Jataka Tales for Kids: Major Source for Developing Moral Values

Many parents believe that moral values are impossible to teach to a toddler or school going kid. It is certainly true that simply by telling kids to be more considerate, diligent or honest don’t work. But one thing parents should consider that if values are not possible to teach then they are also something too important to leave to chance. Schools have tried to add moral development as a subject, but often have a tough time teaching the values as they have to struggle with what the child is learning at home. Parents are great teachers and can certainly influence the kid’s development. Spending some quality time with them and reading out stories that have moral lessons can be of great help.

Jataka stories for kids are interesting short stories that were popular among folklores and are good ways to teach values and morals of life and good living. These tales were composed around 300 BC and each store has a lesson to learn that have been passed from generations after generations and are still popular today as bedtime tales for children. Jataka tales are considered as a treasure house of wisdom and reflect Indian culture and tradition. They talk about every aspect of life and lay stress on the importance of what is good and what is bad, relationships and even on the value of working hard.

Some popular Jataka tales for kids:

Unity is strength:  This is a great story that teaches little kids the importance of having good friends who can help during the time of trouble. Things that cannot be resolved alone can easily be sorted with the help of good friends. It also teaches a lesson of how good friends always stand with you in the hour of your need.

Jackal who saved the lion: Another interesting story from the great collection of Jataka tales is the jackal, who saved a lion. There lived a lion in a forest and while drinking water in the river, his foot got stuck in the mud of the river. One day a kind jackal came there and helped the lion to get out of the mud and set him free. Though both of them became friends, but the families decided to stay apart as everyone may not reciprocate the same level of friendship that you may enjoy.

The penny wise monkey: This is another nice story from the Jataka collection. There lived a king who was very powerful and fond of travelling. He wanted to visit other countries, but didn’t like to explore his own country. While travelling, one day he saw a monkey eating peas. One small pea slipped from its hand and the greedy monkey dropped all the peas to search for the lost pea. On watching this, the king realized that it is foolish to lose much to gain a little and ordered his men to march back to his own country.

The jataka tales lay great emphasis on the casual connections between the actions taken by someone and their consequences. The stories are considered as pearls of wisdom and are supposed to be from the mouth of Lord Buddha relating his experiences while passing from life to life on his way to becoming a Buddha.