In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya’s continuation with his accord on “Raaja-Dharma” to Yudishtra wherein he is highlighting an important point – A leader should always analyze the strengths and weaknesses of an opponent before entering into an attack mode. If the enemy however is a known entity, the leader can think of taking the lead in terms of attacking. However, this also has to be done with a lot of caution. But, when the enemy is a stranger, it is not advisable to go for the kill directly. It is better to wait, analyze and then hit back. Even today, we talk about this a lot in Management and Leadership contexts. In the context of “Strategic Management”, we have two types of strategies through which we can take on a competitor in a market – The “Lag” strategy and the “Lead” strategy. While the “Lag” strategy is the one wherein the company waits for the other competitors in the market to make the “first move”, the “Lead” strategy entails the company to go aggressive and garner the “first mover advantage”. While this might sound very interesting and proactive, this should be done with a great caution, because the company is venturing into untested and unexplored territory. This might be advantageous of course, because we can capture the market big time, however, there is also a potential danger to it. This is why we say that while adopting the “Lead strategy”, companies have to study the market very carefully before venturing in.
Thus, we can see how Bhishmachaarya’s words 5000 years ago are still applicable in modern day management as well. Continuing with this point further, Bhishmachaarya is now going to narrate yet another beautiful story to highlight it more. Till now we’ve seen two stories back to back – the one involving the “Dharmatma fox” to emphasize the point on “Trust”, the second one being that of the camel, to emphasize the point on “Performing our duties properly without fail”, and now this one. Once upon a time, there was an interesting conversation between “Samudra Raaja” (King of all the Oceans) and River Ganga. As we know, Mother Ganga, along with all the other rivers empty themselves into the Bay of Bengal after running for several hundreds / thousands of kilometers from the mountains. As Mother Ganga arrives in the Bay of Bengal one day, “Samudra Raaja” asks an important question to her thus, “Oh Mother Ganga! You are flowing with a great force, which can even uproot strong trees like the banyan tree, coconut tree, etc. as you descend down. You are also known to break open mountain rocks and bring them along with you. Given the fact that you’re blessed with enormous strength, I’m not understanding one thing – Why aren’t you bringing bamboo sticks along with you? Till now I’ve seen branches of numerous trees, but till date I’ve never seen you carrying a bamboo branch or a stick. Why is that so?”
As Samudra Raaja asks thus, Mother Ganga replies back with a very important answer – “Oh Samudra Raaja! You’ve asked an important question here. All those trees which stand with a lot of rigidity against my flow, will be uprooted by me very easily. However, the bamboo tree is not like this. Upon seeing me flowing through, the bamboo tree bows down in front of me with a lot of respect, and hence, I’m not having the heart to break and bring it along with me to the ocean. In other words, when those with a lot of rigidity and with no flexibility and respect come in front of me, I ensure that I uproot them then and there and thrash them along my way brutally. However, the ones which bow down to me with respect, melt my heart. I have great respect towards them, and hence, I never disturb them, even though my flow is enormous. Oh Samudra-Raaja! The bamboo tree is of the second variety! During my earlier days, I’ve tried my best to bring the bamboo tree along. However, every time I make an attempt to uproot it, the bamboo tree bends forward to accommodate me. I was impressed by this behaviour of the bamboo tree every time, and hence decided to return my respect back to it. This is the reason you will never find a bamboo tree coming along with my flow, while you will find several other tree branches in me!”
This is a very important answer which Mother Ganga is giving here. So for today, let us ponder over this story and try to grasp the deeper meaning behind this. We shall discuss this further in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 