Shina Utavani

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 “The Ramayana”.In ancient India, there lived a poor boy named Shravan. He lived with his elderly parents. His parents were very old and blind. Shravan had devoted his life to serving his blind parents. He took care of every wish of his parents. His whole life was centredon serving his parents.Once his parents expressed their desire to go on a pilgrimage but since they were blind, they could not go there alone. So, Shravan decided to take his parents to the pilgrimage. He made two large strong baskets and tied each basket on either side of a long bamboo stick. He made his parents sit on each basket and carried them on his shoulder. He then left for the pilgrimage carrying his parents on the shoulder. Shravan was so devoted to his parents that he did not feel their weight.Shravan took his parents to pilgrim places. After a few months, they reached the outskirts of Ayodhya, the holy birthplace of Shri Ramchandra Bhagwan. They were resting in a forest and his parents were thirsty. So, Shravan went in search of water for his parents. He saw the river Saryu flowing nearby. As he bent down to take water, an arrow pierced his chest. King Dashrath had hit him by accident. The king was in the forest hunting for a deer. In fading light of the dusk, he mistook Shravan for a deer because of the gurgling sound of the water. The king then realised his mistake and ran towards Shravan. Even in his last breath, Shravan asked King Dashrath (Lord Ram’s father) to satisfy the thirst of his parents and let them know about the tragedy.King Dashrath felt very bad and went to the blind couple with water. The parents were very sad to hear this and wished to be taken to Shravan. The king took them to Shravan. The old parents grieved at their son’s death. Dashrath bowed down and begged for forgiveness. Shravan’s father said, “Kind man, we do not want to curse you, as the power to curse is only in God’s hands. But we see your future. As we shall die longing for our son, you too shall die longing for your son.”Soon the old parents died longing for their dear son. The couple’s words later turned out to be true for Dashrath. He, too died, longing for his son Shri Ram. Moral:Always respect and obey your parents. Serve them with utmost devotion.

This is a story of king dasrath, parent and shravankumar.Moral(s) of the story: devotion

Shravan Kumar’s devotion to his parents

Ravina Sewani

Once upon a time, two friends were walking through the forest. They knew that anything dangerous can happen to them at any time in the forest. So they promised each other that they would remain united in any case of danger.Suddenly, they saw a large bear approaching them. One of the friends at once climbed a nearby tree. But the other one did not know how to climb. So being led by his common sense, he lay down on the ground breathless, pretending to be a dead man.The bear came near the man lying on the ground. It smelt in his ears, and slowly left the place because the bears do not touch the dead creatures. Now the friend on the tree came down and asked his friend on the ground, "Friend, what did the bear tell you into your ears? "The other friend replied, "The bear advised me not to believe a false friend." Moral:A friend in need is a friend indeed. And if you commit to be with your friend, you should keep the promise.

This is a story of bear and friend.Moral(s) of the story: trust

Two Friends and the Bear

Yesha Desai

It is Tim’s father’s birthday today and little Tim wants to surprise him with a gift. He knows that his father loves chocolate cake so Tim decides to bake his father a chocolate cake.&nbsp; He tells his mother about his idea and his mother agrees to help him.&nbsp; First they search the recipe for the cake. It looks a little tough but Tim figures that he can still give it a try. He goes with his grandfather to purchase the ingredients. They buy milk, eggs, flour and chocolate. When he returns home, Tim is very excited and so he runs to the kitchen with the ingredients.&nbsp; His mother says, “Slow down or else you will end up dropping everything.” He is embarrassed and smiles a little but then quickly gets to work. He dries the utensils that his mother washed and cleans them.&nbsp; Then he carefully listens as his mother instructs him.&nbsp; He measures and pours the flour, milk, sugar, eggs, and chocolate.Then when all the ingredients are mixed and the cake is put in the oven, Tim dances around the house, excitedly looking at the clock and waiting for his father to come home.&nbsp; When he does, Tim excitedly rushes to the kitchen to grab the cake that is now made. In his hurry, he forgot that the vessel was still hot and flinched at the touch. Tim dropped the cake. His mother immediately moved to help him and everyone fussed around to secure Tim. He felt very bad for not being able to do something good but his father looked at him and smiled. He said, “Thank you, son. Making this must have taken a lot of hard work. I am proud of you!” Tim shook his head and said, “But I dropped it and ruined it in the end.” His father laughed and said, “That is alright. It is not the gift, but the thought and emotions put into one that counts.”

This is a story of father, mother, grandmother, son and cake.

Tim and his cake

Raj was a very impatient child.He could barely focus at one task before launching himself towards another.One day, while watching a television show, he decided that he wanted to be a wrestler. So he told his grandfather, “I want to become a wrestler! What should I do?”His grandfather took him to a teacher. The teacher trained Raj in different wrestling moves. And even though the little boy was very enthusiastic, he could do hardly one thing before jumping onto another. Thus, he never properly practised his moves.Days passed yet Raj did not get better at his sport and he frowned at his grandfather, “I am not getting stronger. What will I do now?”His grandfather took him on a walk by the beach and pointed to the cliffs. “Do you know Raj, that the water breaks down these rocks?”Raj’s eyes widened, “Really? But these rocks are so big? How can the sea break them down?”His grandfather smiled and watched as Raj lightly splashed around in the water, “It takes many years, it does not happen overnight. Just like you cannot become a wrestler overnight. You need to be disciplined in your work and be patient. Then you will one day become capable enough to achieve your goals.” Moral:You need to be disciplined and hardworking to achieve your goal.

This is a story of grandfather, grandmother, rock, sea and water.Moral(s) of the story: discipline and hard work

The fruits of discipline

Once upon a time there was a little kid. He had to attend his school which was far away from his home. In order to reach there, he had to cover a long distance by walking. He also had to cross the forest which came on his way. The kid was afraid to cross the forest as he was alone. So, one day he spoke to his mom about his fear.His mother wanted him to overcome his fear. So, she told him that he had a cousin named Kanha, who herds cattle in the forest. She told him to shout his name and cross the forest without any fear.The next day when the kid was crossing the forest, he shouted Kanha with the hope that he would come to help him. Suddenly, a boy appeared before him and said his name was Kanha. He walked with him until they reached at the end of the forest.Every day after that, the boy would shout Kanha, and he would come to help him cross the forest. After some time, the boy became fearless. One day his mother asked the boy about his fear. The boy described the whole story to his mom.The mother was truly surprised after hearing the story. She eventually discovered that the boy who was accompanying her son was actually Lord Krishna. The mother realized that Lord Krishna helped her son in crossing the forest. This was possible because of his unwavering faith. Moral:Nothing is impossible for someone who has actual faith in God. God can help us in our difficult times and could give us strength.

This is a story of Krishna and mother.Moral(s) of the story: faith and fear

Faith over Fear

Pallavi Hota

There was an ant who lived on a hilltop with his friend. He was very hardworking. He went on collecting food for the future requirement, while his friend slept all day and did no work. His friend asked the ant why he is always busy collecting so much food. The ant said the food was for future requirements because bad times never knock before coming. His friend laughed it off and went back to sleep.Winter arrived and there was snow all over and his friend had no food. He was starving and crying out for help. The ant helped him and gave him some of his food. His friend thanked him and realised his mistake. The winter passed and summer arrived. The ant again started collecting food. This time his friend also joined him. He said that he suffered and realised how important it is to be prepared for bad times. Both of them collected food and worked hard together. Moral:You reap what you sow.

This is a story of ant and friendMoral(s) of the story: hard work, laziness

The Ant and His Lazy Friend

Over an interplanetary chat, Pancho met his friend, Zero-Zero. They became best of friends and would always talk about the things on their planets. Once, Pancho decided to finally meet his friend and booked a space flight to visit Zero-Zero on his planet. Zero-Zero welcomed Pancho gracefully and was showing him things around his planet. They were so engaged in their talks that Pancho tripped over and bumped his head on a sphere that was lying on the path. After the impact, the sphere opened up,&nbsp;and from out of it came a little man. The little man had an enormous bruise on his head, and was screaming madly.Zero-Zero was so scared that he could not even speak. Before Pancho could apologise, two giant robots turned up. The robots took out devices and scanned the place. After this, they took the little man and Pancho away at top speed.&nbsp;Pancho could not understand what was happening. In a minute, both of them were now in a large sphere in front of a very serious-looking robot. Pancho had not even settled that he heard the robot say: “go ahead”.&nbsp;Without hesitation the little man hit Pancho on his head very hard.&nbsp;After this, the robot took out a pain-measuring machine and checked Pancho’s pain. After this, the robot asked Pancho to hit the little man again with same impact, not more, not less.Pancho had no idea what was happening. He looked around him. Through the transparent walls he could see many other spheres,&nbsp;each one containing a robot dressed, along with people hitting and pushing each other. The little man, standing before him, looked at Pancho with fear. “You may hit him. Remember, no more than on the card,” said the robot.Pancho was not able to hit the man intentionally. The robot then explained to him, “This is a process of perfect justice. Both of you will receive exactly the same harm. If one of you exceeds the limit you will receive another card and this will go on till both of you have received equal pain."Pancho was impressed with this system of perfect justice. He thought that no one would be harmed more than anyone and everyone would suffer exactly the same. He started running to compliment about this to Zero-Zero. But the robot stopped him and asked him to finish this process of perfect justice. Pancho did not want to hit the little man so he said, “I forgive him and do not wish to hit him.” The robot still did not let him go. This made Pancho angry and irritated. He thought, “What a pain! How could it be impossible to forgive someone?” So he tore the card in two pieces and said “Look! Now there are no points left."The robot appeared to break down. It started emitting whistling noises, lots of lights all over its body lit up, and it lost control of its movements. Just before exploding, the robot returned to normal, and quietly said: “It is correct. Now you may leave.&nbsp;Thank you for using the system of perfect justice.” The door opened, and before he could run to meet greet Zero-Zero, the little man hugged Pancho and thanked him for saving his life and forgiving him.When he was leaving his sphere, he noticed so many other people hitting eachother, some lying on beds, some so injured that they could not even move. Zero-Zero explained that the main problem with the perfect justice system was that it was almost impossible to give out exactly the correct amount of harm, and the people would end up hitting each other for days and days. Everyone was so scared of this system that people started living in isolated spheres, never meeting or talking to anyone.A few days later, Pancho returned home, but his name was never forgotten on that planet. Previously, no one had forgiven anyone for anything, but thanks to him they had discovered that forgiveness is a necessary part of justice. Moral:Revenge is not the only way to gain justice. Forgiveness is equally important. Infact, forgiveness brings peace of mind but revenge always brings chaos of mind.

This is a story of friend, planet and robot.Moral(s) of the story: forgiveness and justice

Perfect justice

Nishita Sanghvi

In a village lived Madhuril. She was a poor carpenter's daughter who did not have too many toys, hence she would stand outside the toy shop longing to get at least some of them.Her father did take notice of this and felt really dissapointed as he felt he was not able to fulfill his daughters wishes. Even the shopkeeper would see Madhuri's sad face and feel bad for her, but none could do anything.It was then Madhuri's mother who thought of a great idea, that they could pay for her toy over a period of time and as mischells luck would have it, the shopkeeper also agreed.It was a doll that Madhuri had her eyes on. Finally her dream came true and the doll was given to&nbsp;her. She would play with the doll day and night not realizing the time, and also carry the doll wherever she went though her mom had advised her not to.A fun fair took place every year in the village where all the kids would really enjoy. As usual Madhuri's doll accompanied her. The fair had lots of games, rides, and food for the kids, it also had shopping for the elders. So it kept all ages quite busy. However in the midst of this commotion someone picked up the doll.Hell broke loose for Madhuri, she could not find the doll anywhere. She realized now that it was difficult to find her doll in the fair. She was terribly disappointed; she wished so badly she had left it at home. She felt so bad that she went back to search for her doll starting at the toy shop.Fortunately a lady with her child came to the toy shop, she recognized Madhuri as she had seen her at the fun fair holding the same doll as her daughter. She asked Madhuri, “Why are you looking so sad?”. Madhuri replied, “Because I lost my only favourite doll.” The lady then realized what she had picked up by mistake was Madhuri's doll. She said “Come to my place, I shall give your doll back”. Madhuri was really amazed to hear this. At the lady's place she saw her doll and another one that looked exactly the same, “Oh! What a coincidence!”, uttered Madhuri, “they both are the same”.She not only got her favourite doll back but also made a friend.

This is a story of doll, mother and father.

What a coincidence!

A man was polishing his new car; his 4 yr old daughter picked up a stone and scratched on the side of the car.In anger, the furious man took his child’s hand &amp; hit it many times, not realizing he was using a wrench. At the hospital, the child lost all her fingers due to multiple fractures.When the child saw her father, with painful eyes she asked ‘Dad when will my fingers grow back?’ The man was very hurt and speechless.He went back to the car and kicked it many times. Devastated by his own actions, sitting in front of the car he looked at the scratches, his daughter had written ‘LOVE YOU DAD’.Moral: Anger and Love have no limit. Things are to be used and people are to be loved.

This is a story of car, daughter, father, fingers and hospital.Moral(s) of the story: anger and love

relationship 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.