King Dasharatha in consultation with the Royal Priest Vasishtha sent them to his ashrama (hermitage). During those days, the centre of learning was Gurukul alone. They soon mastered the scriptures and state-craft.Sage Vasishtha was pure-hearted. Once, when Sage Vishwamitra was the king, he at the head of his army reached the hermitage of Sage Vasishtha […]
Birth of Rama One of the two chief dynasties of the Kshatriyas was the Solar Dynasty. The Solar Dynasty (Surya Vansha) worshipped the Sun-god tracing their ancestry to the son of the Sun-god, Shraddhadev (Vaivasvata Manu). Many great kings belonged to this dynasty, like Harishchandra, Sagar, Bhagirath, Dileep, Raghu, and the suchlike. King Raghu was
Long ago, Persia was a very peaceful and prosperous kingdom but it was ruled by a very restless and ambitious King named Kaiqus. One day, he heard that the neighbouring kingdom of Mazendaran was beautiful, with mountains, rivers, lush greenery, flowers and birds, and lovely maidens. But it was also inhabited by demons, under the
Sage Valmiki is the First Poet. According to the Puranas, Pracheta was his father and Charshani his mother. Varuna is also known by the name of Pracheta. That is why Sage Valmiki is also called Prachetas. He was possessed of immense knowledge. Once, while the Sage was in deep meditation, an ant-hill covered his whole
Outside the shop of a tailor in Kashgar sat a little hunchback, singing and playing a tambourine. The tailor took him home so that his beloved wife, too, might enjoy the music. They invited the little hunchback to share their dinner; his wife served fish. Unluckily, a fishbone stuck in the hunchback’s throat and he
In a farm, a strange man was born with horns and a tail like a cow. He was called Masang. He found a very dark-skinned friend and servant named Iddar, son of the forest. Further on, they were joined by a man with green skin, son of grass, and another with white skin, son of
Two evil, monstrous frogs lived in a marsh and blocked the flow of water into the fields of the kingdom. They would only allow the water to flow if a human being was sacrificed to them every year. Now, the King’s son was to be sacrificed but his best friend offered himself to the frogs.
In a kingdom, there lived six friends: a rich man, a mathematician, a mechanic, a smith, a physician and a painter. They set off to find their fortunes. Reaching a land full of rivers, they each planted a tree. “We will follow one river each to its source and return here. If anyone’s tree is
The story-teller told the ruler the stories of Sidi Kur, the Bakshi and the Younger Chan, the peaceful wanderer. The two Chan brothers lived not far from the house of seven magicians in the far-off land of India. The elder brother became the magicians’ apprentice for seven years, but they wouldn’t teach the secret of
Sindbad was an old man in the Middle East when he narrated his adventures to the visitors to his house. He told them how he wasted the great deal of wealth that he inherited and became so poor that he finally set sail on a merchant ship going to the East Indies through the Persian
Nausherwan had been one of the wisest and most famous Kings of Persia. His tomb was a place of pilgrimage because it gave the pilgrim great lessons in how to live a good and just life. Caliph Harun-al-Rashid went there on a pilgrimage with five of his ministers. He touched the golden curtain at the
One of Abdullah’s camels was lost. He set off to look for it across the desert. A long, tiring ride over the sands brought him to a strange sight. High walls rose around a city and rooftops and pavilions could be seen over them. Hoping to find someone in the city surrounded with fort-like walls,
Once upon a time in Persia, there lived a merchant who suffered huge business losses and became extremely poor. One day, on their way to the market, the merchant and his son saw a man selling the camel. The merchant’s son went up to the camel dealer and asked the price of the camel. The
Belinda looked after a flock of geese for Mrs Bundy, the old woman who lived in a cottage at the edge of a dense forest.One day, Prince William and his attendants, going to hunt, saw the pretty girl and wondered who she was. He stopped for a drink of water. The Prince soon began to
Loretta had spent the holidays with her school friend, Fanny. Fanny had no parents and lived on a farm with her Aunt Winnie and Uncle Hugh. They had a son, Tom, who had finished school and helped his father on the farm.Loretta was the King’s daughter and she had grown up in the luxury of