The Reformed Dacoit

Betal narrated another story while Vikram was carrying him.

Once, there lived a gang of robbers in a forest. Their leader was http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...med_robber.jpgUgrasen, who was very cruel. They used to loot the nearby villages. After some years, Ugrasen's wife gave birth to a baby boy. Ugrasen loved him very much and played with him all the time. Slowly his heart began to soften. One night, he dreamt that the King's soldiers had killed him and his son was orphaned. When he woke up he was reformed and decided to surrender. The other dacoits did not like this idea and threatened to kill his wife and son. Ugrasen fled with his wife and son and went to the king. The king forgave him.

Betal asked Vikram, "Was the king right in forgiving Ugrasen?" Vikram replied, "Yes, Ugrasen had surrendered on his own. This shows that he was reformed." Betal heard this and flew away since once again, Vikram had spoken aloud.

The Reformation of Duraasadana

When Shiva and Parvati killed Bhasmasura the demon, his son Duraasadana was very angry. He performed a long tapasya and obtained the boon of immortality from Shiva. Scared by this, all the http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...uraasadana.jpggods left heaven and hid in Kasi. Duraasadana followed them to Kashi and so they went to Kedarnath. There, the gods prayed to Parvati. An avatar of Ganesha, Vakratunda, with five faces and ten hands, came out of Parvati's face. She gave him a lion to ride. Vakratunda went and fought with Duraasadana. He assumed his huge form (viswaroop) and placed his foot on Duraasadana's head to remove all his evil thoughts. Duraasadana was reformed and Vakratunda gave him the duty of removing evil, henceforth.

The Proud Gods

The demons once defeated the gods and started ruling the world. They caused a lot of destruction. The gods went to the all http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...proud_gods.jpgpowerful Brahma, the creator of the universe. Brahma blessed them and asked them to fight the demons again. This time the gods won and got their kingdom back.

The gods started celebrating their victory and forgot their duties. They became very proud forgetting that they had won because of Brahma's blessings. Brahma decided to teach them a lesson and sent a Yaksa (demi-god) to their kingdom .

When Indra, the king of gods, saw the Yaksha, he sent Agni, The god of fire, to him. Agni said, "I am the powerful god who can burn anything, " The Yaksha gave him a blade of grass and asked him, "Can you burn this?" Agni laughed and said, "This is such a small thing, I can burn it in a second ." Agni tried to burn the blade but failed. Ashamed, Agni returned.

Then Indra sent Pawan, the god of wind. Pawn told him that he was a powerful god who could blow away anything. The Yaksha gave him the same blade of grass and asked him, Can you blow this away?" He placed the blade on his palm and blew at it, but couldn't even move it. he also returned in shame.

Indra then went himself. The Yaksha said, "You gods have become so proud that you do not recognise that I am Brahma's messenger. I have come to make you realise that it is the most powerful and who made you win. Now leave your pride and fulfill your duties."

The Prophecy

As Vikram lifted Betal on his shoulders once again. Betal told Vikram another story.

Once, there lived a woodcutter who was very hardworking but poor. http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...woodcutter.jpgHe asked a sage, "Will I ever become rich?" The sage read his palm and said, "No matter how hard you work, you will never become rich. If you become rich, you will die." The woodcutter was disheartened, but he continued to work hard. One day, he found a pot of gold in the forest. He remembered the sage's prophecy but thought , "One day everyone has to die, and it is no use leaving this pot here. "He took the gold with him and used it to help the villagers. He did not die early and lived a long life. Betal asked Vikram, "Was the Sage's prophecy wrong?" Vikram replied ,"No Since the woodcutter did not spend the gold on himself, he was not actually rich and therefore he did not die." Betal said, "Very good, but I have to go."

The Pandavas Get Half the Kingdom

After the marriage of the Pandavas, Vidura went to Pancala and told them, Bhisma, Drona, King Dhritarashtra and Queen Gandhari, all went you to return to Hastinapur." But the Pandavas http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...lf_kingdom.jpgwere not sure if they would be safe near Duryodhana. Krishna advised Vidura to divide Hastinapur between the Kauravas and Pandavas to ensure peace. The Pandavas went to Hastinapur and were given a warm welcome. Dhritarashtra told Yudhisthira, "The throne of Hastinapur belongs to you. But when your father Pandu died, you were very young so I was made king. Due to this, Duryodhana wants to be king. So everybody has decided to give you half the kingdom." Yudhisthira agreed and became the ruler of half the kingdom with its capital in Indraprastha.

The Pandavas

The Pandavas were the princes of Hastinapur. The reason they were so called was because they were the sons of Pandu, the king of Hastinapur. The first three Pandavas - Yudhishtira, Bhima, http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...e_pandavas.jpgand Arjuna - were the sons of Pandu's first wife, Kunti, and the youngest Pandavas- Nakula and Sahadeva - were the sons of Madri, Pandu's second wife. King Pandu and Madri had died, so Kunti brought them up. All the five brothers had great qualities. They were brave and intelligent. They had learnt many arts and mastered weaponry. Yudhisthira, the eldest, was known for his truthfulness and fond of eating. Arjuna was a great archer and was a favourite with his elders. There was a lot of love and brotherhood among them.

The Obidient Student

Eklavya was a tribal boy who wanted to learn to be a good archer. Acharya Drona, the royal teacher refused to teach him. Eklavya http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...nt_student.jpgmade a clay statue of Drona. Every day he practiced in front of the statue and soon became a good archer.

One day, when Eklavya was practicing, a dog started barking. He shot many arrows in its mouth. But he did it in such a manner that not a drop of blood came out. Drone, who was nearby, saw this and was impressed. He was sure that only a great archer could do that. He started searching for the archer and found Eklavya practicing nearby.

Drone went up to him and asked him, "Who is your teacher?" Eklavya answered "You are my teacher," and showed him the statue. Drone said , "Give me your right thumb as my fees." Eklavya knew that without his right thumb he could not shoot, but he cut off his right thumb and gave it to his teacher.

The Noble Robber

Betal narrated another story while Vikram was carrying him. Anand was a minister in the king's court. He loved a girl called Anju. But when he came to know that Anju's marriage had already been arranged with someone else, he was disappointed and decided never to marry.

When Anju came to know about Anand's pledge, she wrote him a lhttp://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa.../noble_man.jpgetter saying that she would come to meet him after her wedding. On her wedding night, she told her husband about Anand and went to his house. On the way, a robber tried to take her jewels away. She told him that she would return after a while and he could take her jewellery then. The robber let her go.

When Anand saw Anju he thought that if he accepted another man's wife, the king would punish him. So he asked her to return to her husband.

Anju decided to go back to her husband. on the way, She met the robber and told him her story. She even offered her jewels. The robber was good at heart. he did not accept the jewels and escorted Anju to her house. When Anju went back to her husband , he refused to accept her. With nowhere to go, Anju killed herself.

Betal asked Vikram, "Who was the only noble man among the three?" Vikram replied, "The robber was the only noble man because he helped a girl in trouble at a time when he could have easily robbed her." Betal heard this and flew away since Vikram had spoken aloud.

The Mountain Bows

There were two mountains, Vindhya and Meru. The sun used to go around Meru but not Vindhya. This made Vindhya jealous. He http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...ntain_bows.jpgasked the sun to encircle him but was refused. In anger, Vindhya grew and touched the sky. He blocked the sun. The earth was plunged in darkness. Without sunlight, creatures started to die. The gods went to Sage Agastya for help. Agastya promised to help. Vindhya knew he could not defeat Agastya and so he decided to please him, he bowed his head in respect and invited him to stay. Agastya said, "I have to go for some important work. Stay in this position till I return." Vindhya realised his mistake, but he could not disobey a sage and stayed bowed. Agastya never returned. Now the sun's rays reached the earth and all was well again.

The Mischief of Lord Mars

A couple was once travelling through a forest. When Mars saw the beautiful wife he felt like getting up to some mischief. He took the form of the husband and went to the couple. He asked the wife http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa..._lord_mars.jpgto go with him. The Husband became angry and they started fighting. Some villagers came to see what was going on, but nobody could tell who the real husband was.

One of the villagers realised that some heavenly spirit had taken the form of the husband. He brought an earthen pot with a spout and said, "Whoever can enter this pot through this spout is the real husband." At this the real husband said that it was an unfair test, he could never enter the pot. But Mars knew how to change the shape of his body small and entered the pot through the spout. The villager closed the pot and Mars was trapped in it and the real husband took his wife with him.