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! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 