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! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 