Month: January 2022

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Stories Stories from Hindu Religion

Story of King Jada Bharat

King Bharat was a great King. He ruled his kingdom with great justice and compassion. When he grew old he gave up his kingdom and went to a forest to perform penance and achieve Jeevanmukt state. He built a small hut and started living there to perform penance.

One day while he was sitting there, he saw she deer running. A lion was chasing her. As the deer jumped through the river, she delivered a deer and also died because of fright. Bharat jumped and picked up the small deer child. From that day onwards he started caring for the deer all day. So much so that he forgot his penance and instead of thinking o Brahman, kept thinking of the deer.


He was born a deer in his next birth because at the time of his death he was thinking of the deer. In his next birth, he was born as a Brahmin. Because of the virtue of his earlier penance he remembered everything. He had decided to not involve in anything and keep his mind free of every care and thought. Because he looked careless about everything he was called Jada Bharat, or someone who understands nothing. 


Once it so happened that the King of that place called Rahugan was traveling near the village of Jada Bharat. He was traveling to meet Sage Kapila to know about Brahman and the truth of life. One of the bearers of his Palaquin was sick so he was looking for another bearer. He caught hold of Jada Bharat and ordered him to act as the fourth bearer. 


Jada Bharat was careful while walking to save the small insects on the ground. Due to his slow and uneven motion King was troubled and he shouted at Bharat saying that perhaps he was sick and old of his body and was unfit. Bharat replied saying that O King, what you say applies to my body and not to me because I am pure Brahman who has realized his oneness with the whole. Jada Bharat also told King Rahugan more about soul and body. Realizing that the bearer was a great being King came down asked for forgiveness from Bharat.


The King said that I was going to meet Sage Kapila to learn about the truth of life and it seems that I need not go there. You will be able to enlighten me here itself. Jada Bharat told King everything about Brahman and World and enlightened the King.


In this birth when Bharat died he merged with Brahman and got free of the world forever.

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Stories

How a Lion Became a Sheep?

Lion

There was a pregnant lioness. Once she was roaming in the forest in search of prey. She saw a flock of sheep at a distance. She jumped on the sheep but while leaping the lion cub was born and unfortunately, the lioness died.
The baby lion started growing with the sheep. He spoke like the sheep and ate grass like them. Gradually this child grew up to become a young lion, but his habits remained the same as that of sheep.


Once an old lion was passing by and he saw a young lion behaving like sheep among the sheep flock. He somehow caught this young lion and asked him – why do you speak like these sheep, eat grass like them? You are a lion. the young lion That he was not a lion but a sheep.


Somehow the old lion took that young lion to a  pond and he showed him his face in the water. When the young lion saw that he looked like an old lion, he started thinking that probably he was a lion and not a sheep. 
Then the old lion asked the young lion to roar. The old lion roared at him. Seeing the old lion, the young lion also roared in the same way. After this, the young lion fully realised that he was a lion and not a sheep.


 we ourselves are brahman. But because of being in this body and being the world, we have forgotten our Brahman nature and think that we are mere human beings.
We consider that we are the body and the mind. We consider the pain of the body or mind as our own. Whereas, we are unattached to them. The sorrow or pain of body and mind is not ours. 

We should always remember that we are Brahman and not ordinary human beings. That we are lions and not sheep. keep in mind at all times that the happiness and misery that belong to the body belong to the body and whatever belongs to the mind is of the mind and not ours. Nothing that affects mind or body affects us, because we are Brahman.


We got the inspiration for this story from the lectures of Swami Sarvapriyanand Ji.  he is currently associated with the Vedanta Society, New York.

To read such educational stories from the Hindu religion follow gyankatha.com
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