LOOM OF WISDOM: Parables and Other Stories

A parable is a short story that illustrates a moral attitude, or a religious principle. Stories, by and large, fall into three categories: Temporal, spiritual and psychological. Secular stories, or tales, embody secular (temporal) literature, while the spiritual literature encompasses socio-religious and didactic tales. And then there are psychological stories. The Hindi equivalent of literature is sahitya. Sahitya is of two types: Swanta sukhaiy, and Parjan Hitaiy. Swanta sukhaiy is the sahitya, qua literature, that is produced for self-delight, self- pleasure and self- satisfaction, while parjan hitaiy sahitya has wider connotations; it affects the manners and morals, and is prone to bring about a salubrious transformation in human conduct and idiosyncrasies. Parables, that is the didactic literature, falls in this category. Therefore, efforts have been made to Include parables, and other didactic stories, in this book: they will, willy-nilly, refine the sensibilities of the people at large.