Bhagawad Githa Tales for Children

Introduction
Raja Thatha was relaxing in his pet chair after his usual afternoon nap. Suddenly he felt as if somebody is trying to talk to him. He opened his eyes and in front of him were his granddaughters Maithree and Yamini and his grand son Rohan. Yamini being the youngest sat on his lap and Rohan being more serious took his seat on the nearby sofa. Maithree asked on their behalf. Thatha, you were telling us the other day about religious books of other religions. You also told us that our religion too has lot of books. We three want you to make us understand the book which you think represents our religion. Raja Thatha loudly laughed, My dear Kutties, it is not time yet for that. You all have to grow up and learn a lot for understanding our religion. Maithree was vociferous, But Thatha, only the other day you were telling us that only the one who does not know what he tells, tells like this. Does this mean you do not know about our religion? Thatha replied, In a sense it is true Maithree. But I would tell stories to you to teach what I know of the greatest religious book of the Hindus-The Gita. Yamini and Rohan started jumping and yelling story, story Thatha started telling the story

Why was Gita told?

King Pandu the younger brother of King Drutharashtra was ruling over Hasthinapur. While King Pandu had five sons, King Drutharashtra had one hundred sons and a daughter. Unfortunately King Pandu died early. Because of this all the 106 children were brought up together. Maithree asked, Thatha, it means they need not go to school and school would come to them. Raja Thatha replied, That is true Maithree and that is what happened. These children were taught by a great teacher called Drona and also by another teacher called Krupa. Time passed. The sons of Drutharashtra always quarreled

with the sons of Pandu. They all grew big .They all got married and had children. Rohan replied, Thatha, then one school would not be sufficient. Thatha replied, That is true Rohan. But what happened was the eldest son of Drutharashtra, whose name was Duryodhana, wanted to become the king after Drutharashtra. But he was much younger than the sons of Pandu. So by deceiving them, he drove them away. Our God who was born as Lord Krishna decided to help the sons of Pandu. He went and requested Duryodhana to give at least five houses for Pandavas instead of a big country. The children chorused, That is not fair Thatha. How can they be satisfied by five houses? If he did not give even that, he must be a very bad man. But Duryodhana refused. So the Pandavas decided to go for a war with Duryodhana, The grandfather of Pandavas and Duryodhana as well as their teachers decided to fight for Duryodhana. This is because he was their king, On the day of the war both armies came face to face. God Krishna who was driving the chariot of Arjuna took the chariot in the middle of the armies. Suddenly Arjuna realized that he had to kill his grand father, teachers and cousins to win the war. This made him very sad. So he told God Krishna, that he will not fight. He told him that if he had to kill all of them, their children will not have father and they will suffer. Maithree jumped up, raised her hand and told, I agree with Arjuna. Rohan and Yamini also nodded their heads. Then Krishna advised Arjuna that what he is thinking is wrong. Bad people whoever they are should be killed. If this is not done they would trouble more people. But Arjuna was not convinced. Maithree told, Thatha I think I understand. The other day some body told me that our neighbor aunty was troubled by a robber. Suppose you simply keep quiet, these robbers will start troubling all of us. Thatha said Amen. And concluded What Lord Krishna told and did to convince Arjuna is called the Song of the God .This is the meaning of its name Bhagawad Gita. This is possibly our greatest religious book. I would try to tell you what the book tells in the form of stories.

A modern Arjuna
Raja Thatha told, In a town of Indore there lived two brothers called Pandu and Ramesh. Both of them suffered lot disabilities. Though Pandu looked after the properties for some time, he died. He had a son called Arjuna. Arjuna was an extremely good boy. He lived in the house of Ramesh, even after the death of his father. After Pandus death, the family was looked after by Ramesh. Ramesh had several sons and daughter. The eldest of his son was Kamu. Kamu was a bad boy.

Maithree told, Thatha I am able to understand this better because I am not used to Gods, war etc. Thatha continued, Arjuna, Kamu and his brothers studied in one good school at Indore Arjuna was bright and all his teachers praised him. Kamu did not like this and complained about this to his father Ramesh. But Ramesh did not bother .Kamu got very angry because of this. He along with other bad boys used to trouble Arjuna very much. Krishna was the son of the brother of Arjunas mother. He felt sad that his cousin Arjuna was being troubled by Kamu. He told Arjuna that he should complain to the police about his cousins. He agreed provided Krishna accompanied him to the police station. But just before entering the police station, Arjuna saw that the police were beating some thieves. He told Krishna that he is prepared to suffer but will not complain to the police because they would best his cousin. Krishna told Arjuna that he was being silly. Unless he complains Kamu would always be troubling him. Kamu was a bad boy. He was not only troubling Arjuna but also others. But Arjuna was very firm. He was prepared to suffer. Rohan told, Thatha, I feel sad for Arjuna. I think it is right. Maithree told, Thatha, I too feel sad for Arjuna. I do not agree with Rohan. I feel that Arjuna should have gone to the police. Cannot Krishna complain, Thatha? Thatha replied, Yes, Krishna could complain. But he thought that it was right for Arjuna to do it.

To do is your job
In Ayodhya there lived a great man called Sri Sharman. He had three sons-Vishnu Ram, Shiva Ram and Ganesa Ram. The family was poor but they were all learned. Their father became very old and unable to work. The children chimed, Thatha why should people work. We do not work and you do nothing except telling us stories. Thatha replied, Children you are working, because you all are studying. Ofcourse like Sri Sharman, I have become old and not working. Thatha continued, So Sri Sharman called all his children and told them, I have become old and sick. Because of this I am not able to work any more, it is now your job to earn money . The brothers agreed with their father and went in search of a job. Maithree asked Thatha, Will, job play hide and seek Thatha, Why should one go in search of it. Thatha replied, my little one, it will be available in a place and you have to go there .like your going in search of the zoo, going to school. Maithree seem to understand and Thatha continued.

They first went to a rich man of the village called Saukar Ram. He had several shops and various places of work. He was supposed to be very wise. When the brothers went to him, he told them. I can give one of you a job. The job involves extremely hard work. Some times when you do the job, you may have to work and get nothing in the end. . Rohan told, Thatha that is cheating, suppose I am not promised a sweet daily, I would not take the bitter medicine that mummy gives. Suppose she promises, I gulp the bitter medicine and then do not get the sweet, it would not be fair. Thatha told, Rohan yes, suppose Mummy goes to her kitchen and finds that the sweet is over, how can she give it to you? Yamini chimed, Thatha dear, I do not want mummy to tell a lie to me. Smilingly Thatha continued the story. Ganesh Ram told him, I came here only because my father wanted me to go. I enjoy doing nothing. This job is not for me because I have to work hard. Maithree shouted, Is it not an excuse for being lazy? I wish that Ganesh Ram suffers a lot by not getting any food. Thatha acted as if he has not heard what she said and continued. Saukar Ram told him, My dear boy, what you are telling is wrong. All these years your father was working day and night and feeding you. If you do not work, how will you get money? Who will feed you? Rohan said, Thatha he is right, is he not Thatha said, Yes and continued. Ganesh Ram was not bothered and he decided to sleep in the shade of the tree. Yamini told. Thatha shall I also go and sleep under a tree. Thatha smiled and continued. Shiva Ram told him, I am prepared to work hard but I should be assured that I should always be able to achieve some results. Saukar Ram told him, This is not possible. By doing work, you always get some thing. But no own can assure you that what you get should always be good and Think again, your father is waiting for his food. Maithree told Thatha, I am able to understand little Thatha. I always do my exam well. But some times I do not get the mark I want. Suppose I do not write the exam, I will fail. Thatha nodded his head and continued. Shiva Ram replied, Suppose I work and get nothing in return, how can I feed my father. So I prefer not to work. Saukar Ram told him,By not working also you are not going to get anything. Shiva Ram replied, I do not bother. At least now I have the satisfaction of doing nothing and getting nothing. He also joined his brother and started sleeping in the tree shade. Vishnu Ram told Saukar Ram, I have been hearing your conversation, I clearly understand that by doing nothing you may not get anything. I also understand that by doing

something, I may not get what I want. Then I will not loose hope and I will again do the work. I will continue this till I get something to feed my father. Saukar Ram was happy and told Vishnu Ram, What you are telling is the truth. This truth was told by Lord Krishna to Arjuna in the second chapter of Gita. Not working is sin and when you work, you can only be master of what you do. You can never dictate what you want to get. It is like sowing a mango seed. Unless you sow the seed the tree would not grow. But while sowing you are not sure how many mango fruits you will harvest. Maithree shouted, The moral of the story is, Do your work always. You are the master of what you do and not the master of what you get.

Pray to God but do your duty

Maithree asked Thatha, Tomorrow is my examination, Thatha, I am studying well. My friend, Anjali does not study but always is seen as playing. I asked her, how she is going to pass the examination. She told. I have gone to the temple and prayed to God. Since I have prayed well, I need not study. Is it true thatha? Raja Thatha replied, Actually I wanted to tell about this before. There was an orthodox priest called Sarvagna in the city of New Delhi. He was seen always chanting the name of God. He had a grand son called Vijay. Vijay was a lazy boy. Even when examinations are their in school, he did not want to study. So he went to his grandpa and asked him, Grandpa, You are a great devotee of god. Can you not help me pass this examination without studying? His grandpa replied, That is very easy. I will write the thousand names of God in a slate using honey. Then I will wash the slate with holy water. If you drink the water, you will not only pass the examination but get very high marks. Vijay agreed to do that. His grandpa wrote the 1000 names of God and made him drink the water. Next day was the examination day. His mother scolded him for not studying. Vijay told his mother I have drunk a full glass of holy water given by Grandpa. I am sure; I would pass in my examination even without writing the examination. Maithree asked, How come thatha? Is it possible? If he does not write the examination, how many marks will he get? Thatha replied, Maithree, without writing examination, he would not pass. Yes, God will help you, if you pray to hi. But you should also obey him by doing the duty that God has given to you. In fact Vijay failed. Goldy told, Moral of the story is simple, You have to pray God and also do your duty given by him.

Sthitha Pragna
Hey Thatha , we are not able to understand the title of this story. Is it the name of a character. Anyway it looks too meaningless for all of us. , told Maithree to her Thatha. Thatha replied, Little darlings, please wait. That word is one of the great themes of chapter 2 of Gita. In simple terms it means,He who has a stable mind, Rohan asked, Thatha does it mean me .Because when I search for French fries, I do not like any other thing except French fries. Thatha replied It is not that simple Rohan Kutta What you are is Single mindedness butSthitha Pragna is something different. I shall try to explain it by a story. There was a sage called Kapila. People believed that he knew everything in the world. In the village he was living there were two brothers called Shyam and Ram. Both were very much different in their approach of things. They decided to learn Gita. Maithree told, Thatha they should not have tried but come to you for learning Gita. Thatha smiled and continued. They tried reading it. It was really tough. So they approached Saint Kapila. And told him, Great sage, we started learning Gita today. But we have just reached chapter 2. There is something in it called Sthitha pragna. Can you please help us to understand what it means? Sage Kapila said to them. I would take you for a pleasure trip and at the end please say whether you have understood what Sthitha Pragna is. Then first he took them to Himalayas. Both Ram and Shyam started shivering. Sage Kapila then showed them several people living in Himalayas. Not only they were not shivering but they seemed to enjoy the cold climate. From them Kapila requested two sages Mamuni and Ananda to accompany them. Yamini who was hearing the story told, Thatha now, there are five of them. Thatha replied, yes darling, all of them from there went to Vijayavada which was a hot place. Ram and Shyam started feeling the heat and started complaining. Mamuni who came with them also started complaining. But sage Ananda was as happy as he was in Himalayas. Then Sage Kapila told Ram and Shyam. See children. Both Mamuni and Ananda were sages like me. Both of them were happy in Himalayas. But in Vijayavada, which is a hot place Mamuni is feeling miserable. But Sage Ananda who was happy there is happy here also. Possibly Sage Ananda has a stable mind and is a Sthitha Pragna. Let us further test them. Let us all go to a Cinema. The children jumped with joy. They

liked to watch Cinema. Sage Kapila took them first to a picture of Charlie Chaplin. The children rolled in fun. Mamuni also seem to enjoy a lot. But Ananda who was with them was as calm as before. Sage Kapila asked Ananda, Sage why are you not laughing like others? Do you not like Charlie Chaplin? Sage Ananda replied, I like him, but I am not elated by it. Even if you take me to another picture where there is lot of sorrow, I will not cry. Then Kapila told Ram and Shyam, See Ananda is a Sthitha Pragna. He is deeply within himself. He does not react to what is outside him. Ram and Shyam seem to understand slightly and decided to continue reading Gita. Maithree gave the moral of this story as follows, To achieve greatness , do not get worried by anything.

What is the right thing to do?

Thatha was deep asleep and dreaming and laughing in his sleep. His darling grand children were by his side. They wanted to hear a new s from Thatha. Maithree asked Rohan , Hey brother, shall I wake up thatha? Rohan replied, I am not sure whether it is right thing to do because he is sleeping? He also seems to be happy. Rohan replied, He should tell the truth. Because Mummy has told me that one should always tell the truth. If he tells a lie, God will punish him. Maithree shouted, Rohan that is not fair. If he tells the truth, the poor king would be killed. God will then punish the sage for killing the king. Goldy replied, He should neither tell a lie nor the truth . Then the thief would go away. Maithree shouted, That is also a form of lie. By not telling anything, the sage is not telling the truth. Thatha replied, The Gita feels that , in this case , the sage should not tell the truth. Because by doing so he would be getting the king killed. Also the thief may not get food immediately but would get food later. This is similar to the problem of Arjuna. By not fighting in the war, Arjuna would help lots of bad people but he would be causing problem for the Pandavas. But by fighting , he would help lots and lots of people. Maithree concluded, Thatha the moral of the story is that by doing your duty, you should not harm the just people.

What is death?
Thatha was little more serious than usual. But the little darlings around him were not. To them Thatha told. Today I am going to talk to you about death. Maithree shot back, Thatha if it is going to be sad, I do not want to hear about it. Thatha replied, I cannot avoid talking about it, because this is one of the important aspects of every religion I would try to make it not sad. Thatha continued, There was young girl called Shantha. Shantha was a very serious girl. Though her parents asked her to be happy and not serious she did not obey them. All through the day, she used to take several colours of putty (clay or play dough) and was making dolls. Yamani shouted, Thatha I also do that, and Rohan nodded his head, I too was doing that earlier. Thatha simply smiled and continued, After some time Shantha became an expert in making dolls with Putty. On a week end, she made very pretty toys of a princess, lion, Ravana and Ganesha. Her mother also liked these toys very much. Before going to school, Shantha requested her mother to take care of these pretty toys. But that Day a plumber came to repair taps in their house. Without seeing the toys, he stepped on them. All of the again became putty . When Shantha came back from school, she started crying. Her mother consoled her as follows. Shantha, stop crying, they were only toys made by you. Nothing has happened to them,. They have only become putty again. You who have made them can again make them. Or you can make other toys with the same putty. Suppose you do not like to make toys. Your sister Lathika or her friend Malu can make toys with them. A toy becoming putty and the putty becoming toy is only a very natural thing. Shantha realized what her mother was seeing was correct and stopped crying. Maithree was little thoughtful. She said, What you want us to understand from this story thatha? Thatha replied, We are all dolls made out of putty by God. One day this doll will again become putty. And the putty will again become doll. When the doll becomes putty, we say that somebody has died. But with the same putty God will make another doll. Then we will say that somebody is born. Like Shantha who cried when the doll became a putty, should we cry when god , when God decides to make another doll with the putty? Rohan replied, I agree with you thatha. I had a doll. The doll broke. I cried .But Daddy bought me another doll. Dolls will come and go. Maithree summed up, Moral of the story is, Changes happen at all times. We should not be sad or happy about it.

Heaven and Salvation

Maithree one day asked her Thatha, What is heaven thatha. Does not Gita tell anything about it? Thatha replied, Little darling .Definitely. Gita tells us a lot about heaven .I shall tell you a story about it. He started a new story, Subba Shastry was a very intelligent man. Goldy jumped up, Are you Subba shastry , Thatha. Thatha smilingly nodded his head. He had 10 sons, Rohan started shouting, Thatha , How can they all take food in the dining table Thatha. Thatha told, Rohan , they can do it one after another. These children all grew up. Ramu who was the eldest was very intelligent. He passed in all examinations and became rich. But though he was rich, he always wanted to know about that God who made him learn, pass in exam, work and earn money. He spent all his money on poor people. But his nine brothers were not like him. They also grew up. Four of them were good .They all earned some money. Each of them gave all the money they earned to a very rich hotel. They got whatever they wanted. Yummy food, lot of cinemas, pizza, macaroni and so on. The last five were bad,. Whatever money they earned, they spent daily. After some time all of them became old and were not able to work. Ramu who was good and who had a helped by lot of people was looked after by every one whom he has helped. He was always happy, The four good brothers who had earned lot of money had to vacate the hotels and were again forced to work. The bad five did not have food as no body gave them any work and they suffered. Maithree and Rohan were thoughtful, Thatha we did not understand, they told. Thatha then replied, People like Ramu who has helped all will be taken care of them and will not suffer. This is salvation. His four good brothers were in heaven like hotels. But once the money was over, they had to come out. The bad ones, though , they also earned money, would suffer , starve and be always sad. This is hell. The children were silent and at last Maithree asked, What is the moral of the story thatha? Thatha replied, He who lives for others would never suffer, he who is devoted and prays(works) for his happiness will be happy. But after some time, he will spend all that he has earned and be forced to work again. The bad will suffer.

God would come to you

Raja Thatha told, In the city of Patna there lived a Brahmin called Susharman, He was extremely good man who was a great devotee of God. Most of the time he thought of God and did all his duties properly. Rohan asked What are those duties Thatha? Thatha replied, When you grow up you marry and have a wife. You would have children and also you would have old parents. All these people are not capable of working. So it is the duty of people like Susharman to earn money and look after his old parents, wife and children. Yamini who was hearing all this shouted, Mummy is not like that . She goes to the office and earns money. Thatha replied, Yes Yamini to take care of children and parents some time more money is needed and then Mummy also has to go to work. But let us continue with the story. Thatha continued, Because of this Susharman rarely went to temple and rarely got time to do pooja. Susharman had a rich neighbour, Durapan. Durapan daily went to temple and always performed pooja at his house. Since he had lot of money, he made other people work for him. He always told Susharman. You see , I am doing pooja and you are not and so God will come to me only. Maithree interfered, Is it true Thatha. Thatha raised his voice and told, Little ones be patient and hear what I have to say. In Patna there was an earth quake. Lot of people suffered . Just before the earth quake was about to begin, some stranger came to Susharmans house and called him to come outside the house. He told to call all his family outside the house quickly. Susharman did that. As soon as all his family members came out, the earth started trembling and all the houses in the street were destroyed. Durapan who was sitting in his house suffered a lot. Most of his family was injured. He himself lost his leg., after the quake the entire town assembled in a ground. All people found that Susharman has not suffered at all. He told them, I believe God came to my house and called me. People agreed with him. Maithree raised up her hand and told, Thatha the moral of the story is Doing your duty is the greatest worship.

Desire and anger

Thatha was very tired that day but his little darlings never left him at peace. They went near him and shouted , Story, story Thatha started, There is a place called Koramangala in Bangalore. Lot of rich people

live there. All the children in Koramangala went to very good schools. The teachers in those schools taught them everything .Vikram and Arjun were two intelligent boys living in nearby houses. Both of them were studying in 5th standard of a very famous school. Both of them normally scored good marks. Always Vikram scored slightly less than Arjun, Vikrams mother got very angry with him and always shouted at him. You do not have desire to come first and that is why Arjun is always coming first. Vikram felt that his mother was right. He developed lot of desire to come first. He was always jealous of Arjun. He always asked Arjun what he was studying, after that he would study the same subjects. When he does not understand he will get angry. When he became angry he became confused. Since he was confused he got still lower marks. Vikrams teacher told him, How come Vikram, you are scoring less marks? This made Vikram angrier and slowly the intelligent Vikram became a very poor student. Thatha then asked Maithree what is the moral of the story. Maithree replied Thatha it is very clear. You should not have too much desire

One's own duty is the best

Thatha told, Once upon a time there was a Brahmin called Vishnu. Vishnu learnt a little about doing meditation from one of his friends. He then went to the forest and started practicing Austerities using whatever he has learnt. One day when he was doing meditation a crow disturbed him a lot. He opened his eyes and stared at the crow. The crow was burnt to ashes. Vishnu then became very proud and decided within himself, that he has become an expert in Thapas. Maithree asked , Was he too proud , Thatha? Thatha continued, Yes darling. He then went to a near by village and went to a big house. Then he shouted, A great sage has come, please give me food. A lady replied back from inside, Wait, I would come as soon as I complete my job. After an hour she came out and gave him some food. By this time Vishnu was very angry. He stared at that lady. Then lady asked Do you think you can burn me like the crow? Vishnu was surprised and asked her, What do you mean? She replied I have a sick husband and a child .I was looking after them. Any other

duty is only after my duty is attended to. You are still learning religion. If you want to know more about it, go to the village butcher. Maithree toldButcher means, he who cuts animals. Thatha , what will he know about religion? Thatha replied, That was the thought Vishnu also . But he went to the butchers house. The butcher saw him and told, So you have come to learn religion from me. Please wait. I have work to do. The butcher then went inside his hut and gave bath to his very old parents. He fed them food and put them to sleep. This took several hours. Vishnu became very impatient but still he waited. When the butcher came he told Vishnu. What my religion tells me is first to do my duties. One of my important duties is to take care of my parents. The ladys duty was to take care of her husband and children. Instead of you, even if the king or God comes, we both would not have come out. Because our duty is more important than anything. This is what our God Krishna has told in Gita Maithree and Rohan chorused, Our duty first and then only everything else.

Mind control
Thatha started a new story, Once all the five Pandavas and one hundred Kouravas were given a test by their teacher Drona. He tied a doll of a bird on the tree top. He then called Duryodhana and wanted him to cut the neck of the doll bird using an arrow. Once he got prepared for that Drona asked him What do you see? Duryodhana replied, I see a very big green tree with lot of branches and on the top I see a bird doll Drona told him, You would not be able to cut the neck of the bird. Maithree felt bad and remarked, How can he say like that Thatha. He should allow him to shoot the arrow and then decide. Thatha only laughed and did not reply her and continued, One by one all the Kouravas were called . All of them replied in a similar fashion. Then among the Pandavas Drona called Arjuna and asked him What do you see Arjuna? Arjuna replied, I see only the neck of the doll bird and nothing else. Drona explained, Only with such a type of concentration one can achieve results. Thatha continued, Similar concentration is needed when you search for God and is called Dhyana. A simple prayer with your mind thinking of the pink dress or blue car, Will not take you near God. When you think of him, you have to think of him and nothing else. This is difficult but by constant practice this can be achieved. Maithree who has become one to tell moral of the story shouted, The moral of

the story is , when you are searching for something, you should not think of any other thing , except that.

The power of faith

It was in the afternoon, Thatha had woken up from his sleep. Maithree and Rohan were checking whether he was still asleep. Thatha tightly closed his eyes. But the children understood that he was playing tricks. So they started shouting Story, story. Their mothers who were in the kitchen came out and scolded them. You should not trouble Thatha like this. Then Maithree told her Mummy, Amma, Thatha is only pretending that he is sleeping. Bring a glass of Coffee and he would wake up.. Smilingly Maithrees mother went inside and appeared with a cup of coffee. Thatha immediately woke up and started drinking the coffee. Maithree shouted, Amma , the moral of this story is , do not believe Thatha when he is sleeping. Thatha finished his coffee and started telling a new story to teach Gita. Bhola was a very ignorant villager, but he was very good. Somebody told him that there was a great Gurudev Shankara in Benares and he can show him God. Poor Bhola wanted to see God. So he went to Benares and went to the house of Gurudev Shankara. Bhola fell at the feet of Gurudev and requested him, Sir, Please show me God. Gurudev Shankar immediately understood that Bhola was an innocent person and he can be made to work like a servant in his house. So he told Bhola, That is right son, to see God is very difficult. You go and please do all the work in my house. Slowly you will be able to see God.. Rohan was curious, Thatha , can we see God if we do work at home? Why is it that my mummy who does all the work, not able to see God? Thatha replied, little Rohan, work is worship. Definitely your Mummy would be able to see God , later. But Gurudev Shankara was a bad man. He wanted Bhola to work in his house without paying him anything. Months and years went on. Bhola did all the work sincerely. Before sleeping he will go to Gurudev and ask, Sir, will I be able to see God today. Daily Gurudev will tell him, Do your job. Later I will tell you a Mantra, if you keep on repeating the mantra, you would see God. One day Gurudev was angry and so when Bhola asked him, Shall I see God today? he shouted at him , Get Out you Buffalo. Bhola who was innocent person asked him, Sir , is this the Manthra.?. Gurudev who was in a bad mood laughed at him and nodded his head. Next day Bhola went to the forest and started chanting, Get out Buffalo. He went on chanting day and night for a complete year. The Gods were confused. They were satisfied that some God should go before Bhola. But which

God? They all went to Lord Vishnu and asked him, Which God should go before Bhola? Lord Vishnu replied, Ofcourse , Yama , because he is the only God with a Buffalo. Maithree started Jumping, I have seen Yama in a cinema. He does not look nice and in fact Goldy started to cry on seeing him. Thatha continued, Ofcourse Yama, is fat , black and fierce. But since no other God had a buffalo, he decided to go. But as soon as he went before Bhola, He called him, Bhola, we are happy with your prayers. What do you want? Bhola could not believe his eyes. He fell at the feet of Yama and told him, Sir, All that I wanted was to see you. I do not want anything. I will now run to my teacher Gurudev and ask him, whether he wants anything. Yama agreed. Bhola ran to the house of Gurudev .He was sleeping at that time. Bhola woke him up and asked him , Sir , I chanted the Mantra that you told me and now the God has come before me. Sir, do you want anything? Gurudev laughed at him and replied, You fool, you do not know anything. How can God come before you? If you think the person who has come before you is God, ask him, to make my house in to a tank and also ask him to take away half of my beard. Bhola ran to Yama and asked him the boons as told by his Gurudev. Yama knew that Bhola was innocent and told him. It will be like that. I also bless you to become a very intelligent mean who is liked by all Gods. As soon as Yama told this, half the beard of Gurudev Vanished and instead of his house he was swimming in a tank. Bhola became very intelligent and wrote lot of poems,. Now Rohan tell me what is the moral of this story? Rohan told, You should do everything in this world with complete faith. This is true to praying god also. Maithree agreed. Thatha added, This is also one of the methods of attaining God. Meditate but with full faith and forgetting everything.

Meditation is difficult
Maithree was at Thathas bed side when he woke up. She asked him, Yesterday thatha, you told us that just by meditating with faith we can attain God. This seems to be the easiest method for me. Rohan joined in the discussion, I agree with Maithree Akka. Thatha replied, I will tell you the story of Narada and then you can decide how easy it is to meditate. Sage Narada was the son of God Brahma. He was always chanting without stopping the name of Lord Vishnu. Naturally he thought that he was the greatest devotee of Vishnu and became very proud because of that. One day he met Lord Vishnu

and asked him, God, who is your greatest devotee. God Vishnu replied, Ofcourse I have several devotees but the greatest among them is Krishna the wood cutter. Narada was taken aback and asked Lord Vishnu, I have never heard of this Krishna , the wood cutter. I would like to see him . Lord Vishnu told sage Narada, Go to the city of Madurai and go to the locality of poor people. There you would see Krishna , the wood cutter. Sage Narada immediately went to Madurai and located the house of Krishna the wood cutter. Krishna was a very poor man. He had ten children.. Early morning as soon as he woke up, he said, I salute Lord Vishnu. Then he went to cut wood. In the evening he sold the wood in the market. With that money, he would buy food for his children. After all of them ate food and before sleeping, Krishna would again say, I salute Lord Vishnu. Sage Narada observed him for a few more days. Except for two times a day Krishna never even thought of Lord Vishnu. He rushed to Lord Vishnu and told him, God , were you playing tricks with me. I am chanting your name all the 24 hours. Krishna the wood cutter, remembers your name only twice a day. Still you consider him a great devotee? Goldy, who normally is silent became very angry. She shouted, I support Narada. How can Krishna be greater than Narada?. Thatha preferred to continue. Then God Vishnu gave a glass full of oil to Sage Narada. You take this oil , wherever you go. If a drop of it falls on the ground, you will become a monkey. Come and meet me after ten days, Sage Narada took the glass full of oil and wandered everywhere. He was very careful. After ten days he again met Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu asked him, Great sage, I am glad that you have come back. In these ten days, how many times you saluted me? Sage Narada angrily shouted, Ofcourse not even once .Throughout I was seeing that not a drop of oil falls from this glass. How can I think or even salute you? Lord Vishnu replied, Sage , poor Krishna in spite of much more difficult work than you, always remembered me twice a day. That is why he is a greater devotee than you. Rohan seem to understand, When I am studying my lessons in the school, I never remember you Thatha. Maithree also agreed, That is true thatha. Yesterday when I went picnic with my friends, I did not remember about you at all. Goldy added, Yesterday , mummy gave me a full packet of Kurkure. Till I finished, I did not remember you Thatha. Maithree concluded, Moral of the story is Meditation is not easy.