Pallavi Hota

The Ramayan is an ancient Sanskrit epic written by the famous sage Valmiki. It describes Lord Rama's effort to rescue Sita from the demon king Ravana. It also describes the challenges faced by Lord Rama, Laxaman, and Sita when they were exiled from the kingdom for 14 years. Following is a story from ìThe Ramayanaî.Apart from his three brothers, Rama also had a sister. Not many people know about this, and it is also believed that all four sons of King Dashrath were not told about the existence of their sister Shanta. Shanta was the oldest child of King Dashrath and Queen Kaushalya. Queen Kaushalya had an older sister, named Vershini, who did not have any children of her own. So, during one of her visits to her younger sister Kaushalya, Vershini asked for Kaushalyaís child. King Dashrath agreed to give his daughter Shanta to Vershini.

This is a story of Ram and Shanta.

The Story of Lord Ramaís Sister Shanta

Ravina Sewani

One day long ago, some sailors set out to sea in their sailing ship. One of them brought his pet monkey along for the long journey.When they were far out at sea, a terrible storm overturned their ship. Everyone fell into the sea, and the monkey was sure that he would drown. Suddenly a dolphin appeared and picked him up.They soon reached the island and the monkey came down from the dolphin’s back. The dolphin asked the monkey, “Do you know this place?”The monkey replied, “Yes, I do. In fact, the king of the island is my best friend. Do you know that I am actually a prince?”Knowing that no one lived on the island, the dolphin said, “Well, well, so you are a prince! Now you can be a king!” The monkey asked, “How can I be a king?”As the dolphin started swimming away, he answered, “That is easy. As you are the only creature on this island, you will naturally be the king!” Moral:Those who lie and boast may end up in trouble.

This is a story of dolphin and monkey.Moral(s) of the story: boasting and lying

The Monkey and The Dolphin

Shina Utavani

Once upon a time, there lived a poor boy named Aladdin. He lived with his mother in China. One day a rich-looking man came to their house. He said to Aladdin’s mother, “I am a merchant from Arabia and I want to take your son with me. I will pay him handsomely so that you will not be poor anymore.” Aladdin’s mother instantly agreed because they needed money. However, she did not know that the man, in reality, was a magician.The next day, Aladdin packed his things and left with the merchant. After travelling for many hours, the merchant stopped. Aladdin was surprised because it was a lonely spot and there was no one anywhere. He could not see anything for miles.The merchant took out some coloured powder from his pocket and threw it in the ground. The moment he threw the powder on the ground, there was smoke all around. Aladdin did not know what was happening. When the smoke was cleared, he saw a big opening in the ground, it was a cave. The merchant asked Aladdin to go inside the cave. The merchant said, “You will see gold inside the cave. The gold will be more than you will ever see in your life. Take as much as you want. There you will also see an old lamp. Please bring that to me.” After hearing this, Aladdin became suspicious but he decided to go inside the cave.Aladdin entered the cave and just as the merchant said he saw gold, jewellery, diamonds, and other valuables. He filled his pockets with gold and stuffed in as much as he could. Then, he looked for the lamp. He saw the lamp lying in the corner. It was old and dirty. He took the lamp and decided to go back to the cave’s opening. There, he shouted to the merchant, “I have your lamp. Can you please pull me out?” The merchant said, “Give me the lamp first.” Aladdin was afraid that if he gave the lamp, the merchant would not pull him out. So, he said, “Please pull me out first.”The merchant got angry and threw some powder at the cave. Due to which the opening of the cave was shut with a huge rock. Aladdin was scared. He wondered, “Why this lamp is so important to him?” He then took the lamp and started rubbing it. Suddenly, a strange fog filled the room and from the fog appeared a man. He said, “My master, I am the genie of the lamp. What is your wish?” Aladdin was frightened and said in a quivering voice, “Please take me to my home.”The next moment Aladdin was at his home hugging his mother. He told her everything. Aladdin called the genie and this time he was not scared. He said, “Genie, I want a palace.” At the next moment, there was a beautiful palace in front of them.As people got to know about the rich Aladdin, he became famous. He soon married the Sultan’s daughter and they were very happy. The magician got to know about Aladdin and came to Aladdin’s palace pretending to be an old man who exchanged old lamps for new. Aladdin’s wife was not aware of the magic lamp so, she gave it to the magician for exchange. The magician took the lamp and started rubbing it. Soon the genie appeared and the magician told, “Shift Aladdin’s palace away from here to a desert.”&nbsp;When Aladdin came home, he could not find his palace or his princess. He then thought this might be done by the evil magician. He took out the ring that the magician had given him and started rubbing it. Another genie appeared. Aladdin said, “Take me to my princess.” Soon, Aladdin was in Arabia with his princess. He saw his magic lamp lying on a table and before magician could react, he grabbed the lamp and rubbed it. Soon, the genie appeared and Aladdin said, “I want you to send this magician to a different place so that he can never harm anyone.” The next moment the evil magician disappeared forever.The genie carried Aladdin, the princess and the palace back to China. He stayed with Aladdin for the rest of his life.

This is a story of Aladdin, ginnie, lamp and magician.Moral(s) of the story: honesty

Aladdin and the Magic Lamp

Krishna’s childhood was filled with adventurous stories. Though filled with joy, each episode of his childhood shows one spiritual dimension or the other.Gokula was a land with pure cowherds (a person who tends to cows), the men were named 'Gopalas' and the girls were called 'Gopis'. Krishna was about three months old when his mother brought him to the place where people gathered for a festival with their relatives.Yashoda and other people had to prepare the afternoon meal and she left the sleeping child in the shade of a bullock cart. The food was consumed, people were busy with the music. Krishna woke up to the sounds of music while sleeping soundly.Playfully, wanting to join the party, the kid began to move his feet to the beat and pushed the cart's wheel. The cart fell with a thud, and everyone was surprised by the sound, and they ran to the place hoping for the worst. Together they raised the collapsed cart and were overjoyed to see the boy, appearing as happy as ever, and completely unharmed by the crash.&nbsp;That was indeed the first confirmation of his heavenly abilities, but this fact was not known by everyone around at that moment, but rather played off as a miraculous escape.

This is a story of bullock cart, Krishna and Yashoda.

Krishna’s Childhood

A Farmer was driving his wagon along a country road after a heavy rain. The horses could hardly drag the load through the deep mud, and at last came to a standstill when one of the wheels sank deep in the mud.The farmer climbed down from his seat and stood beside the wagon looking at it but without making the least effort to get it out of the mud. All he did was to curse his bad luck and call loudly on Hercules to come to his aid.Hercules, the Greek God appeared saying, “Put your shoulder to the wheel, man, and urge on your horses. Do you think you can move the wagon by simply looking at it and crying about it? Hercules will not help unless you make some effort to help yourself.”And when the farmer put his shoulder to the wheel and urged on the horses, the wagon moved very readily, and soon the farmer was riding along in great content and with a good lesson learned. Moral:God helps those who help themselves.

This is a story of farmer, horse and hercules.Moral(s) of the story: self worth

Hercules and the Wagoner

Yesha Desai

There once was a Queen who held an art competition in her Kingdom. The painting depicting the best representation of peace would win.Many artists from far away kingdoms came to participate and many beautiful paintings were created.One such painting was of a calm river with farms and mountains in the background. The view was serene and calm. Everyone thought that this painting would win as it was perfect.However, when the winner was announced, everyone was shocked as a painting with harsh waves and lightning eating up the sky was chosen as the winner.Everyone thought that this was a mistake. However, once a closer look was given to the picture, a small boat was visible, calm despite the weather depicted in the painting.In the midst of angry and unfavorable surroundings, small raft was trying to prosper. This was peace. It was not universal and was not easily earned either. Moral:Peace is not always just calm surroundings, but the ability to hold your ground and thrive despite the chaos.

This is a story of boat, painting and sea.Moral(s) of the story: peace

The Queen’s competition

It was a bright sunny day. Oswald said to his friend Henry “It is a wonderful day. Let’s go on a picnic, it will be fun.” “Yes, it is a perfect day to go on a picnic” said Henry excitedly. Oswald took his pet Winnie and a picnic mat along with him. Henry took three pickle sandwiches for all of them and some napkins along with him.They happily left for the picnic. They went to the park and found the perfect spot for their picnic. “Come on, Winnie. Let us spread out the picnic blanket” said Oswald. Winnie took one side of the blanket in her mouth and helped Oswald spread the blanket. After that Henry kept three napkins for three of them and said, “We are all set.” Oswald curiously said, “Oh boy, now let us eat sandwiches.” “Not now Oswald, it is too early” replied Henry. “Okay. So, do you want to play ball then?” Oswald asked Henry. “No, I will read my newspaper” replied Henry.So, Oswald played ball with Winnie and Henry read his newspaper. After some time, Oswald saw Daisy passing by. He said, “Hey Henry, look there’s Daisy. Let’s invite her to our picnic.” Henry replied, “Oh Oswald but there’s only enough food for three.” “But we can share,” said Oswald and invited Daisy to join them. Henry took out another napkin and kept it for daisy. Oswald again asked, “Is it time for lunch yet Henry?” “No,” said Henry. “Okay, till then we will play ball. Come on Daisy, let us play ball.”Henry took his newspaper and started reading while Oswald and Daisy played with the ball. After a while, Oswald saw Pongo and said, “Let us tell Pongo to join us.” “But there is not enough food, Oswald,” said Henry. “But we will share the food,” said Oswald. He invited Pongo for the picnic. They all played with the ball and Henry read his newspaper.After a while, Oswald saw Madam Butterfly and Katrina and decided to invite them as well. Henry was a little worried about the food, but Oswald said they will share it. Oswald excitedly asked Henry, “Is it time to eat yet, Henry?”. “No, it's too early” replied Henry. So, they continued playing.Oswald saw twin brothers Edward &amp; Leo and said, “Hey, Edward and Leo come, join us.” “We cannot invite them Oswald, there is barely enough food,” said Henry. “But we can share,” said Oswald. “We cannot have three sandwiches between 9 people” replied Henry with disappointment. Daisy added, “I think Henry is right Oswald, we cannot share three sandwiches among nine people.” To which Pongo said, “I usually eat three sandwiches by myself.” “So, we can get more food,” said Oswald. “But from where?” questioned Henry.Everyone was thinking about how they can get more food. Daisy said with a sudden voice, “I can get some apples from that tree”. “That would be great” replied Oswald. After that Pongo said, “Even I know how we can get a bunch of walnuts.” This way everyone found some food. Madam butterfly found some dandelions and twin brothers found some grapes, strawberries, and tomatoes. When everyone came with the stuff they found, Henry was a little surprised. He said, “Woah, now we have enough food. Now, it will be fun,”They all ate a lot of food and had a great time together.&nbsp;Everyone said “Thank You” to Henry for throwing an amazing picnic. Henry said, “We all ate a lot of food. The only thing left now is three pickle sandwiches.” Everyone with a surprised voice said, “Oh”. “Don’t worry Henry, we can have another picnic tomorrow” said Oswald with a smile. Everyone laughed and were grateful for an amazing day.

This is a story of Oswald.Moral(s) of the story: friendship

A Nice Quiet Picnic

Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic about the brothers, Pandavas and kauravas. It describes the battle between them in the Kurukshetra war for the throne of Hastinapura. It is an epic tale that combines war, religion, philosophy and Hindu history. Following is a story from ìThe Mahabharata.There are some devotees who want to show off. For hours they meditate, for hours they chant, for hours they repeat the name of Lord Krishna. They look down upon others who do not spend so much time meditating and chanting. Arjuna happened to be one of these. Bhima, one of the five Pandava brothers, was the strongest in the family. Bhima never prayed to any god. He used to eat and he used to fight. He was a voracious eater and at the same time a great fighter.Arjuna used to pray to Lord Shiva. For two hours, Arjuna used to collect hundreds of flowers and offer them to Lord Shiva one by one. Each time while offering the flowers he used to utter the name of Lord Shiva. On the other hand, Bhima would put his fingers on his forehead and concentrate for a couple of minutes before each meal. Then he would eat voraciously. This was his meditation. Poor Arjuna would spend hours gathering flowers, but Arjuna's pride could not escape Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna took Arjuna for a walk. As they were walking, they saw a man drawing a cart. The cart was loaded with flowers. All kinds of flowers. Arjuna asked the man, ìWhat are you doing with these flowers? And where are you going?î The man had no time to respond to Arjuna. Sri Krishna said, ìArjuna, let us follow him.î When the man reached his destination, there were many more carts of flowers. ìWhat are you going to do with all these thousands and millions of flowers?î, Arjuna inquired. ìI have no time to speak to you. I am now in serious concentration, said the man. The man continues, ìI can speak only to one person on earth, and that is Bhima, the second Pandava. He is the greatest spiritual seeker. When he meditates before his meals just for a minute or two, saying O mighty Lord Shiva, thousands of flowers are offered by him to Lord Shiva. His concentration is the most intense. His meditation is the most sincere. Arjuna only throws flowers at Lord Shiva. He just shows off.îThis made Arjuna realise that it's not the time or the resources one offers to the Lords but the dedication which matters the most.

This is a story of Arjun and Bheem.

Bheema's power of concentration and dedication

The Ramayan is an ancient Sanskrit epic written by the famous sage Valmiki. It describes Lord Rama's effort to rescue Sita from the demon king Ravana. It also describes the challenges faced by Lord Rama, Laxaman, and Sita when they were exiled from the kingdom for 14 years. Following is a story from ìThe Ramayanaî.When Ravana took Mother Sita, she threw her jewellery on the ground so Lord Ram would find it. When Lord Ram found it, he showed it to Lakshman. He showed the ring, the bracelet, the necklace but Lakshmana did not recognize any of it.But when he showed him the Nupur of the feet, Lakshmana recognized it immediately. Lakshman told Lord Ram, ìI have never looked at Mother Sita all my life. I have only looked at her lotus feet, which is why I only recognized the Nupur.

cosmos stories

Kids moral stories help in improving their imagination & relate to real-world life. Here are age-specific bedtime stories for children by renowned storytellers.