The Bird with Two Heads
Also known as Bharunda Pakshi
- 2 minute read
- Ages 6-10
- Panchatantra Stories
There was a bird called Bharunda who lived by a lake and had one body and two heads.
The heads did not get on.
They had been arguing for as long as either could remember, about everything, and neither of them had ever once said the other was right about anything.
The fruit
One afternoon the right head found a fruit on the shore that had washed up from somewhere else.
It was red and it smelled extraordinary, and the right head ate it and said so, loudly, all the way through.
"This is the best thing I have ever tasted. There is nothing like this anywhere. It is unbelievable."
"Give me some," said the left head.
"There is not enough for two."
"We have one stomach," said the left head. "Whatever you eat goes to the same place. Give me half so I can taste it."
"No," said the right head, and finished it.
The left head said nothing for a long time after that.
The other fruit
Some weeks later the left head found a fruit of its own.
It was a different fruit, growing on a low branch over the water, and the left head looked at it carefully and knew exactly what it was.
"Do not eat that," said the right head. "That is poison. I can smell it from here."
"I know what it is."
"Then you know it will kill us."
"Yes," said the left head.
"We have one stomach!"
"I know," said the left head. "You explained that to me. You said it did not matter which of us ate."
And it ate the fruit.
Moral of the story
You cannot win against someone you are attached to. Whatever you do to them arrives at you as well, usually a little later.
Questions and answers
- What was unusual about Bharunda?
The bird had one body and one stomach but two separate heads, which argued constantly.
- What did the right head do with the fruit it found?
It ate the whole thing and refused to share, saying there was not enough for two.
- What argument did the left head make?
That they shared one stomach, so the food went to the same place either way.
- What did the left head do later?
It found a poisonous fruit and ate it deliberately, knowing what would happen.
- What is the point of the ending?
That harming someone you are joined to is harming yourself. The right head's own argument is used against it.
Word meanings
- quarrelling
- Arguing angrily.
- extraordinary
- Very unusual or remarkable.
- poison
- A substance that causes harm or death if swallowed.
- attached
- Joined or connected to something.
Questions about The Bird with Two Heads
What is the moral of The Bird with Two Heads?
That revenge against someone you depend on destroys you too. The two heads shared a body, so neither could win.
What does the two-headed bird represent?
A family, a household, a business or a country: any group where the parts are joined and cannot separate however much they dislike each other.
Is this story too dark for young children?
It suits ages six and above. Nothing is described and the ending is stated in one line, but the meaning is clear and worth talking about afterwards.
What is the bird called in the original?
Bharunda, a two-headed bird that appears in several Indian traditions.