Long ago, by the banks of the Ganges river, there lived four friends in a jungle: a rabbit, a jackal, a monkey, and a turtle. All these friends had the same desire, to become the greatest philanthropist. One day, they decided to bring something that they could donate. To make a great donation, all four friends left their homes.
The turtle returned with seven red fish from the Ganges river. The jackal brought a pot filled with curd and a piece of meat. Then the monkey returned from the garden with a bunch of mangoes. The day was coming to an end, but the rabbit didn’t understand what he could bring. He thought that if he gave grass, he wouldn’t get any benefit from the donation. While thinking about this, the rabbit returned empty-handed.
Seeing the rabbit return empty-handed, his three friends asked, “Hey! What will you donate? Today is the day to make a great donation, you know.” The rabbit replied, “Yes, I know, that’s why today I have decided to donate myself.” Hearing this, all of Rabbit’s friends were surprised. As soon as the news reached the god Indra, he came down to earth straight away.
Indra disguised himself as a sage and approached all four friends. First, the jackal, monkey, and turtle made their donations. Then Indra approached the rabbit and asked what he would donate. The rabbit replied that he was donating himself. Hearing this, Indra set a fire with his powers and asked the rabbit to jump into it.
The rabbit gathered courage and jumped into the fire. Indra was astonished to see this. He thought that the rabbit was indeed a great philanthropist. Indra was very pleased to see this and said, “I was testing you. This fire was an illusion, so it wouldn’t harm you.” After saying this, Indra blessed the rabbit and said, “Your act of donation will be remembered by the whole world. I will make a mark of your body on the moon.” After saying this, Indra crushed a mountain into the moon, creating the mark of the rabbit. Since then, it is believed that there is a mark of the rabbit on the moon, and in this way, the footprint of the rabbit reached the moon without actually reaching there.
Lesson from the story:
Having strong determination is necessary to accomplish any task.
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