An ascetic because of his good deeds dwelled in heaven. But despite living in heaven and enjoying the bliss, he loved to erase the sufferings of the earthly people. One day, while he was looking at the earth, he saw a king who held the belief that there was no afterlife. With this belief in […]
A mother placed her baby on a mat and bathed in the river. A demon wanted to eat the baby. He disguised himself as a woman and asked the mother, “Can I take your baby for a stroll?” The mother agreed. But after some time, the mother saw the woman running. She ran after the
Once, there was a king and a queen. One day, they yet saw a beggar woman at the palace gates. Though the beggar woman was in a poor state yet she had a contented smile on her face. The queen noticed this smile and was attracted to the beggar woman. She took some food for
Once, a river was full of many sea creatures. Sometimes, the river used to be dry and sometimes the river used to be full of water. Now, the sea creatures knew by instinct when there would be drought and when there would be rainfall. Now, there came a time when there was going to be
Once, a queen was childless. She prayed for a child and her wish got fulfilled. Once, the prince heard his father giving a harsh punishment to some men. The prince was disturbed, as he did not want to punish anyone. He decided never to become a king. But, he needed a way to avoid being
A dog was very loyal to his master. His master was also very happy with him. But, his master noticed that his dog went away somewhere in the night and came back in the morning all wet. The master decided to follow his dog one night. He discovered that his dog swam across a river
Once, a king was out in his chariot. His chariot was drawn by two white horses with fine leather straps. When he came back, nobody bothered to unfasten the fine leather straps. The king’s royal dogs chewed on the leather straps. The next day, a servant told the king that some stray dogs had chewed
Long ago, a learned Brahmin had a son. The Brahmin sent his son to a hermitage for education. One day, the teacher decided to test the students. He told them, “I am very poor. I need money. The best way to get money is to steal it.” All the students, except the Brahmin’s son, started
An ascetic was a royal guest of a king. He stayed in the royal park and spent time in meditation. Now the king had a son. The son was ill-tempered. The king had called many teachers to reform his son but they had all given up. The king requested the ascetic to help him. One
Once, there were eight siblings. The eldest, a boy, mastered all the religious books and teachings. He became very famous for his profound knowledge. He renounced the world and became an ascetic. His siblings followed his footsteps. They started dwelling in a forest. The ascetics used to eat lotus stalks for food. They became renowned
There were two kings. One was very kind and the other was very cruel. The kind king’s kingdom flourished partly due to his kindness and partly due to the presence of a Naga serpent. The cruel king’s kingdom did not prosper at all. As a result, people starting leaving their kingdom and went to the
Once, a wicked prince was swept away by a storm. A rat, a snake and a parrot were also swept away. They found a log and climbed on it. A sage saw that and saved them. He comforted the the rat, the parrot and the snake first and then came to the prince. The prince
A kingdom was ruled by a very just and kind king. One day, the king went around his kingdom in disguise to see how the people were faring under his rule. While moving around, he came to a hermitage. An ascetic saw him and offered him some figs. The king found the figs very sweet
A king had no son though he had sixteen thousand queens. Seeing his pain, one of the queens performed severe penances. God granted her two sons – one wise but ugly and the other foolish but handsome. When the ugly prince came of age, his parents thought of marrying him off. They found a very
A rich nobleman of Rome was curious about Russia and set off on his horse one winter to explore the place. He had heard a lot about the heavy snow and frost that occurred in winter in the north of Europe, but was quite sure that he could manage to reach there without any trouble.