Geetha And Angel get into trouble.

Angel & Geetha are good friends . They are in the same  class. They are also neighbours.

One day the teacher announced," Children Tomorrow you all have a test in chapter 4. Read for the test and come."

The school bell rang. The students collected their bags and rushed home happily.

Angel & Geetha  reached home. After drinking hot milk both of them rushed outside to play.
They were playing a lot. 
Around 6.00pm Angel's mom came outside and called out,"Angel...Come home. Do your home work."

Angel  went home to do her home work. Geetha too went home did her home work and took her book to study for next day's test.

At that time the door bell rang. And that was Geetha's cousin with his parents . Geetha's joy knew no bounds. She forgot about the test and started playing with her cousin. 

They all had dinner togehter and had lots of fun. By the time her cousin left, Geetha was almost asleep. 

The next day Geetha  left for school . She saw all her friends talking about the test. Then only she realised that she had not studied . But then what to do...it was too late.

By that time the bell rang, the teacher came and gave the questions for the test.

Geetha could not write any answer. But Angel  was seriously writing the answers. She looked up and saw Geetha sitting &staring Angel wanted to help her friend . So silently wrote the answer and passed on to Geetha. Geetha copied the answers.

They both thought that none noticed them. 

The test was over . The teacher asked the children to go &play outside . But called angel and Geetha and said," Girls... Come here. I need to talk to both of you."

Both the girls were scared.They were confused if the teacher had seen what they had done.They silently stood in front of their teacher.

The teacher continued," Now Girls....I know what you have been doing. Both of you were exchanging answers. Right? Is it right? Both of you thought that no one saw your actions. But look I had noticed.  And told in a strong tone,"I can punish you now...Shall I?." Both the girls were trembling.in fear. The teacher continued,"Geetha,  If you don't get good marks now, you can get it in the next test. But if you do wrong things like cheating, you will earn a bad name. Is it good? And Angel You will also  get a bad name. If you get a bad name ,you know then what  will happen? All other kids will stop talking & playing with you two. Is that ok with you two?"

Now the girls realised that what they had done is a very bad mistake. 

They felt very sorry for what they had done and promised their teacher that they will not repeat this again.

The teacher excused them this time and warned them not to repeat this.
Angel & Geetha never ever repeated their wrong doings.
We all do make mistakes . But we should not repeat them. Thats not good. Right? You all agree?

Yes...

kids , All of you too should speak only the truth. Right? 
Now Iam remebered of a king called Harichandra who spoke only the truth...I shall tell about him in my next story...

Bye for now... Be good children. ok? Bye...

Tenali Raman & the Godess Kali.

Today Iam going to tell you a story about the clever Tenali Raman.

Do you know who is Tenali Raman? I 'll tell you....

There was a little boy called Raman. He lived with his parents in the town Tenali.


When Raman was a young lad, a saint visited his town.  Everyone seeked his blessings.And so did Raman.The saint then told him,'
" Rama. I  can teach you a mantra. If you recite it 1008 times in the Kali, temple, Goddess Kali will appear before you and fulfill your wishes.But you should recite it with full devotion."

You all know that Kali is a Goddess who destroys all evils.) 

Raman went to the MahaKali temple. He sat there with closed eyes and recited the mantra with great devotion . 
Suddenly there was a voice calling "Rama ,Rama " .

When Raman opened his eyes, he saw the Goddess Kali with all her 1000 heads. As soon as she saw the Goddess, he immediately started laughing.He could not control his laughter.

Goddess Kali asked, " Rama ! Why are you laughing? what is so funny?"

Immediately Raman said," Oh! God ! I was just thinking what will happen if you catch a cold. I imagined you sneezing with all thousand noses. That made me laugh."

kids that should be really funny. isn't it?

On hearing this Goddess Kali too enjoyed the joke. She said,
"Rama I like your innocence."  and continued,"Rama....Look at my hands. I have got two bowls . one with sweet milk and the other with curd. The milk bowl represents "Knowledge" and the curd bowl represents "wealth".( wealth means money)

You can take any one of these and drink. If you drink the milk you will be blessed with lot of  knowledge. if you take the curd bowl you will have lots of money. But you can take anly one of these.so think and choose .Saying this Kali looked at Raman.

Raman started to think.

Raman thought for a while and said," Goddess Kali ! can I taste both before choosing?'

 Godess agreed and gave both the bowls to Raman . Even before Kali realised what Raman was doing, he drank both milk and curd from both the bowls.

Kali a little annoyed asked," What did I tell you and what you did?"

Raman replied, " Kali Ma ! Iam sorry. But what is the use of knowledge without wealth. and wealth is of no use without knowledge.That is why I drank both." and prostrated before  the Goddess.

Goddess kali liked his cleverness and blessed him. From then on his fame and fortune spread every where. 

He became famous  and came to be called as Tenali raman.


On learning about his cleverness, King Krishnadevarayar, made him his advisor &court jester.(jester meaning one who cracks clever jokes.)  he became famous and was then called as Tenali Raman.

There are so many incidents whch shows his cleverness. I shall tell you some..in coming weeks....

Now kids, you tell  " what will you drink if Goddess Kali comes before you and offer you milk and curd?"

Would you like to listen to the story.....?
Here it is in my own voice.....

Thankyou!

Markandeyan

courtesy- wikkimedia commons

We all know that man is mortal. But, there are also people, who are immortal. They are called as chiranjeevi in Hinduism. As an example, Lord Hanuman can be mentioned here. He is supposed to be alive even today, though we cannot spot Him.

When I think on this line Rishi Markandeyar, comes to my mind. He is the one who conquered death. 
Sounds interesting ...right?
Let me narrate his story here.

  A Rishi by name Mrikandu was living with his wife Marudavati . Both of them were ardent devotees of Siva.They were happy on singing hymns on Lord Siva and on spreading the glory of Siva. But they  also had something to regret. Their concern was that they were not belssed with children. Time and again they were praying Lord Siva to bless them with children. But in vain.

So they decided to do penance , to draw Lord Siva's attention and blessings. And of course they succeeded in it. Pleased with their penance and devotion Lord Siva gave darshan to the couple. On having darshan, they first bowed to him and praised him.
Lord Siva now asked," Mrikandu and Marudavati ! Iam pleased with your penance. What do you want?  Why is  this penance for?"

Mrikandu then answered," Oh! God!We have been praying for  a child . Please grant our wish and bless us with your grace."

Lord Siva seemed to be thinking for a while. Then asked the couple," What type of a child do you want? wise or foolish ?"

The couple looked at each other with confusion.
" Why is Lord Siva asking this? Will anyone pray for a foolish child? " With this thought in mind Mrikandu gathered courage and asked the God," God! We don't understand the question."

Lord Siva  cleared his doubt. He asked," Would you like to have a wise son, who will live only for sixteen years  or a foolish son who can live for hundred years?"

Without hesitation, Mrikandu answered," We would like to have a wise child ."

Lord Siva granted their wish. Though the Rishi couple had asked for the wise son, they were sad, that their son's life would be only limited.

Very soon they were blessed with a son. They named him Markandeyan. He grew up as an intelligent son. He mastered the Vedas and sacred scriptures with great devotion.He helped his father in performing puja to Lord Siva.  In accordance with the family cult , he too, turned to be an ardent devotee of Lord Siva.

As an intelligent boy , he was able to sense the anxiety and sadness that ran through his parent's mind. But he was not able to find out what troubled his parents.

As he was approaching his completion of  sixteen years, he could see anxiety written large, on his parents faces. He asked his parents," Father and mother! I can understand that you are experiencing sorrow. Can I know the reason for it.As a son it is my duty to make you happy."

Now, Mrikandu told the whole story surrounding his birth and said," How can we part with you? But it is destiny that your life will end soon." Saying this, both of them cried a lot.

Though he was intelligent, Markandeyan was taken back. But he gathered himself and said," Father and Mother! Do not cry. Lord Siva will never leave us in trouble. He will surely bless me with a long life."
Saying this, he tried to console his parents.

On the destined day, Markandeyan went to the seashore and built a Sivalinga with the sand and started his bhajans and meditation.. Soon he lost himself into deep trance.

Lord Yama, God of Death,  as usual sent his messengers to collect the soul of Markandeyan. Messengers came to take Markandeyan's soul. His meditational powers did not allow them to come near him. They went back to Lord Yama and told about their inability . Surprised Yama  , dedided to go by himself. So, he gallopped in his vehicle, the buffalo and reached the seashore where Markandeyan was meditating.

Markandeyan's meditational powers did not allow even Yama , God of death to collect the soul. But he has to complete the job. So with the  noose of the long rope ( Pasa kayiru)  he tried to catch the soul of Markandeya.

When Markandeyan realised Lord Yama's intentions, he quickly embraced the Sivalinga. The noose which was thrown to the neck of Markandeya , fell around the Sivalinga too. Now both Markandeyan along with Lord Siva were inside the noose.

Lord Siva, came out from the Linga furiously. He threw his spear towards Yama. Yama realising his misdeed, begged forgiveness. He also expressed his helplessness . But Lord Siva refused to hear anything. Lord Yama, with great fear mumbled," Markandeyan's earthly life has come to an end . This is the God's boon . I was just doing my duty."

Now Siva thundered," This boy Markandeyan shall remain, as sixteen years old, eternally. And you cannot take his soul." Saying so, Lord Siva killed  Yama .This is called as Kalasamharam. The God is also called as Kalasamharamurthy.(meaning one who killed Kala/Yama, the death God.) On seeing this the Gods and demigods prayed and reminded Lord Siva , the indispensability of God of Death. Siva then gave  back life to Yama. But only, on the condition that Markandeyan will have eternal life.

Lord Siva , saved Markandeyan and bestowed on him" ever sixteen years " blessing.

A temple now stands there in Thiukkadaiyur, where Markandeyar was blessed with eternity. The presiding God is Amirthakadeshwarar and His Consort is the Goddess Abirami. 
(This temple is also the place where Abhirami Pattar was blessed by the Goddess.)

Sashtiapthapurthy( 60th birthday), Bheemarathasanthi( 70th birthday) and Sadabhishekam( 80th birthday) for couples  are performed in this temple. It is believed that Lord Siva blesses the couple with long life.

Markandeyan , being an ardent devotee went on to become a great sage. He is a Chiranjeevi. , though not visible to us. His presence was felt even in  the Mahabaratha age.The conversation between him and Jamini Rishi in Mahabaratha came to be known as Markandeya Purana.

With full devotion and confidence in the Supreme power , Markandeyar conquered death. Thus there are many lessons to be learnt from this great Maharishi,  Markandeyar.

courtesy--wikkimedia commons

Many of you would like to visit the temple where Kalasamhara murthy is enshrined. Don't forget, to see the noose impression on the Lingam.

          Om Namasivaya !!  

                                      

Can You See A Full Moon On A Newmoon day?

 

image courtesy-wikikedia commons

 Can you see a full moon on the newmoon day?

" Yes.  You can see ." Firmly answered Subramanyan to the king of Tanjore , Sarfoji.

Subramnayan was a priest in Amirthakadeswarar temple , Thirukkadaiyur. Goddess Abhirami is the presiding goddess there. Subramanyan was an ardent devotee of the Goddess. And very often he  would go into trance.
.
On new moon days, King Sarfoji of Thanjavur, had the habit of offering prayers in this temple.When he came there he happened to see Subramnayan lost in trance.

The king to test his devotion, went and asked Subramanyan," What day is it today, Subramanyan?"

"Today is Full Moon Day." answered Subramanyan in trance.

King Sarfoji asked the question again," Subramanya , Do you mean to say that you can see a full moon tonight? "

Subramanyan , who was in trance, answered the question with great disrespect," Yes. You can see. Now stop disturbing me."

The crowd gathered there were shocked to see Subramanyan treating the king with such disrespect.People knew that this should  earn himself severe punishment 

Some tried to save Subramanyan, from  punishment . So they told,  " He is a mad person, Your majesty. He thinks all women as Goddess Abhirami. And so whenever he crosses them  he prostrates before them. So your Majesty can  ignore his words and spare Subramanyan.."

But there were also some who wanted to put Subramanyan into trouble.
They confused the king by saying," Your Majesty. I think that is not true. He actually misbehaves with women and they are scared of him . On seeing him they run away."

King Sarfoji ,was red with rage on the disrespect he met. He ordered," Bring this person to the palace courtyard. There I shall construct a platform with hundred ropes above a huge fire.  Either full moon should be seen on the sky tonight..Or else Subramanyan will see himself inside the fire and be burnt. But he will have time till all the hundred ropes are cut one by one.He has to show the full moon before all the ropes are cut.."

Saying this King Sarfoji left the place.

Slowly , Subramanyan came out of trance and opened his eyes. He saw a huge crowd gathered around him. They told him as to what had happened. By this time two guards came there and took him to the palace . A platform was made ready for him. Under it were piled firewoods ready to be burnt.

Dusk fell. The crowd gathered  there watched the happenings with profound grief. They thought, the end of Subramanyan was fast approaching.

Now silence filled the place.

Subramanyan stood up the platform hung with hundred ropes from a  huge structure . This was open to the night sky. A huge fire started burning under the platform. The helpless Subramnayan started praying Goddess Abirami with his songs.

He started singing  'தார் அமர் கொன்றையும் ....... "He went on to sing verse after verse .  Every verse had four lines . And each verse started with the last word of the previous verse. As he finished singing one verse , one rope got cut.  As each and every ropes get cut, the crowd shouted in grief.

He went on to sing the 79th verse starting with, "விழிக்கே அருளுண்டு ........"  .  Goddess Abirami unable to bear further torture rendered to Her devottee , decided to help him out of trouble. Immediately,She gave darshan not only to Subramanyan, but for all gathered there.Then She removed Her huge earrings(தாடகம்) and just threw into the sky like a frisbee . 

Wow! It fell in right place and shone like moon. The crowd and the king were surprised to see  the full moon. The king immediately, put down the fire and Subramanayan was safely brought down. King Sarfoji, prostrated before him and begged forgiveness. The crowd also seeked his blessings.

Subramanyan then went on  to sing 108 verses and they are compiled under the head " Abirami Andadhi ".He was also affectionately called as Abirami Pattar.

You would like to visualise Abirami Pattar getting darshan of the goddess Abirami.

Here Iam presenting the scene from a Tamil film...

 

This incident happened when King Sarfoji was ruling Thanjavur. But long before that , the presiding God of the temple Amirthakadeswarar  had showered His Grace on Markandeyar. 

 Markandeyar.......who is he? Let us see in the next post.

video courtesy- you tube.

No One Can Replace You !

 

google image

Once a man went to Guru Nanak Sahib and asked ," What is the value of life?"

Guru Nanakji gave him a shining stone and told," Find the value of this stone . You can ask as many persons as you want but do not sell it.Come and tell me what you found out.Then I shall tell you the value of life. "

The man agreed and started walking on the street. 
He met an orange seller. He asked him," Do you know the value of this stone?"The orange seller looked at it and  said," Yes. I can exchange a dozen of oranges for this stone."The man appologised and said," I cannot sell this." and walked further.

He came acrosss a vegetable seller. He showed the stone to the vegetable seller and asked," Can you tell me the value of this stone?"
The vegetable seller said," Yes it is valuable. I can take this stone and give you a bag of potatoes."The man once again appologised for not selling the stone and proceeded on his way.

On his way he saw a jewellery shop and went inside.He showed the shining stone to the jeweller and asked him the value of this stone.
The jeweller carefully examined the stone and  offered him fiftylakh rupees for the stone.The man appologised for not selling the stone.The jeweller offered even 2 crores . At this the man was confused but he did not sell it.

He came out of the jewellery shop. A gem stone shop caught his attention. He went inside and showed the owner of the shop the shining stone and asked for its value. As soon as the shop owner saw the stone, he spread a cloth on the floor. Then with great respect , he took the stone from the man's hand and kept it on the cloth. He walked in circles around the stone and bent his forehead in front of the stone and started talking," Where did you get this Ruby from? This is so precious. Even if I sell what all I have, I cannot buy this precious stone ." Saying this he returned the Ruby to the man.

The man stunned and confused came back to the guru and told what all had happened and asked," Now tell me guruji, what is the value of life?"

Now GurunankSahib replied'" The answers you got from the orange seller, vegetable seller, the jeweller and the precious stone seller explains the value of your life.You may be a precious , priceless stone. But people will value you based on their financial status, their education, their knowledge, their belief in you, their risk taking ability etc....... But don't fear .You will surely find someone who will understand your true value.  But....Respect yourself.You are always unique.
No one can replace you!"

Yes. No one can replace you.

Is Hard Work,The Mother of Success?

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Hard work is the mother of success. Is it?

When it is crystal clear that  hard work alone helps us to reach the goal , can anyone have a doubt in this.

Even I was also of the same view . But then,there were times when hard work did not work for me.

So what is stopping me from reaching my goal even after all my perspiration. Whenever I got disappointed, I consoled myself that my hard work was not up to the mark.

But it is not so. There is some other hidden secret to success. That is what I realised after I came across a Zen story. You must also be eager to know what is the story about.

The story goes like this,

There was a Zen teacher who teaches sword fighting. An enthusiastic student bowed before the teacher and requested him to accept him as his student. The teacher readily accepted him as his student and told him that he is sure to excel in sword fighting in ten years time.

" Ten years !" the student exclaimed and said, " Master! I cannot wait that long to excel in sword fighting. I can work hard.' and thinking that  the teacher expects more hard work  from him,  added'" I can work hard twice as much as others do."

The teacher immediately replied, " oh! Then you can learn in twenty years."

The confused student said ," Sir  I am prepared to work hard as you expect , so as to reach my goal of learning the art in just five years."

The teacher said," Then it is going to take you  longer time,to learn than you think. If you have set a goal and target it with hard work alone, you are sure to miss the target."

The student looked at the teacher with still  greater confusion.

The teacher added," If you set yourself a goal, you will work under tremendous pressure. Instead of learning with conviction, your attention is disturbed by the goal in front of you. This makes you half blind. How can you work hard with one eye?"and Added,"on the other hand, if you enjoy your learning without goals, you would have excelled in the art, in no time .

Though the student got confused by his teacher's explanantion,  eventually  he realised that his teacher guided him in the right direction.

 

Not only the student , even I understood what the teacher meant..

When we look at  scientists who had come out with so many discoveries, many of them had been possible only when the scientists were relaxing.

Newton, the great scientist , gave to the world the great concept of Gravity , only when he was relaxing under an apple tree .

Archimedis principle was Known to the world, only when Archimedis was relaxing himself in a bath tub.

If we work with full concentration, we can enjoy the work we do and also succeed in that effortlessly.

Does that mean that if we work hard we wont be able to succeed.?
No. Many a times hard work does produce the desired result, but in most times we would not have felt happy doing that work. 

On the other hand, if we enjoy our learning/ work , we are sure to succeed effortlessly.

Lord Krishna had also preached us the same in Baghavad Gita .

He says, 
"Do your work.  Do not be worried about the results."

Have A Foresight To Eat Laddoos

google image

We all  know Pune is in Maharashtra in India. In a temple in Pune laddoo is distributed to pilgrims as the temple Prasad. The temple authorities arrange for the preparation of laddoos with a long shelf life. They have to prepare laddoos in large quantities as the number of pilgrims who come to the temple is large in number.The laddoos were kept in very big vessels.
 
Preparing  laddoos with a long shelf life was an easy job  to the authorities. But storing them was a Herculean  task. The temple authorities found it very difficult to store them safely. They have to safeguard the laddoos , not from thieves but from ants. The ants thronged in large numbers and ate the laddoos. The temple authorities tried all methods to prevent the ants from eating . But somehow the ants reached the laddoos and this caused a loss to the temple.


A staff meeting was held.Ideas were welcomed in the staff meeting to safeguard the laddoos. Each one came out with one. But all ideas were already tried ones and had ended in failure. One new young priest came out with an idea. His idea is that the laddoos should be kept in the centre of a room . And a thick circle should be drawn with sugar.


" Sugar!" Exclaimed others.
" Oh ! This new priest is trying to invite the ants "  one priest remarked sarcastically with a big hearty laugh. Others joined him in the laugh.
 But the head priest thought for a while." Let us try this method. This idea is new to us. Anyway we are not going to lose anything new, except for more sugar ."
So that day they kept the laddoos in the centre of a room and encircled it with a thick sugar circle. And left it overnight.

The next morning the laddoo room was opened.
What a surprise!
The laddoos were intact. Not a single pearl of laddoo was lost.
But what prevented  the ants from eating the laddoos? The priests looked at each other in confusion.


When they watched carefully , they found that the ants were still in the room . But they were carrying the sugar crystals . They were diverted by the appearance of the sugar crystals. In their craving for sugar, they lost sight of laddoos.
 
From then on this method was followed in the temple to prevent the ants from eating laddoos.
And of course the new priest who gave the idea was rewarded.

And now,what hammered in my mind is " oh! If only the ants had a foresight and looked further they would not have been deceived."
I also told myself," we should not be like the Pune ants . Let us have a fore sight."

Amrita Varshini Raga & Self Confidence

 

image courtesy--google.

 I read this story in my mother tongue Tamil . I thought I should share this story which carries a valuable message. The story happened in  a small village.

There was a small village on the banks of river Cauvery.There  lived  Sundaraman . He was a very good singer. He had two children, one son Ram 12 years old and one daughter Mythreyi who  was nine years.  He earned his livelihood by giving musical performances in the surrounding villages and by teaching music to the village children. His living was doing good for a few years. A spell of drought affected the village and its surrounding villages too.And many families were finding it hard to make their living. Sundaraman's family was also one among them.

River Cauvery was dried up .And so were the lands . Lands once filled with crops now looked  barren for want of water for irrigation. The wells at home were also showing signs of drying up. This worried the villagers.

The situation seemed to be going from bad to worse. The villagers were looking helpless and some were moving to the nearby town to combat this drought.

In this situation , the villagers gathered  in the home of the Village Head. Each one gave a suggestion to fight the drought. 

One of them said," There is a belief that  if Amrita varshini Raga  is sung ,then the god of rains will be happy and there is sure to be a heavy downpour. "

"Why don't  we try this? This should not be a tough job " suggested another.

" Yes. Sundaraman can do this. He is ofcourse a good singer." replied another .

Though many villagers did not have any trust in this belief , they were left with no other choice . And so they decided to try their luck with Amritavarshini .

And Sundaraman was also there, hearing all this. He readily agreed to sing songs in Amritavarshini Raga. 

An auspicious day was selected  to sing .He was supposed to sit on the banks of the dried up river and sing .  The news spread to the other villages and singers from the surrounding villages also said they would join Sundaraman so that the the whole belt of villages in the district  gets rain.

On the said day Sundaraman got up early in the morning and performed his daily pooja . Then he dressed himself up in a white dhoti and a white shirt with the sacred ash on his forehead. He started to leave.  Seeing through the window , he could feel the scrouching heat of the Sun.

He turned towards his wife and asked her to close the door as he was leaving.

His son Ram interrupted ," Dad , You had forgotten to take some thing ".

" What? "

" Umbrella dad.  If it rains won't you get wet?" asked Ram.

" Rain....?  Are you crazy?  People had  asked me to sing songs in Amritavarashini ragam for the rains to come. And you see outside Ram.  It is very sunny." told Sundaraman.

"Dad ...That is what Iam also telling. You are going to sing to invite the rains. After you finish your song or even as you sing  there is going to be a down pour. You might get wet.So please take the umbrella ." without waiting to see his dad's reaction, he rushed out to play.

Sundaraman  stood rooted to the ground. He was staring at his running son.

"Look at this little boy . He is teaching me something which I had forgotten. I had forgotten not only to take the  umbrella but also forgot to carry my selfconfidence  with me. " He thought to himself.

Now with a clear thought and his heart  brimming with self confidence , he called his daughter,
" Mythreyi. Please bring the umbrella dear. If I sing this raga, there is going to be a heavy down pour .

Also you and your brother should take care not to get wet in the rains."

The message is clear ." Be Confident with what you do . "

For those of you who would be curious to hear this raga , I had attached a Tamil video. You are sure to enjoy. Hear this song , closing the windows. Otherwise the rain water might splash in.

video courtesy---You Tube.

Deaf Reach The Top.

This is a story of a young boy who reached the top of a hill.

In a small village there was a small hill. There were young  boys playing around , near the foot of the hill. One day as they looked up the hill, they were saying, " If only we can reach the top , we can see the other side of the hill and of course we can have  a good view from the top."

" why don' t we try to climb ? " said one.

" Are you a fool? Can we climb such great height? " discouraged another.

" No. For sure I cannot do that  ." Said another and went and sat on a rock near by.

One by one they showed their disbelief about climbing the hill.
Of the 10 or 15 boys only five of them were firm on their stand. They decided to climb the hill next day morning , as it was getting dark then.

The next day as  decided all the boys came to the foothill. Five boys started to climb the hill, while other boys were simply watching the climbers.

The boys who did not  climb , started to shout,

" you boys cannot do that ."

" there are rough and slippery rocks." 

Hearing this one boy slipped and fell. For fear of falling one boy left the competition even before  he scaled a few yards uphill.

Now he too joined the other boys in shouting,

" This climbing is unnecessary. " 

" They are going to fall and break their heads."

" There is  even a possibility that they might even die during their fall."

Hearing all this one by one withdrew from the ordeal except one boy. Without paying heed to all these discouraging cries, that boy  climbed the hill and reached the top.

No doubt , climbing the hill was not an easy task for him. There were slippery rocks, thorns pricking his feet, no grip to catch hold of, he suffered wounds, bruises,  Still...... he continued with the ordeal and completed.

How come ,.....he alone climbed up the hill?  Guessed why......?

Yes. Your guess is right. That boy was deaf. Not a single word of discouragement reached him. So, it was possible for him to reach the peak.

" There are no gains without pains. So have a deaf ear to discouragement and we are sure to reach the top " is the message I got. Did you?

                 LET US BE DEAF TO DISCOURAGES.


image courtesy---google.

Lord Vishnu rescues the elephant.(Gajendra Moksha)

We all know God comes to our rescue, when we face troubles. There are instances where even animals  have received the Grace of God. Here is one such  incident , where Lord Vishnu rescues an elephant  from being killed  by a crocodile.

In a thick forest , there lived many elephants . The king of elephants was Gajendra. Gajendra took full care  of his herd.This herd was in the habit of offering prayers to Lord Vishnu, after taking bath in a pond near by.  One day as usual, they all went to the water source to bathe and the herd was led by Gajendra, their king. They were enjoying their bath and having fun there, by splashing water on  one another with their long trunks.

Suddenly, one of them saw the beautiful Lotus bloomed in the water far away from their place. Nevertheless the fragrance reached them. Gajendra carried away by its beauty, and fragrance , waded through the water and reached the lotus. With the help of his trunk, he plucked the flower and was returning back.He almost reached the sands .He stepped on the shore with his one leg. But.....alas.. he could not lift his other leg. 

There was a crocodile in the water. He had caught hold of one of the legs of Gajendra. With his one leg on the sands , Gajendra tried hard to free  himself from the crocodile. But the crocodile  did not leave his hold . Gajendra's struggle went on for a long time. The other elephants tried to free Gajendra but of no use. One by one they all left, leaving Gajendra all alone there . 

Gajendra and the crocodile were having a tough fight. One was dragging the other. The elepant dragged the crocodile to the land and the crocodile dragged the elephant into the water. This duel went on for some time. 

Gajendra the elephant, realised that there is no way he could free himself from the  crocodile, Now as a devotee of Lord Vishnu, he cried loud, "Adhimoolame , Abayam." meaning " Oh, Lord Vishnu! Save me."

On hearing Gajendra's cry,  Lord Vishnu flew down seated on Garuda.(His vehicle, the eagle) With his Sudharshana Chakra ,he freed Gajendra from the mouth of the crocodile.

While Gajendra got wisdom,  the crocodile also reached heaven as he was killed by none other than Lord Vishnu himself.

Would you like to listen to the story? Here it is....
I have narrated it .....

 
 This incident is said to have taken place in Kapisthalam, near Kumbakonam in Tamilnadu. This place is now the temple tank of Gajendra  Varadaraja Perumal temple.Here is the photo. (The temple tank is dry now) 

  This is the place where Gajendra Moksha is said to have taken place.


picture courtesy--Sri.Tamizh Elango.

The Wrist Watch.

We all know about Swami Vivekannada's  magnetic speech  at the Parliament of Religions,Chicago.When he was in U.S.A he happened to travel in a local train  . Three  young girls in their teens came and sat opposite to Swamiji. When they saw the Swamiji's saffron dress , they made  fun of his physical appearance and giggled at him.

As usual Swami Vivekananda remained cool without uttering a word. Eventually they saw the watch ( gifted by his devotee)  on Swamiji's wrist. The girls then asked him to give the wrist watch to them ,otherwise ," we shall call the cops on some false accusations against you." they said.

Swami Vivekananda did not give any reply . Instead he gestured to the girls that he is deaf and asked them to write on a piece of paper.. The girls immediately took a piece of paper and wrote," If you don't give the wrist watch to us, we shall call the cops and make  some false accusations against you."

Now, Swami Vivekananda spoke " Now you call the cops. I need to make a complaint based on this " showing the written paper.

Imagine the plight of the girls now. With great discomfort they left the place.


Here is the message,

One should be bold and without fear, with an exceptionally strong common sense! 

image courtesy--google.

Ghost in the Champaka Tree

Swami Vivekananda , named as Naren by his parents, always exhibited  courage and  confidence even as a small boy. He normally used to go and play in his neighbour's house. There was a champaka tree , the flowers of which are liked by  Lord Shiva. And so , people  collect these flowers for worship .

Naren as a small boy  used to dangle upside down  from the branches of this tree. He enjoyed doing this.
The grandfather of the house  saw Naren swinging from the branches of  this Champaka tree. He was scared that Naren might get hurt if he falls from the tree .Also  he might lose the precious Champaka flowers . So, he called out,
" Naren, my boy. Don't climb up this tree . There is a ghost  living in this tree. It catches the children playing around the tree and breaks their neck."

Naren immediately jumped down. Grandfather  returned back to his room to relax.  Again Naren started to dangle from the tree branch. Now his friend standing down said, " Naren, have'nt you heard from the grandfather  that there is a ghost in this tree. The ghost might kill you. Get down from the tree. "

Naren laughed away and said to his friend ," Don't be silly. If there is really a ghost in this tree as the grandfather said, then my neck should have been broken by now.  Don't believe anything  that anybody tells you. We have to  use our common sense before believing anything."
And this was Swamiji as a young boy.

Shall we take the message,
One should be bold and without fear, with an exceptionally strong common sense! 
image courtesy--google.

Swami Vivekananda's encounter with the monkeys.

Swami Vivekananda ,  is  affectionately called as the " Orange Monk " by the westerners .He wears the orange colour Hindu saintly dress and so he is called as the Orange Monk.He had a magnetic art of  attracting people to his speeches. He addressed  the Parliament of Religions  held in Chicago, in 1893.His inspiring speech began with " Sisters and Brothers of America." After his inspiring speech on Hinduism, he became India's  Spiritual Ambassador in America.

He  narrates certain incidents which happened in his life. From these incidents he must be, ofcourse sending us a message. And this one is about the encounter with monkeys in Sarnath.

Swami, a great devotee of Godess Durga was returning after praying at the Durga temple in Sarnath.He was walking between a tank filled with water on one side and a big wall on the other side. He was suddenly surrounded  and cornered by a herd  of monkeys. Some shrieked, some howled at him. And some even went to the extent of clutching his feet with the intention of biting him. He started to run away from them. The faster he ran, the more bolder the monkeys were. They  began to chase him. Swami did not know the way to escape from these  animals.
Another saint who was passing by, saw this. He shouted at Swami Vivekananda ," Oh,Saint! Why are you running away from them.Face the brutes." These words brought him back to senses. He stood firm, turned around and  majestically stared at the monkeys . Now the monkeys , fell back and fled from the scene.
Swami, then went on his way and ofcourse  he thanked the saint who helped him.

Let us take  the message     
      BE BOLD.  BE STRONG.  BE  A HERO.  

image courtesy---google

My ebook " The Story of Rama "

When I saw some of my friends preparing ebooks,  I thought I should also make an ebook. My first book was in Tamil . Then I thought  why can't I take some stories from " My Story Court " and prepare an ebook.

And so here it is.

" The Story of Rama "

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/421314

Click the above link . read and enjoy. Let me have the feed back.

Roasted ? or Non- Roasted?

Let us learn about Avvaiyar, the famous tamil poetess who lived thousands of years ago. She was propogating the fragrance of Tamil literature  and also she had written poems for kids on morality and spirituality. She had penned around fifty nine poems in tamil literature.

Her famous work for kids is called Athichoodi.(ஆத்திச்சூடி). She is such a learned poet that the kings of those days would feel high, if  Avvaiyar  praised them with her poems.

Her quote," கற்றது  கைமண்  அளவு, கல்லாதது  உலகளவு " has been translated as ' What you have learned is a mere handful; What you haven't learned is the size of the world " and exhibited at NASA*

This great learned  poetess was always, very humble and polite.But there was a time when she  too was not devoid of self conceit. But this was quickly  broken to pieces by the Lord Himself.

With a feeling of achieved everything and  feeling elated , she was resting under a jamun tree thinking," I have learnt everything in Tamil. Have written much in Tamil and also have spread it far and wide.. What should I do more? " 

Lord Muruga decided to make her feel that she has still  much to do and still more to  learn. So he came in the disguise of a cow herd boy. 

See how the conversation goes.

Lord Muruga  calls, " Grandma..."

Avvaiyar turned around  and asked, 'Who are you? :

" Iam  a cowboy grandma. My cows are grazing here. But , grandma , what are you doing here? " aked Lord Muruga.

" Iam just taking rest my boy.  I have learnt Tamil and have been spreading the fragrance of Tamil far and wide. ." said Avvaiyar.

" That means......You are a learned woman. am I right grandma ? "  asked the naughty cowboy.

With pride Avvaiyar  answered " Yes"  and stretched her legs.

Now Lord Muruga in the form of cowboy said," Grandma, You have learnt so much, have done a lot  work. So, take some time  to rest." Also he asked " Do you want some  jamun fruits to eat now ? " 

Avvaiyar thinking a while and said " yes . I would like to have some my boy. Why don't you shed down some fruits for me ?"

Lord Muruga readily agreed and asked her, " What kind of fruits do you want? Roasted  or non- roasted? "

Avvaiyar got perplexed about this roasted and non-roasted concept in fruits . With a little confusion in her mind, said, " O.K. Let me have the non-roasted  fruits."

Lord Muruga , shed some fruits from the tree with the help of a stick.

Fruits fell down on the ground . As it rolled on the ground , it collected some dust .So Avvaiyar took some fruits in her hand and started to blow off the dust from the fruit.

Lord Muruga stopped her by saying," Grandma ! You asked for non-roasted fruits. I pulled down the non-roasted ones. Then why are you blowing it again? Is it hot? "

This type of tricky question exhibited the smartness of the boy.  Avvaiyar immediately, looked up at the boy,and at the same time realised  her mistake of self conceit.

She was sure that  he must be divinely, to intervene and point to her about her self conceit .she asked ," My boy. Tell me the truth. Who are you? You  have been an eye opener for me. I was thinking that I have learnt everything. But by your act and speech you made me realise, that I still have got more to learn and do. 

Lord Muruga gave darshan to Avvaiyar and said," I just came to have fun with you. Continue the good work you are doing. Do not stop."

Avvaiyar the saintly poetess went on to pen many more poems in Tamil language.

Watch the video . You can see the story as a visual treat.

Many of you, may be curious  about Avvaiyar's works for children.
As an example I present here Athichoodi(ஆத்திசூடி) with English translation.
Here is  glimpse of it.

Uyir Ezhuthu                                 ஆத்திசூடி                                     English translation

1. அ                      அறம் செய விரும்பு                 Desire to do good things

2. ஆ                       ஆறுவது சினம்                         Anger is to be controlled

3. இ                        இயல்வது கரவேல்                 Help others in any way you can

4. ஈ                         ஈவது விலக்கேல்                     Always be charitable

5. உ                        உடையது விளம்பேல்          Do not boast about what you
                                                                                                                have

6.ஊ                        ஊக்கமது கைவிடேல்          Do not give up hope/effort

7.எ                          எண் எழுத்து இகழேல்           Respect learning

8.ஏ                           ஏற்பது இகழ்ச்சி                       Begging is despicable

9.ஐ                          ஐயமிட்டு உண்                         Give alms before eating

10.ஒ                       ஒப்புர வொழுகு                        Be virtuous

11.ஓ                        ஓதுவது ஒழியேல்                 Do not give up learning

12.ஒள                    ஒளவியம் பேசேல்                Do not talk bad about others

13.ஃ                          அஃகஞ் சுருக்கேல்                  Never cheat on food.


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* source wikkipedia
English translation of Athichoodi --courtesy wikkipedia
video courtesy---You Tube.