In ancient times there was a prosperous kingdom on the banks of river Saraswati. There lived a learned Brahmin named Devdutt in that kingdom. He had deep knowledge of the scriptures, had amazing influence in his speech, but his nature was extremely talkative. He spoke in every meeting, gave his opinion on every subject and often said harsh words without thinking. People respected him because of his knowledge, but many hearts were also hurt by his words. One day Devdutt went to the forest for the sacrifice of knowledge. There he met an ascetic who had been observing a vow of silence for years.
Devdutt asked him questions again and again, but he remained calm. Her silent presence disturbed Devdutt. Finally he said mockingly, “O sage, what is the use of penance if you cannot speak?” Then the brilliant form of that ascetic appeared. He was Brihaspati himself – the guru of the gods. He said in a sweet voice, “Vatsa, speech is a gift from God, but its restraint is a greater penance than that.”
Saying this, Brihaspati gave a boon to Devdutt – “For one day, only those words will come out of your mouth, which will be true and beneficial.” Devdutt laughed. He thought this was a simple blessing. But as soon as he returned to the city, he realized that he was unable to say anything without thinking. Where earlier he used to respond immediately, now he had to remain silent. Many times people would ask him questions, but before answering he would look within to see if his words would hurt anyone.
As the day progressed, Devdutt realized that there was a wonderful peace in silence. His words were few now, but powerful. Harmony was now being created in places where it had earlier created disputes. Jupiter reappeared in the evening. Devdutt humbly said, “Gurudev, today I learned that uncontrolled speech is ignorance and controlled silence is true knowledge.” Brihaspati smiled and disappeared. From that day onwards, Devdutt took a vow that if he spoke, he would think carefully and if he remained silent, he would understand.
