Hanuman – Set Lanka on Fire

Today we will learn a story of Hanuman in Ramayana.

Ask Kids a question: In Ramayana, which God do talk about? Rama(the king of Ayodhya) and Sita

Ravana is the King of Lanka.

When Ravana takes away Sita to Lanka, Hanuman was sent to Lanka as a messenger to talk to
Ravana and to see how Sita is?

With his power and strength, He became so big like an aeroplane so that he can he cross over the
ocean to reach Lanka.

After reaching Lanka, Hanuman hides himself on a tree and thought how do I enter the Ravana’s
palace?

He observed that there was one big Asura(Demon) waiting at the door.

Hanuman did magic again and became smaller than a cat like a baby monkey. When he tried to
enter the palace quietly (just like how you quietly open the fridge and eat chocolates), the Asura
stopped him and said “Hey, you little monkey, where are you going?”. Then Hanuman said “ This is
such a beautiful palace I just want to see once and play there in the beautiful garden for some time
and go back.”

The Asur a did not allow Hanuman instead she tried to blow Hanuman. But Our Hanuman is so
strong right, he blow the Asura. The Asura jumped and fell far away and she let Hanuman go in.

Ask kids a question: “Why did Hanuman come to Ravana’s palace?

Then, Hanuman looked for Sita everywhere in the palace and found her in a garden called Ashoka
Vatika. He met Sita and he felt so sad that Sita was unhappy. Hanuman said “Ram will come soon
and will take her from Lanka.” And left the garden.

Hanuman got so upset being Sita unhappy, he grew bigger and bigger and bigger and all the Asuras
started to shiver out of fear.

The mighty Hanuman jumped from one tree to another tree and from one building to another
building and started spoiling all the gardens and buildings. He plucked all the trees and threw them
on the buildings. He stamped on all the plants. He started shouting “Long Live Rama! Long Live
Lakshmana. I destroyed the entire city of Lanka! Nah nana boo boo.”

Ask Kids a question : (Who is the king of Lanka?)

Ravana was so angry that a monkey is spoiling all the beautiful gardens and buildings in his city.
Ravana called an army of Asuras and said “Go and catch that monkey and bring him to the court.”
Hanuman was super proud and happy that he destroyed the city of Lanka.

After a long fight, Hanuman falls down on the ground because of an arrow called Bramhastra. The
Asuras caught Hanuman, tied him with ropes, and took him to the court of Ravana. Because
Hanuman was so big, they had to tie him with lots and lots of ropes, which Hanuman can break the
ropes with one breathe (because he is so strong).
Ravana with his angry voice, asks Hanuman “Why did you destroy my lovely city? If you do not
answer I will punish you!”.

Hanuman says “I am the messenger of Sri Rama, the king of Ayodhya. My name is Hanuman.
Return Sita to Rama otherwise Rama will come and fight with you!”

After listening to Hanuman, Ravana got so angry and he told his army to set his tail on fire.

They tied Hanuman’s tail to a rope and set the tail on fire. When Hanuman walked through the
streets all the Asuras laughed at him.

Ask kids a question: Do you think Hanuman cried when his tail was on fire? No

Sita prayed to Fire God not to hurt Hanuman and Fire God helped Hanuman. There was no pain!

So, Hanuman decided to some have fun. Hanuman shrunk his body and became small. All ropes
dropped off.

He jumped on to the building to another and set them buildings on fire. One building after the other
started to fall down. All the asuras ran screaming here and there out of fear! “Fire, Fire, Ammo, Fire,
Ayyo, Fire”

The entire Lanka was on Fire.

Hanuman checked if Sita is safe and he flew across the sea and went back to Rama!

THE MAGIC RUNNING BOOTS

Once upon a time there was a fisherman. His name is Pedro. He lived in a tiny fishing
village in Spain.

Ask kids a question: What does a fisherman do?

Every day Pedro catches fish, goes to the market to sell the fish. He would keep two or three
fish as a food for his family. He would tie these fish to a stick and carry home.

One day Pedro was walking home from the market when he saw a very beautiful, fine pair of
black colour boots with a red colour lace.

Ask kids a question: When you go for shopping and when you see a beautiful pair of shoes, what
do you say to your mom?

“Ah! What a beautiful pair of boots. I should try them once” Thought Pedro.

Pedro looked here and there, and when nobody was watching he quickly slipped his feet into the
boots. “Ah such nice boots. They are so comfortable. They are so warm”.

When he began to tie the shoe laces, suddenly the boots started moving.

Ask a question: When we do skating, How does our feet go?

His one foot went to Ayushi’s house and the other foot went to Sravya’s house. Poor Pedro. He tried
very hard to stop his feet from moving but his feet were sliding and slithering everywhere.

His fish fell onto the road. The dogs that were there ate the fish and started chasing Pedro.

Pedro quickly clung on to a branch of a tree very tightly and started shouting “Please help me. These
boots are scary. Please help me take these boots off for me. I’ll never be able to stop running if I let
go of this branch. Please help me!”

A man passing by looked at Pedro and his boots. Pedro said “Please help me. Please! I have some
money in my pocket. You can take some and help me take off my boots.”

The man quickly put his hand in Pedro’s pocket, took all the money and ran off!

Pedro started crying. Then an old woman came walking by. Pedro was happy to see her and asked
“Please help me. Take off my dreadful boots. They make me run all the time and my feet are tired.”

“Not I” told the old woman and went off.

Pedro started shouting again for help. Soon a little boy named Arjun came to help him. The boy said
“I’ll go and fetch the shoemaker and he’ll know what to do.”

Meanwhile, all the people in the village came to Pedro and were making fun of his feet and children
were poking his feet with sticks.

Ask a question: Why were the villagers making fun of his feet?

The little boy went and got the shoe maker. The shoemaker carefully removed the boots.

Pedro warned the shoemaker not to try the boots on”. But the boots were so beautiful that the
shoemaker wanted to try just for a moment and he quickly slipped his feet inside the boots. As
soon as he slipped into the boots, the shoemaker started running just like our Pedro.

Pedro, the little boy, and the villagers also ran behind the shoemaker.

Then an old man came who was walking towards that road and asked Pedro, “What is all this fuss?
Why are you all running?” Pedro told about the boots to the old man. The old man immediately
understood and started saying “Well, well, well, this is a lesson for you all.” The villagers looked at
each other and said “Teach us all a lesson. What lesson? What have we done?”

Then the old man said “These boots belong to me. I was so tired I took them off and slept under a
tree. When I woke up my boots were missing. My father made these boots for me. When he finished
making these boots he kept them in a magic wooden box and wished they would never be stolen or
wear out. Many people tried to steal my boots but the boots always came back to me.”

The old man took the boots off from the shoemaker’s feet and magically the shoemaker stopped
running.

Pedro said “This is all my fault. I took the boots. I should have left them where they were or I should
have tried to find the owner of the boots. I have lost all my money, my fish were eaten up and I also
got hurt, and my trousers were also torn. I should not touch anything that doesn’t belong to me
again. “ Pedro then apologized to the old man.

The old man wore the his boots and walked away.
 STORY OF VALMIKI

Ask a question: Do you know who wrote Ramayana? Sage Valmiki.

Ask a question: Do you know the real name of Valmiki? Ratnakara

Today, we will listen to the story of Ratnakara.

Ratnakara, was an excellent hunter. He used to kill animals and feed his family. He had a wife and
children.

One day while Ratnakara was waiting for his hunt, the sage Narada passed.

Ask a Question: Do you know Sage Narada? What does he carry in his hand all the time? Tambura

Sage Narada was wearing saffron clothes and carried a Tambura in one hand. He is always busy
singing praises to the Lord.

Ask a question: What is his favourite chant? “Narayana, Narayana!”

Sage Narada met Ratnakara and told him that killing animals is a sin (means doing something wrong)
especially when they did not harm you.

Ratnakara is a hunter, right. He didn’t understand what Narada muni was saying, “What sins I am
collecting? What wrong did I do?”

Narada explained, ““When you hurt somebody intentionally, you are committing a sin. You’ll be
punished for committing sins.”

Ratnakar replied “But I am doing this for my family. I have to feed them and that’s why I am killing
animals. They share the food I give to them.”

Narada questioned him, “You said your family shares food. Will your family share the punishments
you get for killing these innocent animals?”

Ratnakar confidently said, “yes, ofcourse!”

Narada said, “Go home now and ask your family if they are ready to share your punishments for the
sins you have committed?”

Ratnakar ran back home and asked his family, “I have done so many sins by killing so many animals
to feed our family. Someday I will have to face the punishment for killing those innocent animals. I
did this for all of us. Will you share my sins?

Then his wife said, “We have never asked you to kill animals to feed us. So we will not share your
sins with you.” Ratnakar shocked.

While walking back to the sage Narada, he was sad that none of his family members(his wife and
children) are ready to share his punishments.

Ratnakar went back to Sage Narada and told him “Sir, I do not want to commit anymore sin. Kindly
help me in not getting punishments for the sins I have committed.”

Sage Narada told him “Child, everyone does mistakes, if there is no proper guidance. The only way is
to chant the name of Rama”
Ratnakar tried his best to chant the name Rama. But his tongue was unable to pronounce Rama.

Then Sage Narada advised him to chant the name “Mara.”

The hunter started to repeat “Maraa, Maraa”

For Kids: Now lets all say Mara Mara Mara… What did you realize? Were you saying Maraa Maraa or
Rama Rama.

He forgot all his surroundings while chanting. Slowly an ant hill rose all around him.

Narada who again visited the forest woke him up and told him that he has got rid of all his sins.

He also gave him a new name “Valmiki” after the ant hill. Valmeeka in Sanskrit is called ant hill.

Valmiki became a great pandit due to his devotion.

He wanted to write an epic based on a great man. The Sage Narada asked him to write an epic on
Lord Rama. The epic is called Ramayana, the story of Lord Rama and Mother Sita which we all
know.”

STORY OF SHRAVANA KUMAR

The story of Shravana Kumara teaches us how we should take care of our parents with dedication.

It dates backs to the time of King Dasaratha’s rule.

Ask a question: Do you know who is Dasaratha? Rama’s father

Shravana Kumar lived when Dasaratha was the king of Ayodhya. Shravana Kumar’s parents are Sage
Shantanu and Malaya. He was the only son.

Shravana Kumar’s parents were very old, blind, and physically weak.

Sharava Kumar used to take care of their parents, do all the household chores with full
responsibility. He used to fulfil all the wishes of his parents immediately.

He was a very devoted son.

Ask a question: Who will take care of his parents when he has to go out?

No one. So Shravana Kumar used to carry his parents in a yoke (two baskets tied to a stick and made
their parents sit in the baskets one on each side).

One day his parents asked him to take their parents on a pilgrimage (travel to different the temples
like how your parents take you to a temple on festival days).

Shravana Kumar said, “OK! I’ll take you.” And started the journey.

While they were travelling through the forest, his parents were thirsty and wanted to drink water.

Ask a question: When your Amma asks a glass of water, what will you do?
In the same way, Shravan kumar placed the yoke containing both his parents under shade of a tree
and went to Sarayu river to fetch water.

At the same time King Dasaratha who loves hunting came to the same forest. He heard a noise near
the Sarayu river. The king thought a deer is making noise and he shooted an arrow in the direction of
the noise. But that was Sravan Kumar. It was not a deer.

Hearing to the scream of a boy, King Dasaratha realized his mistake and rushed to Sravan Kumar.
Dasarath was immensely pained at the sight and asked for forgiveness.

Sravana Kumar told the King that his parents are waiting for him under a tree and they are very
thirsty and request King Dasaratha to carry water and quench their thirst.

King Dasaratha fetched the water from the Sarayu river and offered the water to the parents of
Sravana Kumar.

Listening to voice of the King, the parents realized that it is not their son. The parents said, “You are
not my son. Who are you? Where is our son?”

King Dasaratha told what happened to their son and apologised for the mistake he committed and
said “It was an accident”.

The parents were very sad to hear this and they requested the King to take him to their Son.

The King carried the yoke and took them to their son. The parents cried as their beloved son is no
more. King Dasarath bowed at their feet and asked for forgiveness.

Shravan’s father said, “Who are we to forgive you. But as we can see the future, Like how we are
dying missing our son, You will also cry and die for your son.” And both the parents of Shravan
Kumar died, longing for their dear son.

The curse of Shravan Kumar’s parents came true when Lord Rama went to the forest and King
Dasaratha missed his son and died.

Today, we remember Sravana Kumar for his sincere service, duty, and devotion to towards his
parents.

STORY OF EKALAVYA

Today we are going to hear a story of Ekalavya.

Before that we should know about Pandavas and Kauravas.

Pandavas are five brothers (Yudhistira, Bheema, Arjuna, Nakul, and Sahadev). Kauravas are 100
brothers and 1 sister (Dhuryodhan, Dussasana, and Dussala). They all used to live in a Hastinapur and
their teacher was Dronacharya.
In the great forests of Hastinapura, there lived many tribes . The chief son of one of the tribes, was
named Ekalavya.

He heard of the teacher Dronacharya who is so good at teaching archery.

He went to Dronacharya and requested him to teach archery.

But Dronacharya refused to teach because Ekalavya was a son of a tribe but not a Prince.

Ekalavya was bitterly disappointed.

But he wanted to learn and become a great archer.

So, he made a life-size image of Drona in clay, he stood alongside of the statue and started practising
throwing arrows using his bow.

He practised and practised and practised and he became good at archery.

Such was his faith (confidence) and soon he became as skilled as any of Drona’s students.

One day, Pandava and Kaurava princes were out for hunting in the forest close to where Ekalavya
lived.

One of their hounds, running far ahead, suddenly came upon this image of Guru Dronacharya, and
decided h

Ekalavya from a distance, saw what was happening and to save his tutor from being demolished, He
threw six arrows which all hit the dog symmetrically on each side of its muzzle.

The princes hearing the dog yelp with pain, and thinking it was being attached by some animal, ran
towards the dog.

When they reached, the princes were amazed by the archer’s skill and who taught him such mastery
of the bow.

Looking at Ekalavya, asked him “who he is and who taught him such archery?”

“Sirs,” bowing to princes, “I am Ekalavya and I am a great disciple of Guru Dronacharya.”

The princes were surprised as to How can Dronacharya teach a tribal chief’s son.

When Arjuna heard Ekalavya, was so angry and envy, and when they got to Hastinapura, Guru
Dronacharya, he asked in a bigger voice, “You promised me that none would ever excel me at
archery.” Today I met Ekalavya, one of your students, whose skill is equal to mine.

Guru Drona was at shock and asked Arjun to take him to Ekalavya.

Arjuna took him to Ekalavya and Guru Dronacharya observed that Ekalavya was shooting arrows at
greater precision without missing even once.

As soon as Ekalavya saw Drona, he said, “Guru! I am so happy that you are here. I am your humble
student. “

“If that is so, what will a student give his master as a present?” asked Guru Drona.

Anything you command, Guru”, replied Ekalavya

“Then give me your right thumb” Said Guru Drona

Without a word, Ekalavya drew out the sword and cut off his right thumb, and presented it to Guru
Drona.

“See the greatness of Dronacharya, he took the blame on him and

uplifted his student. That is why, even if the Guru is wrong, if your
devotion is there you can never go wrong. But the Guru is not
wrong, it appears he was partial but he uplifted Eklavya and
preserved his Dharma (duty) also. His duty was to maintain the law
of the land: You cannot have anyone much better than the prince.”-
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

STORY OF GANESHA AND KUBERA

KUBERA is the God of wealth!

He became arrogant that he has the so much of wealth.

He wanted to show off his wealth, and so he wanted to invite Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati for
lunch (to his palace at Alakapuri).

Ask kids a question: Do you know where Lord Shiva and Parvati Devi live? Mount Kailash

Kubera went to Mount Kailash to invite Lord Shiva.

Lord Shiva said I won’t be able to join but I’ll send my son Ganesha.

Lord Shiva warned Kubera that “Ganesha is an voracious eater!”

“That’s nothing. Oh, I can easily feed him to his heart’s content.” Said Kubera.

And our little Ganesha caught hold of the little finger of Kubera and walked down to the magnificent
“Pushpaka” vimanam.

Ganesha, comfortably seated, went on eating all the items served to him.

As, he ate on, his appetite grew more and more and he started eating faster and faster.

The army of servents had a tough time serving Ganesha.

Ganesha started becoming impatient at the slow pace of serving, so now he started eating food
straight from the dishes.

He started eating dishes also. And then he went inside the kitchen and ate all the cooked and the
uncooked food.

Ganesha went on eating whatever comes in his way – furniture, the gardens and the trees and all
that is there in the palace of Kubera.
Kubera became very frightened.

Ganesha told him,” You promised my parents you will feed me. I am hungry. If you won’t give me
food, I have to eat you up.”

Kubera ran to Kailash and pleaded Lord Shiva to save him.

Shiva asked Kubera to give up his pride and gave him a handful of roasted rice to feed Ganesha to
satisfy his hunger.

“Lord, Please forgive me for my foolishness and for my pride.” Kubera prostrated at the feet of Lord
Shiva and ran back to Alakapuri with a handful of puffed rice.

Kubera with all the humility, he offered the puffed rice to Ganesha, and eating it, he became calm
and contented.

Kubera took Ganeshaji back to Kailash and entrusted him to Lord.

Moral:

1) We cannot satisfy God with expensive gifts or money. God wants your Love and Devotion. If
Kubera would have invited with Devotion or love then probably he would have come.
2) Never show-off. Never boast about it. Instead share what you have. Be it toys, be it books,
pencils, knowledge, if you have old clothes donate it to poor people.

STORY OF ADI SANKARACHARYA

Archarya means Teacher in Sanskrit

Aadi means First in Sanskrit

Sankara was his name. He wrote slokas on Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesha, Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Krishna
etc. The slokas which we learn today are mostly written by him.

Birth and Childhood:

Sankara was born in a Brahmin family in a village called Kaladi, in Kerala.

Ask a question: Do you know where Kerala is?

His father’s name is Shivaguru. Mother’s name is Aryamba.

His parents prayed to Lord Shiva for a child. Lord Shiva appeared in their dream and told them that
he will be born as a child to them. With Shiva’s blessings a boy was born to them and named him
Sankara.

Sankara lost his father when he was a kid/ very young.

Sakara was a very intelligent boy. He learnt all the traditional education and excelled in all the
subjects.

At two, he studies the puranas and by eight, he studied the vedas and other sastras.
As a brahmin, he use to houses for food.

One day, he went to a house. The lady who was herself extremely poor, but did not want to send the
boy empty-handed, gave him the last piece of Amla fruit she had at home.

Sankara realized that the lady was poor, prayed to goddess Lakshmi (prayer of Kanakadhara
Stotram). As a result, Goddess Lakshmi showered golden amlas and rewarded the lady.

Ask a question: What do you do when your mother falls sick? How do you help her?

On another occasion, His mother could not go to the river for taking bath because of her old age
and the river was too far. Sankara prayed to River Goddess and the next morning the river started
flowing behind their house. Her mother was so happy and prayed to the river Goddess. The name of
that river is Poorna river and it is still there in Kerala.

Sankara wanted to become a monk and wanted to learn more. He also wanted to teach all the vedas
and sastras he learnt to everyone in India. So, Sankara asked permission of his mother. But his
mother refused his request.

One day when Sankara went to take bathe in the river, suddenly a crocodile came and caught his
leg. The crocodile slowly began to drag him into the water. Aryamba cried for help. While all this
was happening, Sankara prayed to God. Then God gave him an idea. So, he started shouting to his
mother, “If you give me permission for me to go and teach vedas to everyone, then the crocodile will
let me go.” Poor Aryamba said, “OK.OK. I gave permission.” Immediately the crocodile opened its
mouth and set Sankara free. Not harmed a bit, Sankara swam to the shore.

After obtaining his mother blessing’s he left home in search of a guru. He found his guru on the
banks of River Narmada. His Guru’s name is Govindpad. After he learnt all the knowledge from his
guru, Sankara, at the age of sixteen, he starting writing his own books and teachings all his
knowledge with everyone.

Adi Sankaracharya roamed through out India so many times to teach and share his knowledge to
everyone.

Moral of the story: We should always surrender ourselves to God and you should always teach
when you know something to your friends for example if you know how to draw a Hello Kitty or if
Arjun knows how to draw a dinosaur, he can teach you both.

THE EMPTY JAR THAT WAS NOT EMPTY

In a village, there lived an old man, wife, and two daughters.

His wife and two daughters used to spin the yarn from cotton.

The old man used to sell them in the market. With the money he got, he bought food for his family.

They lived on this income and never saved any money.

So the elder daughter went to market. The elder daughter sold the yarn for the expected price and
bought bread and was on her way back home.

She took a short-cut to go home.

In a lane, there was a small hut. She heard a moaning voice coming from the hut.

Curious, she peeped in and saw a women and her small children lying on the floor. It was the woman
who moaned.

“What are you crying”? asked the elder daughter.

“Hunger. We had no food for the past three days,” replied the woman.

“If I give you some food, will it be of much help to you? What will you do tomorrow?” asked the
elder daughter.

“Only if we could gather some strength, we will go over to the next town. My kinsmen are there and
they are well-to-do people.”

The girl gave them all the bread she had bought. The woman thanked her and said, “Friend, I have
nothing to give you in return but this old jar. Please take this with you. It is not empty.”

The girl looked into the jar. It was empty. She said, “Empty or full, I have no need of your jar. Thank
you.”

“Please take this. I tell you, it is not empty.”

The girl took the jar.

At home she narrated what happened on her way. All were going to starve for her charity!

Then the mother said, “True we have to pass the night without food, but we can have some food in
the morning, after all!”

“That’s right. Lets try to sell the jar tomorrow. It may fetch some money enough to buy atleast
enough to buy one loaf of bread.” Said the old man.

The younger sister was sent to the market with the jar. Dozens of people looked at the jar but
nobody even cared to ask for the price was!

When the market was about to close, an old fisherman came near her and said, “I have only one fish
left in my basket. Why don’t you buy it? I’ll give you for cheap.”

“But I don’t have any money to buy your fish. But if you are willing to exchange it for this jar, you are
welcome to do so!”, said the younger sister.

The fisherman looked at the jar and said “I don’t mind. Something is better than nothing.”

They exchanged their wares. The girl returned home with the fish.

“Something is indeed better than nothing,” said the mother as she sat down to cut the fish.

Pop came out a sizable pearl out of the fish. All looked at it with wonder.

In their joy they forgot their hunger.

In the morning, the old man went to his friend, who was a jeweller.
Examining the pearl, the jeweller said, “This is the finest pearl I have ever seen. I cannot buy it as it is
beyond my means.”

He took him to another jeweller and the other jeweller was happy to pay the right price for it.”

The old man became very rich with the money he got after selling the pearl.

“I understand the mystery of that empty jar.” Said The old man while eating dinner.

“What do you mean”, asked his wife.

“That jar was full of love,” explained the old man.