# Introductory Note explained — Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit

> Chapter companion for Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit by S. M. Mitra.

## What happens

Nancy Bell introduces a collection of Hindu tales translated by S. M. Mitra, explaining their origin from Sanskrit classics and oral traditions, their ethical value, and their use in Hindu mind-training to develop concentration, self-control, and self-realization in children.

## Themes in this chapter

### Self-Realization and Mind Training

The chapter emphasizes the tales as tools for building personality and teaching self-control through mind-training, rooted in the philosophy of self-realisation.

## Character check-ins

### S. M. Mitra

The Hindu psychologist and politician who translated the tales.

## Key lines

> They serve in fact as textbooks of the unique system of Mind-Training which has been in use in India from remote Vedic times, the root principle of which is as simple as it is effective.

These stories function as textbooks for a distinctive mental training system practiced in India since ancient Vedic times, whose fundamental principle is both simple and effective.

_Highlights the educational purpose of the tales._

> Seek to know thyself by means of thyself, keeping thy mind, intellect and senses, under control; for self is thy friend as it is also thy foe.

Understand yourself through your own efforts, with your mind, intellect, and senses disciplined; because the self can be both your ally and your enemy.

_Quotes the sage Vidura from the Mahabharata, encapsulating the theme of self-realisation._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hindu_tales_from_the_sanskrit_se/chapters/introductory-note
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hindu_tales_from_the_sanskrit_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hindu_tales_from_the_sanskrit_se/chapters