Namaste dear listeners,
Welcome to today's story session,
A space where ancient wisdom meets modern life.
Please settle in comfortably,
Take a deep breath and let me take you to a quiet forest,
Far away from the noise of our busy world.
Today's tale comes from the timeless Panchatantra,
Stories woven to make us wiser,
Calmer and more mindful and at the end we will discover how this story connects beautifully to a core principle of yoga.
Let's begin.
Once upon a time in a peaceful forest,
Surrounded by tall trees and shimmering lakes,
Lived a tortoise named Kambugriva.
He was friendly,
Slow,
Thoughtful but he had one weakness,
He talked too much.
Whenever he spoke,
He spoke without pause,
Without filter and often without thinking.
One summer,
The forest faced a severe drought,
Ponds dried up,
Streams turned into thin lines of dust and a little lake where the tortoise lived,
Shrank to a muddy patch.
If this continues,
Kambugriva thought,
Sadly,
I'll not survive.
One day,
Two geese,
Graceful and pure white,
Glided down to the ground near him.
They were old friends.
Brother tortoise said one goose gently,
There is a large beautiful lake far from here,
Deep,
Cool and full of water,
Come with us.
But how?
Asked Kambugriva.
I cannot fly.
The geese looked at each other and came up with a plan.
We will carry you,
They said.
We will hold two ends of a strong stick and you will bite the center.
But listen carefully,
You must not open your mouth,
Not even a little.
If you speak,
You will fall.
The tortoise agreed instantly.
He promised he would remain silent throughout the journey.
And so the plan began.
The geese took off,
Wings spread wide,
Carrying the stick between them,
And there hanging in the air was the tortoise holding tight with his mouth.
They rose above the treetops,
Above rivers,
Above villages.
The tortoise felt the wind rushing past him.
For the first time ever,
He was flying.
People looked up in amazement.
What a strange sight,
Someone shouted.
A tortoise flying,
Laughed another.
How ridiculous,
Yelled a group of children.
The tortoise felt his pride burning.
He wanted to say,
Who are you calling ridiculous?
He wanted to shout back.
He wanted to prove them wrong.
And in that moment of impulsiveness,
He opened his mouth,
You,
And down he fell.
The geese cried out helplessly,
But it was too late.
The tortoise stumbled down,
Crashing towards the earth.
Fortunately he survived,
Though bruised and shaken.
His life was spared,
But the lesson was carved deeply in his heart.
He whispered to himself,
Had I only controlled my tongue,
I would still be flying.
Many of life's troubles come not from enemies,
Not from fate,
Not from bad luck,
But from our own uncontrolled speech.
A moment of anger,
A fearless word,
A sharp reply,
And everything can fall apart,
Just like the tortoise.
In yoga,
There is a principle called mauna,
The practice of mindful silence.
It doesn't mean never speaking.
It means speaking with awareness,
Restraint,
And purpose.
Thank you for listening,
Dear friends.
May this simple Panchatantra story remind us every day,
Speech is powerful,
And silence even more so.
Until the next story,
Stay mindful,
Stay peaceful.
Namaste.
God bless you.
