How did the squirrel get three dark lines on her back?

Rama the exiled prince of Ayodhya wanted to cross the Indian ocean to reach Lanka. Demon king Ravana had abducted Rama's lovely wife Seeta and Rama wanted to free her. The monkey king Sugreev with his ministers like Hanuman, Jambuvant, nephew Angad and other great monkey warriors was helping prince Rama in his task.


First Rama prayed the ocean lord to give way. "O great ocean. You know my plight. Please give us way to reach the land of Lanka. We must save princess Seeta from the demon king.", Rama requested. But the ocean did not budge. As time went by, Rama got angry. He lifted his bow and arrow and threatened the ocean lord, "You have become insolent due to pride. You do not value righteousness anymore. I'll dry you up with my arrow and you'll learn your lesson."


When the ocean lord heard this he appeared in human form in front of Rama and prayed with folded hands, "O great prince of Ayodhya, you are very just and wise. I cannot disregard the laws of nature, so I cannot give way to your army. But you have Nal and Neel with you who are ace architects. Ask them to build a bridge over my waters and I'll gladly support it. Using the bride you can go across to Lanka."


Rama was pleased with this solution and proceeded to do so. As per instructions from Nal and Neel, the team of monkeys lifted great boulders, huge stones and threw them into the ocean. But the stones were heavy, so they drowned instantly. How would the bridge float? Hanuman the supreme devotee of Rama had an idea. On each of these boulders, he wrote the name "Rama" with sand. Now when the stones were thrown into water, they all floated.


But there was another difficulty. The stones would not stick to each other and kept drifting away. A tiny squirrel noticed their plight and came to the rescue. She brought grains of sand and small pebbles, as many as she could carry on her back and put them on the bridge cementing, sealing the gaps and making each boulder stick to the other. The monkeys noticed her going back and forth. They were irritated to see a tiny little thing like the squirrel scampering, scurrying about near their feet and tried to push her away. But she would not relent. 


Rama noticed this. In recognition for her efforts, he patted her back lovingly and blessed her. "You have proven today, little one, that no effort done with sincere heart is insignificant. You'll always be remembered for your efforts in helping bring Seeta home.", he said. Even today you can see three dark lines on her back that his fingers made when then ruffled her fur.


This tale from the Indian epic Ramayan tells us to be sincere in our efforts, no matter how insignificant they might seem to be. If we persist with a good intention we'll surely make a difference. :)


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