A Weaver Who Got Two Heads

‘A Weaver Who Got Two Heads’ is a popular moral story of a Sanskrit moral story text named ‘The Panchatantra’ composed by Vishnu Sharma.

It was a long time ago. In a village there lived a weaver named Manohar. Most of the tools of his sewing machine were made of wood. One day it rains heavily, due to which rain water fills his house.

Due to the flooding of rain water in the house, his machine gets completely damaged. Manohar gets very upset as the machine breaks down. He starts thinking sadly that if he does not fix this machine soon, he will not be able to sew clothes and his family will have to starve.

Thinking this, Manohar decides to go to the forest, so that he can get good wood cut to fix his machine. Manohar then walks towards the forest with this thought. Manohar walks the whole day, but he does not see any tree with good wood for his machine. Still Manohar does not give up and keeps on looking for the best tree.

After walking for a long time, suddenly Manohar’s eyes fall on a tree, which was very tall, thick and green. Manohar is very happy seeing that tree and says yes this tree is very nice. With its wood I can repair my machine again.

With this thought, as soon as Manohar raises his ax to strike at the trunk of the tree, a deity appears on the branch of the tree. The deity says to Manohar, “I live and rest on this tree. Therefore, it would not be appropriate for you to cut this tree. Anyway, it is not right to cut any green tree.”

On hearing the deity, Manohar apologizes and says, “O God, I am helpless. I have to cut this tree. The wood of this tree is perfect for my machine. After a lot of searching, I found this tree. If I do not cut down this tree, my machine will fail and I will not be able to sew clothes. Because of this, my family and I will starve to death.”

Hearing Manohar’s words, the gods say, “Manohar, I am happy with your answer, don’t cut this tree. In return, you can ask for whatever boon you want, I will definitely fulfill your wish. On hearing about the boon from the deity, Manohar thinks for a while and says, “O God! I want to take opinion from my friend and wife for the groom. So, you give me a day’s time.” God accepts Manohar’s request and gives him a day to contemplate.

Taking a day off, Manohar walks towards his house. On the way he meets his friend Barber. Manohar meets the barber and tells him about the boon of the deity. On that the barber advises Manohar to ask for a kingdom. The barber says that you should ask the deity for a kingdom as a boon. You become the king of that kingdom and I will become the minister of that kingdom. Then we will not have any trouble and we will be able to live our life comfortably.

On the talk of the barber friend, Manohar says, “Friend you are absolutely right. Once I ask my wife about this, then I will ask the deity for a boon. On asking the wife for her opinion, the barber says, “Friend, your wife is very proud and stupid. Therefore, you should not seek his opinion. Such a woman thinks only of her own benefit.”

To this Manohar says, “Friend, still she is my wife, so I will definitely take her opinion once.” Saying this Manohar walks towards his house. After reaching home, Manohar narrates the whole incident that happened in the forest to his wife.

On hearing about the boon from the deity, Manohar’s wife says, “There is no benefit in asking for a kingdom. The king has many responsibilities. He can never live his life happily. Raja Ram and Nal also lived in sorrow for the rest of their lives while being in the kingdom. You earn a decent amount by sewing such nice clothes with two hands. In such a situation, if you have two heads and four hands, then you will be able to sew twice as many clothes. This will double your earnings and your value will also increase in the society.

Manohar understands this of his wife and goes to the forest to ask for a boon from the deity. After reaching the forest, he meets the deity again. Seeing Manohar, the gods say that Manohar demands what boon do you have to ask for.

Manohar says to the deity, “O God! You give me two heads and four hands.” Hearing this, the gods ask Manohar, what will you do with two heads and four hands?

Manohar then tells that if he has two heads and four hands, he will be able to sew twice as many clothes, which will make his earnings more than before. Hearing this, the gods smile and grant Manohar a boon.

On receiving the boon of the deity, Manohar gets two heads and four hands. Manohar is overjoyed on getting the boon and goes towards his home. As soon as Manohar reaches his village, the children playing in the village get scared seeing him. They all consider him a demon.

Then some villagers attack Manohar with weapons in their hands and Manohar dies. When Manohar’s wife learns of Manohar’s death, she immediately rushes to see Manohar.

Seeing Manohar’s dead body, his wife starts crying and says that it is all my fault. I had asked him to ask the deity for two heads and four hands. Had it not been so, today no one would consider Manohar a monster and he would have been alive.