Episode # 1374 – Five causes of enmity & lack of trust – Bhishmachaarya explains!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of an important phase of discussion as part of the “Aapad Dharma”, as discussed by Bhishmachaarya with Yudishtra. The discussion revolves around “trust”, which has come out of a beautiful story of a bird called “Poojani” and its tryst with King Brahmadatta. As we’ve witnessed, King Brahmadatta’s little son had killed Poojani’s little chick. This angered Poojani,who in turn inflicted heavy injuries on King Brahmadatta’s son. This ended up straining the deep relationship between King Brahmadatta and the Poojani bird. As Poojani decided to pack its bags and leave the palace, it explains certain important points pertaining to trust – It is imperative not to trust anybody who is ineligible to be trusted. At the same time, it is not advisable to not trust someone beyond a certain boundary, even if that person is trustable. 

Both these points are important here. Bhishmachaarya clearly picks up this section of the dialogue and renders important pieces of advice to Yudishtra. He explains that as a leader, it is always wise to keep everyone at a safe distance, and not to go too close to anyone. The person whom we are trusting today, might be trustable at this moment. However, we would never know when the person might switch sides and go into our enemy camp. If we go beyond our boundary of trust and blurt out all our secrets to that person, chances are very high that we would be in trouble if that person ditches us. Moreover, Bhishmachaarya also highlights an allied point here – Loss of trust, which leads to enmity, can occur in five scenarios – Enmity because of women, Enmity because of land disputes, Enmity because of abusive language being traded between each other, Enmity due to caste issues and Enmity due to bad memories of the past! Now let us discuss these five points in detail as we move on from here. Firstly, lack of trust and enmity can easily occur because of women. Even in our daily lives in the present context we might be able to see this clearly – Two men might be very thick friends for years together – They might go everywhere together, and might even end up eating food from the same plate. However, if a woman comes in the middle, this trust slowly drifts away, isn’t it? One person amongst the two might fall for that woman, and subsequently, an insecure feeling creeps within him – “What if my friend also falls for the same woman whom I’m in love with?” This feeling of insecurity starts the downfall of the trust that these two men had for years together! 

Secondly, enmity can happen because of land disputes. We see this quite a bit in today’s scenario as well – How many families get separated today because of a dispute pertaining to houses or property? How many brothers and sisters live separately without even talking a word with each other because of these issues? This point needs no explanation! In fact, even in the Mahabharata story, we’ve witnessed that the entire feud between the Pandavas and Kauravas was over the Hastinapura kingdom being split! When Bhagawan Krishna asked for five villages on behalf of Yudishtra, Duryodhana was adamant in refusing to part with even an inch of land, wasn’t he? This led to the devastating Kurukshetra war and the entire family had to pay a heavy price for this! Thirdly, enmity can happen because of abuses being traded against each other! This also we’ve witnessed quite a bit. In the Mahabharata story itself, we’ve seen during the gambling game episode, how Duryodhana and Bheemasena traded barbs and abusive language with each other, especially after Draupati was molested publicly! This was one of the fundamental reasons why the Kurukshetra war had to happen! 

In similar ways, enmity and lack of trust can happen between two thick friends / relatives / brothers / sisters! So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall take this discussion forward into the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂

Episode # 1373 – “Whom to trust and whom we shouldn’t?” – Bhishmachaarya explains!!! 


In the previous episode, we had witnessed a very important and an interesting continuation of Bhishmachaarya’s accord on the concept of “trust” as part of the bigger discussion on the various aspects of “Aapad Dharma”. He highlights this with a beautiful story of a bird named “Poojani” and King Brahmadatta. Both of them were thick friends and precisely at the same time, both of them had given birth to their kids. As we’ve seen, one fine day, the king’s child killed Poojani’s little one, which devastated the mother bird completely! In return, Poojani also inflicts heavy injury on the king’s child for the heinous crime that he had committed to her child. As King Brahmadatta came to know what had happened, he apologised to Poojani profusely, however, it was in vain! The Poojani bird had made up its mind by that time to fly away from King Brahmadatta once and for all! While leaving the palace, the Poojani bird explains a very important “Neethi” (Moral of the story) – Once the trust is broken, it is broken forever! Now that the Poojani bird has lost trust in King Brahmadatta’s child, she will be more insecure while living in the palace. Similarly, King Brahmadatta will also feel insecure about his child’s safety, while constantly thinking of whether the Poojani bird will inflict more injuries to him or not! Hence, the mutual trust that both of them had for each other has completely vanished with this unfortunate event! 

This clearly shows how trust is a very important factor in any kind of relationship in this world! If the trust factor gets broken, some sort of enmity starts creeping in, and the relationship (no matter how thick it was earlier) will completely vanish within no time! Explaining this to Yudishtra in detail, Bhishmachaarya continues his accord further thus, “Oh Yudishtra! As a king, you should be very clear on one thing – You should know whom to trust and to what extent – For instance, you should never trust someone who is not trustable! At the same time, even if the other person is trustable, you should not completely trust him / her. You should maintain a fine boundary and should be able to back out quickly if the situation turns hostile at any point of time!” We can see this even in today’s context – Taking the current geopolitical scenario of today, post “Operation Sindoor”, India as a country has seen through the lens as to which countries are really trustable and which are not! For instance, the United States of America (US) had once been a “trustable” ally of India until that point, but post that, things have taken a “U-turn”, isn’t it? With the latest set of tariffs kicking in, India has seen through the hypocrisy with which the US has been operating – Openly supporting our enemy, Pakistan, and ditching us at crucial moments! Hence we can see clearly here that once a “trusted ally”, the US has completely moved away from India, and from this point onwards, it is going to be very difficult to restore the trust between the two countries! This clearly shows that even if we trust an ally, we should always keep a safe distance and not trust anybody 100%! 

As we’re witnessing this eroding of trust, we are also seeing that restoring it back is a herculean task! It is not going to be easy for policymakers to repair the damage done by one person to the decades-old India-US strategic and business relationship. Moving on further with the “trust” element, Bhishmachaarya is now explaining that enmity and erosion of trust can happen due to five causes – Enmity because of women, Enmity because of land disputes, Enmity because of abusive language being traded between each other, Enmity due to caste issues and Enmity due to bad memories of the past! So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall expand these five important causes of enmity in detail with application to today’s context! Stay tuned! 🙂

Episode # 1372 – Having an all-weather friend during a crisis – Bhishmachaarya explains!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya’s continuation of the narrative on “Aapad Dharma” and specifically here, he is talking about how “trust” is very important for a leader. Bhishmachaarya drives home this point beautifully with a story of a bird and King Brahmadatta and how they initially trusted each other and subsequently how this trust fell apart with one ghastly incident. Thus, if the trust is broken, it is never easy to repair it back to normal – It is like a mirror – As long as the mirror is intact, it gives a beautiful reflection of us in the best way possible. However, if the mirror is broken due to any reason, it is almost next to impossible to stick the broken glass pieces and bring it back to normal. Even if we succeed in sticking all the glass pieces back in their original positions, the cracks will always remain. Similarly, in the story, the Poojani bird explains to King Brahmadatta that now when the trust has been broken, the former will always have an eye of suspicion on the latter and vice versa. Their relationship is never going to be the same as it used to be earlier. Hence, the Poojani bird decides that it is never going to reside in King Brahmadatta’s palace anymore and it flies away once and forever! 

Such is the case with trust, especially during “Aapad-Kaalam” (Emergencies). Moving on thus, Bhishmachaarya goes to the next point here – He says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! As a king, you should always know whom to trust and hold upon at what time! Sometimes, the situation might demand that you might not be able to handle it all by yourself. You would definitely need the support and help of some other people as well. At these times, you should clearly know who will be those right people with whom you can associate yourselves with, so that you can get out of the tricky situation without getting harmed!” This is a very important point, especially in today’s context – If we see the present-day scenario, things are pointing towards a very bleak and a dangerous situation – In several parts of the world, there are war-like situations, and this is extremely detrimental for the growth and sustainability of humanity! While this narrative is on one side, what happens when two countries are at war? Will they be able to fight out the war all by themselves? The answer is “No”! If we look at our present context with the India-Pakistan conflict, all of us know that Pakistan had taken a heavy drubbing from India with several of their airbases being completely destroyed and rendered inoperational. At this crucial juncture, even though Pakistan had called for a ceasefire, this is definitely not going to be a long-lasting one. This ceasefire is being used by Pakistan to rejuvenate itself. Can Pakistan do it all by itself? The answer is definitely a “No”! The rogue country is seeking help from like-minded countries like Turkey, Azerbaijan, China and also the United States of America to shore up its military resources. Once this is done, Pakistan will perhaps think of attacking India once again and the war will continue. 

This clearly shows that during emergency situations, it is always important that we have a helping hand with us at all times. In the case of India, we have had Russia as an all-weather friend and a trustable ally over the past several decades! India has helped Russia during crucial times, and similarly Russia has also armed India with several state-of-the-art defence equipment, which were saviours during the recent “Operation Sindoor” that India launched against Pakistan. Hence, India has the right friend at the right time. This is exactly what Bhishmachaarya is also explaining here – Even during the Kurukshetra war, it was not just the Pandavas fighting with Duryodhana and Co. There were several other kings and armies which supported both the camps. Some local kings who were like-minded with Yudishtra & Co., lended a helping hand to the Pandavas. Similarly, some other kings who were like-minded with Duryodhana, rendered their support to the Kaurava camp. Of course, Bhagawan Krishna’s army was also in support of Duryodhana and Bhagawan Krishna Himself was supporting the Pandavas’ cause! Hence, a lot of hand-holding went into the Kurukshetra war on both the camps. This clearly shows how strategically and tactfully we should choose our trustable aides when it comes to war! 

So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall witness Bhishmachaarya narrating a beautiful story to drive home this point! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂 

Episode # 1371 – Broken trust is irreparable – Bhishmachaarya illustrates with a story!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya’s continued accord on the “Aapad-Dharma”, which is extremely important to adhere to for any leader across any domain. Of course, Bhishmachaarya is narrating this to Yudishtra, but we can also take several leadership lessons from this accord. In this way, Bhishmachaarya is explaining to Yudishtra that once a relationship / bonding with a person breaks, it is very difficult to fix it back. This break in bonding is like broken glass pieces. We might have seen in our homes that if the glass mirror breaks, it is broken forever. Even if we try and fix the glass pieces, the crack will still be visible, and it can never be removed! In similar lines, Bhishmachaarya is narrating a beautiful story involving the Poojani bird and King Brahmadatta. Both of them were thick friends, and when they had their own little ones, the Poojani bird would ensure that it fed King Brahmadatta’s little son. In turn, King Brahmadatta also took good care of the Poojani bird and its little chick. However, one day when the son of King Brahmadatta and the little chick of the Poojani bird were playing, the former somehow hit the latter fatally, which led to the death of the little chick. Annoyed by this, the Poojani bird with its sharp beak, destroys the vision of King Brahmadatta’s son. Rushing to see what had happened, King Brahmadatta confronted the Poojani bird, which points towards its dead little one with tears in its eyes and narrates the entire story. Upon hearing this, the king is extremely moved. He understands what kind of a mishap has occurred. 

Feeling deeply pained for the Poojani bird, King Brahmadatta says thus, “Oh Poojani! I understand why you’ve made my son blind. He deserves it. Even though he is a baby, he should not have done what he has done. I can understand the pain and the grief that you’re going through. I shall also bear this grief of my son being blind for the rest of my life! However, oh Poojani! Whatever has happened has happened! Why don’t you stay here with me for the rest of our lives? I shall take good care of you and ensure that you are fit and fine!” As King Brahmadatta says thus, the Poojani bird gives a beautiful reply to the king. It says thus, “Oh King Brahmadatta! I too understand the pain that you’re going through. But let me tell you one thing – It will not be wise on my part to stay here anymore. I shall go by my way and you go by yours. This is because, once we lose the trust / confidence upon each other, it is very difficult to live under one roof. For instance, you will always have a doubt or a fear upon me because I’ve made your son blind. Also from my side, I will always be in fear from now, because your son can cause harm to me any time. You might not harm me in anyway, but your son will not know whether to harm me or not. Hence, I will also live under constant fear if I’m here. Hence, there is no point in living together with fear. It is better that I go to a different place and live peacefully without this fear factor haunting my mind!” 

Saying thus, the Poojani bird flies away with a heavy heart and with tears in its eyes – Once for all! Upon seeing his friend flying away, King Brahmadatta also felt heart-broken that he had lost a great companion. Thus, the lesson that we can learn from this small story is that, if we lose trust upon someone, it is difficult or nearly impossible to regain it. We can see this even in our daily lives too – Even between a husband and a wife as well – If the husband does something wrong that makes the wife’s heart broken, the latter is never going to trust the husband again for the whole life. Some couples might opt for a divorce, separate from each other and live a happy life elsewhere, or, some others might stay under the same roof, but without any kind of relationship whatsoever. We can see clearly here that if the mutual trust between the couple is broken once, it stays broken forever. The couple might try to patch up after the unforeseen incident. Even after the patch up is done, something will always keep pricking both the people’s hearts, isn’t it? It will be very difficult for both of them to entirely forget what has happened in the past and move on with life! This is exactly what Bhishmachaarya is explaining through the story, and as a leader, it is very important to earn the trust of his people. Of course, trust is a two-way thing – The leader should also trust his people. 

So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

Episode # 1370 – “A broken friendship is irrepairable!” – Bhishmachaarya explains!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya continuing his detailed accord on the “Aapad Dharma” to Yudishtra. He is currently amidst the narrative that during an “Aapad-Kaalam”, it is not wrong to make friends with even your fiercest enemies in order to combat the dangerous situation. Also, when it comes to protecting / securing people, it is important for the leader to secure himself / herself first, before trying to secure others. To illustrate these two points, Bhishmachaarya has narrated a beautiful story of the cat and the mouse. While the “Romasha” cat gets stuck in the hunter’s net, the “Palitha” mouse is cornered by the mongoose on one end and the chimpanzee on the other. When both of them were in danger, the Palitha mouse made friends with his fierce enemy – The Romasha cat by sitting beside it. This alarms the chimpanzee and mongoose and they fled from that place. However, when it came to saving the Romasha cat from the hunter’s net, the Palitha mouse did not show any sort of speed in biting away the pieces of the net. This was done in order to protect itself from the wrath of the Romasha cat. However, when the hunter rushed towards the cat, the mouse quickly bit through the net and freed the Romasha cat at the right time! This enabled the cat to flee away for its life, and so did the mouse! Thus, end of the day, both the cat and the mouse saved themselves from the wrath of the hunter! 

The lessons are very clear here – As a leader, we should first know who our friends and enemies are. This is the first step. Secondly, within our enemies, whom can we approach at an appropriate time to make friends with? This is a very important point under leadership, especially during the “Aapad-Kaalam”. A leader should not be rigid at all times and not allow his / her ego to take center-stage. At times, the leader should bend, flex himself and think out of the box to come out of tough situations. If this smartness is not there, and if the leader is extremely rigid with his approach towards critical problems, chances are high that he would be sucked into it! At the same time, while making friends with enemies, a leader should know the limit to which this friendship should be taken to. The leader should not blindly trust and go behind an enemy-turned friend. He should know when to extend the friendship and when to cut off the ties! 

Moving on thus, Bhishmachaarya is narrating the next important point as part of “Aapad Dharma” to Yudishtra. He says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! If you have a group of best friends / colleagues and if there is a fight that is breaking out within this group, it is very difficult to doze down the tension. If someone in your core group breaks away from you because of a feud, it is next to impossible to make this person come back with 100% friendship and dedication yet again. Once lost, is lost forever!” To highlight this point, Bhishmachaarya is narrating yet another small story of a bird named “Poojani” and King Brahmadatta. The Poojani bird and King Brahmadatta were very good friends and they usually spent a lot of time together, talking with each other over a range of things. As days passed by, the Poojani bird gave birth to its little one, and precisely at the same time, King Brahmadatta also had his little son. Hence, the bonding between the Poojani bird and King Brahmadatta increased and became more thick. As an everyday routine, the Poojani bird will bring some of the best fruits for the king’s newly born son and in turn, the king also fed the little one of the Poojani bird very nicely. 

One day, when the Poojani bird had gone to pick up some fruits, the king’s little son did some mischief to the Poojani bird’s little one, and eventually it got killed! When the Poojani bird came back with the fruits, to its utter shock and dismay, it found the little one dead. Simultaneously, the Poojani bird also learnt that the king’s son was behind this heinous crime! Unable to control its grief and motherly pain, the Poojani bird quickly pounced on the king’s little son, scratched his eyes with its sharp beak and made him blind! Upon seeing the son losing his eyes, King Brahmadutta came running to check what had happened. Poojani bird was also sitting there and it explains the whole story. Upon hearing the Poojani bird’s narrative, King Brahmadutta was heart-broken – On one hand, his son has become blind, and on the other, his best friend had lost its little one forever! Now what does King Brahmadutta do? How is he going to console the Poojani bird for this humongous loss? Let us wait till the next episode to witness King Brahmadutta’s request! Stay tuned! 

Episode # 1369 – “Secure yourself first before securing others during ‘Aapad-Kaalam’!” – Bhishmachaarya explains!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya continuing his detailed accord on the important “Aapad-Dharma” to Yudishtra. Here, he describes several important aspects of “Dharma” that a leader should follow during times of emergency / danger / catastrophe. In these lines, Bhishmachaarya is talking about how “Adharma” becomes “Dharma” and vice-versa during times of emergency. To illustrate this point, Bhishmachaarya is narrating a beautiful story involving the Romasha cat and the Palitha mouse, who were perennial enemies to each other. However, there arose a situation wherein both of them were in danger – The Romasha cat got stuck into the hunter’s net and was not able to come out of it, and the Palitha mouse was surrounded by enemies like the mongoose and the chimpanzee, ready to pounce on it anytime. Now both of them have to escape from their respective dangers, and at this crucial juncture, the Palitha mouse decides to become friends with the Romasha cat and mutually help each other in escaping this situation. Hence, a deal was made between the two enemies, and accordingly, the Palitha mouse started biting the joints of the net, thereby gradually freeing the Romasha cat from it. Meanwhile, the Palitha mouse sits near the Romasha cat, and seeing this, both the mongoose and chimpanzee ran away from that place! With this, the Palitha mouse’s danger is overcome! 

Now, it is up to the perennial enemies to sort out their differences between them, isn’t it? In this regard, the Palitha mouse is not going full-throttle in biting away the net and freeing up the Romasha cat. As time goes by, the Romasha cat becomes increasingly impatient and asks the Palitha mouse to speed-up the process. However, the Palitha mouse refuses! Upon confronting the reason for this, the Palitha mouse gives a beautiful answer to the Romasha cat thus, “Oh Romasha! I can do it immediately. But I won’t do! It is because, if I free you now, chances are high that you will catch me and betray me! So, I will slowly keep biting the nets, until the point when the hunter is coming close to you. The moment the hunter is near, I will completely bite and free you from the net and thereby you can run away and escape from him! However, if the hunter is not to be seen anywhere closeby, I do not want to take the risk of freeing you up!” Upon listening to the mouse’s smart explanation, the Romasha cat was surprised! He asks the mouse thus, “Oh Palitha! How do you tell very confidently that I will catch you if you free me up right now? You were in danger and I protected you when you came and sat near me. Now when I’m in danger, you are trying to betray me like this! Is this fair?” 

As the Romasha cat asks thus, the Palitha mouse replies back – “Oh Romasha! You’re not understanding what I’m saying – Even now I’m biting through all the pieces of the net. I’m not sitting idle without biting. However, the speed at which I’m biting is what matters here – When the hunter comes, I will definitely speed up my biting process and free you up immediately. I’ll definitely protect you from the hunter’s sword. You will never be betrayed by me. But in the process, I’ve to also protect myself, shouldn’t I? That’s why this is slow biting!” Hearing the explanation of the Palitha mouse, the Romasha cat couldn’t tell much! He also knows how cunning he himself is! Thus, as both Romasha and Palitha were conversing with each other this way, the hunter makes a grand entry all of a sudden and comes with a fierce sword to cut the Romasha cat into pieces. Upon seeing the hunter advancing fast, the Palitha mouse bites the last piece of the net and frees up the Romasha cat! The Palitha mouse keeps its words and allows Romasha to flee for his life! In the process, Palitha also goes into the tree’s bark and protects himself! In this way, both the cat and the mouse are saved from the hunter’s wrath!” 

Narrating this story thus, Bhishmachaarya explains to Yudishtra – “Oh Yudishtra! During the time of “Aapad-Kaalam”, you should protect and secure yourself first, before going on an attack more, or going on to secure someone else. This is exactly what the Palitha mouse did here – By slowly and steadily approaching the biting process, it ensured that the cat is not able to pounce on him, but at the same time, when the imminent danger arrived, the mouse ensured that the cat was protected! This is the smartness that a leader should have during the “Aapad Kaalam”. Even though a person might be your fierce enemy up to this point, you can still make friends with that person if you feel that you can escape from the danger with his help. A leader should be smart enough to bend down when required, and should not be too rigid and carried away by ego at such crucial times. 

So for today, let us understand up to this point, and we shall continue with this discussion further in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂 

Episode # 1368 – “Teaming up with an enemy during danger” – An important strategy during “Aapad-Kaalam”!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya continuing with his accord on the “Aapad Dharma to Yudishtra. At this juncture, Bhishmachaarya is illustrating a very important point that we’ve discussed earlier, with an interesting story. The point here is that, during times of criticality or emergency, whatever might be “Adharma”, might become “Dharma” and vice-versa. To drive home this point, Bhishmachaarya is invoking a story of the cat and the mouse. The cat named “Romasha” and the mouse named “Palitha” were fierce enemies, but managed to stay near each other and spend their lives. However, there was a situation wherein the Romasha cat was caught in a net, thanks to a bird-hunter, who had accidentally thrown his net on top of the Romasha cat. As a result, the Romasha cat struggled to get out of the net, even though he tried several ways to do so. Upon seeing this, the Palitha mouse started celebrating! Finally his fierce enemy is in a state of inertia and he cannot move here or there even for an inch! However, this celebration was short-lived for the Palitha mouse, as he saw a mongoose and a chimpanzee ready to pounce on him! Now what does the Palitha mouse do in order to escape these two enemies? Let us look on! 

Sensing the danger thus, the Palitha mouse thought of a quick-fix plan – Normally, the mongoose is scared to be in the vicinity of cats, as it is the prey for the cat in the forest. Now that the cat is stuck in the net, the mongoose is trying to up its game. Hence, the Palitha mouse thinks that this is the right time to make friendship with the Romasha cat and find an escape route through him. With this in mind, the Palitha mouse starts biting the net with its sharp teeth. In the meanwhile, as the Palitha mouse is doing this, the Romasha cat did not understand what was going on! Until two minutes ago, this mouse was celebrating, and now suddenly he is trying to free the cat! What was going on? The Palitha mouse gives a smart answer thus, “Oh Romasha! I know that we’ve been perennial enemies till date. However, both of us are in danger right now – You’re stuck up inside the net, unable to move anywhere freely. I’m cornered by the mongoose and chimpanzee on both sides. Now is the time to shrug off our enmity and work together, so that both of us can escape the external dangers that are haunting both of us. We shall settle our issues at a later time. I shall bite off the net in which you’re stuck. In return, you protect me from the mongoose and the chimpanzee. The moment I release you from the clutches of the net (which only I can do for you at the moment), I will come and sit beside you. Fearing your presence near me, these two animals will move away from this place! Oh Romasha! Teamwork at this time is extremely important!”

As Palitha says thus, the Romasha cat thinks for a moment! Palitha is right! If Romasha is going to reject this offer, his life is going to be in danger. If he doesn’t help Palitha, his life is also going to be in danger. So it is the time for mutual cooperation. This is not the time to fight against each other. Hence, Romasha agrees to the deal, and the Palitha mouse starts biting the net with its sharp teeth. However, after about 25% of the net being bitten, Palitha comes and sits near Romasha. Upon seeing these two teaming up together, the mongoose and chimpanzee think that this is going to be a mere waste of time, as they are not going to capture the mouse in any way! Hence, both these animals walk away slowly from that place, with a lot of disappointment! 

As this happens, the Romasha cat slowly tells his counterpart thus, “Oh Palitha! Now that your danger is gone, why don’t you keep up your word of protecting me from the hunter and bite faster, so that I can escape quickly from this net?” As the Romasha cat asks thus, Palitha is not in a state of bother. He is now biting the net as slowly as possible – One bit at a time! Upon seeing this, the Romasha cat is becoming more and more impatient! Time is running out – For the next 30 to 45 minutes, this Palitha mouse is cutting through the net very slowly, and eventually this seems a never-ending task! Now Romasha starts doubting the intentions of the Palitha mouse! Has he fooled Romasha? Is Palitha an opportunistic fellow? Several questions run within the Romasha cat’s mind and after a while, losing his patience, he confronts the Palitha mouse and demands an answer from him! So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall witness why Palitha is slowly biting the nets of the Romasha cat! Stay tuned for an interesting answer! 🙂 

Episode # 1367 – “Even an enemy can become a friend during danger!” – Bhishmachaarya illustrates!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Bhishmachaarya’s detailed accord on the “Aapad-Dharma” to Yudishtra, wherein he is currently narrating how a leader should have a foresighted vision to lead his kingdom / team effectively. With this vision, the leader should anticipate potential problems and think of how to resolve them, well in advance. In this regard, Bhishmachaarya had narrated a beautiful story of three fishes and through this important accord, he highlights how one of these fishes escaped from the fisherman’s net well in advance, even before the net was thrown into the water. However, the other fish was caught in the net and had to lose its life! This clearly shows how a visionary leader understands problems well in advance and charts the escape route very clearly. However, if the leader is waiting for things to happen, it might be too late to react on several occasions. 

Moving on further, Bhishmachaarya is rewinding the point that we’ve already discussed earlier with yet another beautiful story. Readers might remember this point that we’ve discussed a few days ago – During times of danger, “Dharma” can become “Adharma” and “Adharma” can become “Dharma”. We’ve seen this elaborately a few episodes ago, but Bhishmachaarya is going to talk about this yet again. He is going to narrate a beautiful story to highlight this point to Yudishtra. As all of us might be familiar with this in our day-to-day life – A cat and a mouse are perennial enemies! Everytime a mouse would be seen, the cat will try and pounce over it to kill it. We’ve been seeing this since our childhood days as well. Bhishmachaarya is now going to invoke the cat and mouse story to drive home this important point. Once, a mouse named “Palitha” was living amidst a huge tree by making a small house for itself with adequate protection. Adjacent to this tree, a cat by name “Romasha” was also living with all its luxuries in its home. Even though both Palitha and Romasha used to fight every day, they still managed to live beside each other. This was amidst a beautiful forest and several birds made their way and started building nests on top of the trees. Upon seeing several birds queuing up in this forest, a hunter was getting interested to capture one or two birds from this huge flock. With this intention, he throws his net over the tree. However, while throwing the net over the tree, it accidentally falls over the Romasha cat and eventually it gets stuck into the net! Unable to move here or there, the Romasha cat shouts and screams for help. Upon seeing its enemy getting stuck into the net, the Palitha mouse erupts in joy and celebration! It heaves a huge sigh of relief that its enemy has been caught red-handed! 

However, as the Palitha mouse thinks thus and starts to celebrate, there is a huge chimpanzee on top of the tree, and a huge mongoose to the side! Both were watching the proceedings very carefully and were waiting for an opportunity to pounce and make merry! It is to be noted that the mongoose likes to eat the mouse. Simultaneously the chimpanzee which is sitting above the tree, is extremely hungry and is scouting for a prey. No matter whatever the prey is, the chimpanzee is waiting to pounce upon it. As the Palitha mouse was making merry for the Romasha cat getting stuck, these two animals fell in its eyes! Now the Palitha mouse has to escape the wrath of the mongoose, which is looking for the right moment to pounce. Fearing the mongoose, the Palitha mouse starts running here and there, and starts climbing up the tree with panic. However, at the top of the tree, this chimpanzee is waiting for good prey! Now, the mouse is confronted with two dangers simultaneously on either side. Now the Palitha mouse thinks thus, “Oh no! Till now I was thinking that this Romasha cat was my only enemy in this world. I started rejoicing once he got stuck in the net. However, only after he got stuck, I realized that there were several other enemies waiting to pounce on me. So what do I do now to escape from these two animals?”

Thinking thus, the Palitha mouse makes a smart plan here. It thinks further thus, “The entire world knows that the mongoose is scared of the cat. I’m sure this mongoose will be afraid of our Romasha cat as well. Also, if the Romasha cat shows his fiery spirit, even the chimpanzee will be afraid and he will run away! So the first thing that I should do here is to free the Romasha cat from the clutches of the net! Even though the Romasha cat is my enemy, the other two enemies are comparatively bigger than him. Thus, in order to escape from these two bigger enemies, I’ve to shake hands with Romasha first!” 

Making a plan thus, the Palitha mouse starts biting the net and tries to break it open. So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode we shall continue this story further and witness the important underlying message conveyed by Bhishmachaarya! Stay tuned! 🙂 

Episode # 1366 – “A leader should be a visionary in foreseeing the future!” – Bhishmachaarya explains!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmahchaarya’s continuation of his accord on “Aapad-Dharma” to Yudishtra, wherein he is now talking about how a leader should be foresighted in his approach towards problems and dangers. In other words, a leader should be able to anticipate and foresee problems coming his way well in advance and start to think of solutions to mitigate those problems with least possible damage. To highlight this point, Bhishmachaarya has just narrated a very interesting story of three fishes in a pond. When there was a potential danger of losing their lives to some smart fishermen, the first fish found a way to escape even as the water level in the pond started to dwindle. The second fish, which was very smart to handle the present moment, managed to escape when the fishermen threw their fishing nets into the pond. Whereas, the third one, which was extremely lethargic in nature, did not anticipate any problem that came its way. Because of this, the third fish got caught in the fisherman’s net and eventually lost its life! Thus, it is important that we are able to foresee potential dangers much in advance and start building our capabilities accordingly, so that the danger can be mitigated! 

We’ve seen this in our current Indian context as well – The current Indian dispensation at the Centre under our Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modi anticipated this kind of a war-like situation very much in advance. During the year 2014 when Mr. Modi came to power for the first time, India’s defence capability was in complete shambles because of extreme corruption – A 75-year legacy which was left over by the previous Congress government in India. Mr. Modi’s task wasn’t easy at that point in time – If any attacks from any neighbouring enemy country (India is surrounded by enemies in the forms of the rogue nation called Pakistan, China, Myanmar, Bangladesh, etc.) at that point in time, our army was in no position to defend our territorial borders effectively! Mr. Modi’s task was cut out – Identifying this potential danger that was looming large, he slowly and steadily started building up our defence systems. He was able to make key collaborations with friendly nations like Russia, from whom we were able to bring home the powerful S-400 Air-Defence Systems by 2019. Simultaneously, Mr. Modi worked with another friendly country with India – France to bring home the powerful and technically / technologically advanced Rafale fighter jets. These initiatives were long-term in nature, and took almost five to six years to accomplish. 

In the meanwhile, Mr. Modi started strengthening our domestic production of defence equipment. Earlier, India had to depend on foreign countries for their defence requirement, but with Mr. Modi at the helm of affairs, India started indigenously producing powerful defence systems like the “Brahmos” missiles, Akash air-defence system, etc. under the “Atmanirbhar Bhaarat” program. These started to pay off rich dividends as the currently ongoing “Operation Sindoor” against Pakistani Islamic terrorists is a major proof of its success! All the Pakistani drones (Around 500 in number) have been successfully neutralised and destroyed by our air-defence systems, which, as a result, protected all our military and civilian air bases intact. Also, it has been covered in the media authentically that our Rafale jets, along with our indigenously made “Brahmos” missiles have successfully destroyed eleven air bases in Pakistan. Isn’t this a huge success? Isn’t this a testament of the Indian army’s technical and technological prowess? How did this happen? Did it happen overnight? It was a result of long-term planning, strategizing and execution of manufacturing the right defence equipment at the right time. 

As we continue to see in the news, India has now started aggressively pushing for more and more defence manufacturing corridors apart from the current ones in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Recently, our Defence Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh has inaugurated a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility of “Brahmos” missiles – Capable of producing 100-150 such missiles per year! This is being done to aggressively stock up our defence equipment and be prepared to face any kinds of eventualities in the future. 

So the point here is very simple – A leader should always be proactive enough to think of the long-term. This requires a clear vision and a structured action-plan, and this is exactly what Bhishmachaarya is explaining to Yudishtra here. If a leader doesn’t have that visionary thinking, he is bound to fail sooner or later. So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall take this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

Episode # 1365 – “A leader should be ‘foresighted’ in order to escape from dangers!” – Bhishmachaarya explains!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya continuing with his detailed accord on “Aapad Dharma”, which covers several strategies that a leader should adopt during critical times of danger. Bhishmachaarya explains that three important factors are essential for a leader to protect “Dharma” – Motivation, power and wealth. We’ve discussed these factors in detail during our earlier episodes, and now, Bhishmachaarya is going to narrate a story to highlight these points more clearly. He talks about three fishes in a big pond – The “Dheerga-Kaalagnya” fish, the “Utpanna-Prathiba” fish and the “Deerga Soothri” fish. All three are of different natures – The first one is a visionary and it can identify future problems and devise strategies to tackle them accordingly. The second one is very smart and can quickly devise solutions to problems that occur in the present moment. The third one is an extremely lazy fellow – He will wait till the problem arrives, and even then will never think of any kind of a solution. In other words, this fish will remain inactive even during catastrophic times. 

Now moving on further, Bhishmachaarya delves into the story. One fine day, there were a few passers by who wanted to extract the maximum amount of fish from the pond. Hence, they slowly started to drain all the water out of the pond. Upon sensing a grave danger for their existence, the “Dheerga-Kaalagnya” fish tells the other two fishes thus, “Oh friends! I sense the water level suddenly going down. This is unprecedented. We’ve been staying here for a long time now, and this has never happened earlier. Upon seeing this happening, I’m sensing a great danger. Somebody is planning to capture all of us and put us to death. Before this could happen, we should find a way out to escape from this pond!” As the “Dheerga Kaalagnya” fish says thus, the other two fishes weren’t very convinced. They did not sense the problem coming. The second one – “Utpanna Prathiba” says thus, “Oh friends! Do not worry! Nothing will happen! Even if something happens, we shall act swiftly and escape! We have that capability of escaping easily, don’t we? Hence, let us not worry about what is going to happen in future. Let the water level go down and at that time if someone tries to capture us, we shall try and escape from this place then!” Thus, the “Utpanna Prathiba” fish stays calm and composed! Now the third one – “Dheerga-Soothri” says thus, “Oh friends! Why are you getting tense and nervous? No problem will come close to us! Let us not worry at all and let us be happy! If at all anything comes, we shall see what to do at that point in time, but as of now, I do not anticipate any problem that is going to come our way!” Thus, the third fish was completely unaware of what was in store, and was relaxing! 

Time passed by and gradually the water level started dipping to alarming levels! Sensing the imminent danger, the “Dheerga Kaalagnya” fish decides that enough is enough. There is no point in trusting his two other friends anymore and if he does so, his life is going to be in danger! Hence, the “Dheerga Kaalagnya” fish silently moves away from that place and latches on to the force of the water moving into a nearby canal. Thus, he completely moves away from that pond and saves himself from the imminent danger! Upon sensing the incoming danger, the second one – “Utpanna Prathiba” acts smart! Once the water level comes down, the fishermen started unleashing the fishing nets all over the pond. Now the “Utpanna Prathiba” fish latches on to one corner of the net with its teeth. While the fishermen pull out the net from the shallow water, the “Utpanna Prathiba” fish cleverly jumps into the water again from the net and escapes out through the nearby canal. Finally, the third one – “Dheerga Soothri” is completely at sea! He doesn’t know what problem is incoming, and doesn’t know how to think strategically to escape from that problem! Finally, as anticipated, the “Dheerga Soothri” fish gets trapped into the fishing net amidst the shallow waters and when the fishermen pulled the net out, it couldn’t survive! The fish loses its life! 

So what do we understand from this story? What is the message that Bhishmachaarya is trying to convey here? It is quite simple – As a leader, one should always be forward-thinking! He / she should be able to anticipate potential dangers / problems into the future and devise strategies now, to escape from them! This is a very important point when it comes to “Aapad-Dharma” and in modern-day management and leadership, we call this “Foresightedness”! So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall do an analysis of this story in the present day context and move on from there! Stay tuned! 🙂