there was a king named Vikram. He friends - Nanda, Bhoj and Dhanu — jand a wise minister called Soma, F Once, all friends got into a discussion and could not find a solution. Soma found a solution forthem. All the friends were impressed iby him. cee King Nanda told his wife about — ~~ Goma. She was so charmed by Goma that she wanted his heart, Now, Nanda had a daughter. Prince Dhruva was in love with her. He asked for her hand from King Nanda. Nanda said, “Bring me the heart of Soma and my daughter will be yours.” Dhruva went to King Vikram and challenged him to a game of dice. King Vikram lost the game and Dhruva asked for Soma as his prize. Soma became Dhruva’s slave. As soon as he was going to take his heart out, God intervened and saved him. Dhruva was shocked. He set Soma free. In time, King Nanda and his wife also sought Soma’s forgiveness. 51. The Ascetic and aby Elephant | A tich man became an ascetic and lived in a forest. Once, he came actoss a baby © dephant. He instantly bonded with the baby elephant. He took it to his hermitage. From then on, he started taking care of the elephant. He fed it every dav. One day, the ascetic was away for some work, The a elephant got hungry and ate more than it could digest. Soon, it got sick and died, When the ascetic came back, he was filled with sorrow. He remained in that state for many days. One day, a great sage was passing by. He saw the ascetic I grieving. The sage taught the ascetic not to grieve as he was a man who had given up all attachments. This sermon helped the _ ascetic overcome his grief and he resumed his life preaching others.58. No Thing Onee, there wae a vieh man He gave up all the Hichew and became a holy man, Soon, he had many followers, With the passage of time, he allained great powers One day, the holy man was on the verge of dying, One of his followers asked hin, Sir! What has been your greatest achievement in this life? The holy man, due to the shortness of breath, utlered only two words "no thing” and passed away, Bul his followers were disappointed, They thought that thelr master had achieved nothing i Ife, A great sage was passing by anc fe 9g " This sage was very knowledgeable, He said to the disciples, "By saying "no thing” you : teacher meani that he coukl see beyond the ordinary things of Ia,” Tn this Ways thie grag sage explained the billliant accomplishments of the holy man, J heard them dlseussing Ihts 59, The Merchants and the Demons = 2 friends, Both were going to sell thelr goods, They decided to tray ‘Two merchants wel one after the olher, The first merchant set off wilh his servants, On the way, they eame to a place which ws haunted by demons, As soon as the merchant camped there, the cemons eame disguised ‘ay men, They beeame friends with the merchant and joined his earavan, The merchant di not realise that they were demons, In the night, when the merehant and his men wer sleeping, the demons ate them, Only thei were lelt, Later, the second merchant his journey, He reached the place where the demons found the earts, human and at bones, and recognized belonged to the former cara wise merchant put people around the camp during the This time, the demons coukee. The Prince and the Demon ted the prince, © prince was not — vy SA — ae ed, “No. Lam ready for death.” Was very Impressed by the prince. ‘Ask me for a boon for I am pleased with you.” That can you grant me? You yourself are bound by passion and is. So how can you favour me?” on was Moved by the prince’s words. He felt ashamed of himself. He vowed to Jead @ good life. He freed all his prisoners and the prince. From then onwards, the demon became a follower of the prince. 6i. The Kind Minister A king had a wise minister who understood the language of animals. ‘One day, while walking on the beach, he saw a big fish with his pretty wife, The male fish was so enchanted by his wife that he did not see some fishermen casting anet on him. Alas! He was caught. The minister heard what the male fish was saying. He was saying, “My wife! My wife! I must be with my wife! I care for her much more than for my life!” The minister felt sorry for the fish. He went to the fishermen and said, “Can I buy a fish from you?” One fisherman replied, “Sir, please accept a fish from us as a gift instead!” The minister chose the big male fish and released it in the sea, The fish thanked the minister for his kindness.Once there were two merchants, Baku and Raku. They were very good friends, One day, Raku lost all his wealth and became poor. He came to Baku for help. Baku was very kind and generous. He immediately gave away half of his wealth to Raku. The grateful Raku Promised to help Baku whenever he needed his help. Several years later, Baku became poor. He remembered Raku and came to him for help. i But Raku had changed and refused to help im. Baku became sad and was very disappointed. i Now, Baku’s servant heard eric He immediately went to the king and presents Baku’s case to him. The king heard everything. He immediately ordered that Raku should ae of his wealth with Baku. Thus, justice was served as Baku too had given half his 0 Ray when he had lost his wealth. 63. The B A low-caste mangoes even when they were out of season. 5 The Brahmin amassed great wealth by using this magic. His name spread far and wide The king heard about him and asked him, “From where do you get such a lovely fnii when it is not in the season?” The Brahmin replied, “It is through a magical spell.” : The king asked him, “Who taught you this great magic spel” The Brahmin was embarrassed to say that he hat learnt it from a man of low caste, so he lied, “It a world-renowned teacher who taught me.” as soon as he lied, he lost his magic. The Brahmin realised his mistake. He to the teacher and told him everything. begged his forgiveness. But the teacher not forgive him and the Brahmin lost magic forever.Once, two brothers earned a lot of wealth, They igre returning home via the sea. The younger of two was greedy. He looked at a sack of gold tihich belonged to his brother. He replaced the gold sack with a sand sack. After that he threw the sand sack into the water. But, that sack was he gold sack. ‘The younger brother lied to his elder brother that his gold sack had fallen into the river by S mnistake | The sea-goddess saw all this. She became a fish and swallowed the gold sack. The fish was put up for sale. The person who bought the fish was none other than the elder brother. ‘As soon as his wife cut the fish, she found gold inside Then, the sea-goddess appeared and told them everything. When confronted, the greedy brother apologised for his misdeeds. The elder brother forgave him immediately. TH Traders a th D Yr 65. The Traders and the Demon A father and a son were traders. One day, during their travels, they took a rest in a deserted house. A man warned them that it was a haunted house. The demon who haunted the house had received a boon from a certain king. The boon was-if any man who entered it should sneeze, the other should wish him long life. The blessed man, on the other hand, should wish the same to the other. During the night, the father sneezed. The son did not wish him long life. The demon got ready ~ ) to eat him. But the son saw the demon and immediately wished his father long life. The demon thought, ‘I cannot eat him now but I shall eat his father, for he has not wished him back.’ But the father immediately guessed. everything and said to his son, “Long life to you, too!” The demon was disappointed as he could not eat any of them.60, 1) Vong ago, there was a King, He was known all over {1 his Kinet Heart, One day, he wan taking a round Ot his Kingdon, While on his youd, he eame upon a couple The couple was very sal The King asked the couple, "Why are yout so romise sax The couple told hin, "We are sad beenuie we lo not have any child.” The king felt very sad for the couple, He went to his palace, took hiv son and gave hin to he aR eT couple The couple was very happy to have the ae pea romised the couple that he would never ask for hs ¢ vw sec HG After some time, the king slarled missing his child, He grew sad. Hs minister gy j and organised a sword show for hin ster, ty the show, a man swallowed swords, ‘The king asked bis mintoter, “Is there anyjjy more difficult than swallowing swords,” . ; The minister replied, “Keeping a promise without regretting It Is far more diffleult, The king understood what the minister meant. 67. The Hone ! Onee, there was a saeved tree, A holy spirit resided in thal ree, Many people came pray to the sphit and offered prectous gills to il, One day, a poor man brought a loaf, bread to offer to the spit, But he did not offer it as he felt the spirit would not accept su a lowly gifl, He turned to go back, by as he did so, the spirit appear before the man, It said, “Where a you going? Give me the bread. am hungry.” The man vp tongue-tied and gave it I bread. The spirit ate the { Then It told the man, “A My of gold Is buried here. and take it.” But the man did no such thi = was very honest and pe the king about it, as pleased with the| _ man’s honesty and 1 him his royal treasuReap Once, there was a man who had a beautiful wife. He loved his wife very much, But the die was very cruel. She illtreated her Fetes who were blind. One day, she said to her husband, sjeave your parents in the forest. | tannot take care of them.” ‘At first, the man refused but due to “constant nagging of his wife, he agreed, So, one day, he took his old blind parents into the forest. As he was leaving them there, his parents begged, Please do not leave us here as we are blind.” i But the man did not listen and went away. On the way, he fell into a deep pit. He hurt his legs. A sage, who was passing by, took him out of the pit. But the damage had been done. The man became a cripple. He realised that since he had mistreated his parents, he had been punished. He went back and sought his parents’ forgivenes. 69. The Greedy Salesman Once, a salesman sold pots and pans and trinkets. A girl wanted to buy a bracelet from him but she had no money. She asked her grandmother, “Can we give our dirty old plate in exchange for the bracelet?” The grandmother agreed. The salesman examined the plate and realised that it was of gold. But he didn’t tell them so, Instead, he said, “This plate has no value.” He went away. In fact, he wanted to take the plate free of cost at a later time. Meanwhile, another salesman came there. Again, the girl wanted a bracelet. The grandmother showed the plate to the salesman. The salesman said to the grandmother, “This plate is of gold!” The grandmother was shocked. The salesman took the gold plate, and in exchange, gave away all his pots, pans and trinkets. After some time, the greedy salesman retuned. He asked for the plate. The grandmother was very angry and called him a liar. The greedy salesman "yan away.70. The Clever A Once, an antelope lived in a forest, It had a favourite tree whose fruits it used to eat every day. A hunter also used to hunt in that same atea. One day, the hunter saw the antelope eating fruits from his favourite tree, After that, the hunter observed the antelope for a few more days. He guessed that unlike the other animals, this antelope ate fruits from that tree only. He decided to trap the antelope. He laid out some fruits under the tree, placed his trap under it, and waited for the antelope. The antelone came to the tree as usual but it was surprised to find so many fruits scattered around. Suddenly, it saw the trap and understood everything. It also realised that the hunter was near by. So, it exclaimed, “My tree is behaving strangely today so I will go t 10 another tree today.” Saying so, it ran awa, Dry Dung Dry rted talking no one could say a wor lesson. marksman. The king came to know abo: talkative minister. Do you think yo 71. The Minister and the Goa A king had a very talkative minister. Once he sta The king was fed up of him and wanted to teach him a Now, there was a man who was a wonderful him. He went to the man and said, “I have a very could stop his talking?” The man replied, “Yes, I can.” The next day, the marksman stood behind a cut —with a pea-shooter full of a goat’s dry dung, Soon, minister came to the king and started talk Quickly, the marksman shot the pellets of f goat’s dung. The minister swallowed down pellets. 4 The king remarked to the minister, were so busy talking that you swall goat's dung,” The minister was too embat say anything. After that, he never his mouth to speak, 4 The king rewarded the mail generously, ag, The Price of y ees ok fem z pi ; ) i nce, a merchant and his wile were very . ” . Thev had @ son who never pecs ht igo" ever prayed peso # iy pattormedt any religious duties, One day, 4 ig i ert &. He mother sent him to a temple to listen to paints sermons. She hoped that listening je sermons would change him, She also rE. promised to ve hin money if he went here. The son, of couse, went to the ] i Sonple, but he slept throughout the sermon, i : The nest day, when the son came back , j pom, his mother gave him the money as she had promised. She jhought her son Would Invite the saint to their house, but he did no such thing. Jpstoacl, aller getting the money, he decided to go abroad for business. His mother pleaded with him not to go bul he went off Bul, as his ship was in the midst of the sea, a violent storm shook the sea. The ship sank and so did the son, Thus, he paid the price of not listening to his mother. 13. The Great Ascetic Once, a baby was born in a family of Brahmins. This baby was very illustrious. The baby tuned Into @ very educated man in time. One day, he renounced the world and became an ascetic. He performed heavy penances. ‘The storles of his penances and dedication spread everywhere. God also heard about them. He wanted to test the ascetic, He tested the ascetic in many wavs. There were times when the ascetic was left with nothing to eat as God used to disguise himself and beg for alms. The ascetic would give away whatever food he a had. SS But despite the hardships, the ascetic « 2 remained calm. Finally, after putting the ascetic through many hardships, God appeared before him. He said to the ascetic, “Ask me for any boon.” The ascetic said, “Please bless me so that I may not sway from my path.” God was very pleased and blessed. him, and disappeared.. One day, as gave a wrong accused came to the fet looked at the case, He and won it. The people and the king made him the judge. rt xvever, the lawyer was very angry. He became jealous 0! in trouble, i . r than the king. Qne dy, he told the king thatthe minister was getting more popul2y Ten Teen ‘The king became insecure and gave the minister various imposs! aa inister, with the help of God, performed all of them. : ini The king was very impressed. He realised that the lawyer was jealous of the minister ang Was extracting revenge. He banished the lawyer from his kingdom. he minister and wanted 4, Once, the king of Banaras fought and conquered another kingdom. He took all the weal, of that kingdom to his own kingdom. He filled the wealth in iron pots and buried the pog in the len. i eer to him, the prince of that kingdom escaped in disguise. Later, he became an ascetic and reached Banaras with his disciples. The king was charmed by the ascetic’s wisdom and made him a royal guest. The prince knew a spell through which he could find buried treasure. So, he uttered the spell and found the treasure buried in the garden. Quickly, he took out the treasure and fled away with it_ When the king came to know about the theft, great sorrow befell him. Then his wise minister said to him, “Sir, why @ you mourn for something which we never yours?” i The king realised that what minister said was true. He a ws his loss gracefully. f