Stories from Various Hindu Texts

 The story starts in a jungle. A jungle that was ruled by a merciless, powerful lion. All were scared of him. One day, the animals got together and asked him why he was randomly killing animals. They said that just one animal a day was enough for him. If he promised not to kill any more, the group would send one animal to him every day as his meal. The lion said he was fine with this, but if on any one day, an animal did not come to him, he would then kill all the animals. The animals promised him this would not happen. One animal would be sent to him, every day. Animals started going to him, one a day. One day it was the turn of a hare. He was reluctant. Who would want to go and become a meal of a lion? Much against his will, he went to the lion, thinking how he could possibly trick the lion. The hare had an idea. He roamed around and went to the lion when the sun was about to set. The lion, in his den, was getting furious. He thought: "The animals broke their promise. Tomorrow I...

 “Somewhere in India, in a large tree lived a pair of crows. Now, whenever the female crow laid eggs, a black cobra would come and gobble up the eggs. Nearby was a jackal. The crows knew the jackal well. The jackal was also seeing this, every time it happened. As soon as the female crow had laid eggs, the cobra would climb up the tree and eat up the eggs. The crows were afraid that the next time the cobra would eat them up. One day the crows went to him, and complained to him. The jackal asked them not to worry. The jackal said - When the enemy becomes strong, it needs to be tricked into submission. Ordinary ones can escape the enemy by their presence of mind. Act the way the crab did and see how he overpowered a heron. The crows wanted to know about that. The jackal began telling them that story. Let me tell you about this lake. It was a place far away, and the lake was huge. It was home to all kinds of aquatic creatures, and many water birds lived around it, among them was a hero...

  The story of the ascetic starts somewhere in India, in a place, far away. In that city, there was an old monastery. In that monastery lived an ascetic. This ascetic was a learned person and used to give discourses and advise people. Over time, he had gained many devotees. They would come, visit him, listen to him and take his blessings. In return, they would give the ascetic expensive gifts. The ascetic would take the gifts and sell them off in the market. In return he would get money. By doing this, he ended up accumulating a lot of wealth. With wealth, came fear and distrust. He trusted no one and kept all his money in bags, and those bags he tied around himself. His habits of moving around with money bags tied around him, were noticed by robbers. One robber made it his objective to rob the ascetic. He had a problem though. The walls of the monastery were very difficult to climb, and the gates were very high and next to impossible to climb and cross. He decided to please the as...

 There was a beautiful city, somewhere in India. This city was literally governed by a rich merchant. No, he was not the ruler there. There was a king there, and the merchant ensured that everyone, the people, the king - all were pleased. Once this merchant’s daughter was getting married. The merchant had invited most of the city’s people to attend the wedding. He treated them to lavish meals and gave them gifts. He then invited the king and his family and gave them special respect and gifts. A sweeper of the palace heard about this and wanted to try his luck. He had unfortunately, not been invited. Even then, the sweeper went and sat there. The merchant saw this and had the sweeper thrown out. The sweeper felt extremely insulted. The merchant could have been polite and a small meal and gift would not have hurt the merchant. The sweeper went home and lay awake the whole night, thinking of ways to have the merchant fall in the eyes of the king. An idea struck him. He thought over it...

 In a place, far far away, lived a jackal. Always hungry, the jackal was always in the lookout for a proper meal. His hunger took him all over the land. Wherever he found food, was home for him. Wandering like this he came across a battlefield. The battle was over for the day. It was evening and the armies had retired. There were many things scattered on the ground. The jackal, seeing an empty field, began sniffing around. Among many things lying there was a drum. The drum was lying near some bushes. Incidentally, that day, there was a strong wind blowing, and this wind was making the branches of the bushes hit against the drum. This was creating a strange noise. Imagine branches of bushes beating drums. And a deserted battlefield. Sounds eerie. This was a sound that the jackal was unfamiliar with. He got scared and decided to immediately leave the place. He was about to turn back, when he suddenly thought it would be foolish not to see what was causing the sound. At least he could...

The monkey and the wedge In a city there lived a rich merchant. One day the merchant decided it was time to build a temple. He chose the appropriate spot for building the temple. A nice shady place. He gathered workers who would help in the construction work, and appointed them. He then told them what they were supposed to do, and the timeline by when he needed the work completed. Payment terms were discussed and agreed on, and the date when the workers would start, was decided. On the set date, the workers arrived at the site, ready to start their work. They would go there every day early morning and start work. When afternoon came, the workers would take a break. They would call out to each other, and then would leave the site. They would return after sometime and resume their work. This site was a shady place. There were many trees there. And in those trees, lived monkeys. Every day the monkeys would observe the workers busy with their work. Let’s tal...