Ten Tales About Self-Control

Ten Tales About Self-Control is a series of short stories for 10 to 12-year-olds illustrating key concepts for good conduct for Hindus in a modern context in a cultural setting that will be familiar to today’s youth.

The stories of Ten Tales About Self-Control, are based on the ten ancient Vedic ethical principles called the yamas, meaning “restraints.” The yamas are universal principles, practices and values found in all religions. They are: nonviolence, truthfulness, nonstealing, divine conduct, patience, steadfastness, compassion, honesty, moderate appetite and purity.

These stories teach kids how to cope. They illustrate the choices a child may face in his or her life, such as lying to cover a mistake, and the pleasant or unpleasant consequences that may result from those choices. Children will encounter in these stories challenging situations that are familiar to them, tales of stealing, lying, dishonesty, impurity, injuring others and more, with morals offering a higher path in life, a path made happier, safer and more successful through the cultivation of the difficult art of self-control.

This small set of stories will provide Hindu and non-Hindu parents alike one means to convey these all-important character-building values to their children. The stories are intended to compliment Hinduism?s vast array of ancient stories but presents its concepts in the context of the modern world in which our youth today reside.

Reader’s Comments

“My colleague gave the books to a 9 and 10 year old. He said that usually he had to sit down with them otherwise they were not interested in reading story books. He said that he was “shocked” when the 10-year-old, not only did not want to put the books down until she had finished reading them, but then proceed to tell him the stories. She was very excited. He says his curiosity has been aroused and he is definitely going to read the books. He could not believe that the books had such an impact on the child.
“I also had given the books to my grand niece. My sister told me that her 11-year-old granddaughter loved the stories very much. Her two favorite stories are about ahimsa and asteya. She was able to relate to events in schools regarding stealing. She was really happy that she had handed over anything she found to the teacher “because its the right thing to do.” And she also told the grandmother that its a good thing the grandmother does not cane or beat her because she is actually practicing ahimsa.”

—Sakuntalai Krishnan, Singapore