Ekibhava: Unity vs Division

United we stand, divided we fall

The Bird with Two Heads and The Bundle of Sticks. Division destroys; unity brings strength.

Ekibhava: Unity vs Division

The four friends, Laghupatanaka, Hiranyaka, Chitranga, and Manthara, gathered one evening as storm clouds gathered on the horizon. The approaching tempest seemed to mirror their conversation.

"I have been thinking," said Manthara the tortoise slowly, "about what makes our friendship work. We are so different, crow, mouse, deer, tortoise. Yet we are stronger together."

"That is the essence of sangha-shakti," nodded Hiranyaka. "The power of union. Let me tell you a tale that haunts me still, the tragedy of the Bird with Two Heads."

The Bird with Two Heads

In a forest by a great lake, there lived a most unusual bird named Bharunda. This bird had one body but two heads, each with its own mind, its own eyes, its own desires. Yet they shared a single stomach.

For many years, the two heads cooperated. When one found food, it would eat, and both were nourished. When one spotted danger, it would cry warning, and both were saved. They flew together, rested together, lived as one.

But gradually, envy crept in.

One day, the first head found a delicious fruit. As it ate with relish, the second head watched.

"Why do you not share with me?" asked the second head. "We share the same stomach, yet you enjoy the taste alone."

"The stomach is fed," replied the first head carelessly. "What does it matter which mouth does the eating?"

The second head said nothing but nursed its resentment.

Days later, the second head found a fruit that it recognized, beautiful to look at, but poisonous. A dark thought entered its mind: If I eat this, the poison will kill us both. But at least he will suffer too.

"Stop!" cried the first head, seeing what the second intended. "That fruit is poison! You will kill us both!"