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Stories about elephant calf Lanchenkar
Ayusha Erdyneev
Illustrator Maria Kolesnikova
© Ayusha Erdyneev, 2017
© Maria Kolesnikova, illustrations, 2017
ISBN 978-5-4490-0678-3
Created with Ridero smart publishing system
TO MY SPIRITUAL TEACHER HIS HOLINESS DALAI LAMA XIV.
WITH REVERENCE AND LOVE
Rewiew
“Tales of Baby Elephant Lanchenkar”, a book by children’s writer Ayusha Erdyneev, is directly linked with Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy. Main characters are identical with Buddhist Jatakas (stories of previous births of Buddha Shakyamuni) and bear Tibetan names. In Buddhist narrative tradition, it was white elephants who practiced and would reach the state of Boddhisattva. Elephants have supreme qualities that make them good examples.
The tale “Saving Parrot” is parable of Tibet’s destiny. White baby elephant Lanchenkar leads his friends (and other jungle folk), as Mahatma Gandhi would do, to the peaceful solving of their problems. He teaches them how to find happiness, that happiness is absence of both your and others’ suffering. Every tale encloses its own feature and its own lesson
Nowadays it is very important to convey onto children genuine values as kindness, open heart, and good will. Children raised with the ideals brought forward by Lanchenkar, there is the hope that the world may become a better, more harmonious place
To make this collection of tales more accessible to younger audience, an animated movie about Lanchenkar’s adventures may be of great help
Sincerely Robert Thurman, Professor Columbia University in New York City
How the White Elephant Calf Lanchenkar Came into This World
In torrid lands, in Hindustan there lived He-Elephant Lanchenpo and She-Elephant Lanchenmo. They were the King and the Queen of all elephants in the woods.
Lanchenpo was a kind and just king. He had ruled for many years, all was well in his elephant kingdom. The elephant population, and other animals, revered and respected the royal couple for their great wisdom.
But there was one thing that saddened King Lanchenpo – he had no heir. Lanchenpo wanted a son who would inherit his kingdom. Before he retired, Lanchenpo wanted to raise as wise and brave a king as himself.
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“Go and ask the All-Knowing Cuckoo,” advised the caring Lanchenmo. “I hope she will help us.”
Lanchenpo did as he was told.
He walked and walked around the forest, lifting his head near tall trees in the hope of spotting the tiny bird.
Finally, in the dark thicket he heard the familiar cuckoo. The bird was predicting somebody a long – or short – life. Lanchenpo came closer and soon his small eyes spotted the All-Knowing Cuckoo on a tree branch.
“Hey, Cuckoo,” said the King. “Tell me if I’ll ever have an heir.”
“You will, O Elephant King Lanchenpo,” answered the Cuckoo. “But first you should ask the Old Crane who is going to depart this world soon. The Old Crane is one of the wisest creatures in this forest. He can choose the aspect in which to reincarnate on the Earth. Ask the Old Crane to appear as your son!”