Author: Priyanka Sharma

Once there lived a Brahmin named Dev Sharma in a certain town with his wife. After few days his wife gave birth to a son and they were very happy.

On the same day when his wife gave birth to a son, a female mongoose also gave birth to a baby mongoose near to their house. But after giving birth to a baby the female mongoose died. When Brahmin’s wife observed him she took pity on him and she took out to her home and then started looking after him as his own son. They all lived happily.

Brahmini did not make any difference between them, she bathed them together and put oil on them together, even she served her own milk to both of them. She loved both of them and they mongoose and her son also love each other and always spent together.

Though she was not a fool and she knowing better that the mongoose was an animal in reality so she also kept watch on him. One day she thought, “He is a mongoose in real sense and will soon develop the animal nature that he has inherited from their ancestors. He may harm my son someday, so I should keep a watch on him.”

 After some day, she had to go to take some water from the well. So she put her son on the bed, and when she going outside with the utensil, she said to her husband to look after them. She said, “Dear, I am going outside to take some water from the well. Please look after our son and keep watch on the mongoose so he did not harm him by mistake.”

The Brahmin was a careless person. He got prepared and went outside to beg for alms without informing his wife. The mongoose and their son were alone at home.

 A number of snakes present in that area and they often entered the nearby houses. At the very moment when they both alone at home, a poisonous snake entered the house and he started approaching the Brahmin’s son.

When the mongoose saw him, he immediately attacked on him to protect the child, as the mongooses are natural enemies to the snake. As the mongoose was very small and the snake was strong, but he loved his brother very much, so he did not think even for a moment and fought with him with all might. He broke out the snake into two pieces and killed him eventually. His mouth and claws were filled with snake’s blood.

The little mongoose was very happy by protecting his brother from the snake and he waited outside the house for the Brahmini. He was very excited to tell her mother how brave he was.

When the Brahmini knew about her husband carelessness, she was very tensed and returning home in hurry. When she approached near the house she saw the little mongoose coming near towards her. She noticed that the mongoose’s mouth filled with blood and she without thinking for a while, reached to the conclusion that the little mongoose must attacked on her son.

 Angered and frustrated, she immediately threw the heavy pitcher – full of water, that she was carrying on the little mongoose. The little mongoose was severely wounded. Then she immediately ran inside, and she amazed to see her son on the bed. He was sleeping at that time. She then observed the snake near the bed that had been torn into pieces.

 She immediately understood the whole matter that what had happened. She was very disappointed with the thought of having hurt the little mongoose that was like a son to her. She did not understand whom she blame for it. When her husband returned home, she explained all the matter to him and they both were felt very regret for the suffering of their second son.
 
 
The wise indeed say:

Think hard and do not do anything in haste.

Once there lived a great bird named Bharunda, on the bank of a lake. He was a great and strange bird because he had two necks with two heads but shared the common body. He was wandered about the lake and lived his life. 
One day when he was wandering, he found a delicious looking red golden fruits. As he approached near the fruits one of the heads said, “Oh, what a delicious fruit it looks like. It’s such an amazing fruit and I am sure this fruit is sent from heaven only for me.” As he finished it started eating the fruit with extreme pleasure. While eating it, he kept on praising the fruit how it was the most delicious fruit he had ever eaten.
On hearing and seeing all this, the other head said, “Oh my dear, as this fruit is so delicious, please allow me to taste this fruit, so that I will also taste it. This fruit must be delicious that you are praising it with all your heart.”
 But the other head did not want to share it with him so he laughed at him at said, “O Dear, as we share the same stomach, then whoever amongst us eats the fruit, it ultimately goes to the same stomach. It makes no difference on who eats the fruit. And as I the one who found this fruit so I have the right to taste it myself.”
This attitude and selfishness of the first head made the other head very disappointed and he went silent on hearing such reply.
After few days while they were wandering the second head found some fruits. But the fruits were belonged to the poisonous tree. He immediately plucked the fruits and said to the other head, “You are a dishonest person. The day when you insulted me and not shared the delicious food, I got very angry. Now I am going to eat this fruit alone and take revenge of my insult.”
The first head pleaded the second one, “Dear, please don’t eat this fruit, as this fruit is a poisonous one. We share the same stomach and if you eat this fruit, we will both suffer for this. Please I request you not to eat this poisonous fruit.” But the other head did not believe the first one and he mocked him and said, “Idiot, shut your mouth! I know you are lying because I am the one who found this fruit first. Now I am going to eat it.”
The first head understood that what would happen, he began to cry. But the second head did not pay attention towards him and ate the poisonous fruit. As he ate the fruit, within few moments when the fruit reach the stomach, the bird severely suffered.

The wise indeed say:

 Union is strength.

Once there was a cart maker named Ujjwalaka. He was very poor because of lack of persons who ordered for such carts. He fed up with his poor condition and days by days his condition detoritated. He was not have enough many to serve his family.
One day when he was alone, he began to thought, “I fade away totally in this poverty. While all others persons have other work to do which provide them enough payment to survive, I don’t have a proper work to do. I don’t have even a good home, or proper clothes or proper food, the basics things of life. So there is no point in staying here anymore, I should go somewhere else to seek success in life.”
As decided the cart maker told his plan to his family and then they left away the town. While they were passing through the jungle they saw a female camel that was in pain. As they approached near to her, he noticed that the female camel was left behind by a caravan due to her labour pains. As he was in pain she could not walk properly. He immediately gave her water and some food to eat. After sometime the female camel recovered and she also gave birth to a baby camel.
After few days, when he found a new home to live, he took the female camel and her baby to his home. He provided them support to live their life with them. And in this way this home became the new home for the camels. The camels were very happy. In due course, the baby camel grew taller and then the cart maker tied a bell in his neck.
The cart maker started selling the milk of the female camel, due to which he able to earn enough money to support his family and live a proper life. After some time he realized that his business was running well and there was much profit in this business. So he needed not to seek another job for his livelihood. And days passed away in this way.
One day the cart maker said to his wife, “Dear, I can support the family by selling the milk of one camel. This job is too easy and profitable also. I decided to borrow some money to a wealthy merchant to buy another camel. For this I have to went away for few days out of home, please take proper care of the camels during that time.”
His wife agreed with him, and within few days he started his journey. After few days as decided he purchased another camel and returned home with the new young camel. He was a lucky person and within few years he has many camels and his business run very well. He even employed a servant to look after the camels and to provide proper assistance to them. He was very happy with his work so he awarded his servant with one baby camel at the end of every year.
In this way within few years the cart maker became a rich person and led a happy life with his family. He took the proper care of the camels and their young ones also, but his favourite camel was the baby camel that he bore the bell around his neck. He loved that baby camel very much and the sound produced by the bell made the cart maker very happy.
Every day, the camels would graze in the nearby jungle and ate the grass there. They drink water from the big lake nearby there and also played there for many hours. And they all returned before sun set.
The young camel that had a bell around his neck always left behind the others. Doe to this the other camels also advised him to keep up with them and if he not to do so he might wander away and lost his way. Despite many advices and warning the young camel did not pay any attention towards them and remained arrogant. He wandered about on his own way as he was their master’s favourite, he had proud on himself very much.
One day while the camels were grazing in the jungle a lion approached there. He was attracted by the sound made by the bell from distance and then he approached there. He carefully observed the group of camels to found out the reason of this sound. As he waited for that moment, he noticed the young camel with a bell around his neck trailing behind and wandered away from the group.
Immediately the lion followed him and approached him. Before the camel could raise a voice to alert the other camels, to protect him the lion jumped on him and killed him at once.

The wise indeed say:

A foolish person who refuses to follow a good advice surely comes to grief.
 

Once there lived a potter named Yudhisthira in a certain kingdom. He was very poor and earned his livelihood by selling pots made by him.

One night when he was returned after drinking more than he could bear, he slipped and then fell over some of the pots. When he got up in the morning he saw blood was oozing out from his forehead and he had pain also. There was a deep cut due to a broken piece of pot. But as he was poor, he did not have money to go to a doctor for medicine. Thus his wound would not heal for a long time. Days passed away and after many days the wound finally healed by itself, but it left a bid mark on his forehead.

After some time there was a famine in the country and most of the people left the place. So he decided to leave the place and travel to a distant place. As he left he joined a group of people on his way who served to the royal household. In this way he also started serving to the royal household along with them.

After some days, the king noticed the big mark on his forehead and he began to thought, “This man must be a great fighter and this mark is a proof that he has received such wound in some battle. He is a brave person.”

Thus the king promoted him as a warrior besides this he was honoured with a top place amongst the best warriors of the kingdom. But the other household workers knew that he was not a warrior but a potter, so they became very jealous from the potter as the king favoured him although he did not deserve it truly.

After few days a battle was approaching so the king called upon all his warriors. He wanted to meet all of his warriors personally to give them some precious items as an encouragement. The king addressed the warriors with encouraging words and then gifts them. He personally inspected the equipments and all weapons and even horses and elephants also.

At the same moment the potter who was no real warrior, feared for going into the battle. He was very scared from all this and the preparations for the battle increased his tension. But he was decided to prove himself as a warrior in the battle ground.

During the inspection, as the king noticed the potter he took him aside and said, “O great warrior, during which battle you get this scar? I know you a great warrior.”

Then the potter thought for a while and decided to tell him the truth. He replied, “O king, this mark was not caused during any battle. As I am a potter by profession my home was full of pots. One night when I approached home after drinking too much I slipped over them that caused the wound on my fore head. And due to improper attention the wound left a big mark there.”

When the king heard the truth he felt very ashamed for his earlier decision. He immediately asked his soldiers, “O warriors, he is a potter by profession and he deceived me by pretending to be a warrior. He should be punish for this. Drive him away from the army now.”

The potter immediately fell on his knees and pleaded to the king, "O King, please forgive me and don’t do this with me. Please have mercy on me and I promise you I prove my bravery in the battlefield. Please give me a chance to prove my strength.”

Then the king replied, “O Potter, you may have brilliant qualities, and you may be brave. But you do know how to fight at the battle field. When the other warriors will come to know that you are only a potter, they will laugh at you. You may get yourself killed on the battlefield. So it’s better for you if you leave, and return to your home.”

The potter understood the king’s advice, and immediately left the place.

 

The wise indeed say:

Continue being what you are, else you pay for it.

Once there was a Black-berry (Jamun) tree on the bank of a river. This Jamun tree full of sweet Jamun fruits all over the year. A monkey named Raktamukha was lived there on the tree as his home. He lived there happily by eating sweet Jamun fruits and passed his days by playing and jumping on the tree.
One day while the monkey playing, a crocodile named Karalamukha approached near the tree from the river to take some rest under the Jamun tree. As Raktamukha saw the crocodile from the tree he reached near to him and said, “O dear crocodile, you came under this tree to take some rest. As this tree is my home thus you are my guest now. Please take rest here and accept some fruits to eat.”
The crocodile became happy by monkey’s words. He agreed with him. Immediately Raktamukha plucked some fruits from the tree and threw them into the crocodile’s mouth. Karalamukha loved the sweet Jamun fruits very much and then he became friendly with the monkey. In the evening the crocodile left the tree after thanking monkey for his love and generosity towards him.
In this way the crocodile started coming to the Jamun tree every day, and within few days they both became good friends. Everyday monkey gave some fruits to crocodile to eat and they talked about for a long time and enjoyed each other company. They became good friends.
One day Karalamukha said to the monkey that he wanted to take some of the fruits for her wife to let her enjoy the sweetness of these Jamun fruits. Monkey agreed with him and he happily plucked some more fruits for the crocodile and her wife. Karalamukha collected those fruits and reached home. As he approached home he offered them to his wife to eat those fruits and then he narrated the whole story to her of his friendship with the monkey, who lives on the Jamun tree. The crocodile’s wife enjoyed the fruits very much on eating them.
She said to her husband, “O my dear husband, these Jamun fruits are as sweet as nectar. Think if the monkey eats these fruits every day, then he would be even tastier than these fruits. I want the monkey’s heart to eat, please bring it for me.
As crocodile heard this he surprised and said to her, “O Dear, what are you telling? It’s impossible, I cannot kill or deceive my friend for his heart. Even I cannot think about such a thing.” But his wife was not agreed with him and pleaded for the monkey’s heart. Even after her continuous efforts she could not convince the crocodile for doing so. Thus she stopped eating food and insisted that if he did not bring the money’s heart for her, she would die.
Crocodile became very disappointed. Although he did not want to do so, he was left with no other choices. So he made a plan to deceive his friend and to catch him. Then, he went to the monkey. As he approached him he said, “O my friend, my wife love the Jamun fruits very much. I told my wife about our friendship and as I told her about our friendship she became angry with me for not introducing you with her. Now she is very excited to meet you and she has invited you to our home for dinner. You are my friend, so please accept our invitation.”
The monkey agreed with him at once but the problem was that how could he go to the crocodile’s home? He could not swim. So they decided that he sat on the crocodile’s back and then he carried him to his home.
As decided the monkey sat on the crocodile’s back and then they entered into the river. Crocodile carried him to deeper into the water so that he killed him as he planned. At the very moment the monkey got much feared with so much water all around him. So he said to his friend to move slowly. Crocodile understood that he had to succeed in his plan and now the monkey was totally under his control and it’s impossible for him to escape from him. He thought for a while and decided to reveal his plan to the monkey. He said, “O my friend, the truth is that I want to kill you here for my wife as he wishes to eat your heart. She thinks that your heart’s taste should be even better than the Jamun fruits as you eat all the time.”
On hearing this the monkey thought for a while but he did not show any fear to the crocodile. Instead it he knowingly said to him, “O friend, that’s the matter. Why did not you tell me that before? It would be lucky for me if I could serve myself to your wife. You are my best friend, you have to tell me earlier. But I would not have my heart with me as I keep my heart in burrow of the Jamun tree. So we have to go back to bring my heart. Let us go back.”
The foolish crocodile did not understand anything and he believed him. He turned back and then they reached the Jamun tree. As they reached the monkey jumped down the crocodile’s back and immediately climbed up the tree and sat on the top branch. Thus he finally saved himself from the evil plans of the crocodile.
At the same moment the crocodile waited for the monkey and wanted to know the cause for this delay as his wife waited for him. He asked the monkey for the delay. The monkey answered him, “O my foolish friend, how can one take out his own heart and keep it in the burrow of tree. You are so stupid. You deceived me to kill me for his wife and in return I cheat you to save myself. This is a lesson for you for being so unfaithful with a friend. Now just go away and never return back.”
 The crocodile understood that he had been tricked by the monkey, and he felt very guilty for his actions. He went away to never back again.

The wise indeed say:

Use intelligence to win in difficult situations.
 

Once there lived a huge jackal named Mahachaturaka in a jungle. He wondered into the jungle to get his food and in this way he lived his life.

One day as he wandered in the jungle in search of prey, he saw a dead elephant. As he saw him he became very happy because this dead elephant will provide food to him for many days. As he reached near to him and tried to tear the elephant, he was unable to tear the thick skin of the elephant. His all happiness soon turned into sadness. He tried a lot to tear him but all his efforts went into vain, and he frustrated very much.

Within few moments while he was trying his luck to tear the elephant, a lion approached there. When the jackal saw him he bowed immediately and said to the lion, “O my highness, I found this dead elephant here and then I keeping watching over it so that you can eat it. Please accept my offer and eat this as you want.”

As the lion heard this he refused to the jackal and said, “Dear, I eat only that prey when I hunt it myself. That is my nature, thank you for the offer, but I cannot eat it. Please you can have it for yourself.”

By saying so the lion went away from there. But the problem of the jackal remained same, he wondered how he can tear this elephant’s thick skin alone. It’s impossible for him to do so. At the same time when he was thinking a leopard approaching there. When he saw the leopard he thought, “I got rid of the lion by being humble, but now I have to be cunning in order to get rid from this leopard.

Thus the jackal immediately climbed on the top of the elephant and raised his shoulders humbly and said to him, “O uncle, you have come here to eat this elephant but it’s not possible because this elephant was hunted by the lion. He asked me to guard it till he returned and called him if anybody approached it.”

 As the leopard heard this, he also noticed the lion’s foot print nearby and believed him. He began to shiver in fear. He said to him, “O my Nephew, please forgive me and don’t tell the lion that I come here. I must leave this place and look for food at other places.” By saying so the leopard ran away, after assuring the jackal not to tell the lion that he came here.

But the problem remained same as was. The jackal became very disappointed how he alone teared apart this elephant’s thick skin.

After some time a tiger approached there. When the jackal saw him he thought, “I fool the leopard by saying all rubbish, but the tiger is not a fool. In addition to it he has sharp teeth. If I convince him some way to tear the elephant’s thick skin, I can finally eat it.”

 

 

 

The jackal began to shout at the tiger, “O Tiger, It is a long time since I have seen you. Be my friend. You look very thin and hungry. Be my guest and eat this elephant while I keep a watch for the lion. The lion killed the elephant and ask me to look after it till he returned. I can eat it and don’t worry I will keep watch.”

 

As the tiger heard this he convinced by the jackal and he became very happy to found such food. He immediately jumped on the elephant and tore apart him by his sharp teeth. Just as he started eating the elephant, the jackal began to shouted, “Dear, here comes the lion, run away or hide himself. He about to reach.”

As tiger heard he feared and ran away as fast as he can.

Thus the jackal finally ready to eat the elephant. The tiger had provided him the opened elephant that he needed to eat it. Just as he was about to eat the elephant another jackal arrived there. He fought bravely with the other jackal and chased him away.

 

Thus he was finally able to eat the elephant.

The wise indeed say:

Bow before the mighty, throw something before the low and fight the equally powerful.

 

A long time ago there lived a group of frogs in a well. Gangadatta was a king among the frogs who ruled over the frogs from a long time. But the problem is that his relatives and some of his friends always irritating to him and found fault in every small thing. He was fed up with them so wanted to move to a distant place. Thus one day he climbed up the water wheel in the well and then left the place. But he wanted to take revenge from them due to which he had to leave his kingdom.

One day when he was planning for taking revenge from his relatives he saw a cobra entering his hole. Suddenly an idea struck in his mind. He thought of a plan of having his friends eaten up by the cobra if cobra helped him. Thus he immediately reached to the entrance of the hole of the cobra and said, “Dear, I want to become friend of you. Please accept my friendship. I am the king of the frogs.”

As the cobra heard this, he realised that it was not the voice of his nearest or dearest one, but of his natural enemy. So he decided not to leave the hole and come out from it. He thought that someone might be trying to be fool him to catch him, either through magic words or may be flute or even other things. After some time the cobra answered him carefully, “Who are you? What nonsense do you talking about friendship? Don’t you know that you are my natural enemy? Can a timber and fire ever be friends?

Then the king of frogs relied to him, “My Dear, indeed your words are true. But the reality is that I want to take revenge from my relatives who suffered me for many years. So now I want to teach them a lesson for which I need your help. Please help me. I can lead you to the well, which is my abandoned kingdom and then you can eat as many frogs as you want to eat. In this way I take my revenge and you also get your food.”

As the cobra heard this he thought for a while and said, “Dear, a well is built of many layers of stones and I have no legs. Then how it’s possible for me to get into the well without legs.”He continued, “Even if I manage to get into the well then where will I able to sit into the well and eat the frogs as well is filled with water. It’s totally ridiculous, so just go away.”

But the king did not want to spoil his plan so he assured the cobra and said, “My Dear friend, there is a nice comfortable hole at the edge of the water where you can sit properly and eat the frogs. I assure you that I will lead you to the inside of the well and to that comfortable hole. Don’t worry for anything but you have to promise me that you will eat only my irritating relatives and not my dear ones." 

The cobra began to think that he became old now and the offer was good for him so it’s his stupidity to go away such an offer. Then the cobra agreed to the friendship of the king of frog and he followed him. As planned the cobra reached the hole into the well and whenever he felt hungry he eat one of the frog among them. As days passed away the number of frogs came down and all the annoying frogs were exhausted.

One day the cobra called out to the king of frog and said to him, “Dear, there are no more frogs here to eat me, except your friends. I am very hungry please give me some more food to eat. You are my friend, please help me. It is you who led me here for fulfil his plan, now it’s your responsibility to provide food to me.”

As the king of frogs heard this he realised his mistake but now he could not did anything except watching the cobra to eat all his friends. Even all his close friends and relatives were eaten up, the cobra eat his son also. Days passed away and no more frogs remain in the well, the cobra was very hungry and wanted the king of frogs to give some more frogs to him.

The Gangadatta realised that all the frogs were killed except him who remain alive. He wanted to get rid from cobra so he made a plan. He assured the cobra that if he let him leave the well, he will give some more frogs from the other wells to him, so that the cobra would be able to satisfy his hunger. The cobra agreed with him and he let the king of frog to do so. The king of frogs went away from the well to never return there. The cobra was very anxiously waited for him for several days but he did not return.

After a long time of waiting, the cobra requested a female lizard that lived in the walls of the well, to request the king of frogs to return into the well as he could not live alone without his best friend. The lizard approached the king of frogs and conveyed the cobra’s message. The king of frogs replied her, “Dear Madam, please convey my message to the cobra that I will never return to the well again. He is a starving person, and a starving person can be cruel and go to any extent of misdeed.

Thus, the king of frogs saved himself, and the greedy cobra had died with hunger into the well.

The wise indeed say:

Fight your own battles; else you will surely be destroyed.

Once there lived a washerman named Shuddapatta. He had a donkey which helped him household activities. Even the donkey helped him but the Shuddapatta could not take proper care of his donkey. They lived a place where there was no grass all around for the donkey and the washerman also did not have enough food to offer the donkey. Therefore the donkey could not get proper food to eat so he had grown lean and weak day by day. Shuddapatta was also worried about his donkey health but he could not do anything for this.

 

One day when the Shuddapatta was wandering in the jungle in search of food for the donkey, he found a dead tiger in his way. As he saw the tiger an idea came in his mind. He immediately thought, “It’s a lucky day for me to get a dead tiger. If I will skin the tiger and take that skin to home. Then I will cover my donkey with the tiger’s skin so no one can identify him and then he graze in the nearby barley field after sunset without any fear. The farmers will not dare to come near to my donkey fearing as a tiger. In this way my donkey will be able to eat grass as much as he wants and become fit and get strength.”

 

The washerman reached home with the tiger skin and cover his donkey with it after sunset. Then the donkey grazed in the field without any fear and returned home unharmed after he had eaten as much as he want. Days passed away in this way, the washerman daily cover his donkey with the tiger’s skin in the night and lead him to the fields. Although the farmers saw him daily in the field but he mistook him as a tiger. The farmers had feared as much that they did not dare to come out of their homes. Thus all the time the donkey ate much as he wanted and returned home. Then the washerman uncover the tiger’s skin. In the morning the donkey would stand in the washerman’s home without anybody suspecting anything.

 

As time passed away the donkey regained his strength and became strong so the washerman did not have to worry about his food.

 

One night when the donkey was feeding on the barley crop in the nearby fields, he suddenly heard a sound. It was a female donkey’s sound who braying from a distance. As he heard her sound he attracted towards her and began to bray in return. As soon as the farmers, who were watching the donkey from a distance heard this sound they realized that it was donkey in the tiger’s skin. They came out near to him and observe him as a donkey. Thus they immediately chased him and bitten him with sticks till he dead.

The wise indeed say:

Do not pretend to be what you are not.

 

Once there was huge banyan tree near a city named Mahilaropyam. It has numerous branches which were the home to a large number of crows. The king of these crows named Meghavarana.

Near the banyan tree there was a huge cave, which was home of a large number of owls. . Arimaradana was the king of these owls. 

The crows were very disappointed because the owls, as they regarded the crows as enemies, they would fly and reached the banyan tree every night. And if they succeed in catching any of crows, they attacked on them and then killed them. As the crows could not see clearly in dark at night as owls so they could not do anything to protect themselves. And as the time passed away the number of crows began to decrease.

The king of the crows was very disappointed and called his council. The council had five ministers named Ujjeevi, Sanjeevi, Anujjevi, Prajeevi and Chiranjeevi. As they all approached the king, he said to them, “O my ministers, our enemy takes advantage by attacking at night and succeed in killing many of us as we cannot fight them in night to protect ourselves. We cannot attack them even at day time since we don’t know about their secret place. Our enemy is very dangerous and powerful and we have to decide what to do now. Please advise me with your views.”

As they all heard this, first the Ujjeevi said, “O king, as our enemy is very strong and determined, I advise you to make peace with such type enemy. Peace is the only solution of this problem.”

Immediately Sanjeevi began to advice, “O majesty, the enemy is not only strong but cruel also. They follow no rule of war. So there is no reason to peace with such party. Let us fight in a way to gain advantage from them.”

Then Anujeevi advised, “My highness, our enemy is stronger than us, so it will not be sensible to fight them. They are cruel also and have no moral values, so we cannot make peace with them. So I suggest we should move to a safer place to protect ourselves.”

Then Prajeevi said, “O king, I advice entrenchment. We will be safe only in our own home. If we leave our place, we will never be able to return our home.”

At last Chiranjeevi said, "Let us seek the advice of our friends and defeat the enemy with their support." 

After hearing all suggestions the king of crows was not satisfied with them so he decided to took the advice of an old minister of his father named Sthirajeevi. He said to him, “You have heard all the suggestions given by my ministers, so please suggest me the right course of action that we should take to solve this problem.

Then Sthirajeevi replied, "Your highness, your all ministers have given suggestion according to nitishashtra and their suggestions are also good. But they do not serve the situation that we have this time. As our enemy is much stronger than us, we should adopt a path of conspiracy. So you will need to send spies to find out their weak points to defeat the enemy.”

The king agreed with Sthirajeevi and said to him to explain the whole plan. Then he explained, “King, as I advise you to employ spies, our enemies also must have spies. So let us pretend that I am a conspirator, and then start cursing me with cruel words. Beat me till I bleed. And this all mislead them to believe that I am their enemy’s enemy. Within this time, you all fly away to the safe Rshyamukam Mountain and keep deeply well-established till I join you" 

He continued, “In the meantime, I will gain confidence with our enemies and learn about their weak points and then return to join you. Then we hit them to gain victory. Please do not worry about me, I can take care of myself, and in this way we defeat them." 

The king agreed with the old wise crow and according to the plan they immediately started quarrel. The Sthirajeevi used abusive language which angered the other crows. And as the old crow continued pretending Meghavarana hit him badly. Sthirajeevi start bleeding and within no time Meghavarana threw him down the banyan tree.

After this, he said all crows to follow him, and then they all flew straight to Rshyamukam Mountain, where they he waited for Sthirajeevi to return – as was planned. 

When the owl spies saw all this they immediately informed the king of the owls about the fight. As the king heard this he decided to attack the crows with all their strength after dark at night.

At night when the owls reached the banyan tree, they found that the crows had already left the place. Then all got very angry and started investigating that which direction the crows had flew to catch them.

At the very moment, Sthirajeevi began to make sound slowly to attract the attention of the king of owls. As the Arimaradana heard the sound of the crow he reached him and surprised after seeing him. Sthirajeevi started pretending and praising the king of owl and at the same time cursing the Meghavarana. He said, “Sir, I know the place where they all hide themselves. And as soon as I regain my strength to fly again, I shall take you that place.”

Arimaradana all had council of five ministers named Raktaksha, Kriuraksha, Deeptaksha, Vakranasa, and Prakarakarna. While Raktaksha, Kriuraksha did not believe Sthirajeevi and they wanted to kill him, but the others suggested that he might prove beneficial to us to locate the enemies. So the king of the owl decided to take Sthirajeevi to their cave to offer him a suitable place to rest. 

But Sthirajeevi did not want to go with them to cave as he had other plan. So he immediately requested the king to allow him to make a nest at entrance of the cave. As he did not want the other owl to get aggrieved since he belonged to the enemy.

Arimaradana accepted his request and permitted him to make nest. He said to other owls to take care of him. Thus they started feeding Sthirajeevi with the choice of foods and within few days he regained his strength.

However one of the ministers of the king of the owls, Raktaksha learned about nitishastra and he warned his king of his doubts, but all his efforts went into vain because they all fell into deaf ears. Arimaradana was totally impressed on the flattery of the Sthirajeevi. Finally Raktaksha and few of his followers left the cave.

Within these few days Sthirajeevi had gathered a lot of twigs at the entrance of the cave on pretending to make a nest there. He was very happy that Raktaksha had left the place so there is no hurdle now in his plan. He waited till noon to silently fly away to Rshyamukam Mountain where all other crows waited for him.

As he reached the mountain, he said to Meghavarana, "Your Majesty, my task is finished but I do not have enough time to explain everything to you. I have collected a lot of twigs at the entrance of the cave where the owls were lived. They will easily catch fire killing all the owls inside the cave. Please follow mw with your all followers with a burning wood in your beak.”

As Sthirajeevi told them they all immediately followed him to the entrance of the owl’s cave. They dropped the pieces of the burning woods on the twigs and suddenly the twigs caught fire which Sthirajeevi collected there. As soon as the fire spread the owls perished inside due to fire and smoke. Sthirajeevi had indeed been constructing a funeral pyre for the owls. 

Thus the crows got rid from their enemy and then they fearlessly returned to their Banyan tree. And with the help of Sthirajeevi, Meghavarana ruled justly thereafter. 

The wise indeed say:

Never trust your enemy, and don't allow a opponent into your home.