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Satyavadi Harishchandra Once there was a great king named Harishchandra who never lied and alwasy kept his promise. He was the ruler of Ayodhya. He ruled his Kingdom wisely. His subjects were happy and prosporous. He was well-known for his truthfulness. The gods decided to test him. They asked Sage Viswamitra to help them. One day, Harishchandra went hunting in the forest. Suddenly, he heard the cries of a woman. As he went to help her, he entered the ashram of Vishwamitra. Vishwamitra was disturbed in his meditation http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...ishchandra.jpgand became angry. To cool his anger Harishchandra promised to donate his kingdom to Vishwamitra. Vishwamitra accepted his donation but also demanded dakshina (fees) to make the act of donation successful. Harishchandra, who had donated his whole kingdom, had nothing to give as dakshina. He asked Vishwamitra to wait for one month before he paid it. A man true to his word, Harishchandra left his kingdom and went to Kashi along with his wife, Shaivya, and son, Rohitashwa. In Kashi, he could not earn anything. The period of one month was about to end. His wife requested him to sell her as a slave to get the money. Harishchandra sold Shaivya to a Brahmin. As she was about to leave with the Brahmin her son began to cry. Harishchandra requested the Brahmin to buy Rohitashwa also. The Brahmin agreed. But the money was not enough to pay the dakshina and so Harishchandra sold himself as a slave to a chandala (a person who works in a cremation ground). He paid Vishwamitra, and started working in the cremation ground. Shaivya worked as a servant in the Brahmin's house. One day, when Rohitshwa was plucking flowers for the Brahmin, a snake bit him and he died. Shaivya took her son's body to the cremation ground. There she met Harishchandra. He was filled with grief to see his only son dead. To perform the cremation, he asked Shaivya didn't have any money. Haishchandra, who was duty bound, could not cremate the body without tax. Shaivya was a devoted wife and she did not want her husband to give up his duty. She said, "The only possession I have is this old sari that I am wearing. Please accept half of it as the tax." Harishchandra agreed to take the sari. They also decided to give up their lives on their son's cremation fire. As Shaivya tore her sari, Vishnu himself appeared with all the other gods. The chandala, who was actually Yama, showed his real form and brought Rohitashwa back to life. Harishchandra and his family passed the test; they had demonstrated great virtue and righteousness. All the gods blessed them. Indra asked Harischandra to go to heaven with him. But he refused saying that he could not go to heaven when his subjects were suffering without him. He asked Indra to take all his subjects to heaven. Indra said that it was not possible because people go to heaven or hell depending on their deeds. Harishchandra said that he would donate all his virtues to his subjects so that they could go to heaven and he would bear the consequences of their sins. Seeing Harischandra's love for his subjects, the gods were very pleased. They took all the people of Ayodhya to heaven. Mean while, Vishwamitra brought new people to Ayodhya and made Rohitshwa the king. |
Satyavan and Savitri Savitri, a princess, fell in love with a poor man called Satyavan. Narada Muni warned her not to marry Satyavan as he would die at an early age. He even told her when Satyavan was going to die. But Savitri was unmoved and married Satyavan. On the day of Satyavan's death, she saw that Yama himself had http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...nd_savitri.jpgcome to take him. She begged Yama not to take Satyavan. But Yama said that no one could stop death. Savitri followed them for miles and miles. Impressed with her determination, Yama said, "I will give you two boons; you can ask for anything except the life of Satyavan." For the first boon, Savitri asked for the well-being of her father-in- law. For the second she cleverly asked for a hundred sons. Without thinking, Yama granted her two boons. At this Savitri asked Yama to return her husband because without him, she could not have any sons. Defeated, Yama returned Savitri her husband. |
Shakti's curse One day Sage Shakti, Sage Vashishtha's son, was going through a forest. Suddenly, King Kalmashapada's chariot blocked his path. In those http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...ktis_curse.jpgdays, it was customary for everybody to give way to a sage, a blind man, a crippled person or an old woman. But Kalmashapada was vain and did not give way to Shakti. Instead Kalmashapada rudely ordered him, "Move to a side and make way for the chariot. Don't you see that I am the king of this region?" Shakti tried to explain, "I am a sage." But King Kalmashpada was very proud and refused to move. Instead, he lashed at the sage with a whip. At this, Shakti got angry and cursed the king to become the king to become a demon. Sage Viswamitra, who was passing by, saw this incident. He was a big enemy of Shakti's father, Sage Vashishtha and heard Shakti cursing the king. He asked another demon, Kinkara, to enter Kalmashapada's body. When the demon entered his body, Kalmashapada became evil and lost his sense of rightousnesss. He thought that his behaviour had changed because of the curse of Shakti, so he went to Shakti and said , "Your curse has made me a demon. Since you are responsible for this. I will take revenge on you and will eat you up." Saying this, Kalmashapada roared and killed Shakti and ate him. Later, he even killed Shakti's brothers. |
Shakuni Meets His End Shakuni was Duryodhana's wicked uncle who had helped the Kauravas win the Pandavas' half of the kingdom from them in a game of the dice, and sent them into exile. He was very cunning and devious. On the sixteenth day of the battle of Kurukshetra, a fiercehttp://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...es/shakuni.jpg fight was going on between Nakula and Shakuni. Shakuni was a brave warrior and he was overpowering Nakula, when Nakula's brother, Sahadeva, came to his rescue. He shot an arrow at Shakuni saying, "It is your evil mind and numerous sins that have led to this war. Now face your doom." The arrow cut Shakuni's head off. After Shakuni's death. Duryodhana was left all alone. He did not even have Karna to support him. Duryodhana realised that his end was also near and was sad and broken hearted. |
Shakuntala Shakuntala was a beautiful maiden who was the adopted daughter of Sage Karnva. She lived with him and her pet deer, in his http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...shakuntala.jpgermitage in the forest. One day, Dushyanta, the king of Hastinapur, came hunting in the forest. He saw the beautiful deer and shot an arrow at it. Shakuntalsa found her deer whimpering in pain and tried to comfort it. Shakuntala loved the animals of the forest and her affection for the animal touched Dushyanta's heart and he asked her to forgive him for his cruelty. She forgive him but asked him to stay in the forest for a few days to tend the wounded deer. They fell in love and King Dushyanta married Shakuntala and gave her a wedding ring his name on it. The king then left for his king-dom after promising to return soon and take Shakuntala back with him. One day , Sage Durwasa came to Shakuntala's door. He repeatedly asked for water, but Shakuntala was lost in thoughts of Dushyanta and paid no attention. The sage was insulted and got very angry. Known for his temper, he cursed Shakuntala saying that the person whom she was thinking about would forget her. When Shakuntala heard the cause, she was frightened and begged the sage to forgive her. The sage said that he could not the back the curse but he could change, if she showed Dushyanta something he had given her then he will remember again about her. Due to the curse Dushyanta forgot Shakuntala. After days of waiting for him to return, Shakuntala decided to go to the capital to meet him. On the way, as Shakuntala was crossing a river, her wedding ring fell into the water. A fish swallowed the ring. When Shakuntala arrived at the palace, the king did not recognize her. He asked her to prove her identity but Shakuntala didn't have the ring to show him, as it was lost. She wept and told the king about the time he had spent with her in the forest but he couldn't remember anything. Feeling sad she left the palace. Ashamed to return to her father's home, she started living alone in another part of the forest where she gave birth to a son. She called him Bharata. Bharata was a brave boy. He grew up among the animals of the forest and would play with wild animals. One day at the king's palace, a fisherman brought him a ring. He told the king that he had found the ring in the stomach of a fish that he had brought it straight to him. As soon as the king saw the ring, the curse was broken and the king remembered Shakuntala. He was very upset and hurried at once to her home in the forest to look for her, but could not find her. In despair, he returned to his palace. Few years passed. The king again went hunting in the forest. There he was surprised to find a boy playing with a lion cub. The boy fearlessly held open the mouth of the cub and said, " O king of the jungle! Open your mouth wide, so I can count your teeth." The king went up to the boy and asked him about his parents. The little boy replied that he was the son of king Dushyanta and Shakuntala. Dushyanta was very happy to have found Shakuntala and asked the boy to take him to his mother. The family was united and Dushyanta took Shakuntala and Bharata along with him to Hastinapur. Bharata grew up to become a great king. |
Shantanu nce, king Shantanu of Hastinapur met a woman named Ganga, on the banks of the river Ganga. He wanted to marry her and http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...s/shantanu.jpgshe agreed to do, on the condition that he would never ask her any questions. Soon, Ganga gave birth to a child but drowned him in the river. Shantunu was shocked. One by one, she drowned six more children. Finally, when she was going to drown her eighth child, Shantanu asked her why she was doing so. She said that she was the goddess Ganga under a curse to be born as a human. The children were vasus (demi-gods) and she was freeing them of the curse. But since Shantanu had stopped her, the eighth child would have to live the life of a human. Saying so, Ganga left. The eighth child grew up to be the great warrior, Bhishma. |
Tapti One day, King Panchal attacked the kingdom of king Sarvan. Panchal's army was bigger and stronger and soon defeated Sarvan's army. Sarvan had to leave his kingdom; he started living in the forest. One day, Sage vashishtha came to his home. Sarvan asked the sage to bless him so that he could win his kingdom back. Sarvan collected his army and challenged Panchal to a battle. He fought very bravely and won his kingdom back. Tapti, the daughter of Surya, the sun god, had seen the courage of Sarvan in the war and fell in love with him. She decided to find out whether Sarvan would be willing to take her as his bride . After becoming a king again, Sarvan went hunting. He saw a beautiful dear in the forest and chased it. After some time the deerhttp://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...ages/tapti.jpg suddenly disappeared and a beautiful woman appeared before him. She glowed like gold. The moment he set his eyes on her he fell in love with her. He asked her who she was and she told him that she was Tapti, the daughter of Surya. Sarvan expressed his desire to marry her. Trapti said that he would have to seek the permission of her father. Sarvan started performing tapasya to please Surya . After twelve days, Vashishtha came to him and said that he himself would take his proposal to Surya . Vashishtha met Surya who knew that Sarvan was a noble and worthy king. He immediately agreed to the match. Soon, Tapti and Sarvan were married in the presence of all the gods and sages. |
The Enlightened Butcher Kaushika, a young man, wanted to go off to a hermitage to study the vedas. His old parents requested him to stay back and look after them. But Kaushika left his parents and went away. In due course he mastered http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...ed_butcher.jpg the Vedas and became a saint. One day, some bird droppings fell on him. Furious, Kaushika shot a fiery gaze and burnt the bird to ashes. Then he went out asking for alms. A lady busy with her chores asked him to wait. Kaushika felt insulted and cursed her. she replied that a saint should control his anger and not kill animals. She also suggested that he should meet the holy Dharmavyadha in Mathura and learn about virtue. Kaushika rushed to Mathura, but when he reached there he found Dharmavyadha running a butcher shop. He wondered how a holy man could butcher animals. Dharmavyadha reminded him of the bird he killed and added that he was merely doing his duty of carrying on the family trade. He said that a farmer who tills the land also tramples insects unknowingly. After the Dharmavyadha introduced his family. He said it gave him great pleasure to serve his parents and fulfill the duties of a father . Kaushika realised his mistake and felt ashamed that he had ignored his duty. He understood that that the true virtue of man lies in carrying out one's dharma or task . He thanked Dharmavydha and rushed back to his old parents. His parents were delighted to have him back . |
The Banana Tree Goddess Once there was a little girl who watered a banana tree everyday. One day a voice came from the tree, "Will you play with me?" http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...ee_goddess.jpgThe girl was very scared and ran to her mother. Her mother said, "Don't be afraid, that voice is of the banana tree goddess, Laxmi. She is pleased with you." The next day when the girl went to the tree Laxmi played with her. Later, Laxmi said, "I live in this tree. Will you come to my house for lunch?" Then through the hollow of the tree she took her to a beautiful palace and gave her delicious food in utensils made of gold and silver. When the little girl returned and told her mother what had happened, the mother was very happy and said, "Invite Laxmi to our home tomorrow for lunch." The girl said , "But mother , we are so poor and our hut is small. All our utensils are broken and our clothes are old. How can I invite her here?" Her mother said "Don't worry , she would be very happy with our love and courtesy." The next day the little girl brought Laxmi with her. As soon as Laxmi entered the small hut, it turned into a beautiful house. The utensils in which the food was served turned into gold utensils. Their old clothes became new. The girl's mother asked Laxmi to stay in the house with them forever. Laxmi said that her blessings would be on their home as long as they worked hard and watered the banana tree. Saying so, she went back to the tree. The little girl watered the tree everyday and they lived happily ever after. |
The Birth of the Pandavas and Kauravas Bhishma wanted Pandu, the king of Hastinapur, to get married. Kunti, the adopted daughter of King Kuntibhoja, chose Pandu as her husband and was married to him. Princess Madri of Madrahttp://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fa...d_kauravas.jpg kingdom also wanted to marry Pandu, so she became his second wife. Gandhari, the princess of Gandhara kingdom, was chosen as the bride for Dhritarashtra. Dhritarashtra was blind, and Gandhari did not want to be better than her husband in any respect. So she tied a silk bandage on her eyes and pledged never to remove it. A suitable bride was also chosen for Vidura , the minister of Hastinapur, who was raised as a brother of Pandu and Dhritarashtra . As time passed, Kunti gave birth to three sons Yudhistira, Bhima,and Arjuna. Madri gave birth to twins and name Nakula and Sahadeva . As these five were the sons of Pandu , they are called the Pandavas. Gandhari wanted a hundred children so she prayed to Saint Vyasa who granted her the boon . But Gandhari gave birth to a lump of flesh. Vyasa cut this lump into hundred and one pieces, which formed hundred boys and one girl. These children of Dhritarashtra were called the Kauravas as they belonged to the Kuru dynasty. The eldest of theKaurava brothers were called Duryodhana |
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