Short stories for kids from Mahabharat on Valour and Humility

Two Short Stories for Kids from Mahabharat on Valour and Humilty:

Short Story for kids on Valour : Story of Prince Sanjaya

Kunthi is the mother of the Pandvas in the great epic Mahabharat.   Pandavas are forced into exile by their cousins , the Kauravas. Almost at the end of the Pandava exile period of 13 years, Lord Shri Krishna comes to meet Kunti Devi.  Kunti Devi asks him to narrate a story to the Pandavas to inspire them. This story told by a mother to her sons was meant for her children to stand up to what was rightfully theirs.

This is the story of a young prince Sanjaya.  The young prince Sanjaya had just lost his father. The kingdom was going through a lot of struggle and  a lot of things were changing. The king of the neighboring kingdom of Sindhu desh, saw it as an amazing opportunity to conquer Snajaya’s kingdom.

As soon as Sanjaya heard that the enemy was marching on him, he lost all courage and panicked. His mother Vidula was an outstanding woman. She was a woman of courage and fortitude.  She motivated her son to fight the war. She told some things that inspired prince Sanjaya to pick up the sword and fight

  • She reminds of her own and his fate if the enemy king were to be successful
  • She reminds of his duty towards the kingdom
  • She reminded him that his father’s men were loyal to him and he need only to show some leadership skills before they start fighting for him
  • She reminded him that he was a trained warrior and all his training was for this moment
  • She told him that he had only two choices – the choice of being a hero and his story being told by generations to come or be forgotten

These words inspired prince Sanjaya and he left the fort to fight.   But, when he saw the mighty army of Sinduja he panicked and retreated. Vidula was very angry. She refused to open the fort gates and told her son that he had no choice.   The minute he realized that he had no choice, Sanjaya’s old training skills came to him and he fought bravely. Seeing this, his men to started giving their best and they won the war.

Parenting takeaways from this short story:

This is a short story for kids and can be told to kids to remind them that life doesn’t always afford them a bed of roses.  It is also a story that reminds us that stories and narration were a great way to motivate people since time immemorial. No wonder, Kunthi devi  chose to use story telling as a technique to inspire her sons.

 

Short story for kids from Mahabharata to inspire them to be humble:  Arjuna's request

The preparations for the great battle of  Kurukshetra were underway. Both the Pandavas and  Kauravas were preparing for battle . They were busy in finding allies and building their armies.

Lord Krishna had over 10,000 men in his army and both the Pandavas and Kauravas were his cousins.  Arjuna and Duryodhana go to Dwarka to meet Krishna to request his help in the warWhen they reach the palace they are told that Krishna is asleep.  They enter the room where Krishna is sleeping. Duryodhana sits at Krishnas head considering him an equal. Arjuna was a great devotee of Lord Krishn and he sat respectfully at his feet.

As soon as , Krishna woke up he saw Arjuna first. He saw Duryodhana second. Krishna said , “  Cousins, it is great to see you both. I will offer one thing each to you in the coming war.  My army 10,000 men to one side and I will personally join the other side but I will touch a weapon.  I saw Arjuna first so I give the first choice.”

Duryodhana started protesting, but Krishna prevailed. Arjuna bowed his head and respectfully said, “ Oh Lord Krisha! I choose you.” Duryodhana was greatly relived by this. He knew his cousins were fools, but even didn’t think that Arjuna would choose Krishna over an army of  10,000 Men.

This choice was the reason the Pandavas won the war. Lord Krishna’s wisdom during the war proved to be a lot more valuable than the 10,000 soldiers.

Key Parenting Takeaways:

We can remind kids that being humble is very important. It was Arjuna’s humility that made him sit at the feet of Krishna and thus gain the first choice.

It is also a reminder that wisdom is far more important than brute force

These moral stories are put together by team Ekali to help you have conversations with kids. Please visit our website to take a look at our conversation starter Flash Cards on Cultural India

#Shortstories #Moralstories


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