The Story of Chakradhara.

” ‘In a certain town, there lived four young fellows, who were the sons of Brahmins They were very friendlywith each other. But they were utterly destitute, so theymet to decide what to do. “Curse this poverty,” theysaid. ” It’s so true what they say: ‘When a man loses his money, His friends and relatives avoid him, He is deserted by his own sons. Even a gentle wife, born of good family, Wants nothing to do with him. None of his good qualities are appreciated And his troubles multiply. His name, his body, his voice, his mind. Remain the same But everything else collapses in a flash.’ And, ‘It is much better to live in seclusion, In a thorny jungle, full of tigers and elephants, To sleep on a bed of grass and wear clothes madeof bark, Than to live, amongst one’s kith and kin, in utterpoverty.’ -“And so,” concluded the four friends, “Let us leavethis town and go somewhere else.” ” ‘Then they gave up their home, their town, theirfriends and their relatives and started off on their travels. ” ‘After some time, they came to Avanti. They bathedin the river Sipra and worshipped at Shiva’s temple. As they were coming out, they met a Yogi, by the nameof Bhairavan anda. They bowed respectfully to him andaccompanied him to his ashrama. ” ‘When they arrived there, he asked them, “Who areyou? Where do you come from? And where are yougoing? What is the purpose of your journey?” -“We are going where we can either make money or

meet our death,” they said. “For they say: ‘Water comes Not only in the form of rain, Dropped from the sky, But also by digging deep in the earth.’ -“Now we have heard that you are gifted withwonderful powers. So please tell us some way of makingmoney, whe ther it be by going into a cave, living in a Smashana, by praying to Shakini, by offering humansacrifices, or with the help of magic wicks. Please helpus.” ” ‘Bhairavan anda took pity on them and gave themfour wicks, made of cotton, one to each of them, andsaid, “Go in the direction of the Himalayas. When anyone of you accident ally-drops his wick, you will be sureto find a treasure hidden in that spot. Dig it out, collectthe treasure and return ‘home with it.” ” ‘The four Brahmins nodded their consent and startedoff towards the Himalayas. ” ‘After a few days’ journey, one of them dropped hiscotton wick. He dug where it had fallen and uncovereda treasure of copper. He began to collect the coppe rand cried to. the others, “Come on, you too take asmuch as you can carry and let’s go home. Why go anyfurther!” -“Stupid! ” replied the others. “However much copperyou collect, you will still be poor. Let us go on.” -“Well,” he replied, “you can go on but I shall returnhome with this copper.” And so, he took as much copperas he could carry and returned home. The other threecontinued their journey. ” ‘After a few days, the second Brahmin dropped hiscotton wick. He started digging and uncovered a treasureof silver. He cried out in delight and said to the othertwo, “Come on, you too take as much as you can carryand let’s go home. Why go any further!” -“Stupid! ” replied the others. “However much silveryou collect, you’ll still be relatively poor. Besides, first

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we had copper and now we have silver. Next time weare sure to find gold. So let us go on.” -“You can go on,” he replied, “but I shall return homewith this silver.” And so, he collected as much silver ashe could carry and returned home. The other twocontinued their journey. ” ‘After a few days, the third Brahmin dropped hiscotton wick. Joyfully, he started digging in the groundand he uncovered a heap of gold. “Come on,” he criedto his companion, “you too take as much gold as youcan carry and let’s go home. Why go any further! ” -“Stupid! ” replied the other. “You don’t understand anything. First it was copper, then silver and now gold. Next time, we’re sure to find diamonds and pearls, so that if we take only one, we shall never be poor again. In any case, what is the point of carrying all this heavyload? Let us go on.” -“You can go on,” replied his companion, “but I shallstay here and watch over this gold. I’ll wait until youreturn.” So, the fourth Brahmin continued his journeyalone. ” ‘When he had gone some way, the 1ourth Brahminbegan to suffer from the tremendous heat and he feltvery thirsty. Soon, he lost the way that the Yogi haddirected him to follow, and began to go round andround in circles. While he was wandering, he suddenlycame across a m’an, whose body was sme ared all overwith blood. The man had a wheel whirling around hishead. Quickly the Brahmin went over to him and said, “Who are you and what is this wheel around your head? But whoever you are, for goodness sake, tell me quicklywhere can I get water?” ” ‘Now, the minute he uttered these words, the wheelshifted from the other man to him and began to whirlaround his own head. “Friend! ” he cried. “What is this?” -“This wheel attached itself to my head in similarcircumstances,” replied the man. -“But when shall I get rid of it?” wailed the Brahmin.

” I t pains me beyond endurance! ” -“Only when someone carrying a magic wick come shere and speaks to you,” replied the man, “will thiswheel leave you and attach itself to him.” -“How long have you been here?” asked the Brahmin. ” ‘By way of reply, the man asked him, “Who is rulingthe earth now?” -“Veenavaunsha,” replied the Brahmin. -“I cannot guess accurately when I came here,” said the man. “But I remember that it was in the reign of King Rama that I was desperate with poverty. Imanaged to procure a magic wick and in due course, ended up here. I saw a man with a wheel whirlingaround his head. I asked him the same questions youasked me and, in the same way, the wheel left him andattached itself to me.” -“But friend,” said the Brahmin, “how did you manageto get food and water, with a wheel whirling around your head all the time?” -“My d ear fellow,” replied the man, “anyone who come shere is free from hunger, thirst, old age and death, buthe suffers pain all the time, as you do now. Kuber, afraid that histreasure would be stolen, prepared thisdevice and ever since no one dare approach this place, except with the help of a magic wick. Now, good-bye. I ani going home.” ” ‘With these words, the man took his leave and leftthe Brahmin alone. ” ‘Now, when the Brahmin’s friend, whose name was Suvaranasiddhi, found that he was taking so long toreturn, he followed his footprints and finally arrived at the same place. He found his friend drenched in blood, his eyes flooding with tears and a wheel whirling aroundhis head. “Friend,” he said, “whatever has happened?” -“It’s all the result of fate being against me!” replied Chakradhara. And he told him the whole story of thewhirling wheel. When he had finished, his friend said, ” Brother, you are a good scholar, but you lack

commonsense. You would not listen to my good advicewhen I said, ‘Let’s pick up the gold and go home.’ Youwanted pearls and diamonds. Well, it’s true what theyay: ‘Commonsense is superior to scholarship: The scholars who were devoid of commonsense, Put life into the lion and died as a result.’ ” -“How was that?” asked Chakradhara. And Suvaranasiddhi told:

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What is the moral of THE STORY OF CHAKRADHARA.?

The moral is: To value wisdom and make thoughtful decisions. This story teaches us that every action has consequences, and we must think carefully about the impact of our choices on ourselves and others.

What collection does THE STORY OF CHAKRADHARA. belong to?

THE STORY OF CHAKRADHARA. is from the Panchatantra Tales, an ancient Sanskrit text attributed to Vishnu Sharma. The Panchatantra is a timeless collection of stories that teaches important life lessons through animal fables and wisdom tales.

What age group is THE STORY OF CHAKRADHARA. suitable for?

THE STORY OF CHAKRADHARA. is best suited for Ages 8-12. Younger children will enjoy hearing it read aloud for its engaging narrative, while older children can read it independently and explore the deeper meanings and moral lessons embedded in the story.