Arthatatvam

  There was a king named Uttanapada. He had two wives, Suniti and Suruchi. He had a son named Dhruva from Suniti and a son named Uttama from Suruchi. One day Uttanapada was sitting on the throne with Uttama on his lap. Dhruva also wanted to sit on his father's lap. But when he tried to climb Uttanapada's lap, Suruchi forbid him (as she was jealous that Dhruva was the heir to the throne and not her son) and asked him to pray to Lord Vishnu to be born as her son and hence did not deserve to sit on Uttanapada's lap! Dhruva was only a five year old boy and hence did not understand the statement made by Suruchi. He immediately ran to his mother, Suniti crying. When Suniti heard of the incident, she told her son that Lord Vishnu was the controller of everything and asked him to pray to Vishnu. Then Dhruva made a firm resolve to do penance in the forest and bade farewell to his mother. Sage Narada appeared before him and told him he was still a child, but Dhruva was persistent. Na...

  Once upon a time in a shallow lake lived three fishes who were friends. One was foresighted, the second had a great presence of mind and the third was idle. One day some fishermen began to drain the waters of that lake. The foresighted fish said the level of the water was decreasing in the lake and they need to shift their abode to some other location. The fish with the presence of mind said it would act when the time was right and the idle one said it would not take such hasty decisions. Hearing the reply from the two fishes, the one that had much foresight reached another deep lake safely. After the water was drained out, the fishermen caught the fishes with a net. The two fishes were caught in it. Among them, the one with the presence of mind started biting the net. When the fishermen dropped the net to a deep lake for washing the fishes, the one with the presence of mind left the net and escaped. However, the one which was idle could not do anything and eventually died. Hence...

  Once, Nanda, Krishna's foster father and the people of the village were preparing a sacrifice. Krishna asked his father what was happening. Nanda told him that they were preparing a sacrifice to please Lord Indra so that he showers ample rain for a good harvest. Krishna who believed in karma told his father to do his duty and not get worried about the end result. He asked the villagers to worship the cows and mountains instead, as they were forest dwellers and their livelihood depended on them. The villagers agreed. This angered Indra. To avenge his insult, he caused torrential rains to destroy the entire village. Krishna understood Indra's intentions. He inverted the Govardhana mountain, held it with his little finger and provided shelter to the villagers. For seven days and night it poured heavily. Then Indra gave up, bowed down before Krishna and asked for his forgiveness. Krishna forgave him. The villagers thanked Krishna for saving their lives. 

  Once while Lord Krishna was playing with his cowherd friends, he noticed a boy in his group whom he did not recognize. However, he did not mention this to anyone. He called his friends and said he had come up with a new game. He told that they need to split into two teams and the losers had to carry the winners on their back. The cowherd boys made Krishna and Balarama as the leader of the two teams and played several games. Balarama's team won and Krishna's team had to carry Balarama's team on their backs. Krishna carried Sridama and the new cowherd boy had to carry Balarama. In reality, the new cowherd boy was an asura named Pralamba. He carried Balarama and ran quickly but could not go any further because of Balarama's weight. Pralamba then assumed his original form and began to fly towards the sky. Balarama got furious and hit Pralamba's head with his clenched fists. Pralamba fell down dead. The cowherd boys who arrived at the scene later were happy to see Bala...

  Once, Lord Krishna and his cowherd friends were herding their cattle in the forest. Balarama did not join them this time. (It is important to mention this, as Balarama is an incarnation of Adishesha and Lord Krishna kills a serpent, Kaliya in this story). Soon, they became thirsty. When the cattle drank the water, they immediately fell unconscious. The cowherd boys told Krishna that a poisonous snake named Kaliya lived in that area and had poisoned the water. Krishna became furious and immediately jumped into the water. Then Kaliya came out of the water and coiled Krishna. The cowherd boys were alarmed at this and called the elders of the village. When Nanda and Yashoda (Krishna's foster parents) saw Krishna in this state, they were traumatized and decided to jump into the river. But, the others stopped them from doing this. Meanwhile, Krishna increased his size and was released from the coils of the snake. Krishna soon climbed the hood of the snake and started to dance! The peop...

  Once upon a time, the cowherd friends of Krishna and Balarama told them that they wanted to enter the Talavana forest which was filled with ripe fruits. But, they could not do so as an asura named Dhenukasura in the form of a donkey lived there. Both, Krishna and Balarama told they would protect them. After being assured of their safety, the cowherd boys entered the forest. As soon as Balarama saw the trees laden with ripe fruits, he began to shake the trees vigorously. Hearing this sound, Dhenukasura came charging at Balarama. He kicked Balarama violently with his hind legs. But, Balarama did not move. He caught the hind legs of Dhenukasura, twirled him and threw him on top of a palm tree. The asura fell dead. Everyone returned home happy.

  Once while Lord Krishna and his cowherd friends were herding their cattle in the forest, they came across an enormous cave. The cave looked like a huge serpent with it's mouth wide open. Krishna's friends were fascinated when they looked at this and entered it unaware of it's danger as the cave was in reality an asura named Aghasura in disguise. Krishna joined them. Aghasura tried to swallow everyone including Krishna. But, Krishna grew in size till the time Aghasura could not breathe anymore and he became lifeless. All the cowherd boys then came out of the mouth of the asura safely along with Krishna.

  Lord Krishna and his cowherd friends would take the cattle to graze in the forest everyday. One day when they had gone to the forest with their cattle, they saw a huge crane. As soon as the crane saw Lord  Krishna, it picked him up with it's sharp beak and swallowed him! Shocked at this sight, the cowherd boys fainted. This crane was none other than Bakasura, a friend of Kamsa. Then Krishna from within the throat of the crane created a ball of fire. The crane couldn't bear the heat in it's throat so it immediately spat Krishna out. When the crane attacked Krishna again, he tore the crane apart! Soon, all his friends regained consciousness and were happy to see Krishna alive again!

  Once, Lord Krishna and his friends were herding their cattle on the banks of the river Yamuna. Suddenly, Krishna noticed a black calf in their herd which did not belong to them. He was right, as the calf was none other than a demon named, Vatsasura. Krishna quietly approached the calf from behind. He caught the hind legs of the calf, twirled it around and threw it on top of a wood apple tree. The demon assumed his original form and fell crushing many trees under his weight.