Thoughts of Sandalwood Merchant

Once King Mahendra went on his rounds with his minister in disguise. On the way they saw a man sitting and thinking deeply. Again next day they saw him in the same posture.

On seeing him again the King remarked, "I feel like punishing this guy even though he has not done anything wrong". The minister wisely replied, I shall find all about him first.

Later they came to know through the spies that he is a sandalwood merchant. The minister then asked the King's permission to make some furniture and a car for temple made in sandalwood. The king agreed and asked him to go ahead. He appreciated the work.

Few days later, as they again went on rounds they found the same person. Now the king remarked, "Do you recognize this person. I have no ill feelings for him today." Minister replied, "Yes, he is a sandalwood merchant. His business was very dull that day, so his thoughts were also bad. He thought if you die, his sandalwood would be purchased to burn your body. This affected you psychologically and you naturally developed aversion towards him. Today we have given good business to him, he thanks you now and wishes you to live long." The King then remarked, "If someone thinks ill of us we unknowingly develop ill feeling towards him. Is it your explanation ?"

Minister replied, "Not only that, if we always think good of others, others too will feel good towards us."

Deceit of Jackal

In a big forest there once lived a deer and a crow. They were good friends. One day a jackal happened to see the deer and said to himself: "Deer flesh must be very tasteful; let me first make friends with him."

So, he went up to the deer and said: "Friend, how do you do?" The deer asked: "Who are you?" He replied: "I am a jackal. I live here all alone, and I have lost all my relations. Now, I have found a friend in you." The deer said: "Be it so." At sun-set the deer took his new friend to his home.

The crow, an old friend of the deer, lived on a tree near his home. Seeing the two together, the crow said: "Friend, who is this?" The deer replied: "This is a jackal; he desires our friendship." The crow said: "Look before you leap." At this, the jackal became friends.

One day, the jackal said to the deer: "Mr. Deer, in a corner of this wood, there is a field full of corn. I shall take you there and show it to you." The deer was very glad. He went there everyday and ate the corn. One day, the master of the field saw this and was angry. So, the next day he set a snare to catch the thief, and he caught the poor deer.

Just at that time the jackal came up and saw his friend. Then he thought, now, the master will kill this deer and I will have plenty of food for some days. The deer called to his jackal friend for help, but the cunning jackal said: "I am very weak, and the net is very strong; however, I shall try." He then ran away and hid himself near the field.

In the evening, the crow returned to his tree, but, under the tree he did not see his friend, the deer. He searched for him, and at last found him in the field. He felt very sorry for the deer. The deer saw the crow and said: "My friend, Mr. Crow, I disregarded your advice at first and now I suffer." The crow then said: "Mr. Deer, listen to what I say. In the morning, the owner of this field will come here. When he comes, lie down quietly; make your legs stiff and pretend to be dead. After some time I shall make a noise. Immediately, stand up and run away quickly."

The owner of the field came the next morning and saw the deer seemingly dead. So he released him from the net. The crow who saw what was being done began to caw loudly. In a moment, the deer took to his heels and ran away. The owner got very angry and threw a stick at the deer. The deer escaped, but the stick hit the jackal and killed it.

The Biggest Strength

A boy named Okayo lived in a small town in Japan. He was interested in learning Judo. But due to an accident, he lost his left hand. However, he still wanted to learn judo. His parents were not allowing him due to absence of his left hand. But his demand of learning judo kept on becoming more obstinate as he was getting older.

The Burnt Chapati

One evening my mother, tired due to household activities, went to kitchen for preparing dinner. As she was very tired, the chapati, she was preparing for my father, became over cooked and burned at sides. She served that burnt chapati with the vegetable curry to my father. I was thinking that my father would say something to my mother on the burnt chapati.

Like My Daughter

When Vikas, a big flirt, stopped his car near ladies tailor, his friend Raman asked in surprise, "What do you want to do here?" Vikas said, "My daughter Mini is now entering adulthood but her behavior is still childish. She wears anything without thinking about her own safety. I am taking dupatta (A length of material worn arranged in two folds over the chest and thrown back around the shoulders, typically with a salwar kameez, by women from South Asia.) for her." Raman said, "So you feel your daughter is now adult and what you do there in tea shop at roadside?"

Irresponsible shoulders

Mr. Vishwas considered himself very fortunate. His both sons were graduated from premier technical institute and were working abroad, earning millions. When Mr. Vishwas retired from his job, he asked his sons to return to home. But none of his sons were ready to come back and even asked him to stay with them abroad. Mr. Vishwas went abroad with his wife. However, he did not feel comfortable living in an entirely new society and returned back to his ancestral house.

Three Shortcomings of Dog

One beggar was going around town begging for alms. Suddenly, a dog saw him and started barking. The beggar stopped the dog and said, "O Dog, no doubt you are extremely faithful animal, but you still have three shortcomings:

Cycle of Action

One day, a businessman was going to his office. While he was entering in car, he mistakenly pressed the tail of a dog who was sleeping inside the car. Perceiving this as an attack on itself, the dog bit the businessman hard.

Buddhist Monk and Prostitute

Once upon a time, a lady prostitute stopped a young Buddhist monk and invited him to stay with her for the entire rainy season (lasting for three months). The monk said, "I have no hesitation in accepting your invitation but I can not accept it before taking permission from my master." The prostitute inquired, "Do you think he will not allow you?" The monk replied, "Although I know that my master would not stop me, but it is imperative for me to seek his permission as I am his disciple."

Perception versus Reality

Once upon a time, during early morning hours, a sage was travelling near seashore. He saw that a man was sleeping on lap of a woman. Also, a bottle of wine was lying near him. The sage thought, 'This man is filled with so much lust. He took alcohol at such early hours and is sleeping on lap of woman.' Thinking this, the sage felt sad.

Cellphones were not Present

"Cellphones were not Present at our time.", said an elderly man to his wife while cleaning his spectacles. His wife said, "Really and still I used to be at gate opening the door for you with a glass of water and you used to just arrive at right time."