Morpich - A Symbol of Gratitude

When we imagine a peacock (male peafowls), the first thing that clicks our mind is its most decorative and beautiful tail, called Morpich (often called as TRAIN). The amalgamation of infinite colors, long yet delicate TRAIN holds much significance in the beauty that they carry.

This TRAIN is an inseparable part of Lord Krishna’s character. It is actually difficult to imagine Krishna without this feather. Let us understand Why and How.

I was going through the lectures and publications of our Gujarati poet and emcee, Mr. Ankit Trivedi. He was delivering a lecture in USA about Lord Krishna few years’ back. He narrated one incident which indirectly pointed to this TRAIN and its relation to Mythology.

One day, during Exile phase of Lord Ram and Mother Sita, they were travelling to reach one Ashram. On their way, Mother Sita was extremely thirsty and was not in a position to reach their destination with dehydrated body. Lord Rama looked for a stream or a lake but he could not find one. They decided to take rest for some time before going ahead. 

Suddenly, an old peacock arrived and asked Lord Rama if he could help them. Lord Rama was worried looking at the condition of this old animal. It seemed to Lord Rama that this creature is living his last time. He gently replied that they are in search of water but would not like to trouble this peacock looking at his condition. The old peacock smiled and answered with utmost devotion, “I would consider my last few minutes and death as a boon, If I could be of any help to the one who satisfies the thirst and hunger of entire universe.”

According to Mythology, a peacock loses his feathers only in two conditions, in extreme joy and when death is approaching it. We all must have witnessed the same during rains when they dance with happiness. For my eyes, that is no less than a poster picture.

That old peacock took Lord Rama and Sita towards a small stream of water. Lord Rama felt helpless as he could see that this peacock is taking his last few breath and losing his feathers. As soon as they reached near the stream, the peacock could not hold itself and was about to fall when Lord Rama took it in his lap and placed his hand on his forehead. The peacock would not have imagined its death more peaceful and divine than this. He looked at Lord Rama and spoke his last words. He said, “I think I can understand now why I was born.”

With deep sense of losing loved one and being the reason of his last trouble, Lord Rama and Sita felt deepest pain. With eyes filled with sorrow, guilt, obligation as well as gratitude, Lord Rama said to peacock, “I can never repay what you have done for us. You have won me with your gesture of helping others at the cost of own life. I promise that you will be my inseparable part and it would be my privilege to place you on my head. You would be the reason of my beauty and my grace.”

This is the real story as to why Lord Krishna is always sculpted with a feather on his head.

When an act of kindness or when a helping hand is bestowed upon us, it is never done with an expectation to get it back. We actually can never reciprocate it because when someone helps us, he or even we would never know that we would ever get in a position to help back. Time is not in our control but gratitude is.

When someone is with us during our tides, it simply means that they don’t want us to fight our odds alone. They want to contribute as much as they can to get us out of difficult situation. This emotion is itself so pure that it cannot have adulteration of getting it back. What we can do in return of this is to just make them realize (by our deeds) that we understand the warmth, the hope, the value of smile, the togetherness, the care and the love that they have for us. This is indeed much more than they could even expect in-turn. When such emotions are the reason and base of any relation, the importance and its place remains undivided.