata standing in his true form of Lord Shiva along with Goddess Parvati. Arjuna fell at Lord Shivas feet and asked for moksha or liberation. He wanted not to be caught in this human cycle of births and deaths.

Lord Shiva told him he was born as Arjuna to gain the pasupati astra (the weapon of Lord Pasupati) from Lord Shiva and win wars and also be a great archer, but in the next janma (next life) as Baktha Kannappa he would be a hunter and devoted to Lord Shiva and his only purpose would be to get moksha (liberation) & sayujyam (same thoughts as the Lord) from Lord Shiva.

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Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 10 The Greater God

Once upon a time, Brahma and Lord Vishnu had an argument as to who was a greater god amongst the two. The argument generated so much heat that a Shiva Linga appeared near them. Brahma and Lord Vishnu decided that who ever saw the top or the bottom of the Shiva Linga was a greater god. Brahma took the form of a boar and dug deep into the earth. Lord Vishnu took the form of a swan and flew upwards to see the top of the Shiva Linga.

Many days passed but neither was Brahma able to see the bottom of the long Shiva Linga, nor was Lord Vishnu able to see the top of the pillar. Finally both Brahma and Lord Vishnu gave up and returned to the starting point. There Lord Shiva welcomed them and asked both Brahma and Lord Vishnu about their experiences.

Lord Vishnu spoke the truth and said that no matter how high he flew, he could not sight the top of the pillar or Linga. Brahma, who was eager to become the greater god, said that he saw the bottom of the pillar. He even brought along a cow with him to nod its head when Brahma

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lied thus. Lord Shiva saw the nodding cow and the lying Brahma and cursed them both since he knew they could not have seen the bottom of his Linga.

Since Brahma lied about seeing the bottom of the Linga, Lord Shiva said Brahma would never be worshiped by man in Bhuloka (the human world). Since the cow nodded its head when Brahma lied, only the tail of the cow would be worshiped and not the head or body.

Since Lord Vishnu had spoken the truth only Vishnu and Shiva temples would exist in the human world. Brahma did not realize that becoming the greatest God was a natural & truthful process and hence he was cursed along with the cow that trusted him blindly.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 11 Normalcy Restored

Once upon a time, Lord Shiva was meditating. During such a time he was calmly constructing and destroying different worlds at the same time, so that human minds would seek God and learn the spirit of sacrifice unto God.

Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva, did not understand the significance of her husband's meditation. She playfully went behind him and closed both his eyes with her palms. This act disturbed the concentration of Lord Shiva and he immediately cursed her, that she should be born among men in the human world.

Instantaneously, Parvati Devi was born as the daughter of the king of fishermen along the coastline in India. Parvati grew up into a charming lady. During these approximately twenty five years, Lord Shiva had done great penance and was managing the world that he constantly constructed and destroyed.

The cow (and vehicle) of Lord Shiva named Nandi was seated facing Lord Shiva all the while. Nandi began to feel the absence of Mother Parvati. He did not want the world to go through more destruction and construction. He wanted Lord Shiva to be at peace with his consort Parvati. So he went to the place where Parvati was residing and became a great &

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fierce whale in the sea nearby. The whale Nandi attacked many fishing boats and destroyed them.

This prompted the king of the fishermen, Parvati Devi's father, to pray to Lord Shiva to save the fishing community from destruction by the whale. The prayers of the fishermen and Parvati were so innocent and intense that Lord Shiva came down in the form of a hunter and killed the whale. The whale then took its true form of Nandi and pleaded Lord Shiva in hunter form to marry Parvati Devi in the fisherwoman form. Soon the marriage was held in great pomp and gaiety, and peace was restored to the world for a long period of time.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 12 Markandeya's Lifespan

Once upon a time, there lived a Sage and his wife. The Sage was Mrikandu and his wife was Marudmati. They did not have a son. They had everything in their ashram, but not a son. So they prayed to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was pleased with their prayers and he appeared in front of them.

Mrikandu and his wife asked Lord Shiva for a son. Lord Shiva said he could grant them with either a son who would live for 16 years and have a very good name and reputation, or a son who would have a normal, long lifespan, but be a dunce, and give his parents a bad reputation.

Mrikandu and his wife asked for a son who would live only 16 years with a good reputation. For Mrikandu, reputation and good standing in society was far more important than living in disrepute for long periods.

The lad born to them was named Markandeya and he soon grew into a noble & strong boy. He studied well and pleased one and all with his demeanour and behaviour. His teachers, friends, parents and subjects of the kingdom all simply loved him.

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When he celebrated his 15th birthday, everyone except his mother was happy. His mother was overwhelmed with motherly affection and sad tears. She knew that Markandeya would not live for his next birthday.

When Markandeya came to know the real reason why his mother was shedding tears, he immediately decided to pray intensely to Lord Shiva who was the original donor of his 16 year lifespan.

From that day onwards, Markandeya performed continuous Shiva poojas (prayers). On his 16th birthday, he clung on to the Shiva Linga without letting it go. As we all know, Yama is the Lord of Death. Yamas messengers reached Markandeya to take him to Yama Loka. At the very moment that Yamas messengers arrived, Lord Shivas assistants also arrived at the scene and they waged a fierce war against Yama's army. A noose thrown by Yama fell around both Markandeya and the Shiva Linga. Observing all this chaos, and also Markandeya's sincere devotion, Lord Shiva himself appeared before Markandeya, and chased Yama away.

Soon, the pleased Lord Shiva blessed Markandeya that he could remain like a 16 year old boy always. Markandeya could also choose when he wished to leave the human world (or Bhuloka) and return to the sayujyam (similar thoughts of the Lord) of Shiva Loka.

Even today, children in India are blessed with Markandeya's lifespan which increases with increased devotion and good reputation both at home and at work.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 13 Feeding Dattatreya Bestows Miracles

Once there was a poor Brahmin couple. The husband was Raja Sharma and his wife was Sumathi. They had many children, but only two managed to survive. The surviving children were a blind son and a second son with a limping leg.

It was the family tradition to feed Brahmin visitors during afternoons, before the family themselves consumed any food. On one such day when ancestral feeding was to be done, Sumathi cooked food for Brahmin visitors, but before she could serve them a saint begged for food at their door.

Sumathi fed the saintly beggar to his full satisfaction. The beggar thanked Sumathi by addressing her as amma which means mother. The beggar then assumed his true form of Dattatreya, who is the visible incarnation of Supreme Being Himself.

Dattatreya is known to us in three aspects namely Bramha, Vishnu and Shiva who are Generator, Operator and Destroyer (or GOD) respectively.

Dattatreya wished to grant a boon to Sumathi in return for the food he had eaten and asked her to choose what she wanted. Sumathi said she felt happy when the saint had called her amma and she wanted that to continue for ever.

Sumathi told Raja Sharma about the saint who consumed food before even the Brahmins were served, and before an offering of naivedya was made to Lord Vishnu. Raja Sharma said

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that since the offering was made to Dattatreya, no sin would incur to them for disrespecting Brahmins or Lord Vishnu, as they had only made mid-day offerings to the yagnapati.

Dattatreya granted Sumathi's wish that he should always address her as amma, and over a period of time, Raja Sharma and Sumathi were blessed with a son, who was none other than the saintly beggar who had eaten at their house in his earlier incarnation.

Raja Sharma and Sumathi named the boy as Sripada. He came of age and mastered the Vedas. With his yogic powers he recognized that the time had come for him to leave his parental home and move on. He told his parents that his partner was waiting for him to marry her and that her name was Yogasri. He told his parents that he had leave home and perform his worldly duties.

Sumathi was disappointed since her boon of being amma always would not be fulfilled. Immediately, Sripada touched both his elder brothers. With the touch of Sripada, the eyes of

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the eldest brother were restored and the second elder brother could walk normally too. Both elder brothers addressed Sumathi as amma thereby fulfilling her desire forever.

Quite soon, Sumathi realized her folly in trying to stop Sripada in fulfilling his worldly duties. Dattatreya had to move on and do more good in the world. Sumathi prayed Sripada that she misunderstood him for a son only. Sripada showed his full form to Sumathi and granted Sayujyam (to be able to think the same thoughts as the Lord) to her. Sripada then toured Kasi, Badarinath and Gokarna, where Sankara is revered.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 14 Gokarna Shiva Linga

One day Ravana was strolling by the sea-side in Lanka. He noticed that his mother had made a Shiva Linga out of the beach mud with her hands. She was praying to that Shiva Linga, and the Linga would be washed away by the waves after her prayers. This happened quite often.

Soon, Ravana thought to himself that he was such a great king. So, how could his mother be subjected to such indignity by the mere waves of the ocean? How could the Shiva Linga be washed away daily after his mother's prayer?

He decided to bring the whole mountain of Kailasa to his mother so that she could directly pray to the Shiva Lingas on the mountain or to Lord Shiva himself. So he went to Kailasa and lifted the mountain with his mighty arms and was about to walk to Lanka. This infuriated Lord Shiva who began to press the mountain back into the earth thereby crushing Ravana.

Ravana was a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. So he began to chant om namah shivaya as the mountain began to crush him. Hearing the chants from below the Kailasa mountain, Lord Shiva was moved and he appeared before Ravana.

Ravana sang praises of Lord Shiva and told Him about his mother's prayers and his need for a stable Shiva Linga. Lord Shiva told Ravana that instead of carrying the whole Kailasa Mountain to Lanka, why should Ravana not carry the Atma Linga of Lord Shiva himself.

Saying thus, Lord Shiva brought out his Atma Linga and gave it to Ravana. Happily Ravana began his journey to Lanka along with the Atma Linga of Lord Shiva. Lord Vishnu, Brahma and Narada watched Ravana proceed to Lanka with the Atma Linga and were shocked.

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They wondered how the Bhola (innocent) Shiva could give away his own Atma Linga to another person even if he were a staunch Shiva devotee. Would such an action not put the world in chaos due to the resultant shift in power?

Narada appeared before Ravana and asked him what he was carrying. Ravana said he was carrying Shiva's Atma Linga for his mother's daily prayers. Narada tried to divert the attention of Ravana, but failed. Soon, Brahma, Vishnu and Narada appeared before Vinayaka and asked him for his help.

Vinayaka walked past Ravana that evening in the form of a young Brahmin lad. The Gokarna sea was nearby and Ravana had to do his evening prayers (Sandhya Vandanam). So Ravana asked Vinayaka to hold the Shiva Linga in his hands till he completed his prayers. Vinayaka said that if the Linga got too heavy he would call out Ravana's name three times before putting it on the ground. Ravana agreed and went off to pray.

By the time Ravana returned Vinayaka had put the Linga on the ground after calling out Ravana's name thrice. The Linga had stuck so firmly to the ground that Ravana could not lift it up and had to let it to go.

The angry Ravana hit Vinayaka on the head which can be seen on the statue in the Gokarna temple even today. Ravana returned to Lanka empty-handed and frustrated. The Linga is now called Mahabaleshwar due to its great strength.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 15 Importance of Gokarna

In the Ikshwaku Clan, there was a king by the name of Mitra Saha. He ruled his kingdom as per the laws of Dharma (duty) and Nyaya (fairness) laid down in the Vedas (Hindu spiritual books). One day, he went hunting. During the course of hunting, he killed a Rakshasa.

We all know that a Rakshasa is an uneducated dunce who does not respect authority of a king and is a menace to Saints and Yogis living in the area. King Mitra Saha was therefore unrepentant about the killing of the Rakshasa. However, the dying Rakshasa told his younger brother to avenge his death.

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The younger Rakshasa took a pleasing human form and came to Mitra Saha as a servant. He worked very hard and won the confidence of the King. One day, the great Sage Vasishta was visiting Mitra Saha. That day the young Rakshasa was given the duty of cooking and serving food to Sage Vasishta.

Being a Rakshasa, he added human flesh in the food served to Vasishta. This angered the sage who cursed King Mitra Saha to life as a Brahma Rakshasa. A Bramha Rakshasa is an educated person who becomes equivalent to a fool due to the eclipse of the curse.

King Mitra Saha felt he was no way responsible for the human flesh served in the food and was about to curse Sage Vasishta in return. Fortunately for him, the wife of Mitra Saha reminded him in a timely fashion not to curse his own Guru.

She pleaded with Sage Vasishta to reduce the tenure of Mitra Saha being a Bramha Rakshasa. Vasishta obliged and reduced the tenure of the curse to just 12 years.

During the 12 years, Mitra Saha lived like a wanderer killing and eating animals and humans that came in his way. On one such occasion Mitra Saha, presently the Bramha Rakshasa, killed a Brahmin man and ate him up. He got a new curse from the wife of the Brahmin man. She told him that if he ever went back to his wife and tried to live normally with her again he would die immediately.

Twelve years passed, and finally Mitra Saha went back to his wife, but he hastened to tell her about the curse of the Brahmin woman. The clever wife of Mitra Saha said they should immediately proceed on a Teerth Yatra (holy pilgrimage), visit some good temples, and meet some good sages to get rid of the curse of the Brahmin woman.

Quite soon, Mitra Saha and his wife came across Sage Gautama who told them to go to Gokarna where all their sins would go away, they would be purified and they could return to ruling their kingdom. Sage Gautama told them that in Gokarna the water was pure, and all the stones were Shiva Lingas. If other holy places were synonymous to being like the moon and stars, then Gokarna was like the Sun. To the east of Gokarna were Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Lord Indra, Surya, Chandra and the eight treasures.

To the west is Varuna, the god of rain. Towards the south of Gokarna were Yama, Chitragupta, Agni, eleven rudras and ancestors. To the north were Kubera, Kali, Vayu and the seven mothers. Inside the Gokarna temple, prayers are offered by Gandharvas like Visvavasu, Chitraratha etc. Inside the temple, Kasyapa, Vasishta, Atri, Kanva etc. are all residing there. Ravana too did sincere prayers and took gifts from Lord Shiva here.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 16 The Test Conducted By Veda Dharma

Along the Godavari River, there was the Ashram of Sage Angirasa. Many saints lived there and practiced austerities. Among these saints was the son of the Great Sage Paila whose name was Sage Veda Dharma.

Veda Dharma had many disciples and wished to test who was the best among them. He gathered all his disciples and told them that through prayers he had eliminated most of his accumulated bad karmas and sins. However, a small portion of his sins still remained. He said

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that he had to go through a lot of pain to get liberated from his mortal coils. He told his devotees he could not get liberation through prayer alone.

Veda Dharma said that he intended to go to Kasi to face the pains and get rid of the remaining bad karmas in this life itself. He told his disciples that he would have to live for 21 years as a leper, without legs and eyes. He then asked his disciples who would serve him for these 21 years unstintingly?

All the disciples of Veda Dharma remained silent except Deepak. Deepak told Veda Dharma that he would become the leper without eyes and legs for 21 years instead of his guru. To this, Veda Dharma who became happy with the gesture of Deepak, replied that each one had to face his own bad karma. Deepak could not undergo the pain which was meant for Veda Dharma.

Veda Dharma then went on to tell Deepak that serving a patient as an attendant for 21 years was much tougher than being the patient himself.

Deepak immediately agreed to serve his guru. Together they went to Kasi (called Benaras or Varanasi nowadays). Soon Veda Dharma bathed in Ganga's Mani Karnika and prayed to Lord Vishwanatha. Immediately he turned into a blind, immobile leper.

Deepak built a hut for Veda Dharma to live in. Veda Dharma's body became stinking because of leprosy. Veda Dharma even lost his mental stability and also became cruel and rude towards Deepak.

Instead of taking umbrage of Veda Dharma's actions and situation, Deepak became kinder and more compassionate towards his guru with each passing day. He cleaned the wounds of the guru and took good care of him.

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Deepak looked at Veda Dharma just as one looks at Kasi Vishwanatha Himself, even though he never entered the temple till then. He brought food for the guru daily, and did not become upset when the guru cursed the food as being too much, too less or tasteless.

Soon, Kasi Vishwanatha Himself appeared before Deepak and asked him what boon he wanted. Deepak told Vishwanatha that he could not ask for any boon without consulting his guru. Deepak went back to Veda Dharma and told him about the appearance of Vishwanatha and the grant of a boon.

Immediately, Veda Dharma made mockery of Deepak that he only wanted a boon to escape from his duties towards the blind & immobile leper. Veda Dharma said he wanted no boon from Vishwanatha as he wanted his sufferings to end in this lifetime itself. He did not want to defer the bad karmas to another lifetime.

Deepak informed Vishwanatha about the teaching of his guru. Soon, Kasi Vishvanatha discussed this matter with Lord Vishnu, who appeared before Deepak. Deepak then led Vishnu to the hut where Veda Dharma was residing. There, in front of Veda Dharma, Lord Vishnu told Deepak that his devotion to his guru was great. Thus Lord Vishnu was compelled to give him a boon of Deepak's choice. Deepak asked for better endurance to serve his guru to the fullest.

Lord Vishnu granted the boon to Deepak and said that those who serve their gurus will always be recipients of the boons of the trinity consisting of Bramha, Vishnu and Maheswara. Deepak got the boon of eight sidhis and nine nidhis from Veda Dharma who became completely healthy instantaneously.

Veda Dharma reassured that he took the leper form only to test Deepak and to give a positive message to mankind about the sanctity of the guru-disciple relationship. Veda Dharma also wanted to teach disciples about how to endure hardships and bad times in life.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 17 Humbling Vedic Pandits

Once upon a time, there were two Brahmins. These two Brahmins were arrogant and went around challenging others that they were the masters of the Vedas. As proof of winning the

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challenge, they wanted their opponents to give it in writing that they had lost the argument of the Vedas to them.

They once met the prime disciple of the Sri Guru Narasimha Saraswati and challenged him. The disciple said that to even argue about the Vedas and to give anything in writing that he has lost or won, i.e., to do both tasks, he would have to take the permission of Sri Guru Deva.

And so, the two Brahmins and the disciple went to the Guru Deva. On seeing the Brahmins the Guru Deva realized they were truly not well versed in the four Vedas. He tried to advise them. He told them how the four Vedas had been divided among the sapta rishis (seven great sages) but they did not heed him. Instead they asked the Guru himself to give it in writing that he lost to them in his understanding of the Vedas.

Exactly at that moment, a Chandala (a man eater) was passing by. Sri Guru called him close by and drew seven lines on the ground, and threw sacred vibhuti (ash) powder on the Chandala and asked him to step on each of the seven lines one after the other. Each line signified one janma (life or rebirth) of the Chandala.

When on the first line, the Chandala said he was a Bhil or a forest guard. On the second line, he said he was a hunter. On the third line the Chandala said he was a fisherman. On the fourth line, he said he was a farmer. On the fifth line he said his name was Soma Dutta and he was a Vysya. On the sixth line the Chandala said he was a Kshatriya King called Govardhana Varma. On the seventh line the Chandala said he was Veda Vidhu a teacher who taught the Vedas.

Guru Deva then told the Chandala to challenge and argue with the two Brahmins using his knowledge of his seventh janma as Veda Vidhu. Seeing this fearsome turn of events, the arrogant Brahmins realized they would be outwitted by Veda Vidhu who was a veda teacher in his previous janma. They begged forgiveness from Guru Deva and stopped asking for written documents form others to prove that they were better vedic scholars.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 18 Chandalas Life

One day a Chandala (a man eater) was passing by the residence of Sri Guru. He saw Guru Deva and wanted to know why he had become a Chandala out of all the possible janmas

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(lives or rebirths). Guru Deva reminded him of all his previous seven janmas which were greater and better than his present low level janma.

The reason why he had become like this in this janma was because he had disrespected his own parents in his previous janma.

To destroy the ill-effect of this the Guru told him to bathe in the Sangam waters (where Bhima and Amaraja rivers meet) for one month. The Sri Guru also told him to do the Gayatri Japam (chanting) for 1 lakh (100,000) times and never disrespect his parents again in any janma.

The Gayatri Japam is as follows: Om Bhur Bhuva Suvaha, Tat Savitura Varenyam, Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi, Dheeyo Yonah Prachodayat.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 19 The Healed Leper

Sri Guru Narasimha Saraswati once had a poor disciple who had leprosy. He had no wealth and no health but had great devotion in Sri Guru. He had lost all his knowledge and good looks. No one invited him to their residence for any occasion.

To cure him, Sri Guru took out a dried stick from a bunch of dried tree sticks and gave it to the disciple. He told the disciple to go to Sangam and plant the stick in the soil just as a tree would be planted, water it and pray to it just as he would pray to Sri Guru.

The disciple went to Sangam and found a place where he planted the dried stick in the ground and began watering it. He prayed to it too. The dried stick would not grow. How could it? Everyone at Sangam laughed at him and thought he was making a fool of himself. This was because it was just a dried stick planted in the ground. There was no seed in the ground.

However, the disciple stuck firm. He knew that Sri Gurus words were great and would come true. Sangam was the place where two rivers met - the Bhima and the Amaraja - while the

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Guru with his own knowledge and powers represented the third mythical river. If the three rivers met even leprosy patients could become equivalent to gods.

Finally after a lot of prayer and watering the dried stick planted in the ground, the Guru appeared. He took out a little water from his kamandala (jug) and sprinkled it on the dried stick, and Lo and Behold! The dried stick grew into a great big tree with green branches, leaves, flowers, shade and fruit.

Instantly the disciple was cured of leprosy and he got a fine splendid, shining and attractive body, and soon became rich and a welcome guest in his friends' households.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 20 The Honest Disciple

Sri Guru Narasimha Saraswati often walked past the field of one farmer who was a disciple. The disciple always fell at the feet of the Guru when the Guru walked past the field.

One day the Guru asked him Why do you always fall at my feet? Will you always do what I say? The disciple replied saying Yes, Guruji, I will always do as you say. Then Sri Guru looked at the field of the disciple. The field was growing corn. All the corn was only of the size of baby corn at that time.

The Guru told the disciple to cut the corn immediately. The disciple agreed and left to his house. He told his wife that he was going to cut the corn. She got scared that he was going to cut the corn which was already growing well. She went and told the owner of the field that her husband was going to cut the baby corn.

The field-owner took a written document from the disciple that two yields of full sized corn were due to him from the disciple at the end of the season. After taking this written document, he allowed the disciple to do what he wished with the baby corn and the field.

The disciple then went and cut the baby corn as instructed by the Guru. After a few days, heavy rains began. All those who did not cut their baby corns lost their entire crops. The disciple who cut his crop got ten times his original crop because he cut it on time for the monsoon and rains after taking the advice of the Guru.

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Soon, the disciple gave two portions of the yield to the field-owner and kept two portions for his own sales. He gave away six portions to others who had lost their entire crop. Then one day, he saw the Guru passing by his field. He went to Sri Guru to explain what had happened. As soon as he fell at Sri Guru's feet and before he could speak a word, Sri Guru said he gave him ten portions of corn only because he knew the disciple would distribute six portions to the poor and downtrodden and keep only two portions for himself.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 21 The Persistent Student

There once was a young man who was studying Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in S.V.University in Andhra Pradesh, India. As a part of his course, he had a second language paper. Being from a rural background, his chosen second language was General Telugu. In the General Telugu language paper he had to study literature and translation. Being from a good family, he worked hard for the examination. He studied Telugu literature and translation day and night.

On the day of the examination, he was ready to face the General Telugu paper. In the examination hall, he found that along with all his classmates, he was seated with Special Telugu students who were about to take the Special Telugu examination.

Soon, the question paper arrived and it so happened that due to oversight even the B.A. students were given the Special Telugu question paper instead of the General Telugu question paper.

The B.A. students protested to the Hall Supervisor who then sent a request to the Examination supervisor. In the meanwhile, the Hall Supervisor asked the General Telugu students to attempt whatever questions they knew in the Special Telugu question paper.

The young man did not know anything in the literature section in the Special Telugu question paper but he could understand the translation section entirely. The story of Devadas written by Sarath Chandra was given in English. In addition to translating the story, the question required students to critically examine the roles played by each of the characters in the story.

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After one and half hours, the university sent a reply that only translation in the special Telugu paper would carry the entire 100 marks for the general Telugu students.

All the general Telugu students began leaving the hall in one and half hours or one hour and forty five minutes in a disgruntled fashion, after making half-hearted attempts at translating the Devadas story.

However, the young man continued reading the English sentences in the story and kept looking for better Telugu words and sentences to translate for the whole three hours of the examination. He also critically analysed the roles played by the hero and the heroine in the story, and even criticized the weakness of character of the hero in good Telugu words.

When the results were declared, they were declared only on the basis of the translation section in the Special Telugu question paper and the young man was the only one who got the first class among all his B.A. Classmates. All the others were awarded second class.

This success was simply because he kept on looking persistently for slightly better words and better translation for the whole three hours and kept on concentrating on what he could do better in the critical analysis section of the Special Telugu question paper.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 22 Test of Attitude

Once upon a time there was a village fair. There were a number of open carts laden with saleable goods going on the road to attend the village fair. The open carts were drawn by bullocks and had men sitting on them guiding the bullocks in the right direction.

All of a sudden there was a heavy downpour of rain. There was heavy thunder too accompanying the rain. The first open cart had a whole load of salt in it. The salt melted in the heavy rain. The whole load was wasted away. The man in the front of the cart began to cry. He had lost his cart load of wares which he wanted to sell at the village fair. It was no surprise that he was crying.

The second open cart had a whole load of gram (moong dal and toor dal) in it. With the heavy rain pouring on the gram, the gram got soaked and bloated as if it had already been cooked. The man in front of this cart also began to cry quite loudly. His cart load of wares also would not be saleable because the gram looked and felt as if it was pre-cooked.

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The third open cart had a whole load of plantain leaves and betel leaves in it. With the heavy rain beating on the leaves, they only looked fresher and more saleable. But, the man in front saw his companions crying and began crying more loudly than them lest he show them the utter joy inside him. He beat his chest and began crying aloud and inconsolably.

The moral of the story is to beware the wrong attitude of some people who show they are suffering when in reality they are in great pleasure. It is better their wrong signals are never acknowledged by genuine people.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 23 Three Fish

Once upon a time, there was a stream. In that stream, there were three fish. The first fish was named Futuristic. Futuristic always planned for the future. It always thought of what would happen to the stream in 3 months, in 6 months, in 12 months, in 24 months, in 5 years, and so on. It had a scientific approach.

The second fish was named Spontaneous. It had lots of ideas to get out of difficult situations. For example, it knew all the exit routes from the stream, the various ways to dive deep into the water, and it knew the different ways to jump out of danger etc. Spontaneous was also very active and had friends among fellow-fish.

The third fish was called Just Another Fish. Just Another never planned for the future, nor did it know the tricks to get out of difficult situations.

One fine day, Futuristic swam to sea level and checked the mean temperature of the sun. It seemed to Futuristic that it was too hot. Given this kind of temperature, and considering the depth of the stream, the stream would dry up within a month. Saying this aloud to Spontaneous and Just Another, Futuristic said it was leaving the stream and going out to a bigger pond, lake, river or sea. It hoped Spontaneous and Just Another would join, but that did not happen.

Soon, the stream began to dry up. A fisherman came by and caught both Spontaneous and Just Another fish in his net. Being an athletic fish, Spontaneous jumped out of the net before it lost its life and back into the water and swam out into sea. However, Just Another died in the fisherman's net. Just Another was the kind of fish who would perish without a fight when all the others perish. It simply left things to destiny.

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Therefore, it is for us to decide whether we wish to be like Futuristic, Spontaneous or Just Another Fish. Whichever route we choose to take in our lives, we should be rest assured that God is with us, and with faith in Him, we can get a higher rebirth in a prosperous family, as promised in the Bhagavad Gita.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 24 Do Your Duty & Be Quiet

Once upon a time, there was a washer man. He washed the dirty clothes of people in a small town. He owned a donkey and a dog. The donkey's duty was to carry the entire load of dirty laundry of the townsfolk to the river outside the town.

There, on the river bank, the washer man washed the clothes with soap and then dried them. After the clothes dried, partially at least, he would put all the clothes back on the donkey's back and bring them into the city to his home.

Once the clothes were back at the washer man's home the clothes would be hung on ropes to dry further for a day or two before being folded and returned to the owners in the town. The duty of the dog was to take care that the clothes were not robbed by anyone when they were drying either on the river bank or outside the home of the washer man on the clothes lines.

The washer man had the duty of not only feeding himself but also feeding the donkey and the dog. The washer man figured out that he worked hardest among the three because he actually washed each and every cloth with soap and water. So he ate the most.

He then decided that the donkey worked quite hard as he carried loads of clothes back and forth. So he fed the donkey commensurately. The washer man then decided that the dog worked the least as it only had to bark when there was a thief, which was quite rare. So he fed the dog the least food. This irritated the dog which felt it was being underfed.

Soon enough, one night a thief appeared. He was taking away a number of clothes. The dog and the donkey noticed this. The dog made a decision that since it was being underfed it would not bark. The donkey, however, began to bray to alert its master. The thief took the clothes and ran away but the master, whose sound sleep was disturbed by the incessant braying of the donkey, came out and gave a sound trashing to the donkey. The donkey died because of the beating.

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The next morning the washer man realized his mistake. He had not only lost the clothes and the trust of his customers but also the life of his donkey, and was left only with an underfed dog. He realized that he should have fed his dog normally, in which case it would have barked and awoken him to the theft.

Is it not true that a donkey should only do the job of a donkey, while a dog should only do the job of a dog? When roles & responsibilities get interchanged, serious accidents happen in our day-to-day lives too.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 25 Everything Happens for Good

Once upon a time, there lived a King who loved to go hunting. He often went hunting with his Minister.

On one such hunting visit, he had a fierce fight with a lion and lost his little finger of his left hand. He bled profusely and was very bitter about it and remarked sadly about the loss of the little finger to his minister.

The well meaning minister said - O King! Everything happens for the good. The minister meant that the King had not lost his entire life in the fight with the lion, and had only lost his almost useless left finger of his left hand. But the egoistic King took umbrage of the words of the Minister and put him in jail. The King fumed - How dare my Minister say that it is good that my little finger is gone?

The next week the King went for hunting again. This time the king went alone as the Minister was languishing in jail. He went deep into the forests. Nightfall came soon.

Unfortunately for the King, he was held captive by some tribal group. It was the full moon night. It was the custom of the tribal group to give a full human being as sacrifice to the tribal goddess on each such full moon night.

So they took the King to the tribal temple and were about to give him as sacrifice before the goddess. Just moments before they chopped off the head of the King they realized that he was one little finger short of a full human being and so the tribal group let him go free. That was the moment when the King realized the meaning of his minister's words that everything happened for the good.

The King rushed to the palace and immediately gave orders to set the Minister free. He narrated the whole incident and then accepted why the loss of only the little finger and not his whole life was actually good for him.

He then ventured to ask the minister why the jailing of the Minister was good for Minister. The Minister replied that if he had not been jailed the tribal group would have killed him instead since he was a full human being who could have been sacrificed to the tribal goddess, had he accompanied the king as usual on his hunting trip!

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Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 26 Signs of Danger

Once upon a time, there were four little birds living with their mother in a nest on the branch of a big tree. The little birds were just born and could not fly on their own. The mother brought them food grains every evening and fed them. The little birds waited the whole day in the nest for the mother to return in the evening.

One day the mother bird was away when the little birds heard a man standing below the tree branch speak to his brother that the tree should be cut down. As soon as the mother returned in the evening and fed them, the little birds cried aloud and told the mother what happened. The little birds told the mother bird that the very next day the brother of the man would come with some people and cut down the tree.

To this the mother bird replied that nothing would happen, and told the little birds not to worry.

True to the word of the mother bird, nothing happened to the tree the next day. The brother of the man who wanted the tree to be cut did not come with his people and did not cut the tree. So, the little birds rejoiced in the evening when the mother returned to feed them.

For another four days, nobody came to cut the tree and the little birds were not worried as they were getting their food and none had disturbed their residence.

Then again one day, they heard the same man's voice under the branch, but this time he was talking loudly with his son and not with his brother. He was telling his son that his brother had failed him, and that he had not cut down the tree. The man was asking his son to get someone to cut down the tree.

The petrified little birds again cried out to their mother in the evening when she returned that this time the son would get someone to cut down the tree the next day. The mother again heard the story from her baby birds and said nothing would happen. True to her words, nothing happened. The son did not appear with his people nor was the tree cut down the next day. The little birds grew confident that nobody would ever cut down their tree and nobody would destroy their nest.

A week passed. One day the mother returned in the evening as usual. The little birds were neither crying nor petrified as before. They simply informed their mother that the man had

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come again with his son and this time he had scolded his son for not getting the tree cut down and said that he would get it cut down by himself. The little birds hastened to add that they were not worried because it would not happen as it had not happened twice before.

However, the mother cautioned that the real danger was when man decided to take action by himself.

The mother taught her baby birds that when man depends on his brother or his son or other kith and kin, things never happen, but when he decides to do a task by himself, then it is a sign of real danger. Saying so, the mother fed the baby birds and then began moving them one by one to a safer place on that very night itself. True to her word, the tree was felled the next day, and the nest was destroyed.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 27 True Devotion to Abirami

Once upon a time, there lived a great devotee of Goddess Abirami in Tamilnadu. His name was Subhrahmanyam. He was so devoted to Her that he preached about Her to one and all. He gathered groups of people near the Abirami temple, preached about Her, and told them that the Goddess had the power to perform great miracles.

One day he was preaching in the same manner to a group of people. Unknown to him, the King Saraboji of that province was listening to him as one of the members of the group. The king had appeared there dressed as a common man.

At that moment, the devotee said that Goddess Abirami could perform miracles like making a no moon day into a full moon day. Immediately the king stepped forward, came out of his incognito status, and challenged the devotee to prove it on the next no moon day by making it a full moon day. The king said if the devotee failed then he would be beheaded.

The next no moon day came. The devotee offered prayers to Goddess Abirami as usual. Fear gripped the devotee that there would be no full moon and he would get beheaded, but help arrived, especially because the devotee sang 100 songs on Goddess Abirami called the Abirami Anthathi.

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Goddess Abirami is known to have the sun and moon as Her two ear-rings. She is said to have plucked the ear-ring which signifies the moon and thrown it up into the skies in order to save her devotee.

The fully rounded golden ear-ring shone brightly in the sky and was equivalent to the full moon. The king, on seeing the full moon spared the devotee, gave him the title Abirami Pattar, and became a devotee of Goddess Abirami himself.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 28 Ekalavya

During the time that the Pandavas and Kauravas were getting trained by Dronacharya, there was a unique student called Ekalavya. Drona was teaching archery to the Pandavas and Kauravas in a remote place outside Hastinapura. It was the ashram of Drona and it was here that a Nishada lad called Ekalavya was watching the entire proceedings discretely. The Nishada lad wanted to learn archery from Drona. Finally, he summoned the courage to approach Drona for the same.

Drona told the Nishada lad that he taught archery only to the high born and the princes. So, Ekalavya was dejected, but he was determined to learn archery and went back to discretely watching the guru teach Arjuna. After watching the guru teach Arjuna he installed a clay statue of Drona. Then, Ekalavya prayed to the clay statue and practiced, in front of the statue, all the steps that the guru taught Arjuna. In a while, Ekalavya was as good an archer as Arjuna.

Soon, Ekalavya went back to Drona and told him that he had mastered all the steps that he had seen him teach Arjuna. Drona tested Ekalavya and realized that Ekalavya was as good an archer as Arjuna. This presented a problem for Drona.

Dronacharya was preparing Arjuna with the sole purpose of redeeming himself from the humiliation meted out to him by King Drupada. Arjuna alone understood the false egos of kings and how to curtail them correctly. Only Arjuna could handle kings with ease, since he had been bred up in a royal atmosphere. An equally talented Nishada tribal lad would be of no use to Drona. Drona also understood that such a talented Nishada lad could be misused against Arjuna by negative or darker forces. Hence Drona was forced by circumstances to come up with a plan.

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When Ekalavya asked what Drona wanted as guru dakshina (fee to the master), Drona asked for the thumb of Ekalavya's right hand. The thumb of the right hand is a very important and useful finger for archers. Without thinking twice, Ekalavya cut the thumb of his right hand and gave it away to Drona. Drona immediately blessed Ekalavya to be the teacher of all Nishada archers.

The moral of the story is that it is better to get the anugraha (full and complete blessing) of a guru before studying a particular subject, or else we will be unable to utilize the subject we have studied to its full value.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 29 Karna's Benevolence

Karna was known as a great donor. He never thought of the repercussions of his donations. He was always a benevolent giver. The story below proves the point.

Once upon a time, there was a heavy rain. A Brahmin went to the court of Duryodhana. The Brahmin was begging for dry firewood to conduct a yagna (sacrifice). Only dry wood was needed for the sacrifice. All the available wood was wet because of the heavy rain. Duryodhana told the Brahmin he had no wood to spare, and excused himself. The Brahmin decided to ask Karna instead. The Brahmin reached the palace of Karna and asked for dry firewood in order to conduct a sacrifice. Karna knew it was raining heavily outside and all the firewood outside would be wet.

So, Karna immediately pulled down all the wood inside his palace and handed over the same to the Brahmin. All the wooden pillars, the decorative arches, the doors and the window panes were broken down and given to the Brahmin without a further word.

The Brahmin got his dry wood for conducting the sacrifice. The Brahmin became happy and went his way. The Brahmin blessed Karna that his name will be remembered as Daana Karna (Great Donor Karna) as long as the sun and the moon exist.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 30 Krishna & Kuchela (Sudama)

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Kuchela (Sudama) was a classmate of Krishna. Both Krishna and Kuchela had studied together under the tutelage of Sage Saandipani. Krishna became the rich and prosperous King of Dwaraka, while Kuchela being a Brahmin led a life of poverty. Kuchela got married and had many children.

One fine day, the wife of Kuchela asked him to go and see Krishna with the hope of alleviating their poverty. She packed flattened, pounded rice in a small bag as a gift for Krishna from Kuchela.

When Kuchela reached the palace in Dwaraka, Krishna recognized Kuchela immediately and welcomed him inside. Krishna even washed the tired feet of the visitor with water. (This is in sharp contrast to King Drupada who chose to ignore his childhood classmate Dronacharya when the latter visited him in his palace, consequently earning the ire of the Drona).

Krishna then wondered what Kuchela had brought for him. Kuchela offered Krishna the small bag of flattened, pounded rice. Krisha ate a handful of the rice to signify that Kuchela's poverty had ended with that moment; then, Krishna ate a second handful of the rice for the sustained prosperity of Kuchela.

Lord Krishna then enjoyed the rice and exclaimed - 'Aah!' in joy. Krishna was about to eat the third handful of the pounded, flattened rice, which stands for moksha or liberation, when Rukmini, the consort of Krishna alerted and stopped Him.

Exactly at that moment, Kuchela's poor tatched hut was converted into a golden palace and there was food and wealth in plenty in it. Kuchela had not even asked anything from the omniscient, omnipresent Lord but everything had been granted to him. The Lord's understanding was such that He knew what was needed and gave everything unasked! On returning to his home, Kuchela could not even recognize it nor could he recognize his own children and wife who were bedecked in gold, precious jewels and wealth.

The moral of this story is that if we have pure and unsullied devotion to Lord Krishna, and if we offer Him even a leaf, flower or water with pure love in our hearts, then He will take care of us in equivalent proportion to our Bhakti towards Him.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 31 Together we stand, Divided we fall

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Once, a father had four sons. The four sons came of age. They were each in their twenties and ready to take on the world. They were educated, but the problem was that they were not in harmony with each other. Each wanted to go out on his own into the world without caring for the other. So the father decided to teach them a lesson.

One day he tied together four sticks. He summoned his four sons. He gave the four sticks to his elder son and asked him to break the sticks without removing the thread that bound the sticks together. The elder son had the pride that he was physically strongest, but he failed to break the sticks when they were fastened together.

Then, the father gave the same sticks to the second son. The second son had the pride that he was most intelligent. He used all his intelligence but failed to break the four sticks when they were tied together.

The father then passed on the four sticks to his third son who had the pride that he was most creative among the four. He used all his creative skills but failed to break the four sticks that were fastened together.

The fourth son prided himself as being the management expert among the four, but he too failed at breaking the four sticks that were tied together.

Then the father opened the knot that tied the four sticks together and gave it to the four boys. Now the sticks were easy to break since they were only single sticks and did not have the benefit of reinforcement of the other three sticks.

After breaking the sticks, the sons understood the lesson. The elder one spoke up first. He said that he realized that when he and his brothers were together no one could break them, but if he was alone he could be broken. The other sons nodded their understanding that unless they remained together they could be devastated individually.

The father's concern about his son's going away in four different ways had been addressed and the sons had been taught a simple lesson. The father had shown that unless strength, intelligence, creativity and management skills came together nothing could be achieved.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 32 The Curse on Dasaratha

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King Dasaratha, the father of Lord Rama, once went hunting. This incident happened before the birth of Rama. Dasaratha was known for the skill called Shabda Bedhi. This means that he could hear an animal at a distance and shoot an arrow in a particular direction and kill it, without actually seeing it.

During one such hunting incident, Dasaratha heard movements near a stream of water and shot an arrow in the direction of the sound. Unknowingly, the arrow struck a human being called Sravan Kumar, and not an animal. Dasaratha heard the cries of the human being who had been struck and rushed to the place.

Sravan Kumar, just before dying, told Dasaratha that he had elder parents who were both blind. He had been carrying them in baskets and was on a pilgrimage. Now, he could not proceed further. In addition to that, he could not care for his elderly blind parents in their old age. Sravan Kumar asked Dasaratha to take care of his elderly parents. Then, Sravan Kumar breathed his last.

Then Dasaratha visited the elderly parents and informed them that Sravan Kumar had died because of him. Immediately, this upset the parents of Sravan Kumar, and they cursed Dasaratha that he too will suffer from putra soka or sorrow from separation of son in his ripe old age like them.

For a moment, Dasaratha was happy because he did not have a son. For the curse to take effect, a son would have to be born to him. Only later, did the real sorrow dawn on him in his old age when Kaikeyi wished that Bharata should ascend the throne, and Lord Rama should be banished from the kingdom.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 33 A Vile Wife Snubbed

Once upon a time, there lived a poet. He was married and lived with his wife and old parents. His wife was unkind to his old parents, but she never let her husband know that she was unkind to them. How she achieved this and how the poet eventually won over her is the rest of this story.

She asked the potter of the village to make a pot with a partition wall in the center. On one side of the partition she cooked costly and good rice, while on the other side of the partition she cooked broken rice which was not sorted for stones and dirt.

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The clean and costly rice was served to the husband, and the dirty, broken rice was served to the parents of the husband. The wall in the pot was the separator of the good and low quality rice. The husband was unaware of the wall in the pot, and consequently, the two qualities of rice being cooked at the same time in the household. The parents of the husband being elderly and humble did not raise a hue and cry about the poor quality of food being served to them. The health of the elder parents deteriorated slowly but surely.

One fine day, the husband was returning from the king's court. He met the village potter on the way. The potter gave him a pot and asked him to give it to his wife. When the husband looked into the pot he got a shock. He saw a partition wall in the middle of the pot. He questioned the potter why there was a partition wall. The potter said that the partition wall has existed since two or three years in the pots used in the poet's household, and that the matter should be discussed with the poet's wife.

The poet went back home. His wife was away at the river fetching water for the household. He opened the other pot where the rice was cooked. There he saw two qualities of rice. He immediately served the high quality rice to his parents. Then the wife returned. She saw that the husband had seen everything.

She offered to cook fresh food for the husband. The husband told her she had lost her right to cook any more food in the house. The wife apologized profusely, but the matter was referred to the village head (panchayat grama adhikari). The village head decided that since the wife was sorry, the wife had to accept her vile action of feeding her in-laws low quality food for years and also take responsibility for their poor health, in front of the whole village, and never repeat her actions. The village head also told the poet to accept that he was negligent not to keep a check on a daily basis as to what food his parents were eating. This is how the matter was solved at the Panchayat level.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 34 Sayandeva

There once was a devotee of Sri Guru Narasimha Saraswati called Sayandeva. Sayandeva used to work for a certain vile Christian King. The King had a practice of killing one Brahmin every year.

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Sayandeva was a Brahmin and he began to feel that it was his turn to be killed that year. So, Sayandeva went to Sri Guru for his help. He told Sri Guru that for the sake of feeding himself, he worked for the King, or else he would not go to him. He told Sri Guru that it would be his turn to be killed by the King that year.

To this, Sri Guru told him not to worry. He would not be killed by the King, since he had faith in Sri Guru. Sri Guru went on to tell Sayandeva that he would only receive gifts from the King. This made the poor Brahmin Sayandeva happy and he returned to the King for work.

That night instead of being killed, Sayandeva slept well. At the same time the King had a night of bad dreams. He dreamt that he was being chopped to pieces by a Brahmin. He dreamt that he was in great pain and suffering. Suddenly, the King realized the pain he was causing to the poor Brahmins whom he had been killing, since he was feeling pain in his dream.

In the morning, the King called Sayandeva and told him that he had not called him to come back and work for him like a slave. Instead, he gave Sayandeva many gifts and treated him well. After taking the gifts, Sayandeva took leave of the King and returned to Sri Guru.

Sayandeva gladly told Sri Guru that his life had been spared by the King. Sri Guru gladly accepted Sayandeva in the ashram as a disciple, where he lived happily ever after.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 35 Karna A Man of his Word

Just before the Mahabharata war began, Kunti Devi, the mother of the Pandavas met Karna. Karna was also the son of Kunti Devi, but due to various circumstances, she had to give him up. Now, Karna was a grown man and was fighting the war against the Pandavas. In fact, Karna was the best friend of Duryodhana who was the head of the Kauravas. In this Kaurava Pandava war, Kunti was sure that some of her five Pandava sons would be killed by Karna. This was the reason that Kunti Devi went to meet Karna.

In the meeting Kunti Devi requested Karna not to kill any of her five Pandava sons, who were also Karnas younger brothers. However, Karna replied to her that he had given his word to his best friend Duryodhana that he would kill the supreme Pandava archer Arjuna. Karna

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repeated this promise to his mother Kunti and told her that he would spare the lives of the remaining four Pandavas Dharmaraja (Yudhishtra), Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva, but he could not spare Arjuna from certain death. Karna was indebted to Duryodhana because from being just the son of a charioteer, Karna had been elevated by Duryodhana to the status of Anga Raja (King of the Anga Kingdom). Karna, therefore, reasoned to his mother that she would anyway have five sons after the war, including him. Either Arjuna or he would be alive after the war.

Soon the war began. During the war, many instances occurred where Karna could have killed Dharmaraja, Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva. But Karna kept up his word to his mother and spared them their lives on all occassions. At the same time, Karna also kept up his word to his best friend, Duryodhana, and engaged only Arjuna in many battles. Ultimately, it was Arjuna who killed Karna and not the other way around, but Karna goes down in history as a man who kept up his word to both his mother and his best friend.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 36 Dealing with the Lazy Donkey

Once upon a time, there was a man who sold salt. To sell the salt, he had to fill it in cloth bags, mount the bags on a donkey, cross a stream of water along with the donkey, reach a market on the other side of the stream, and then sell the salt in the market.

One day the salt trader was already late to the market, so he pestered his donkey to go faster through the stream. The donkey, while moving faster through the water slipped, and therefore sat in the stream for a few seconds due to the load of salt on its back.

Within this time, an amount of salt melted away into the stream and the load on the donkey's back was lighter when it got up again. Hence the donkey was able to travel faster through the stream and reach the market faster. However, the salt trader made losses that day because he had lesser salt to sell.

Now the donkey had become clever. It realized that if it sat in the water for a few seconds daily while crossing the stream, a bit of the salt would melt, and the load on its back would decrease giving it some relief. For one week after the first incident, the donkey sat in the water everyday for a few seconds and purposefully let the salt melt so that the load on its

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back was lighter and it could move faster. This was good for the donkey, but bad for the salt trader. He was making losses everyday for a whole week as he had lesser salt to sell.

The salt trader realized that he was losing salt and money because the donkey was sitting in the water and letting the salt to melt away. But, he did not have a solution to the problem. Luckily, the salt trader had a friend. The friend was a washer man. The washer man advised the salt trader to make small piles of cloth similar to the salt piles and load the donkey for three days. The washer man told the salt trader not to carry or sell salt for the next three days. As advised, the salt trader carried only many small piles of cloth in the salt bag loaded on the donkey.

On the first day, the donkey sat in the water. The cloth in the salt bag got soaked and made the bag heavier. The donkey felt the extra weight and had to struggle to get past the stream. The same thing happened on the second day. From the third day, the donkey stopped sitting in the water fearing that it would have to carry heavier loads if it sat in the water. From the fourth day onwards, the salt trader carried his regular loads of salt. The donkey never sat in the stream thereafter and the trader never made losses any longer.

The moral of the story is that there are clever, systemic ways to come out of problems created by lazy people. All problems do not have to be approached through violence. Violence is the last and least effective solution always. In the above story, the salt trader never beat his donkey, but solved his problem. There is always a way to tactfully get things done, which we have to figure out for ourselves in various situations.

Indian Moral Stories for Children and Youth 37 The Class Leader

There once was a school boy who did well in class. He was a student of Standard V. Since he did well in class, the Class Teacher nominated him as the Class Leader. On any day at school, students were expected to attend 8 periods, each lasting 40 minutes. The Class Leader's job was to ensure that all the students in the class kept silent during the time gap that existed between a teacher who left and the next teacher who walked into the class for the next period.

The Class Teacher also instructed the Class Leader that if a teacher did not come within 15 minutes of the start of his or her period, then the Class Leader could let the students go out of

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the class room, since they would become too noisy in class and disturb other classes in the building.

One day, the last two periods were to be conducted by the Class Teacher himself. However, due to some personal problems, he did not turn up for the first 15 minutes of the 7th period. The students became noisy and demanded to go out. Hence, the Class Leader took a decision to send the students out of the class. Most students went to play in the school field. Some students who lived close-by even went home, since it was the last two periods that had been cancelled.

The Class Teacher came to class after 20 minutes, but much to his dismay all the students had left. The School Principal came to know that the class had been disbanded. The School Principal did not mind the students going to play within the school compound, when the teacher was not available but he was strictly against them going home early, all by themselves, since they could be involved in road traffic accidents or other such disasters. The Principal got to know that some students reached home one hour and twenty minutes earlier than schedule. This also raised questions in parents minds about the schools reputation, which the Principal disliked.

The Class