Indra's Fight with Vritra

One of Indra's famous battles was with the demon Vritra.
Vritra took the form of a fearful monster and stole all the water in the world. As the water disappeared, life on earth itself became threatened, but only Indra could save the world from this disaster.
Upon hearing what had happened, Indra pledged his help and went charging like thunder towards Vritra's fortress. As the building came crashing down, Indra saw Vritra standing in a corner. They clashed, and after a long drawn out battle, Indra killed him. He tore open the demon's body from which once again, all the water flowed out.
As the water flowed out, Indra was hailed as the king of the world.

Indra's Pride

Indra was once sitting in his court with the other gods, when Virihaspati, his guru, appeared. All the gods stood up to pay http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa..._and_indra.jpgrespect to Vrihaspati but proud Indra remained seated. Vriuhaspati felt insulted and left. Realising his mistake, Indra went to Vrihaspati's ashram to apologise. Vrihaspati saw him coming but he was too angry to meet him and so he disappeared. Disappointed , Indra returned. Vrishavarsha, a demon came to know about the conflict between Indra and his guru. To take advantage of this situation, he attacked heaven. Without his guru's blessings, Indra could not defend his kingdom and lost it to Vrishavarsha. Indra went to Brahma for help. Brahma told him to make Sage Vishwaroopa to become his guru. Vishwaroopa agreed and with his blessings, Indra won his kingdom back.

Jagganath

At the end of Dwapar Yuga, Krishna realised that his end was near. He went to a forest and started meditating. When a hunterhttp://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...s/jaganath.jpgsaw Krishna 's foot from behind some bushes, he thought that it was a deer and shot a poisonous arrow at it. Krishna died and was cremated.
Vishnu appeared in the dream of King Indradyumna and asked him to build a temple for Krishna's ashes. When he woke up, Indradyumna requested the divine artisan Vishvakarma to create an idol for the temple. Vishvakarma agreed on the condition that while he made the idol no one should disturb him. He locked himself up in a room and started work. After many days, when Vishvakarma did not come out, Indradyumna got impatient and broke down the door. Vishvakarma got angry and disappeared leaving the half finished idol of Jagganath behind him. Indradyumna had a beautiful temple built in Puri where the incomplete idol was placed.

Jaidratha's Punishment

The Pandava faced many problems during their exile. One day, the Pandavas had gone to look for food and Draupadi was alone in their hut, Jaidratha was fascinated by Draupadi's beauty. He approached her and introduced himself . Draupadi remembered that the king of Sindhudesha was the husband of Dushshala, Duryodhana's sister . So she invited Jaidratha into the hut because he was a relative of the Pandavas. Jaidratha said, "You are so beautiful. Why are you undergoing the hardships of exile with the Pandavas ? Come with me, I will make you my queen." Draupadi felt very insulted when she heard this. She said , "How dare you say that to me. The Pandavas will kill you. " Jaidratha said, "I am not afraid of them. They are no more than beggars now. " He forced Draupadi into his chariot and took her away.
Soon the Pandavas returned to their hut and found Draupadi missing. They were told everything. Bhima was very angry; once again the honour of the Pandavas was at stake. He took his chariot and followed Jaidratha. He captured Jaidratha and dragged him by his hair to Yudhisthira.
Draupadi was crying bitterly. Seeing this, Bhima asked his elder brother's permission to kill Jaidratha. Yudhisthira said "Jaidratha is our sister's husband. If we kill him, our sister would be widowed. Let us punish him suitably but spare his life." Draupadi said, "By insulting me, he has dishonoured you all . Shave his head but leave five tufts of hair onit. This will be a fitting insult for dishonouring the Pandavas."

Jaidratha's Boons

Jaidratha was humiliated by the way the Pandavas punished him. He could not go back to his kingdom with his head shaven, so he stayed back in the forest. He performed tapasya. Pleased with his devotion, Shiva appeared and granted him a boon. Jaidratha asked that he could defeat the Pandavas. Shiva said, It is not possible. But in a battle you will be able to stop all the Pandavas except Arjuna, for a day.

Jatayu

On their way to Panchavati, Rama, Laxmana, and Sita had seen a huge vulture swooping down towards them. Rama had confronted him and asked who he was. The bird saluted them and said he was Jatayu, King Dasaratha's friend. He had protected him during the battle with Samparasura. Rama had welcomed his
father's saviour.
Then jatayu had narrated this story. He said that he was the http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...ges/jatayu.jpggrandson of sage Kashyap and his father Arun was the charioteer of the sun god Surya. He had also told them how his elder brother Sapati had burnt his wings while trying to save him from soaring towards the sun. He had come to the forest of Panchavati where he was entrusted with the kingship of the vultures. Jatayu had promised Rama that he would protect them with all his might.

Jatayu fights Ravana

When Ravana was taking Sita away to Lanka in his flying chariot, Jatayu, the wise old bird, was resting in the forest. Hearing Sita's helpless screams, Jatayu flew to Ravana's chariot.
Jatayu was a great devotee of Rama. He could not keep quiet at the http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...hts_ravana.jpgplight of Sita, although the wise bird knew that he was no match for the mighty Ravana. But he was not afraid of Ravana's strength even though he knew that he would get killed by obstructing the path of Ravana. Jatayu decided to save Sita from the clutches of Ravana at any cost. He stopped Ravana and ordered him to leave Sita, but Ravana threatened to kill him he interfered. Chanting Rama's name, Jatayu attacked Ravana with his sharp claws and hooked beak.
His sharp nails and the beak tore flesh from the body of Ravana. Ravana took out his diamond-studded arrow and fired at Jatayu's wings. As the arrow hit, the frail wing tore off and fell, but the brave bird continued fighting. With his other wing he bruised Ravana's face and tried to pull Sita from the chariot. The fight went on for quite some time. Soon, Jatayu was bleeding from the wounds all over his body.
Finally, Ravana took out one huge arrow and shot Jatayu's other wing as well. As it hit, the bird fell on the ground, bruised and battered.
Jatayu wanted to meet Rama in his last moments before he died and tell him about Sita. So, even while he was dying, he went on repeating the name of Rama .

Jatayu helps Rama

As Rama discovered the deceit of Mareecha, he grew anxious about Sita and Laxmana. Running through the dense forest, he called out their names. After some time, he saw Laxmana, and toldhttp://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...helps_rama.jpg him about Mareecha's deceit. How, by imitating Rama's voice, he had got Laxmana to come out, leaving Sita behind. Anxious that something terrible might have happened to Sita, the brothers rushed home. On reaching they found the door ajar and the fruits scattered. Sita was nowwhere in sight. They began a frantic search through the forests. Suddenly, they chanced upon the injured Jatayu. Writhing in pain, the bird just managed to tell them about Sita's abduction and pointed to the direction in which Ravana had gone. With folded wings, he bid goodbye and breathed his last.

Kabandha Meets Rama

In the forest, Rama and Laxmana saw a ferocious demon. His name was Kabandha .
The hungry demon caught hold of them and was about to eat them, when the brothers fired arrows and cut off his arms.
As Kabandha lay bleeding he asked them about their identity. When http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...meets_rama.jpgRama and Laxmana introduced themselves, Kabandha bowed in reverence and told them his story . He said that Brahma had cursed him to change into a demon for his misdeeds and only if Rama killed could he get back his earlier form. Kabandha then begged Rama to end his life. As his body burnt to ashes a beautiful figure emerged from it. After changing into a gandharva, Kabandha advised Rama to seek Sugreeva's help and recover Sita .

Kach and Devyani

The gods and demons were always fighting. But every time the demons were killed, their guru, Shukracharya, would bring them back to life by the secret of mritasanjibani. The gods also wanted to learn the secret so they sent Kacha, the handsome son of their guru, Brihaspati, to Shukracharya's ashram.
Kach fell in love with Devyani, Shukracharya's daughter. When the http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...nd_devyani.jpg demons found out that the gods had sent Kacha, they killed him. They mixed his remains with the wine that Shukracharya drank. When Devyani came to know that Kacha was dead, she begged her father to bring him back to lif. But if Shukracharya brought Kacha out of his stomach, he himself would die. So he taught Kacha the secret of mritasanjibani .
Shukracharya brought kacha back to life and he died. Then, Kacha brought Shukracharya back to life. In this way, the lives of both were saved .
Kacha went back to heaven and taught the secret of mritasanjibani to the gods.