The Cobra And The Crows

The Cobra And The Crows

There was a a big banyan tree, where two crows - husband and wife, had prepared a nice nest and made it their home. In the hollow of the same tree, lived a black cobra.

The crows had a problem because the black cobra would climb up the tree and eat the newborns, whenever the female crow hatched her eggs. They could do nothing to save them.

The crows went to a jackal, who lived in a nearby banyan tree, to seek his advice. They narrated everything to him and requested his advice for them to get rid of their problem.

They said, "O Friend, It has become dangerous to live here. Please tell us how we can protect our children from being eaten up by the wicked black cobra."

The jackal replied, "Please dont give up. Even powerful enemies can be overcome with the use of wit."

On hearing this, the crows requested, "O Friend, please tell us how we can overcome and destroy this wicked cobra."

The jackal told them a plan, "Fly into the capital of the kingdom, not far from here. Visit the house of someone who is wealthy and careless at the same time. Notice if something of value is lying around. If you find so, pick it up when the servants are watching you."

He continued, "You will need to fly slowly so that the servants can follow you. Return back to your tree and drop it in the hollow of the tree where the cobra lives. When the servants reach, they will kill the cobra when they see it."

The crows decided to follow the jackal's advice and flew off immediately according to his plan.

As the flew above the capital, the female crow noticed wealthy women swimming in a lake. They had left gold and pearl necklaces on the banks of the lake, which were guarded by royal servants.

At once the female crow swooped down, and picked up a big necklace in her beak, and started flying slowly.

When the royal servants noticed her, they picked up sticks and stones, and started throwing at her, and ran to chase her.

As planned, she dropped the necklace in front of the hollow of the tree, where the black cobra was asleep. She sat on one of the branches for the royal servants to notice.

When the royal servants arrived, the black cobra came out of the hollow of the tree to see what all the noise was about. The black cobra confronted the king's servants with swelling hood, but the servants attacked the cobra with sticks and stones to recover the necklace.

they killed the wicked cobra, and returned with the necklace. And the crows, having gotten rid of the cobra, lived happily. 

Read More

Athulya 23:55  No comment

Taste The Brinjal

Taste The Brinjal

King Krishnadeva Rai had some superior quality brinjal or aubergine plants growing in his private garden. No one was allowed to view the garden without the king's permission, let alone taste the brinjal.
Once the king invited his courtiers to a feast in which the brinjal was served. Tenali Rama enjoyed the vegetable so much that he talked to his wife about it on returning home - so much so that she insisted on tasting it.

           "How can I get them for you?" Tenali Rama asked. "The king is so possessive about the vegetable that he can detect the theft of even one brinjal from his garden. And, I'm sure that he would want the thief's head chopped off right then, if he caught him red-handed. But Tenali's wife begged him to allow her to taste the brinjal.

             Tenali Rama was helpless. After much deliberation, he agreed to his wife's demand. One night he quietly jumped into the king's garden and plucked a few brinjals from the garden. His wife cooked them with zeal and was all praise for the taste. She wanted to let their six-year-old son also taste the vegetable, but Tenali Rama asked her not to. "Don't make such a mistake", he warned her. "If he happens to tell somebody, we will be in deep trouble."But his wife did not agree. "How is that possible? How can we eat something whose taste we shall remember forever and not share it with our son! Find a way out so that he gets to taste the vegetable and nobody is able to prove that we stole it from the king's garden." Tenali Rama had no option but to nod his head in agreement.

            He filled a bucket with water and went upstairs to the roof where his son was sleeping. He poured the water on the child. Then he picked up the child and said: "It is raining. Let us go inside the house."
Once in, he got the child's clothes changed and gave him the vegetable to eat. He again remarked that it was raining outside, and let the boy sleep in the room.

             The next day the king came to know of the theft in his garden. The royal gardener who kept a head count of each vegetable and flower, found one brinjal missing. It became the talk of the town. The king declared a huge prize on the thief's head.

Chief Minister Appaji suspected that only Tenali Rama was capable of such an audacious act. He let the king know about his suspicion.

The king said: "I know he is very clever and always gets out of charges on one pretext or the other. It is better that we call his son. We will find the truth through him. Tenali will lie to get out of any situation, but he would never ask the child to do so."

         Tenali Rama's son was called. He was asked what vegetable he ate the night before. The child replied: "The brinjal and it was the tastiest vegetable I've ever eaten." Chief Minister Appaji told Tenali Rama: "Now you will have to accept your guilt." "Why should I when I'm not guilty?" replied Tenali Rama. "The boy went to sleep very early last night and seems to have had many dreams. That is why he is talking nonsense about brinjals and rain and what not. Ask him if it rained last night or not."

            Appaji asked the child: "How was the weather last night? Was the sky clear or did it rain?" The child replied: "It rained heavily last night. All my clothes got wet when I slept on the roof." The fact was, not a single drop of rain had fallen on Vijaynagar that day. Appaji had no option but to get rid of his suspicions in the face of such apparent madness. He apologised to Tenali Rama for having suspected him.

Read More

Athulya 03:28  No comment

Tenali Raman And Three Dolls

Tenali Raman And Three Dolls

The great king Krishna Deva Raya had a lot of wise ministers in his court. The wisest of them was Tenali Rama. One day, a merchant came to the king’s court from a foreign kingdom. He saluted the king and then said, “Your Majesty, I have heard from many people that you have very wise ministers in your court. But with your permission, I would like to test the wisdom of your ministers.” This aroused the king’s interest and he gave the merchant his permission. The merchant gave the king three dolls that looked identical. He said, “Though these dolls look similar, they are different in some way. If your ministers can find out the difference, I will bow to their wisdom. But if they can’t, I will assume that there are no wise ministers in your court. I will be back in thirty days for the answer.”

                      The king asked all of his ministers except Tenali Rama to assemble. He gave them the three dolls and told them to find the difference in them in three days’ time. But at the end of three days, none of the ministers could figure out the difference. The king got worried and called Tenali Rama. He said to him, “Tenali, I did not summon you before because I thought that this problem will be too simple. But since no one has been able to find the solution, it is up to you now. Find the difference between these dolls.” Tenalitook the three dolls and went away.

                        The problem proved difficult for Tenali too, but at last, after a lot of effort, he figured out the difference. He went to the court with the three dolls on the day that the merchant had to return. Then, he announced in front of the whole court that he had found the difference between the dolls. He said, “These three dolls are different because one of them is good, one medium and one bad.” When everyone asked Tenali that which doll was which, he showed them a tiny hole that was present in the ears of each of the dolls. Then, he took a very thin wire and put it in the hole of the first doll’s ear. The wire came out from the doll’s mouth. He did the same with the second doll and the wire came out from the doll’s other ear. In the third doll, the wire went to the heart and did not come out.

                          Tenali Rama explained, “In the first doll, the wire went in through the ear and came out through the mouth. So, this doll is bad as it represents people who cannot keep a secret. In the second doll, the wire came out of the other ear. So, it is medium and represents harmless people who do not understand what is said to them. The third doll, in which the wire went to the heart and did not come out, represents good people who will preserve the secret that you tell them.”

                         The king, the merchant and all the courtiers were very impressed with Tenali’s wise answer. Then Tenali said, “But there can be another explanation too. The first doll represents people who gain knowledge and spread it among others, so it is good. The second doll represents people who do not understand what they are taught, so it is medium. The third doll represents people who have knowledge but keep it all to themselves. They do not teach anyone anything and so they are bad people.

                          The king was even more impressed. He asked, “Can there be any other explanation?” Can you think of a third explanation to answer the king?

Read More

Athulya 02:57  No comment

The Golden Mangoes

The Golden Mangoes

Ramakrishna earned the affection and the esteem of the king and the people. He was a comic poet and looked, like an ignorant man; but he was pious and on the side of justice. He used his humour to set things right whenever injustice was done.

                Krishnadevaraya's mother was a very orthodox woman. She had visited many holy places and had performed religious rites; she had given much in charity. Once she wanted to give fruit in charity and informed so to her son.

                 Krishnadevaraya who had great respect for his mother immediately got delicious mangoes from Ratnagiri. But on the auspicious day when she was to present those fruits to Brahmins, the king's mother died.

                 The religious rites connected with her death went on for several days. Meanwhile, the king called a few Brahmins and said, "My mother's last wish was to offer mangoes to Brahmins. But she died before the wish could be fulfilled. What should I do now that she might earn the merit for giving away the fruits?"

                 The greedy Brahmins replied: "Your Highness, only if you offer mangoes made of gold to Brahmins will your mother's soul rest in peace."

                 Ramakrishna came to know of this. The next day he went to the houses of those Brahmins, and asked them to come to his house next to perform his mother's ceremony.

                 The Brahmins came to Ramakrishna's house after receiving the gold mangoes from the king. Ramakrishna's servants closed all the doors of the house. They brought red-hot iron bars and stood before the Brahmins!

                 The Brahmins were taken aback. Then Ramakrishna told them His mother had knee pains and as remedy wanted Ramakrishna to burn her with read hot rods but she died before he could do it. So he now wanted to execute her wish. When the Brahmins said he was unjust towards them, Ramakrishna says there is nothing unjust because they had just taken golden mangoes from the king.

                Then the Brahmins understood their folly and left the golden mangoes at Ramakrishna's house and left.

                Later when Krishnadevaraya asked Ramakrishna why he had behaved like that with the Brahmins, Ramakrishna says the palace treasury should not be exploited by these selfish people it is not there to feed lazy follows. It is there to serve the people.

Read More

Athulya 02:26  No comment

Tenali Ramakrishna and Cats

Tenali Ramakrishna and Cats

Long long ago there was a clever man called Tenali Ramakrishna. He was minister to a great king called Krishna Raya. Once in that city there was lot of problems due to rats. They were eating all sorts of books and papers. They also used to make holes in wooden shelves and also eat rice. Sometimes they even nibbled the ears of little clever girls. Everybody knows that Cats Kill rats. But there were so many rats in the city but very few cats. So the king asked every house in the city to grow cats. But cats need milk to drink. Most of the houses did not have cows. So the king gave cows to every house and asked them to grow them too. All people were happy and used to give cats lot of milk to drink.

Tenali Ramakrishna was a clever man. He decided not to give milk to cat. So the first day he boiled the milk and poured it in a pan. He gave the piping hot milk to the cat. The cat, which was hungry came and sipped the milk from the pan. Since the milk was hot it burnt its mouth. The cat ran away. The next day and the next Tenali Ramakrishna did the same thing. After a few days he stopped giving milk to the cat and started drinking it himself.

Tenali Ramakrishna’s cat was hungry and all other cats were fat and happy. One day the king wanted to see all the cats given by him and give prize to the fat cat. He was very angry with Tenali Ramakrishna for not growing his cat properly. Then Tenali Ramakrishna told the king that he was not lucky since his cat did not drink any milk. The king wanted to put Tenali Ramakrishna in Jail for telling a lie and wanted him to prove what he said.

Then Tenali Ramakrishna brought the pan of milk and his cat. The cat on seeing the milk ran away. It thought that it was being given again hot milk. The king pitied Tenali Ramakrishna and let him away. The clever Tenali Ramakrishna lived happily forever drinking lots and lots of milk.

Read More

Athulya 02:12  No comment

The Lion and the Mouse

The Lion and the Mouse

Once when a Lion was asleep, a little Mouse began running up and down upon him. This soon wakened the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him and opened his big jaws to swallow him.

"Pardon, O King!" cried the little Mouse, "Forgive me this time. I shall never repeat it and I shall never forget your kindness. And who knows, but I may be able to do you a good turn one of these days"

The Lion was so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him, that he lifted up his paw and let him go.Sometime later a few hunters captured the King and tied him to a tree while they went in search of a wagon to carry him on.

Just then the little Mouse happened to pass by, and seeing the sad plight in which the Lion was, ran up to him and soon gnawed away the ropes that bound the King of the Beasts. "Was I not right" said the little Mouse, very happy to help the Lion.

Read More

Athulya 23:37  No comment

The Foolish Son

The Foolish Son

Once, in the city of Vaisali there lived a royal barber who was a devoted follower of the Buddha. One day, he took his son along when he went to the palace to work.
             There, his son got attracted to a very beautiful girl all dressed up like a goddess and wanted to marry her. His father told him to forget about the girl as she belonged to the royal family and would never agree to such a proposal. But the son refused to eat and drink until he got married to her. All his family members tried to reason with him, but failed.
             The young lover was so disappointed and heartbroken that he passed away. After performing his son’s last rites, the father went to meet the Buddha. The Buddha told him, “Your son has died by setting his heart on something which he could never have.” The barber could say nothing but weep for his son’s foolishness.

Read More

Athulya 23:26  No comment

The Teacher and the Student

The Teacher and the Student

Once, the Bodhisattva was born as Karandiya, a young Brahmin studying under a renowned teacher in Takshila. The teacher had a habit of preaching moral laws to anyone and everyone he met, regardless of the face whether they were willing to listen or not.

One day, Karandiya went out with his friends to a nearby village. On the way, while crossing a jungle, he noticed a cave and started throwing stories as it. After they returned, they students informed the teacher about Karandiya’s strange behaviour. The latter asked Karandiya to explain his weird actions. Karandiya merely expressed his surprise and said, “Why can’t I try to make the world level when you think you can make the whole world moral?” The teacher realised his mistake and stopped his habit of preaching indiscriminately.

Read More

Athulya 23:24  No comment

An Ant and Grasshopper

An Ant and Grasshopper


A Lazy grasshopper laughed at a little ant as she was always busy gathering food.


"why are you working so hard?" he asked, "come into the sunshine and listen to my merry notes."

"But the ant went on her work. She said" I am lying in a store for the winter. Sunny days won't last for ever."

"Winter is so far away yet, "laughed the grasshopper back.

The ant and grasshopper And when the winter came, the ant settled down in her snug house. She had plenty of food to last the whole winter. The grasshopper had nothing to eat so, he went to the ant and begged her for a little corn.

"No", replied the ant, "you laughed at me when I worked. You yourself sang through the summer. So you had better dance the winter away."

Read More

Athulya 22:53  No comment

Elephants don’t forget

Elephants don’t forget

There was a bad Tailor in a village long ago. He used to play pranks with people. In that village there was a very good elephant. You know Maithree, elephants are very big animals. Though they are huge, they are very caring. If you give them Bananas they will take it from your hands. They also place their trunk on your head and bless you. The elephants love to take bath in cold water. They would go inside the tank , swim and also enjoy pouring water all over themselves.

              The Mahout( he is the care taker of elephants) used to take the elephant daily to its bath. On the way was the tailors shop. One day the tailor offered a banana fruit to the elephant. From that day, the elephant used to bless the tailor daily. Then the tailor thought of playing tricks with the elephant.                  The next day when the elephant blessed him, he took the needle he was stitching and drove it in side the trunk of the elephant. The elephant was very angry . But it kept quiet. From that day, the elephant stopped blessing the tailor. After a few more days, the tailor forgot the entire thing. It was Deepavali. You know Maithree, on Deepavali days, all people get new clothes stitched. So the Tailors shop was full of clothes.                                                                                                                                                      The elephant that day while returning from its bath in the tank, stored lot of muddy water in its trunk. When it came near the Tailors shop it introduced its trunk inside the shop and poured all the muddy water inside the shop. All the new clothes were spoiled. The villagers got very angry with the tailor for spoiling all their clothes and beat him Thus the elephant punished the tailor.

Read More

Athulya 22:42  No comment

Sharath Kumar and the jewel box

Sharath Kumar and the jewel box

 Sharath Kumar worked in the army of a king. When he was slightly wounded and injured one of his fingers, he lost his job. He felt dejected and started walking to his village which was at a very long distance. While he was walking through the forest, he saw a big mango tree with lot of mangoes in it. He felt like climbing the tree. Suddenly an old man who had a very big beard appeared there. He told Sharath Kumar, “My name is Mantra swami. I am a magician. You appear to be a very good person and I want to help you.
                       I would give you my magical towel. Along with it you climb up this mango tree. When you reach the top, you will find a big hole in the mango tree. Get down in this hole. This will take you to a room below the tree. In that room there will be a cash box. On that box a dog with saucer like eyes will be sitting. Do not be afraid. Catch hold of the dog and keep it on my magical towel. If you open the box, you will find lot of copper coins. After taking whatever you want, go to the next room. Here again there would be another box. On this again a dog will be sitting. His eyes will be like dinner plates. Do not be afraid. Catch hold of him and keep him on this magical towel. That box will contain lot of silver. Take whatever you want and go to the next room. Here again there will be a big box. On it a dog will be sitting. His eyes will be like cycle wheels. Do not be afraid. Catch hold of him and keep him on the magical towel.
                        This box will contain materials made of gold. Take whatever you want. Go to the next room. There will be jewel box and no dog there. Bring the jewel box. I want it for my magic.” Sharath Kumar did as told my Mantra Swami. He collected lot of gold and silver articles. He also got the jewel box. He came out and asked Mantra swami. What magic will this jewel box do? Mantra swami did not reply but tried to snatch away the jewel box from Sharath Kumar’s hand. Sharath Kumar simply pushed Mantra swami down and ran away. He kept on running till he reached a big town. He purchased a house and all material needed and started living comfortably. He gave lot of money to all persons in difficulty. Like this after some time he had spent all the money he had. He did not know what to do. Then he thought of the jewel box. It did not open. Then he hit it. Suddenly the dog with saucer like eyes appeared. It asked him, “Master, what do you want?” Sharath Kumar asked for more money.
                        The dog also told him, “If you hit this jewel box once, I will come. If you hit it twice, the dog with eyes like lunch plate will come. If you hit it thrice, the dog with eyes like cycle wheel will come. We will help you in whatever way you want.” Sharath Kumar was very happy. One day he saw a big black palace in the town. He asked his friends about it. They told him, “In that black palace, there is a pretty princess, who is very kind. But she is guarded day and night by her parents. They do not want the princess to marry any body.” That night Sharath Kumar called the Dog with Saucer like eyes. He told him to go and bring the princess. He brought her is a wheel chair. The princess suddenly woke up and asked Sharath Kumar, “Who are you?” Sharath Kumar did not reply but asked the dog with the saucer like eyes to return the princess to her palace. Next day the princess told her mother, “Yesterday in my dream, I was taken outside this palace.
                       There was a very good soldier there but he did not tell who he is? The mother of the princess got worried. She told the princess, “If the same thing happens today, you ask him,” who he is? If he refuses to tell, then start crying.” That night, Sharath Kumar sent the dog with eyes like lunch plate. That dog took the princess before him along with her cot. The princess woke up and asked, “Hey, good man, who you are? “ When he did not tell she started crying. Then Sharath Kumar told, “I am a poor soldier. I like you very much. Will you marry me?” The princess replied, “I too like you. I will ask my mother today.” Sharath Kumar returned her back o the palace, Next day, the princess told her mother, “Today also I went out along with the cot. That ma is a poor soldier. His name is Sharath Kumar. He wants to marry me. Can I mummy?” The queen told the princess, “You bring him tomorrow night along with you, we will talk to him.
                       If we like him, then you can marry him.” Next day Sharath Kumar asked the dog with eyes like Lunch plate to bring the princess. She told him, “My mummy and daddy want to see you. If they like you we can get married.” Then Sharath Kumar summoned the dog with eyes like cycle wheel. He took both the princess and Sharath Kumar inside the palace. The king and queen along with their soldiers were waiting to catch Sharath Kumar and put him in jail. Sharath Kumar then hit his jewel box 6 times. The three dogs came and they chased away the king, queen and all their soldiers. Sharath Kumar then opened the palace and came out. The people made Sharath Kumar and the princess as their king and queen. They both lived happily.

Read More

Athulya 22:38  No comment

The wise merchant and the cheating donkey

The wise merchant and the cheating donkey

There was a wise merchant. He used to carry all his goods to the market on the back of a donkey.
He loved his donkey and used to take good care of the donkey. But the donkey was very lazy.
On the way from the village to the market there was a dry river. But once in a while the river used to fill up.
             The donkey and the merchant used to get down in the water and cross it. The merchant was one day taking salt to the market.
             The donkey knew this and without his knowledge slowly bent its legs while walking in the water. Because of this the bag of salt was drenched and salt got dissolved in water. The load of the donkey came down and the merchant lost lot of money. So the next day, instead of salt the merchant loaded cotton on the back of donkey. Do you know , Maithree when cotton gets wet , it becomes heavy.
             The donkey did not know this. It played the same trick that day also. Then all the cotton got wet and became very heavy. The donkey thus got punished because of the wise merchant.

Read More

Athulya 22:34  No comment

The Little Gingerbread Man

The Little Gingerbread Man

Once upon a time there was an old woman who loved baking gingerbread. She would bake gingerbread cookies, cakes, houses and gingerbread people, all decorated with chocolate and peppermint, caramel candies and colored frosting.

She lived with her husband on a farm at the edge of town. The sweet spicy smell of gingerbread brought children skipping and running to see what would be offered that day.

Unfortunately the children gobbled up the treats so fast that the old woman had a hard time keeping her supply of flour and spices to continue making the batches of gingerbread. Sometimes she suspected little hands of having reached through her kitchen window because gingerbread pieces and cookies would disappear. One time a whole gingerbread house vanished mysteriously. She told her husband, "Those naughty children are at it again. They don't understand all they have to do is knock on the door and I'll give them my gingerbread treats."


One day she made a special batch of gingerbread men because they were extra big. Unfortunately for the last gingerbread man she ran out of batter and he was half the size of the others.

She decorated the gingerbread men with care, each having socks, shirt and pants of different colors. When it came to the little gingerbread man she felt sorry for him and gave him more color than the others. "It doesn't matter he's small," she thought, "He'll still be tasty."

Read More

Athulya 22:21  No comment