Once upon a time, there was a sage called Deva Sharma who lived in a temple in the outskirts of a town. The Foolish Sage - Panchatantra Story PictureHe was widely known and respected. People would visit him, and offer him with gifts, food, money and garments to seek his blessings. The gifts that he did not need for himself, he would sell off, and got rich on the proceeds. And by nature, he trusted nobody. He never trusted anybody. So, he kept all his money in a bag which he carried under his arm all the time. He would not part with the bag for a single moment. One day, a sw ... read more

THE BIRD WITH TWO HEADS Long, long ago, there lived a strange bird in a huge banyan tree. The tree stood beside a river. The strange bird had two heads, but only one stomach. Once, while the bird was flying high in the sky, he saw an apple shaped fruit lying on the bank of the river. The bird swooped down, picked up the fruit and began to eat it. This was the most delicious fruit the bird had ever eaten. As the bird had two heads, the other head protested, "I'm your brother head. Why don't you let me also eat this tasty fruit?" The first head of the bird replied, "Shut up.You know th ... read more

THE SAGE AND THE MOUSE There lived a famous sage in a dense forest. Everyday, the animals of the forest came to him to listen to his spiritual preachings. They would gather around the meditating sage and the sage would tell them the good things of life. There was also a little mouse living in the same forest. He too used to go to the sage daily to listen to his preachings. One day, while he was roaming in the forest to collect berries for the sage, he was attacked by a big cat, who was watching him from behind the thick bushes. The mouse was scared. He ran straight to the ashram of the s ... read more

THE CROW AND THE WATER PITCHER Long ago, there lived a crow in a jungle. Once he was wandering in search of water to quench his thirst. At last, he came flying over a village. There he saw a pitcher lying in front of a house. There was some water in it. The crow tried to reach the water, but couldn't succeed. The water level was too low in the pitcher. The crow began to think of some practicable device and finally came up with a bright idea. He looked around and found a pebble. He picked up the pebble in his beak and dropped it into the pitcher. The crow realised that the water level had r ... read more

THE MONKEY AND THE CROCODILE Long, long ago, there lived a huge crocodile in the river Ganges. The river flowed through a dense jungle. On both sides of the river there stood tall jamun and other fruit trees. In one such tree there lived a big monkey by the name of Raktamukha. He ate fruits from the tree and passed his days happily jumping from one tree to another. Sometimes, he climbed down the tree; took a bath in the river and rested for a while on its bank. One day, the crocodile came out of the river and sat under the big jamun tree in which the monkey lived. The monkey who was sitt ... read more