The Hare On The Moon

On a full moon day, we can see a mark on the moon which looks like a hare. There is a interesting story about this mark on the moon.

Once, Lord Buddha was born in the form of a hare in a forest in Varanasi. He used to play with his 3 friends, a monkey an otter and a jackal. One day the hare said to his friends,” We do nothing but play the whole day. Let us do some charity. If we give alms, we would be rewarded”.

Hearing this, the monkey climbed up a mango tree and plucked down some sweet and juicy mangoes for all. The otter dived into a river and caught some fish and brought those for charity. The jackal did not know what to do. So he stole some curd from a hut. The hare being so small tried to find something in the ground. But he could find nothing and was disappointed. He came back to his friends and said, ” I could find nothing, so I have decided to give away my body in charity”.

Lord Indra, the king of Gods, heard this. He came down to earth in the form of a monk to test the hare. He reached the hare and said,” I am hungry. Give me something to eat ”. The hare gladly replied,” I can offer you my body”. Saying this, the hare lit up the fire and jumped into it. To his surprise, the fire did not burn him. Lord Indra came to his original form and said,” your act of sacrifice is so great that the whole world will remember you for ages “. Saying this Lord Indra drew a hare in the moon. This mark is there today also and reminds us to help the needy and to give alms to the poor. 

Moral Of The Story: Do charity and sacrifice. Don't be selfish.