POWER OF SILENCE
To Anjali there came a girl. Her face was flushed and her body was trembling. And she said, “I have spoken to a friend words which were as unkind as they were untrue. And my voice was terrible as the thunder of the sky. Tell me how may I undo the wrong I have committed?”
Anjali picked up a sheet of red coloured paper. She tore it up into sixty-four pieces and gave them to the girl, saying, “Go and scatter them in the street below.”
The girl did as she was told. As soon as she scattered the bits of paper, a strong gust of wind blew and the pieces of paper flew hither and thither and were lost to view.
When the girl returned, Anjali asked her, “My child! Now go and bring back the little bits of paper.”
The girl went to the street and searched for the little bits of paper. But do what she would, she could not find a single piece. After a futile search, she came back to Anjali, “I cannot find a single bit of paper,” she said.
And Anjali said, “So it is with the words you speak. No sooner do they leave your lips than they are scattered and lost forever. Do what you will; you can never get them back again.
“So take care of your words. Before you speak anything, make sure that what you are about to speak is better than silence; else remain silent. If you observe this simple rule, you will not have to repent.
“And remember, if you would bear witness to truth, be silent. For truth ever is silent. They, who talk much, travel far from truth. They who commune with truth are silent.”
