The Vulture and the Jackal

The sages told the Pandavas of the vulture and the jackal who disputed over a dead child, and of the two voices that war in every grieving heart - the voice that says let go, and the voice that says hold on - and of the grace that answered a love that would not yield. It is a tale of grief, of hope and acceptance, and of the hidden self-interest that plays upon our sorrow.

There was once a family whose only child, a young boy, died; and the grief of the parents and kinsfolk was beyond all telling. Following the custom, they carried the body of the child to the burning ground outside the town, the place where the dead are given their last rites. But when they came there, their grief was so great that they could not bring themselves to perform the rites and depart; they lingered by the body, weeping and lamenting, unable to let go of the child, unable to turn away and leave him there. And so they stayed, clinging to the little body, as the day wore on.