Ravina Sewani

Akbar’s court was famous for the witty question answer sessions between the Emperor himself, and his clever minister Birbal.On one such occasion – Akbar asked his courtiers whether they could tell the difference between truth and untruth within three words. All the courtiers started racking their brains to search for the three most appropriate words in which they could tell the difference between the truth and the untruth. But, enough time passed and none of them could come up with an answer.Birbal was also present in the court, but kept mum. The Emperor asked him, “What about you, Birbal? Why are you so silent?”“Your Majesty!” Birbal politely replied, “I was giving a chance to others first. In my opinion, the right answer would be: Four fingers.”The Emperor asked Birbal, “How is that, Birbal? Explain it to all!”“Yes, Your Majesty, four fingers is the difference between truth and untruth. What your eyes see is truth, and what your ears hear, may be false.”“I agree with that, but why did you say that the difference between truth and untruth is four fingers?” Akbar said.Birbal bowed and said, “Four fingers is the distance between one’s eyes and one’s ears, Your Majesty!” Akbar was very astonished to hear Birbal’s well thought reply. Moral:Never believe on what you hear from several mouths. Often times, the things we hear turn out to be mere rumours. It is better to trust our eyes than anyone else’s words.&nbsp;&nbsp;

This is story of Akbar Birbal.Moral(s) of the story: honesty and lying

Truth and Untruth

Shina Utavani

There was once a baby camel who used to live with her mother. One day, the baby camel was lost in deep thought when she was lying on the ground with her mother. The mother saw her and asked what was wrong with her. The baby camel said nothing.The baby camel could not resist anymore and the next day, she said, “Mom, why do the camels have humps?” The mother smiled and said, “Well, the humps help us to store the water for days. As we are desert animals, we can survive without water because of our humps.”The baby camel had many questions to ask. She then asked, “Why do camels have long legs and rounded feet?” The mother replied, “They help us in walking in the hot desert. The long legs and rounded feet help the camel walk in the desert better than anyone else.” The curious baby camel then asked, “Mom, why do we have long eyelashes? Sometimes it bothers my sight.” Mother camel replied with pride, “My baby, these long thick eyelashes are your protective cover. The help us in protecting our eyes from the desert sand and wind.”The baby camel was again lost in her thoughts. After thinking for a while, she said, “Well, we have humps that help us in storing the water when we are in desert, the long legs help us in walking through the desert and these big eyelashes protect our eyes from the desert then what in god’s name are we doing here in the Zoo?”. The mother camel could not answer this question and become speechless. Moral:The moral for parents to take away from this story is to always try and answer your child’s question. If you don’t, your child will never be curious again. To some questions, you might not be able to give a satisfactory answer. At that moment tell them that you will get back to this question when they are of the age or when it is the right time.

This is a story of camel, desert and zoo.Moral(s) of the story: curiosity

Baby Camel and his Mother

King Vikram was given the duty of bringing Betal to a tantric. Betal traditionally means ‘evil spirit’. Each time Vikram tried to capture Betal, it told him a story that ended with a riddle. If Vikram could not answer the question correctly, Betal agreed to remain in captivity. But, if the king knew the answer and still kept quiet, his head would burst into a thousand pieces. And if King Vikram spoke, Betal would escape and return to his tree.Betal began another story, as he was being carried upon King Vikramaditya’s shoulders.A long time ago, there was a beautiful and intelligent princess named Chandralekha. Many suitors came to offer proposals of marriage to her. She always declined, saying, “My husband should be strong, courageous and talented.”One day, a prince named Virendra came to propose to Chandralekha. He said, “I can tell the fortune of people and have never been proven wrong.”Chandralekha offered him a chamber in the palace to stay in while she made her decision.The next day, Prince Udaivir arrived, wanting to have her hand in marriage. “I have a chariot which can run on land as well as in the sky,” said the prince, hoping to impress her.He too was offered a chamber in the palace to wait.The third day, Prince Dhananjay came to ask for Chandralekha’s hand in marriage. He boasted, “I am an unparalleled warrior. No one can destroy me!”Chandralekha asked him to wait while she chose between the three.The next morning, Chandralekha’s mother was horrified to find her daughter was missing. Scared for her well-being, she called upon the three princes to help find the princess.Prince Virendra closed his eyes for a moment and then said, “As a fortune teller, I can see that the princess has been kidnapped by a giant who wants to marry her.”Next, Prince Udaivir said, “My chariot is the fastest, we can rush to save the princess!” With that, the three princes, rode off in the chariot.Upon reaching the giant’s lair, Prince Dhananjay took out his sword, fought the giant bravely and won.Chandralekha was returned safely to her mother and the kingdom was at peace.“So tell me King Vikramaditya,” said Betal. “Who should the princess choose as her groom?”King Vikramaditya thought and then said, “Prince Dhananjay deserves to be the groom. Even though Prince Virendra foretold where the princess would be and Prince Udaivir used his chariot to take them there, Prince Dhananjay defeated the giant. Without his strength, the giant would have eaten them all!”Betal looked at the king and said, “Right you are, my king. But you have opened your mouth to speak and so I must fly away, back to my tree!” With that, Betal was chased once more by King Vikramaditya. Moral:It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

This is a story of king, prince, princess and Vikram Betal.Moral(s) of the story: bravery and strength

Princess Chandralekha

Yesha Desai

Once upon a time some men, who lived in the city, decided to have a picnic in the woods. They carried baskets full of delicious eatables with themselves. All the dishes were so tasty that they finished off everything much before supper time.One of the men volunteered to go alone inside the forest and get some fresh meat. He took a big club and went deep into the woods. He halted near a lake and thought of a clever plan to catch the animals. He lay down on the ground near the lake, clenching the club firmly in hand and pretended to be dead.After some time, a pack of wolves came there to drink water. The king of wolves was very clever. He saw the man lying on the ground and suspected that there was something wrong. He said, “I am certain that this man is trying to trick us into some trap. All of you stay here while I will go and find out whether he is really dead, or just pretending to be dead.”Then the king of wolves stealthily crept near the man and softly pulled the club with his teeth. At once, the man pulled back his club. The king of the wolves fled saying, “If you had been dead, you would not have pulled back your club when I tried to pull it away. You were actually planning to kill one of us for your supper.”The man got furious on getting outsmarted by a wolf. He jumped up and threw his club at the king of the wolves. But he missed his aim. He looked for the other animals but they had all run away on hearing the commotion.Then the man went back to his friends with a long face and told them the story about how his clever trick was foiled by an even cleverer wolf. That day the men could not find anything else to eat and had to return to their homes hungry. Moral:There is always someone cleverer and better than you.

This is a classic story form Jataka tales.This is a story of wolf.Moral(s) of the story: widom

The cunning wolf

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 “The Ramayana”.Lord Hanuman was gloomy after the coronation ceremony of Lord Rama. He sat in the corner, meditating on Lord Rama with closed eyes. Tears were flowing incessantly from his eyes.Sita noticed and informed Lord Rama at once about it. Rama went near to Hanuman and said, “I cannot give you anything in return for your Bhakti and Devotion. The only thing I can do is take you along with me to Vaikuntha”. Hanuman asked, “Will you be there with me in Vaikuntha” to which Lord Rama replied, “Yes, not as Rama, but as Lord Mahavishnu.” Lord Mahavishnu is the cause, and Lord Rama is the effect’.Hanuman replied, “I wouldn’t go to a place where Lord Rama isn’t present. I will stay back in Ayodhya and will continue meditating in the name of Lord Rama.”

This is a story of Hanuman, Rama and Vishnu.

When Hanuman Refused To Obey Lord Rama

Once upon a time there lived a very old tiger in a jungle. When he lost the strength and speed of his youth, he thought, “Now I can’t hunt any more. I must find out some trick to save myself from starvation.”After thinking for a long time, the tiger hit upon a plan. He proclaimed, “Now I am very old. Therefore, I will spend the rest of my life piously. I will live on fruits and grass and chant the name of God all the time. Birds and animals of the jungle need not fear me anymore.”Some innocent animals believed every word of the tiger. “What a great saint!” they said. “We must go and pay our respects to him.” So every day a few animals went to meet him in his cave. The tiger jumped upon the innocent animals and ate them. Thus he managed to keep off starvation.A fox came to know about the saintly tiger. He said to himself, “I can’t believe it. How can a tiger ever live on fruits and grass? I must go and find out the truth myself.”So one day the fox went to the tiger’s cave. He stopped at the entrance of the cave. Very carefully and minutely he examined the footprints of the animals who had visited the cave earlier. He noticed that all the footprints pointed towards the cave. There was no sign of footprints going out of the cave. So he said, “I don’t want to die to keep this false saint alive,” and went away. Moral:Never take a satan’s words for granted.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.This is a story of fox and tiger.Moral(s) of the story: smartness

The Saintly Tiger

Charlie was a rich boy and had way more toys than he could take care of. His parents were very rich and would keep buying new toys for him. Charlie had no idea how much everything costs and would never put efforts in taking care of his things. He did not even realise that not all children get to play with the kind of toys he had.&nbsp;One day, he lost all interest in the toys he had and wanted something unique. Charlie’s uncle found a horse and gifted it to him. Charlie was very happy with his gift and learned to ride the horse. But he was still careless about his horse and would not clean or feed the horse regularly. In no time, the horse started losing weight and looked sick. Charlie, for the first time in his life, was upset about this and was not happy about the fact that his parents were ready to exchange his old horse for a new one.One day while riding, he saw a girl with her horse. Her horse was in perfect health and looked happy. He followed the girl and noticed that the girl never hit the horse with a whip while riding. When she reached the stable, she fed the horse and cleaned it. Charlie did not know how to do all this and so went up to the girl and asked her to teach him everything.Charlie, from that onward, put all his efforts in taking care of his horse. When his horse was in good health again and ready to ride, Charlie went on a ride with the girl. This made him the happiest. Charlie realized that take care of things brings happiness but it also requires time, efforts, and dedication.&nbsp;Charlie then stopped asking for new toys. He gave some toys to his new friend and distributed other toys to several children in the village. The toys that he kept with himself, he took great care of them too. Moral:No one is going to take care of our things. It is us who have to take the responsibility and look after our belongings.

This is a story of a story and his owner.Moral(s) of the story: caring and sharing

Charlie and the horse

Once there was a little mouse named Fred who wanted to paint his mouse-house red.All the little critters came and said, "Oh please don't paint your mouse-house red, Fred!If you do then you could lose your bed! Some big, old kitty might see that redAnd come on over and take your bed!"Fred whispered to them with fearful dread, "Don't want that kitty to take my bed! I like my bed!" that little mouse said.The animals said to their friend Fred, "We sure don't want you to lose that bed." So they got together and they said, "We'll help you plant red flowers instead!"They tilled the dirt where the critters tread,Where many of them were born and bredAnd planted seeds behind and ahead.They covered Fred's house with flowers red.Round and round the animals sped.Fred gave them all some jam and bread. Then they all went home and went to bed!

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

A Mouse named FRED

Two deer named Beauty and Brownie lived with their father and mother and great herds of deer in a forest. One day their father called them and said, “Dear children, the time has come for the corn in the fields to ripen. It is a time of great danger for us as when the corn is ripening in the fields, the hunters set their traps there to catch us. It will be best for both of you to go away for a while. Each one of you must also take a small herd of young deer with you and keep it safe.”The children asked their father, “Dear father, will you not be accompanying us?” The father replied, “No, there is enough food for me and your mother here! We will stay back with some old deer. But you must leave with the young deer as there is not enough food for all of us. At the hills, you will find plenty of food to sustain yourselves till the time, the corn in the fields is harvested and it is safe to return.” He further instructed them, “Remember to travel by night, because the hunters will see you if you go by day. And you must not take your herd near the villages where hunters live.”So Beauty and Brownie both took one herd of young deer and bid adieu to their parents. Beauty remembered his father’s instructions word by word and always travelled at night. He never allowed any deer of his herd to go near any villages. But Brownie was completely oblivious of his father’s advice. He fearlessly travelled in the daylight and when he saw a village, he led his herd right past it. The hunters were able to clearly spot Brownie’s herd, and they killed many deer from his herd.When the crops had been cut, the deer started returning to the forest. Beauty proudly came back with all the deer of his herd while Brownie could bring back only a few.That is why it is said, we must never ignore the advice of our elders. Moral:We should not ignore the advice of our elders.

This is a classic story from Jataka tales.This is a story of deer.Moral(s) of the story: obedience

thanksgiving 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.