Week 7 Story: The Princes And The Frog

The Princes And The Frog 

Many years ago, there was a young prince who lived in a palace with his mother, father and brother outside Hastinapura. They were very wealthy, so the young boy led an extraordinary life with his family. He was kind-hearted, beautiful and hard - working. Everyone in the kingdom loved him! 

One sunny afternoon, the prince was playing in the gardens of the palace. He was playing with his favorite toy, a ball. This was no ordinary ball, because it was a golden ball, given to him before his mother passed away. It was the only possession that he had left to remind him of the close bond that he had with his beloved mother. The prince loved throwing the ball high up into the sky, where the sun made it shine brightly with flashes of light. Every time, he would try to throw it higher into the air, in the hopes that it will touch the clouds, until one day he threw it so high into the sky that he could not see where it landed. He immediately began to panic and cried out to his brother for help! The prince’s brother saw the ball fall into an old well. They both tried endlessly to get it back, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful. “I want my ball back!” The prince began to cry louder and louder.

Out of nowhere, they heard a voice. “What seems to be the problem, boys?” They both looked around and saw a frog sunbathing on a rock. Not knowing who spoke to them and not seeing anyone around, the two young men ignored the frog and continued trying to reach for the ball in the old well. Again, they heard someone asking them, “What seems to be the problem, boys?” They faced the frog who magically turned into a thin, Brahman, dark in hue. The boys were so shocked and had to blink twice to make sure that they were not dreaming. “My name is Drona, and I am here to help you get the golden ball back, but I must receive something in return for my good deed," the Brahman said. “We will give you anything you want! Our father is the king and he can grant you your wishes. Tell us what you want, O Brahman.” The Brahman spoke and said, “If you allow me a seat at your supper table and give me a meal prepared for a king -I will use my skills and powers to get you your golden ball back.” 

“Absolutely! We promise you all your wishes.” And so, Drona used his magic powers to create a weapon out of a handful of grass to retrieve the golden ball. The boys thanked the Brahman and rushed back up the hill to the castle to deliver the good news to their tutor. “Bhishma! Bhishma! As we were playing in the gardens, my golden ball fell into the well and because I cried so loud, a frog appeared and turned into a Brahman and returned the ball to us!” Bhishma was stunned by the news that the boys delivered and knew immediately, in the back of his mind, who they were talking about. He was, however, confused as to why Drona was in the vicinity and asked the people from the kingdom all about what had happened to the great sage's son. 

Suddenly there was a knock on the kingdom's front door and when one of the soldiers opened it, the frog came hop! Hop! into the kingdom.  The two boys ran toward Drona, the frog, and carried him to to the supper table where they placed him on a chair next to Bhishma. The frog transformed himself into a Brahman and it is then that Bhishma knew he found the best trainer possible, to teach the two princes how to shoot. 

Frog Sunbathing On A Rock. Source:Pixabay

Author's Note: For this week's story, I focused on How The Princes Learned To Shoot. I immediately thought of a childhood story called The Princess and The Frog and that is what I based my version of the story off of. In the original version of the story, the princess was a spoiled girl and nobody liked her. She had a golden ball as a toy and lost it in a pond, when a frog helped her retrieve it, in exchange for friendship. The princess agreed to it, but as soon as she received her ball back, she ignored the frog and ran from him.


I decided to keep my characters as well as the scene of the story the same as the Mahabharata episode, but made the Brahman appear to the boys in the form of a frog, before he turned himself into the royal preceptor. I also kept the plot of the story the same, only changing minor details, such as using a golden ball that had sentimental value, instead of an ordinary play ball. I wanted to give a twist to my story and that is why I made this part up. The golden ball is the main element in my story and focus was also placed on how Drona met Bishma and I also focused on how he is not only rewarded for his good deed, but how he became the princes' teacher. 

Bibliography: Myths About The Hindus And Buddhists by Sister Nivedita. Reading link to How The Princes Learned To Shoot.
The Princess And The Frog Wikipedia reading link.