The Marriage of Kartikeya

King Nambirajan prayed to Shiva for a daughter. One day, while he was in the forest, he found a baby girl. He brought her up as http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa..._kartikeya.jpghis daughter and called her Valli. When she grew up, Kartikeya disguised himself as a bangle seller and went to her palace. He started talking to Valli. Valli's brothers who were very brave and strong saw this. They did not like their sister talking to a man. When Kartikeya saw Valli's angry brothers, he escaped by becoming a tree stump. Kartikeya went to Valli again, this time disguised as a tribal king, but when he saw her brothers he became a saint and escaped. Kartikeya wanted desperately to ask for Valli's hand in marriage. He asked his brother Ganesha to help him. One day when Valli was outdoors, Ganesha disguised himself as a wild elephant and attacked her. Kartikeya saved her life and then asked her to marry him. Valli gladly consented and then got married .

The Marriage of Shiva and Parvati

The king of the Himalayas, Himavantha and his wife, Menadevi were devotees of Shiva. They wanted a daughter who would grow up to be the wife of Shiva. So Menadevi performed tapasya to please Gauridevi, wife of Shiva. She sat and prayed for days on end, without any food and water. Pleased, Gauridevi promised to be born as Menadevi's daughter.

Gauridevi jumped into fire and died. She was then reborn as http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...va_parvati.jpgMenadevi's daughter and was named Parvati. The first word that she uttered was 'Shiva.' She grew up to be a beautiful woman. Meanwhile, Shiva who was very sad at the death of his wife had started a long meditation. Himavantha was worried that Shiva would not accept Parvati as his wife as he was in deep meditation and requested Narada to solve his problem. Narada told him that Parvati could win Shiva over through prayers. So Himavantha sent Parvati to the place where Shiva was meditating. Day and night Parvati worshipped and served Shiva.

Though pleased with her devotion, Shiva decided to test her. He designed himself as a young Brahmin and told Parvati that would it be good for her to marry Shiva who lived like a beggar and had nothing. Parvati got very angry when she heard these words about Shiva. She told him that she would marry no one but Shiva. Pleased with her answer Shiva came back to his real form and agreed to marry Parvati. Himavantha performed the wedding with great splendour.

The Merchant's Son

There was a rich merchant who longed for a son. He prayed to Shiva who blessed him with a son but said that he Would live http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...d_merchant.jpgonly for twelve years. The merchant started praying and fasting with more devotion .

When his son was eleven years old, he sent him to Kashii for spiritual education. On the way, the boy stopped at the capital where the princess was getting married. The groom's father wanted to hide the fact that his son was one-eyed and asked the merchant's son to pose as the groom. After the wedding, the merchant's son wrote the truth on a scarf. He gave it to the princess and went to Kashi. When the princess read the scarf, she refused to accept the one-eyed groom and waited for the merchant's son.

When the merchant's son completed twelve years, he died. But Shiva was pleased with the merchant's devotion and brought his son back to life. His son returned bringing the princes as his wife.

The Miracle

When Duryodhana won Draupadi in the dice game, he asked his brother Dushasana to bring Draupadi. Dushasana grabbed Draupadi by her hair and dragged her to court. Draupadi appealed to everyone, "I am the honour of this family. Why is everybody sitting http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...he_miracle.jpgand watching me being disgraced? When Yudhisthira had lost himself in the game, did he have any right to stake me?"

The Pandavas could not do anything, as they were now servants of Duryodhana. Karna asked Dushasana to strip Draupadi of her clothes. Dushasana caught hold of one end of her sari and started pulling it. Helpless, Draupadi prayed to Krishna. To everyone's amazement, Dushasana kept pulling the sari but it would not end. In this way Krishna saved the honour of his devotee.

The Snake Sacrifice

After the death of Parikshit, his son Janmejaya became the king of Hastinapur. Janmejaya wanted to avenge his father's death and wanted to kill Takshaka. He decided to organise a snake sacrifice. Accordingly, a http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa..._sacrifice.jpgsacrificial fire was burnt where the holy priests chanted the names of different snakes.

As a result, the snakes became powerless and fell into the sacrificial fire one by one and perished. The great snake sacrifice continued for many days and hundreds and thousands of snakes emerged from everywhere and surrendered to the sacrificial fire. Everyone waited for Takshaka but he was missing. Everyone, including the priests and Janmejay were puzzled, as they did not know that Takshaka had gone to Indra for protection.

The Sensitive Queens

Vikram went back to the tree and put Betal on his shoulders again. Betal started telling him another story.

King Jaipal had three queens. Each of them was very beautiful, http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa.../sensetive.jpgsensitive, and fragile. One day, the first queen was wounded when a flower from her hair fell on her thigh. Another night when the king took the second queen to the terrace, the moon light burned her skin. Another day when the third queen heard someone weeping in the next room, she became pale and fainted.

Betal asked Vikram, among the three queens who is most sensetive. Vikram replied, "The third queen was the most sensitive to the suffering of others are truly sensitive." Betal was very happy with the answer. He said , "You are great, but you always make the mistake of breaking your silence. So I can't go with you." Saying this, Betal flew back to the tree.

The Sacrifice

As Vikram carried Betal, he narrated another story. One day, a king went hunting in the forest and lost his way. A man named http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa.../sacrifice.jpgRajdeep helped. The king made him his guard. One day, Rajdeep met a beautiful girl Deepti and asked her to marry him. Deepti agreed and Rajdeep took her to the king. On meeting the king, Deepti asked him to marry her. On hearing this, Rajdeep was hurt, but he agreed. The king asked her, "Why do you want to marry me instead of Rajdeep?" Deepti replied , "Because I want to live in a palace." The king gave Rajdeep a palace and asked Deepti to marry him. Betal asked Vikram , "Whose sacrifice was greater , the king's or Rajdeep's?"

Vikram replied, "The king's because Rajdep was only being loyal to his master and even if he wanted he couldn't stop Deepti from marrying the king." Betal heard this and flew away.

The Royal Competition

One day, Drona decided to hold a competition in which the Kauravas and the Pandavas could display their skills. The princes' demonstrated their expertise in using weapons like bow and http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...ompetition.jpgarrow, sword, spear, and mace. There was a fierce mace fight between Bhima and Duryodhana. Arjuna impressed everyone by shooting blindfolded, creating fire and rain with arrows. Pleased, Drona declared that no one could match Arjuna. At this, a young man named Karna came forward and repeated everything that Arjuna had done. He challanged Arjuna. Drona said that an ordinary man could not compete with a prince. Duryodhana who was jealous of Arjuna immediately declared Karna the king of Angadesha. But the fight could not take place as the sun had set. Karna was actually a son of Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas .

The Right Suitor

Betal narrated another story to Vikram. Three men Mohan, Sohan, and Rohan loved a girl named Manju. But before she could choose anyone of them, she died. The man decided to devote http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...ght_suitor.jpgtheir lives to her memory. Mohan started living near Ganga. Sohan always kept Manju's ashes with him. Rohan started staying with a Brahmin. One day, the Brahmin's wife died. The Brahmin put some water from the Ganga on his wife's ashes and chanted a mantra. His wife became alive.

Rohan watched the whole incident. He learnt the mantra and decided to bring Manju back to life. Sohan brought Manju's ashes, Mohan put water from the Ganga on her and Rohan chanted the mantra. Thus, Manju came back to life. Betal asked Vikram, "Whom should Manju marry?" Vikram replied , "Manju should marry Sohan because if he had not kept the ashes, the mantra could not bring her back to life." Hearing this, Betal flew away.

The Rich Man's Servant

As Vikram carried Betal on his shoulders. Betal started telling him a story.

There was once a very rich man called Dhaniram who was a miser http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...es/servant.jpgand never donated money for charity. When his servant Rameshwar asked him to do some charity. Dhaniram said that he did not want to be known as a charitable person. So Rameshwar asked for some money from Dhaniram and used it to set up a water tank for travellers. Everyone praised Rameshwar. He took more money from Dhaniram and built a small inn where travellers could rest. He again asked for money and this time made free food available at the inn.

One day, Dhaniram died and Rameshwar had no source of money. He started charging a fee for the services. The travellers got very angry and killed Rameshwar. Betal asked Vikram, "Tell me, who was resposible for the death of Rameshwar, Dhaniram or the travellers?" Vikram replied, "Rameshwar himself was responsible for his death. He should have made arrangements for the time when there would be no money to run the inn. Either he should have charged a small fee from the beginning or should not have charged anything even later. " Betal said, "You are very wise. This is the right answer. But you answered the question so I will not go with you." Saying this Betal flew back to his tree.