Indian Folk Tales

The Good and The Bad Head

  Once there existed a weird bird called Gharuda. The bird lived on a mango tree near a river. Gharuda possessed two necks but only one stomach. Once, when the bird was hunting for food near the river banks, it came across a brown fruit. The fruit appeared delicious and worth eating. The bird caught the fruit and started eating the fruit with one head. It was the yummiest food the bird had eaten in its life. The second head which didn’t taste the fruit said to the first one, “Please allow me also to taste the delicious fruit. “

Hearing this first head replied, “You very well know, we have one stomach and two heads. Any one of the head eats the food; it is going to reach the stomach. So it hardly makes any difference whichever head eats the food. I have all right over the food, since I was the first to find it.” Hearing this second head got disappointed and felt hurt because of the selfish nature of the first head.

The second head humbly didn’t argue with the first. After some day, the second day came across a tree bearing poisonous fruits. He got hold of the fruit and angrily said to the first head, “You selfish one, I will now eat this poisonous fruit and take revenge on your selfish behavior some day back. You deceived me, this is the right time to reward you for your dreadful behavior.”

The first head got afraid by this behavior of the second head. He yelled at him, “Please don’t do this to me. Don’t eat this poisonous food. We have one stomach and if you eat this fruit both of us will die due to its poison.” Angrily the second head said, “Be quiet. The other day, you said you found the fruit so you had the right to consume it. I have hunted down this fruit, so I have the authority to consume it.” Hearing this, tears started flowing through the eyes of the first head. But this didn’t bother the second head. He carried on eating the fruit. After sometime, poison started spreading inside the stomach and gradually in all parts of the body. Eventually, both died because of the poison.

Moral : Always share good things with others. It brings more good things to

Greedy Hunter and Jackal

  Once, in a village named Ramgarh resided a hunter Shanker with his wife and 2 children. Everyday, he used to go to the jungle to hunt animals. This was his occupation by means of which he earned a living for his family. One day, he left his house with the goal to hunt down a deer in the forest.

Fortunately, he could find a deer easily. He killed the deer instantly. Taking the dead deer on his shoulders, he started heading towards his house.

On the way back home, he spotted a wild boar. He thought to himself, “Today is a lucky day for me. I have another animal to hunt down. My family will have a stomach filling meal for the next two days.” Thinking so, he immediately dropped the dead dear down and struck the boar with his arrow. Having missed his aim, the arrow struck the boar on the side of the neck. The boar cried out in anger and pain.

Seeing the hunter, he charged towards him and hit the hunter’s stomach with its pointed tusks. The hunter shouted in agony and dropped on the ground. The tusks had pierced inside the body of the hunter. Within a few minutes, the hunter and the boar lay dead on the ground.

After a few minutes, a jackal passed the spot where the hunter and the boar were lying dead. He walked a few steps ahead and found a dead dear too. The jackal was hungry and he was surprised to find so much food for himself. He said to himself, “I am so lucky to find so much to eat in one day. I didn’t have to make any efforts to kill any of them. I will however, eat them one by one so that the meal can last for as long as 3 days. I don’t have to hunt for food till then. I am going to have a feast for the next 3 days and a peaceful sleep.”

Thinking so, he began to lick the arrow. The moment he ate the pointed arrow, it stuck to his jaw and pierced inside his mouth. Unable to withstand the pain, the jackal too died on the spot.

Thus the hunter and the Jackal died a sudden death out of greed to acquire more. If they would have been satisfied they would have been alive.

One never gets paid for being greedy. Greed always results in loss. One should be satisfied with what one acquires.

Honest Donkey and Wicked Dog

  In Junagarh village resided a washer man named Ramesh. He had two pets, a donkey named Bhola and a dog named Moti. Moti used to protect Ramesh’s house and Bhola used to carry the clothes laid on his back to the river and back home. Ramesh was very kind towards his pets.

One night, when everyone was fast asleep, a thief entered the house. Moti saw the thief but didn’t bark. On seeing this, Bhola asked Moti, “You saw the thief and still didn’t bark. What is the reason?”

Moti arrogantly replied, “You don’t have to tell me about my responsibilities. I have been taking care of this house since a long time. But our master doesn’t seem to understand this. He gives me less food and doesn’t treat me well. If I allow this thief to steal, at least our master will understand my worth.”

Bhola got irritated and said, “Do not act like a fool. This is not the time to prove your worth. This is the only time when you can act and protect your master’s house. Stop wasting time and wake our master immediately.”

However, the Moti didn’t listen to Bhola. He replied, “Why should I care when he has no respect for me. I am not going to wake him. If you want, you can follow your duties.”

Bhola shouted at him, “You are so foolish. You have no gratitude towards our master. This is the right time to show your worth but you are dumb not to do so. Anyways, I respect my master and I will alarm him about the thief.”

Bhola started braying loudly. Listeining to his noise Ramesh woke up. Seeing all this, the thief ran away quickly. Ramesh looked out if someone had come, but he couldn’t find anyway. Ramesh got angry that Bhola had disturbed his sleep for no reason. He started thrashing Bhola with a stick. Bhola was left with a lot of injuries all over his body.

Thus, sometimes it is better to mind ones own business than getting paid for interfering.

King Trishanku and his transformation into a coconut

  Once there was a king named Trishanku in a village called Ramnagar. He was a wise king, with a great heart. He used to treat his subjects equally. His subjects were very grateful to have a king like him. He had one wish. He wanted to go to heaven. He wanted to see the heaven, as he had heard many stories about the same.

He helped sage Vishwamitra once during his rule. The sage wished to pay him back by fulfilling his desire.

The sage started performing the pooja to send Trishanku to heaven. As the pooja was going on, the King started rising towards heaven.

On the way to the heaven, Lord Indra the king of all Gods, saw Trishanku entering the gates on the way to the heaven. He got angry and he caught hold of Trishanku and threw him back towards the earth. Vishwamitra saw this conduct of Indra and shouted back at him. He said, “Lord Indra, let Trishanku enter the heaven. Let him be there.”

At this point of time, Trishanku was held were he was. He was held in between the earth and Heaven. Lord Indra did not allow him to ascend upwards and Vishwamitra did not let him descend down wards. He got confused with the behavior of the two.

Vishwamitra knew the anger of Lord Indra. But he too decided not to give up. He knew that without any support from the earth, Trishanku would finally fall down due to the gravity of the earth. So he put a pole in support below Trishanku. It is said that, the pole finally got transformed into coconut tree and King Trishanku became the fruit on the top of the tree. Trishanku’s beard became the fibre of the coconut tree. When one removes the fibre off the coconut, one can see two black circles. Those were considered the eyes of the king.