The Power of a rumour

A hare resting under a banyan tree had a premonition of doom.
“What would happen to me if the earth were to break up?” he wondered. Suddenly, there was a ‘thud’ followed by a rumbling sound.
“It’s happened,” thought the hare, “the earth’s breaking up!”
He jumped up and ran.
“Why are you running?” asked a hare who crossed his path.
“The earth’s breaking up!” shouted the hare. “You’d better run too.”
The second hare ran so fast he overtook the first.
“The earth’s breaking up, the earth’s breaking up!” he shouted to other hares he passed. Soon thousands of hares were scampering through the forest.
Other animals got caught up in the panic. The word spread from mouth to mouth, and soon everyone knew: the earth was breaking up.
It was not long before the whole jungle was on the move. Reptiles, insects, birds and four-footed animals fled in wild disorder, and their cries of terror filled the air.

A lion standing on a hillock, saw the animals coming and wondered what was going on. He hastened down and positioning himself in front of the horde called for it to stop.
His commanding presence stemmed the rising tide of panic among the animals.
“The earth is breaking up!” shrieked a parrot, alighting on a rock near him.
“Who says so?”
“I heard it from the monkeys."
The monkeys said they had heard it from the tigers, who said their informants were the elephants, who gave the buffaloes as their source.When the hares were finally implicated they pointed one to another until the one who had started it all was identified.
“What makes you think the earth is breaking up?” the lion asked him.
“I heard it cracking with my own ears, sire,” squeaked the hare, trembling in fear.
The lion investigated the sound the hare had heard and found that it had been caused by a large coconut falling from a tree. It had landed on a pile of rocks, causing a minor landslide.
“Go back to your homes,” said the lion to the animals who had been running away, and who were now looking very foolish. “The earth’s safe. Next time, check a rumour before acting on it.”

Costly Gifts

One day a king stepped out of the gates of his palace and found a man standing there. The man had a plump chicken in his hands. On seeing the king he bowed respectfully and said: 'Maharaj, I gambled in your name and won this chicken. It belongs to you. Please accept it." "Give it to my poultry keeper," said the king.

A few days later the king saw the man standing outside the gates again. This time he had a goat with him. "I won this goat in your name, Maharaj," he said after saluting the ruler. "It belongs to you."
The king was pleased. "Give it to my goatkeeper," he said.

Some weeks later the man was at the palace gates once again.
This time he had two men with him.

"I lost 500 varahas to each of these men while playing in your name, Maharaj," said the man. "I have no money to pay them."
The king realised he had made a mistake in accepting the man's gifts on the previous occasions. Now he could not refuse to help him. He paid off the two men and warned the gambler never to play in his name again.

What you gave is your only investment

What one gives to others is the only thing he gets. There is a famous sarcastic saying about misers which goes like this: "A miser is a greater donor than a Daata! Well, the reason is that a Daata will give away his things to others and may be uses a little portion of his money, whereas a miser gaurds his money his entire life and without he enjoying any bit of it, people take it away after he dies :)". A person who does not help others cannot be helped even by the God.

Once there used to live a great miser, who never gave anything to anyone. He obviously reached naraka and was given huge unbearable punishments. He used to lament very much for his poor state and beg God everyday to save him from the naraka. God, as usual, took pity on the poor state of the miser and wanted to somehow find a way of helping him. But even with a lot of effort, a few meetings with Chitragupta, finds nothing which the miser gave to anybody in order that God can give him something. Finally God managed to find a tiny piece of good that the miser did in some of his janmas:

The miser once, somehow, gave a small piece of spoilt banana to somebody. God, seeing it as an oppurtunity to help the lamenting miser in naraka, made a stick appear before him — with which he could climb out of naraka. The miser very happy to have received the fortune, quickly began climbing the stick. Other people in the naraka, who were also longing to get out of naraka, tried to use the stick to get out. The miser started pushing down all the other people and was saying that "the stick was provided for me by God, and you cannot use it". Immediately the stick dissappeared and the miser was back in the naraka.

Morals in the story:

One must always share whatever he has with others. A person who is a miser will never deserve higher worlds.
Even God cannot help people who do not help others. Everyone has to bear the consequences his own karma. The easiest way is to do good karmas in the name of God, and let Him decide the vidhi. There is no need to blame the God for our difficulties. It was our own karma which gave us the difficulties.

Best Human

A sage presented a prince with a set of three small dolls. The prince was not amused.
"Am I a girl that you give me dolls?" he asked.
"This is a gift for a future king," said the man. "If you look carefully, you'll see a hole in the ear of each doll."
"So?"
The sage handed him a piece of string.
"Pass it through each doll," he said.
Intrigued, the prince picked up the first doll and put the string into the ear.
It came out from the other ear.
"This is one type of person," said the man. "Whatever you tell him, comes out from the other ear. He doesn't retain anything."
The prince put the string into the second doll. It came out from the mouth.
"This is the second type of person," said the man. "Whatever you tell him, he tells everybody else."
The prince picked up the third doll and repeated the process. The string did not reappear from anywhere else.
"This is the third type of person," said the man. "Whatever you tell him is locked up within him. It never comes out."
"What is the best type of person?" asked the prince.
The man handed him a fourth doll, in answer.
When the prince put the string into the doll, it came out from the other ear.
"Do it again," said the sage. The prince repeated the process. This time the string came out from the mouth. When he put the string in a third time, it did not come out at all.
"This is the best type of person," said the sage. "To be trustworthy, a man must know when not to listen, when to remain silent and when to speak out."

Hard Work

Hard work can do wonders

In Indian culture vairaagyam was always given ultimate importance. But careful, there is a very thin line that separates vairaagyam and laziness. In vairaagyam all karma is done but without expecting anything in return, without being involved in the materialistic aspects of karma. Bhagiratha, with his unparalleled effort to bring Ganga to earth, showed us how much effort a man can put in and as a result what wonders can be done.

On knowing that his ancestors (60000 Sagara Kumaras) will reach swarga only if the pure waters of Ganga flow through their ashes, from his mother, Bhagiratha immediately leaves to Himalayas to do tapas for Lord Brahma:

After purifying himself in a pushkarini, it starts tapas with extra-ordinary concentration.

Starts with padmaasana and in winter stood in the freezing waters of the lake with water up to chest!

In Summer stands in the middle of burning pancha-agnis (four agnis + sun) and steadily stared at the sun with eyes wide open (all the while concentrating on Brahma deva)!!

During the first few days, he had food only once a day. Later it was once in a few days. Then it became once in a month. After that, he just used to drink a little water and continue his ‘Tapas’. Finally the air was his only food!!!
1000 years passed….!!!!

Brahma, the creator of the worlds, on the requests of Gods to save them from the tremendous tapaagni of Bhagiratha, appears before him and blesses him with children and Ganga. However, Brahma deva suggests that none except Parama Shiva can take the force when Ganga falls onto earth, and if not with that force earth will be washed away…

Men are of three kinds:

There are cowards, who do not begin their work at all, afraid that some trouble may arise midway.

Those who begin but later give up the task, afraid of the difficulties that arise.
Brave people who belong to a third group. They continue to work in spite of even an army of difficulties, and finally achieve the goal.

Bhagiratha belonged to this third category of brave men. He again began a severe ‘Tapas’ to please Lord Ishwara. With folded hands, and standing on one leg, he meditated on Lord iswara with the deepest concentration. So a whole year passed. Pleased with Bhagiratha’s devotion Lord ishwara takes the immense force of Ganga and controls her in his jataajutam. He completely stops her from flowing to teach her a lesson (she was a mischievous girl, proud of her strength!), but for Bhagiratha it was another difficulty… But he again with tapas pleases Lord Shiva to release Ganga down to earth. Ganga followed Bhagiratha shyly and slowly, like his daughter (Bhaagirathi). But she grew a little mischievous, though Shiva taught her a lesson once, when near Jahnu maharshi’s ashram. She wandered all over the Ashrama like a small girl and the entire place was filled with water. Disturbed from tapas by it, Jahnu maharshi in a single gulp swallows her entirely. And suddenly difficulties again for Bhagiratha. But it is not the first time for him, so immediately pleases Jahnu maharshi (Jaahnavi comes out of Jahnu maharshi’s ear) and finally sends his ancestors to higher worlds…..

Investment in life

What you gave is your only investment

What one gives to others is the only thing he gets. There is a famous sarcastic saying about misers which goes like this: "A miser is a greater donor than a Daata! Well, the reason is that a Daata will give away his things to others and may be uses a little portion of his money, whereas a miser gaurds his money his entire life and without he enjoying any bit of it, people take it away after he dies :)". A person who does not help others cannot be helped even by the God.

Once there used to live a great miser, who never gave anything to anyone. He obviously reached naraka and was given huge unbearable punishments. He used to lament very much for his poor state and beg God everyday to save him from the naraka. God, as usual, took pity on the poor state of the miser and wanted to somehow find a way of helping him. But even with a lot of effort, a few meetings with Chitragupta, finds nothing which the miser gave to anybody in order that God can give him something. Finally God managed to find a tiny piece of good that the miser did in some of his janmas:

The miser once, somehow, gave a small piece of spoilt banana to somebody. God, seeing it as an oppurtunity to help the lamenting miser in naraka, made a stick appear before him — with which he could climb out of naraka. The miser very happy to have received the fortune, quickly began climbing the stick. Other people in the naraka, who were also longing to get out of naraka, tried to use the stick to get out. The miser started pushing down all the other people and was saying that "the stick was provided for me by God, and you cannot use it". Immediately the stick dissappeared and the miser was back in the naraka.

Morals in the story:

One must always share whatever he has with others. A person who is a miser will never deserve higher worlds.
Even God cannot help people who do not help others. Everyone has to bear the consequences his own karma. The easiest way is to do good karmas in the name of God, and let Him decide the vidhi. There is no need to blame the God for our difficulties. It was our own karma which gave us the difficulties.

Respect

Respect to Elders
The story of markandeya maharshi, the child born with Alpaayu but made a chiranjeeva by the grace of Lord Shiva, is well known. His father was Mrukanda maharshi. He also had alpaayu. So after his upanayanam his father told him to bow to all elders and get their blessings. He followed his father’s words. He used to bow to every one whether a pandit or a lay man. Once saptarshis came to Mrukanda’s father. Mrukanda in his usual habit, bowed to them and got the blessings of the great saptarishis. The blessing was “dhirga ayushman bhava”. After knowing the truth that is life was short they went to Lord Bramha to solve this puzzle. Mrukanda bowed to Brahma too. And he also gave him the same boon, “dhirga ayushman bhava”.

Morals in the story:

Respecting elders and parents is one of the foremost principles of Indian culture. Even Lord Krishna used to prostrate before his elders, however bad they may be…
Since the saptarishis always speak the truth, whatever they spoke became true. With the power of truth, even the unavoidable death can be stopped!

Bad habits

A wealthy man requested an old scholar to wean his son away from his bad habits.
The scholar took the youth for a stroll through a garden. Stopping suddenly he asked the boy to pull out a tiny plant growing there. The youth held the plant between his thumb and forefinger and pulled it out. The old man then asked him to pull out a slightly bigger plant. The youth pulled hard and the plant came out, roots and all.
"Now pull out that one," said the old man pointing to a bush. The boy had to use all his strength to pull it out.

"Now take this one out," said the old man, indicating a guava tree. The youth grasped the trunk and tried to pull it out. But it would not budge.

"I – It's impossible," said the boy, panting with the effort.
"So it is with bad habits," said the sage. "When they are young it is easy to pull them out but when they take hold they cannot be uprooted."
The session with the old man changed the boy's life.

Dharmam

A young sage sitting in meditation under a tree was splattered by the droppings of a bird.

He looked up angrily at the culprit and such was the intensity of his wrath that the bird was reduced to ash.

His concentration disturbed, the sage got up and went in search of food. He knocked at the door of a house but there was no answer. He knocked again and the lady of the house shouted that she was coming. Presently she came out with food and seeing that he was annoyed at having had to wait so long, smiled and said: "Please don't try to burn me with your angry glance like you did that bird. My dharma as a housewife is first to take care of the needs of my family before attending to the needs of others."

The sage realised that she was no ordinary woman and was ashamed of himself. He asked her to teach him what dharma was. She said he should see Dharma Vyadha.

The sage went in search of Dharma Vyadha expecting to find a venerable sage but the man turned out to be a meatseller.

Dharma Vyadha made him wait while he served his customers. When the sage showed signs of impatience, the meatseller smiled and said: "Just as the woman's first duty was to her family, my first duty is to my customers."

So the sage waited. When the last of his customers had gone, the meatseller turned to the sage and invited him home.

When they reached Dharma Vyadha's house the sage was again made to wait while his host lovingly attended to his parents. It was quite some time before the meatseller could return to his guest but the young man showed no trace of anger. A transformation had come over him.

"Now I know what dharma is," he said, rising and bowing to the meatseller.

Giving up the path of asceticism he returned home and begged forgiveness of his parents for having deserted them in their old age.

"I seek your blessings," he said, "to give me strength to do my dharma."

Who is miser?

The king was to pass by a beggar's hut and the man was beside himself with excitement, not because he was about to see the king but because the king was known to part with expensive jewels and huge sums of money when moved by compassion.
He saw the king's chariot just as a kindly man was filling his begging bowl with uncooked rice. Pushing the man aside, he ran into the street, shouting praises of the king and the royal family.

The chariot stopped and the king beckoned to the beggar.
"Who are you?" he asked.

"One of the most unfortunate of your subjects," said the beggar. "Poverty sits on my doorstep and follows me about like a dog. I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon!"
"Have you nothing for your king except a tale of woe?" said the ruler, putting out his hand. "Give me something."

The beggar, astonished, carefully picked up 5 grains of rice from his bowl and laid them on the king's outstretched palm.

The king drove away. The beggar's disappointment was great. He raved and ranted and cursed the king again and again for his miserliness. Finally, his anger spent, he went on his rounds.

When he returned home in the evening he found a bag of rice on the floor.
"Some generous soul has been here," he thought and took out a handful of rice from the bag. To his astonishment there was a small piece of gold in it. He realised then that the bag had been sent by the king. He emptied the rice on the floor, feeling sure there would be more gold pieces in it, and he was right. He found 5, one for each grain of rice he had given the king.

"It is not the king who has been miserly," thought the man, sadly. "If I had been generous and given him the whole bowl of rice, I would have been a rich man today."

Moral: " Be generous in your deeds"

Bridge

Once upon a time two brothers who lived on adjoining farms fell into conflict.

It was the first serious rift in 40 years of farming side by side, sharing machinery, and trading labor and goods as needed without a hitch.Then the long collaboration fell apart. It began with a small misunderstanding and it grew into a major difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by weeks of silence.

One morning there was a knock on John's door. He opened it to find a man with a carpenter's toolbox. "I'm looking for a few days work" he said."Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there I could help with? Could I help you?

"Yes," said the older brother. "I do have a job for you. Look across the creek at that farm. That's my neighbor, in fact, it's my younger brother.Last week there was a meadow between us and he took his bulldozer to the river levee and now there is a creek between us.

Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I'll go him one better. See that pile of lumber by the barn?I want you to build me a fence - - an 8-foot fence -- so I won't need to see his place or his face anymore."

The carpenter said, "I think I understand the situation. Show me the nails and the post hole digger and I'll be able to do a job that pleases you."

The older brother had to go to town, so he helped the carpenter get the materials ready and then he was off for the day. The carpenter worked hard all that day measuring, sawing, nailing, and hammering.

About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer's eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped. There was no fence there at all.

It was a bridge -- a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work handrails and all -- and the neighbor, his younger brother, was coming across, his hand outstretched."You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I've said and done."

The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other's hand. They turned to see the carpenter hoist his toolbox on his shoulder.

"No, wait! Stay a few days. I've a lot of other projects for you," said the older brother.

"I'd love to stay on," the carpenter said, "but, I have many more love bridges to build."

Day Dreaming

Gopal Bhar lived next door to a poor couple who had a habit of day-dreaming.
One day the husband said to his wife: "If I had some money I would buy a few cows."
"Then we would have a lot of milk," said his wife. "I could make plenty of butter and ghee and we could send some milk to my sister too." "Send milk to your sister!" exclaimed her husband. "How dare you suggest such a thing!"

"But we would have milk to spare," said his wife.

"We'll sell it!" said her husband. "I don't want any more talk on the subject and to make sure you don't carry milk to her when I'm away, I'm going to break every pot in the house!" And picking up the four or five pots they had, smashed them on the floor.
Gopal Bhar who was passing by at that time, asked him why he was breaking the pots and when he learnt the reason picked up a stick and started beating the air with it.
"What are you doing?!" asked his neighbour, puzzled.

"Driving away your cows!" said Gopal. "They've eaten the cucumbers in my garden."
"Eaten you cucumbers!" exclaimed the other man, indignantly. "But you don't even have a garden!"

"I'm going to have one soon," said Gopal, "and I'm going to grow cucumbers in it," and he began hitting out with the stick again.

The neighbours finally realised that Bhar was trying to show them how foolish it was to live in a world of make-believe and felt ashamed of themselves.

Evil begets Evil

There was once a king who was so cruel and unjust that his subjects yearned for his death or dethronement.

However, one day he surprised them all by announcing that he had decided to turn over a new leaf.“No more cruelty, no more injustice,” he promised, and he was as good as his word. He became known as the ‘Gentle Monarch’.

Months after his transformation one of his ministers plucked up enough courage to ask him what had brought about his change of heart, and the king answered:

“As I was galloping through my forests I caught sight of a fox being chased by a hound. The fox escaped into his hole but not before the hound had bitten into its leg and lamed it for life. Later I rode into a village and saw the same hound there. It was barking at a man. Even as I watched, the man picked up a huge stone and flung it at the dog, breaking its leg. The man had not gone far when he was kicked by a horse. His knee was shattered and he fell to the ground, disabled for life. The horse began to run but it fell into a hole and broke its leg. Reflecting on all that had happened, I thought: ‘Evil begets evil. If I continue in my evil ways, I will surely be overtaken by evil’. So I decided to change”.

The minister went away convinced that the time was ripe to overthrow the king and seize the throne. Immersed in thought, he did not see the steps in front of him and fell, breaking his neck.

Fear

There was a lion who feared nothing except the crowing of cocks. A chill would go down his spine whenever he heard a cock crowing.

One day he confessed his fear to the elephant, who was greatly amused.
“How can the crowing of a cock hurt you?” he asked the lion. “Think about it!”

Just then a mosquito began circling the elephant’s head, frightening him out of his wits.

“If it gets into my ear I’m doomed!” he shrieked, flailing at the insect with his trunk.
Now it was the lion’s turn to feel amused.

Moral: If we could see our fears as others see them we would realise that most of our fears make no sense!

Carpenter

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer- contractor of his plans to leave the house- building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.
When the carpenter finished his work the employer came to inspect the house. He handed the front-door key to the carpenter.

This is your house, he said, my gift to you.The carpenter was shocked! What a shame!
If he had only known he was building his own, he would have done it all so differently.

We do the most of the things having such thoughts in our mind. But we only realize when it comes back to us.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then with a shock we realize we have to live in the house that we have built. If we could do it over, we'd do it much differently. But we cannot go back.

You are the carpenter. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Life is a do-it-yourself project, someone has said. Your attitudes and the choices you make today, build the house you live in tomorrow. Build wisely!

Think before you act

The train has started moving. It is packed with people of all ages, mostly with the working men and women and young college guys and gals.

Near the window, seated a old man with his 30 year old son. As the train moves by, the son is overwhelmed with joy as he was thrilled with the scenery outside..

"See dad, the scenery of green trees moving away is very beautiful"

This behavior from a thirty year old son made the other people feel strange about him. Every one started murmuring something or other about this son."
This guy seems to be a krack.." newly married Anup whispered to his wife.

Suddenly it started raining... Rain drops fell on the travelers through the opened window. The Thirty year old son , filled with joy " see dad, how beautiful the rain is .."

Anup's wife got irritated with the rain drops spoiling her new suit.

Anup ," cant you see its raining, you old man, if ur son is not feeling well get him soon to a mental asylum..and dont disturb public henceforth"

The old man hesitated first and then in a low tone replied " we are on the way back from hospital, my son got discharged today morning , he was a blind by birth, last week only he got his vision, these rain and nature are new to his eyes.. Please forgive us for the inconvenience caused..."

What we see may not always be right !! Hence try to know the truth before you react.

Sorrows and Blessings

This story tells of two friends walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand:

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath.
The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now, you write on a stone. Why?"

The other friend replied, "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand, where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. When someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone, where no wind can ever erase it."
Learn to write your hurts in sand, and to carve your benefits in stone.

Unconditional love

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.

"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring home with me.

"Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him."

"There's something you should know," the son continued, "he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us."

"I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live."

"No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."

"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide.

The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one leg.

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are.

Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.

Tonight, before you tuck yourself in for the night, say a little prayer that God will give you the strength you need to accept people as they are, and to help us all be more understanding of those who are different from us!!! There's a miracle called Friendship That dwells in the heart You don't know how it happens Or when it gets started But you know the special lift it always brings. And you realize that Friendship Is God's most precious gift!

Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care.