The fourth wife of Indra, the ruler of the Heaven, was reincarnated as the Princess of the Asuras. Her good deeds let her change her fate and attain glory. After following the five moral precepts Panch Shila, she was reborn as a beautiful princess amongst the otherwise ugly Asuras. The king was happy with the […]
Nagarjuna went to Benaras and started studying under a Bodhisattva. However, he never listened to the Bodhisattva’s teachings and fought with other students. Soon, the students started quitting and the Bodhisattva lost his income. He asked Nagarjuna to leave Benaras. Next day, Nagarjuna went to a nearby village. He married a woman and had two
Once, a pigeon and a crow lived in a birdhouse next to a rich man’s house. One day, the crow said to the pigeon, “I can smell the delicious food being cooked in the kitchen. Help me and we shall get the food.” The pigeon said, “No friend, work hard to find food.” The crow
Once, the King of Kosala attacked the King of Benaras. Sadly, he killed the King of Benaras and ruled his palace and kingdom. Meanwhile, the queen and her son escaped from the palace. In the countryside, the prince raised a huge army and surrounded the city. He then told the king to surrender the kingdom.
The wives of King Sakka were reincarnated and had their own mansions, gardens and ponds in heaven. However, his youngest wife, who had never done any good in her lifetime, was reborn as a simple forest crane. King Sakka decided to visit the forest crane. He told the crane to follow Pancha shila (five moral
Once, a monk lived in a town monastery. The king looked after him well. One day, a senior monk came to the town. The king invited him to stay at the monastery. The town monk became jealous of the senior monk. The next day, the town monk went to the king’s palace without the senior
Once, there lived a rich man in Benaras; he was very generous. He built dining halls to distribute free food to the poor. In a forest near Benaras lived a Silent Buddha, who was meditating. After meditating for almost seven days and nights, the Silent Buddha was dying of starvation. So, he went to the
Once, an old man had a young son. The old man feared that once he died, his relatives would take away his wealth from his son. So, he buried his wealth in the forest with the help of his loyal servant Nanda, and requested, “Nanda, keep it a secret till my son has grown up.”
Chandaka, a young monk, and his brother were the humble disciples of Sakyamuni Buddha. While his brother could easily memorise verses, Chandaka could hardly remember his guru’s teachings. Seeing Chandaka’s futile attempts at memorizing the verses, his brother once advised him to leave the monastery and return home. Chandaka took his advice and left the
Once, a quail, a monkey and an elephant lived near a banyan tree. The three would often have arguments. One day, the three friends decided that every time they argued they would listen to the oldest person among them. However, none of them knew one another’s age. The elephant said, “When I was a baby,
Once, a giant tree grew in the forest. Many birds lived on this tree. Their leader was a wise bird. One day, the leader saw two branches rubbing against each other and then some smoke rising. The wise leader called a meeting of all the birds. There, he told them that the tree they were
Once, the Bodhisattva was born as a baby quail. His parents would bring him food, feed him and look after him. One day, a fire broke out in the forest. All the birds flew away, but the baby quail’s parents stayed with the baby, as he could not walk or fly yet. Finally, the fire
There was a monk who understood the language of all animals. One day, he was walking by the riverbank. Just then, he saw a fisherman cast a big net into the river. Peering into the water, the monk saw a big fish following its pretty wife. The husband was so lost in its beauty that
Once, the Bodhisattva was born as a scholar and mastered all the scriptures. He became a monk and had 500 disciples. One day, while the Bodhisattva was passing through the forest with his disciple Chandaka, he saw a hungry tigress about to eat her own cubs. Feeling pity for the cubs, the Bodhisattva decided to
A wicked hermit was living as a guest in a rich man’s house. One day, the rich man had to hide a box of gold coins. Thinking that the hermit had no interest in wealth and worldly pleasures, he buried the gold coins in the hermit’s room. But when the rich man left, the hermit