Lesson 2

How the Squirrel got his Stripes

 The Story

It is believed that when the legendary Lord

Rama had to cross over to Sri Lanka to get Sita
back he was faced with the problem of crossing
the Indian Ocean ( now Palk Straits) at
Rameshwaram.
 The Big Question
The question was how
to cross the sea with such
a big army.

He ordered his monkey

brigade to build a bridge
over the sea
 The Little Squirrel
Just then a squirrel too
decided to help in the
construction.

But since it was too small and had a small mouth

he could carry only small pebbles.
Was his contribution worthwhile ?
Read the lesson on your
own to get the answer.
 The Construction Of Bridge Starts
No sooner did Rama order the
Construction of the bridge
than the monkey brigade
set down to task.

They started pulling out rocks

from the mountains and
carried them to the sea
 Years of Hard Labour
It took a long time to make this bridge.
Thousands of monkeys worked day and night.
 The Appreciation
Seeing them labour
so hard, Lord Rama
thought to himself
“ How hard these
Monkeys work. It is
their love for me that makes them work like
makes them work like
this.”
The Lost Bridge As Seen Today
 A Squirrel Appears On The Scene
One day Lord Rama saw a
small brown squirrel
working busily amongst
the monkeys.

He too carried pebbles from

the sea shore and dropped them into the sea.
 The Squirrel Comes In The way
It so happened that at one time a big monkey was
carrying a big stone on his back when the squirrel
came in his way.

He jumped back to save him.

But he was very angry.

Can you guess what he said to the squirrel?

 Anger Unleashed

Here, you little thing , what are you doing here?

Do you know you’re in my way?

If I hadn’t stepped back you would not have

been alive.

But I nearly fell.

 The Squirrel Apologises

The little squirrel looked up at the big monkey

and apologised.
“I am sorry Big brother that you nearly fell.
You should look where you are going.
I am also working hard to build the bridge for
Lord Rama.”
 The Squirrel Mocked At

• The big monkey was clearly very annoyed. He

asked in a sarcastic tone; “ You what?”
• Then he turned around to the other monkeys
and said mockingly, ‘ Look the squirrel is
building the bridge with pebbles.’
• All the monkeys started laughing
 Squirrel Remains Unfazed
The squirrel neither showed signs of anger nor
signs of feeling hurt.
Also he did not find any thing funny about his
work.
Unmindful of the remarks he continued to carry
pebbles.
What attitude did the squirrel show in this
behaviour?
 Squirrel’s love for Rama
• He said very humbly. “ Look, God gave me
little strength. I can’t carry heavy mountains
and rocks but I can carry pebbles.”

• My heart cries out for Rama and I will do

whatever little I can do for him
 Monkey’s Continuous Arrogance

But the arrogant monkey told him.

“Don’t be foolish. Lord Rama has a
big army to build the bridge. Go
home and don’t get in my way.”
 The Determination

But the little squirrel’s

determination was so great that it
refused to go. He merely said,” but
I too want to help.”
 The Ultimate Wrath

Now the monkeys got very

angry. One of them got so angry
that he lifted the little squirrel
by his tail and threw him off
 The Chant
The squirrel cried out Lord
Rama’s name as he flew in the
air.
Lo and behold he landed into
Lord Rama’s hand
 The Loving Stroke

Lord Rama stroked the squirrel lovingly and said

to the monkeys:
Never make fun of the weak and the small,
Your strength is not what is important. What
matters is your love.
This little squirrel has love in his heart
 The Gentle Stroke

So saying he held the

squirrel close to his heart
and passed his fingers
gently over the little
squirrel’s back.
 The Permanent Imprint
It is believed that since
then the squirrels carry
the three white stripes
on their back.
Do you know of any other legends
about ?
 Question of Attitude

How does the monkey’s attitude differ

from that of the squirrel?

Whose love was more passionate?

 Learning points
• God loves the least of his creatures with out
discriminating.
• There is no one too small or too big —it is the
spirit which matters.
• Never be proud or arrogant
• Be humble like the squirrel
• Even small contributions made with passion
and zeal are praiseworthy
The Sunken Bridge
 The importance of pebbles
• How do you think the pebbles could
have helped in the construction of
the bridge?

• They could have filled the gaps

between the big boulders of rocks.
Picture of the bridge by NASA