The Bird and the King

The sages told the Pandavas of Pujani, the wise bird who dwelt in a king's palace, and of how a single act of vengeance between her and the king destroyed a long friendship - a tale of the bitter cycle of injury and revenge, and of why trust, once broken by blood, can never be wholly restored.

In the palace of King Brahmadatta there lived a bird named Pujani, a creature of great wisdom and long life, who had made her home in the royal apartments and had become a dear friend and companion to the king. Pujani was no ordinary bird; she was learned and far-seeing, and the king valued her counsel and her company. And it happened that at the same time the queen bore the king a son, the bird Pujani also hatched a young one of her own; and so the prince and the young bird grew up together side by side in the palace, companions from birth, while the king and Pujani looked on as friends.