This is another interesting story / tale from the Hitopadesha Collection. Once upon a time, there lived a Washerman in a village. He had kept a donkey and a dog to serve as his pets. The Dog used to guard his master’s house and escort him wherever he went. The Donkey used to carry stack of clothes on his back to and fro the river. Both of them slept in the washerman’s courtyard. Like this, they were leading their life under the kind shelter of the Washerman.

On one unfortunate night, when everyone was sleeping, a thief managed to get into the house. Even after seeing the thief, the Dog didn’t bark. When the Donkey saw the thief entering the house, he asked the Dog, “Dear Friend, Didn’t you see that a thief had entered the house? Why don’t you bark to awake our master?”

The Dog answered, “Mind your own business. Don't talk to me about my duties; I know how to guard my master. I have been guarding this house for long, but master doesn’t care for me. From the past few days, he doesn’t even feed me properly. He doesn’t know my worth. I won’t wake him up. When this thief will steal valuables from his house then only he will recognize my importance”.

The Donkey irritatingly said, “You fool! This is not the time to complain. This is the time for action. Be fast and do something to wake up the master”. The Dog replied angrily, “No. As he doesn’t care for me even I wont care for him”. The Donkey shouted, “O wicked creature, you are full of ingratitude towards your master. You are ignoring your duty just when you're required most. Fine, I will do your duty and wake him up”.

Hence, the Donkey brayed at the top of his voice which made the washerman to wake up. The thief quickly ran away from the scene. The Washerman looked around but could find anyone. He got furious at the Donkey who had disturbed his sleep. The Washerman thrashed the poor Donkey with a stick. The Donkey was left with pain for months.

Moral: It is always better to mind your own business.

This is another nice story from the album of Jataka Kathaye (Tales). Once upon a time, there was a swan / goose that had striking golden feathers. This swan lived in a pond. There was a house near this pond, where a poor woman lived with her two daughters. The people were really poor and were leading a tough life. The swan found that the poor mother was passing a hard time with her daughters.

The swan thought, “If I give them one after another my golden feathers, the mother can sell them. She and her daughters can live in comfort with the money raised from it”. After thinking this, the swan flew away to the poor woman’s house. On seeing the swan inside the house, the woman said,” Why have you come here? We have nothing to offer you”.

The Swan replied, “I have not come to take anything, but I have something to give you. I know your condition. I will give my golden feathers one by one and you can sell them. With the money raised through it, you people can easily live in comfort”. After saying this, the swan shed one of her feathers and then flew away. This became a regular feature and from time to time, the swan came back and every time left another feather.

Like this, the mother and her daughters were happily leading their life by selling the feathers of the golden swan. Each golden feather got them enough money to keep them in comfort. But the mother became greedy to get all the feathers as soon as possible. One day, she said to her daughters, “Now, we will not trust this swan, possibly she may fly away and never come back. If this would happen, we will be poor again. We will take all of her feathers, when she will come the next time”.

The innocent daughters replied, “Mother, this will hurt the swan. We will not cause any pain to her”. But the mother was determined to catch hold the swan the very next time she comes. Next time, when the swan came, the mother caught her and pulled out all of her feathers. Now, the golden feathers of the swan changed into some strange feathers. The mother was shocked to see such feathers.

The Golden Swan said, “Poor Mother, I wanted to help you, but you wanted to kill me instead. As per my wish, I used to give you the golden feather. Now, I think there is no need to help you. Now, my feathers are nothing more than chicken feathers for you. I am going from this place and will never come back”. The mother felt sorry and apologized for the mistake committed by her. The Golden Swan said, “Never be greedy” and flew away.

Moral: Excess greed brings nothing.

Note: In 300 B.C, the Jataka Tales were written for the mankind to gain knowledge and morality. Ever since, Jataka tales have become story books that are both enjoyable as well as knowledgeable. Originally written in Pali language, Jataka Buddhist tales have been translated in different languages around the world. The luminous fables of ‘Jataka’ are intended to impart values of self-sacrifice, morality, honesty and other informative values to people.

No less than 547 in number, Jataka Tales are an important part of Buddhist literature. Jatak stories represent former incarnations of Buddha, at times like an animal, a bird and sometimes like a human being, the future Siddhartha Gautama. The setting of the stories is made in or near Benares (Varanasi), which is a holy city in north central India. Some of the popular story/ tale from Jatak collection are provided here.

Ganesha and His brother Lord Subramanya (Kartikeya) once had a dispute as to who was more devoted to their parents i.e Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi or for that matter the supreme being i.e Parabrahma(In Hinduism the Hindus consider Parabrahma to be the supreme being like Yahova of Jews.And Gods like Shiva ,Parvathi,Ganesha,Kartikeya,Vishnu,Lakshmi,Brahma etc  are in fact the various forms of Parabrahma to control the various forces of the entire universe.So worshipping Lord Shiva,Ganesha,Vishnu,Goddess Lakshmi etc is equivalent to worshipping the formless Lord Parabrahma)of the two. The matter was referred to Lord Shiva for final decision. Shiva decided that whoever would make a tour of the whole world and come back first to the starting point is more devoted. Subramanya flew off at once on his vehicle, the peacock, to make a circuit of the world. But the wise Ganesha went, in loving worshipfulness, around His divine parents and asked for the prize of his victory.

Lord Shiva said, “Beloved and wise Ganesha! What have you done?You did not go around the world?”

Ganesha replied, “No, but I have gone around my parents. My parents represent the entire manifested universe!”

Thus the dispute was settled in favour of Lord Ganesha, who was thereafter acknowledged as being more devoted of the two brothers. Mother Parvati also gave Him a fruit as a prize for this victory.

In the Ganapathi Upanishad, Ganesha is identified with the Supreme Self. The legends that are connected with Lord Ganesha are recorded in the Ganesha Khanda of the Brahma Vivartha Purana.

One day a saint was taking a bath in a river. His disciple sat on the bank with the saint's clothes, asana and rosary. The saint noticed a scorpion struggling in the current. Taking pity, he lifted the bedraggled scorpion in his palm and started wading toward the bank.

No sooner had the scorpion recovered than it promptly stung the saint on the palm. The saint felt an unbearable, burning pain shoot up his arm, but he did not drop the scorpion. Instead, he gently shook his hand to encourage the scorpion to move away from the wound.

The saint's disciple, watching from the bank, became alarmed, but did not say anything.

The saint had only taken a few more steps when the scorpion stung him again. A searing pain more intense than the first one went all the way up his arm and throbbed in his hand. The saint staggered and nearly collapsed in the river.

This time the disciple did call out. "Put him down, guruji! He will only sting you again. Leave him to his fate. Your kindness is of no value to such a creature. He will learn nothing from it!"

The saint ignored him and continued walking. He had nearly reached the bank when the scorpion stung him for a third time. The pain exploded into his head, lungs, and his heart. The disciple saw a blissful smile appear on the saint's face before he collapsed in to the river. The disciple dragged the saint to the shore, still smiling and still cradling the scorpion in his palm. As soon as they had reached shore, the scorpion crawled away as quickly as it could.

"Guruji!" said the disciple after the saint had regained consciousness. "How can you smile? That wretched creature nearly killed you."

"You are right, my son," said the saint. "But he was only following his dharma, his nature. It is the dharma of a scorpion to sting, and it is the dharma of a saint to save its' life. He is following his dharma and I am following mine. Everything is in its proper place. That is why I am so happy."

Moral: It is not wrong for all living beings to follow their holy Dharma (For ex if a lion kills a deer as its food then it is not wrong and similarily it is not wrong on the part of deer to fight back if it can to defend itself).In this story the saint as a human being has every right to kill the scorpion as it harmed the saint.But a real saint thinks good of everyone else even at the expence of himself.So he was not angry with the scorpion.