Enclosed here is a collection of inspiring quotes, short stories tales and fables with a great message. These tales are from the magazine "Akhand Jyoti" or the "Light Divine". The magazine publication was initiated by Acharya Shriram Sharma in 1936.
The magazine completes 75 years of publication and circulation this year and has millions of readers worldwide. (Note: certain grammatical amendments to the quoted text have been made for ease of reading.)
The magazine completes 75 years of publication and circulation this year and has millions of readers worldwide. (Note: certain grammatical amendments to the quoted text have been made for ease of reading.)
Inspiring Quotes, Tales and Fables
The Sage and the naughty youth:
A sage once lived in a hut outside a village. Almost every evening, the villagers gathered at the sage's hut to hear his discourses. When the time would come for evening prayers and discourses some naughty youngsters from the village would descend upon the hut and begin to chat noisily. From time to time they would tease the sage and interrupt him. This routine continued for some months, but not once did the sage show anger or irritation towards the youth. Sometimes he would actually participate in their noisy chatter and laugh with them.
After prolonged efforts when the sage showed no signs of anger at the boy's behavior the boys began to feel remorseful of their conduct. They begged forgiveness of the sage, and asked: " O Great Soul - We deliberately tried to tease you, vex you ,but not once have you got annoyed or lost your temper. Why is that?". The sage replied: " Son, if I had got angry, how could I have taught you anything?
(Akhand Jyoti magazine- September-October 2011)
The Importance of dietary discipline, hard work and a disciplined life:
A king once lost his way in a jungle and in the course of his wandering's , reached a village. The villagers did not know of the King , did not recognize him to be a King and yet they welcomed him warmly and attended to his comforts. The innate goodness of the villagers greatl impressed the King deeply, and he in turn wanted to return their kindness. He noticed that the village had no medical facility, so he proceeded to build one for the village and appointed a well qualified doctor there.
One year passed. The doctor visited the King to give an update and told him : " O king- I remain without work in that village. In the last one year , not a single patient has turned up. All the medicine stock is also remaining un-utilized". The King became really curious about this situation , so he went to the village himself to enquire as to why the villagers were not using this medical facility? The villagers explained- "We observe dietary discipline in our daily routines and engage in hard labor. Our food items constitute natural products and are fresh and pure. Our daily routine is also well regulated with hard physical exertion as its main constituent. All this helps us ward off disease, and if per chance , an illness does occur, it soon gets expelled from the system through the mechanism of sweating!". The King realized the importance of teaching all his citizens the importance of natural , fresh food and hard disciplined labour. The Doctor was shifted out of the village to a more appropriate location.
(Akhand Jyoti Magazine- May-June 2011)
Anger:
Anyone can become angry -That is easy. But to be angry with the right person- To the right degree,at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way - That is not easy. ( By Aristotle)
(Akhand Jyoti Magazine- May-June 2011)
Lord Buddha and Bhikshu Kashyap ( Bhikshu, means a sage that lives on alms):
Bhikshu Kashyap, through the power of his "Yoga" started to display miracles of "yoga" in the city of Sravasti. This spread his fame far and wide. After the spread of this news, he remained surrounded by a crowd of people day and night and he could find no time for his own self purification and his own Sadhana. Lord Buddha was saddened to hear of this state of events and he sent him a message- "If you had used your powers of Yoga in the service of the needy and not misused them for getting fame and praise , many people would have benefited including yourself".
(Akhand Jyoti Magazine- May-June 2011)
The greatness of Mahatma Gandhi ( His simplicity and an even temperament):
A peasant was once greatly inspired by the message of Mahatma Gandhi and wished desperately to see him and have his darshan. Gandhiji, was scheduled to visit a nearby village, so the villager boarded a train from his village and set about to see Gandhiji. On the way he kept visualizing what Gandhiji would look like? He presumed Gandhiji would be a person of great splendour!
At the village station , he bought a train ticket and boarded the train. The train compartment was really crowded. The peasant tried to make space for himself. He saw a gentleman reclining on a berth, and he seemed to be quite exhausted. The peasant approached him, shook his arm to wake him up and said -" Can you get up and sit up, you are reclining as this was your own train?". The gentleman got up and vacated his seat for the peasant The peasant sat down in the vacated seat and started talking to the people around him. He said "I am going to see Gandhiji. I believe he alleviates the sufferings of the common man and the distressed". The people around him simply smiled at his words.
When the train finally reached the next station, a crowd of people rushed in looking to welcome Gandhiji. The peasant was astonished and anguished to know that the person he had admonished to "sit up" was none other than Gandhiji.
(Akhand Jyoti Magazine- May-June 2011)
We hope that you enjoyed reading these inspiring and motivational quotes, tales and short stories. For more of the same we invite you to read Akhand Jyoti magazine online.
We hope that you enjoyed reading these inspiring and motivational quotes, tales and short stories. For more of the same we invite you to read Akhand Jyoti magazine online.
Read Akhand Jyoti Online:http://literature.awgp.org/magazine
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Source and Credits :
Akhand Jyoti magazine was started by Shriram Sharma Acharya to transmit the Acharya's writings and Literature. The spirit of the Divine purpose of Acharya Shriram Sharma's Life lies in Acharyaji's extensive writings (translation of all Vedas , Puranas, Upanishads, learnings from Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana etc) and forms the essence and substance of this magazine.