Continued….From Part 8 –
Vishnusarman having concluded the story, Losing of Friends, then blessed the Princes saying, “May the losing of friends never be part of your experience and let this only be the fate of your enemies.”
The Princes expressed gratification to their teacher Vishnusarman, for the valuable and unforgettable lessons he had taught them through his entertaining but wisdom filled stories on both Winning of Friends and Losing of Friends.
In Part 9, we will start with the stories on War
The Princes spent the next few days thinking about and discussing with each other the lessons taught through the stories about Winning of Friends and Losing of Friends.
They now understood that there were multiple aspects to managing self and others in order to run a kingdom well. The stories related to them by Vishnusarman helped them recognise what aspects of their character they needed to develop in themselves, It taught them the value of friends, partners, well wishers, confidants, and also gave them deep insights into how to recognise foes and strategies to neutralise those not having their best interests in mind.
This stories also demonstrated to them that there was a complex web of relationships, decisions and diplomacy to be managed to run their kingdom in wise and effective ways.
A few days later, they again met with Vishnusarman. Being a great teacher he asked them what they wanted to learn further. The Princes having become more educated and aware, took some time to think and talk amongst themselves and then went to their teacher. They said that being Princes, it was important for them to learn and understand War. They enquired with Vishnusarman about what he could teach them about the art of war.
Vishnusarman then commenced a discussion war and related as follows:
So let me tell you the story of the Crow that brought down the geese kingdom while living within the kingdom itself.
On the island of Karpadweep there was a large and beautiful pond by the name of Padamkeli. The pond was the residence of a Swan named Hiranyagarbh and several geese.
The geese were large in number and were concerned that if they did not have a leader then they could become directionless like a ship without a Captain to steer it in the right direction. They also were of the opinion that a sovereign leader would help in protecting their interests and they would reciprocate by giving full respect and deferential treatment to the sovereign. Without complete protection everything can be lost.
So they decided to appoint the large and beautiful Swan, Hiranyagarbh as their supreme leader or Queen and all the birds in the pond led a happy, safe and satisfied life.
One day Hiranyagarbh was resting on a large and widely spread lotus in the Padmakeli pond, surrounded by the geese who were there to take care of all her needs. Suddenly they saw the crane, Dirghamukh, fly in and take a seat close to them. He greeted the queen with respect and then settled down. Dirghamukh had also lived in Padmakeli for long and had recently flown to another island some time back. On seeing Dirghamukh back, Hiranyagarh asked him to tell everyone about the foreign lands he had visited.
Dirghamukh looked a little troubled and said with earnestness that he had flown back in haste as he had some important news to share with Hiranyagarbh. Then he related as follows –
“On the Jambudwipa island there is a mountain called Vindhya. On this mountain lives the Peacock Chitrakarna, who is the King of all birds of the island.
One day while I was pecking food in a parched forest there, the king’s soldiers saw me and enquired who I was and what I was doing there. I introduced myself as an attendant to you, the mighty Swan, Hiranyagarbh, Queen of Padmakeli and I old them that I had flown to their island out of curiosity to explore a new place.
The soldiers then asked me which kingdom seemed mightier and more beautiful to me. I replied that there was no comparison between the 2 kingdoms. Our Padmakeli kingdom is beautiful like heaven and our Queen leads it like paradise. I also said that how could I describe a beautiful and bountiful place to those who had only seen a barren ad rocky kingdom like theirs.
Hearing this, the soldier birds became angry…..you see if you feed milk to a snake it only becomes poison, a fool learns nothing even when good ideas are share and the sharer only experiences frustration. You can have a dialogue only with a sensible person and not a fool.
This is best displayed in the story of the birds advising some stupid monkeys, which led to the destruction of their own nests.”
Hiranyagarbh asked, “How was that?”
Dirghamukh then related the following story –
Advising the Unwise –
“On the banks of the Narmada and just below the hills near the river, there was a silk-cotton tree. On this tree lived a few birds which had built their nests in the tree. The tree being huge and sturdy with lots of leaves was a very comfortable place for the birds and their nests as even during heavy rain, they were well protected and comfortable.
One day heavy black clouds gathered and torrents of rain fell. As they sat cosily sheltered from the rain, they saw a group of monkeys getting drenched and shivering in the cold. The birds called out and said, ‘we have mere breaks and with that we have been able to build a safe and comfortable space for ourselves. How is it that you with 2 hands are unable to build a home for yourself and suffer being drenched and cold every time it rains? You should take this as a lesson and try to build your houses before the rainy and cold seasons.’
Hearing this monkeys got angry and threatened the birds with grave consequences once the rains stopped. True to their word, the angry monkeys waited till the rain had stopped and then they began to climb the trees and trashed all the nests of these hardworking birds and even destroyed all their eggs.
Hence, I say only a sensible person can be advised.”
Hiranyagarbha asked, “So what did these angry birds, on the island you visited, say to you?”
Dirghakarna replied, “They angrily asked me, by whom was the Swan made the Queen? This made me angry so I also asked them by whom was the Peacock made King? Hearing this they attacked me and I also fought back bravely. You understand that when insulted it is important to display valour just like passion must be displayed in a romantic embrace.”
The Queen was quite amused with Dirghakarna and laughingly said, “One should attempt to understand how one’s strengths and weaknesses compare to that of the enemy. If a person lacks understanding of this and continues to be ignorant, or simply tries to imitate the skills of the enemy during a conflict, then defeat is certain. Just like the stupid Ass, who, while grazing in the corn field covered himself with tiger skin but was killed by the blunder of speaking.”
Dirghakarna asked how that happened.
So the Queen related the following story –
Copying another also needs intelligence –
“In the city of Hastinapur lived a washerman by the name of Vilas. He had a donkey to carry the loads of clothes from the river back to the city. The donkey was always overworked and over time became too weak to carry the loads. Vilas, being a miserly master did not want to provide more food to the donkey to keep it healthy. But the donkey’s ill health started creating a problem in his work as the donkey could no longer carry his loads.
So one day he plotted to let the donkey loose in his neighbour’s field. So that he would not get caught by the neighbour, Vilas covered the donkey in a tiger skin and let him loose in the field. When the neighbour came to his fields the next day he noticed a tiger roaming at a distance. The frightened neighbour stayed away from his field that day. But every day he saw the same scene and being unable to cultivate his field he started thinking how to get rid of this problem.
The neighbour then decided to kill the tiger. For this purpose he first covered himself in a grey blanket so that he would not be visible to the tiger and took his bow and arrow and waited in the field for the tiger to appear. The tiger skin wearing donkey suddenly saw a grey shape moving in the distance and got very excited thinking that possibly it was another donkey in the field and so quickly ran towards the grey figure braying loudly. The neighbour quickly realised that this was a donkey and not a tiger and easily killed the donkey which had for days been eating up its corn crop.
Thus I say that be wise enough to know you own strength vis-a-vis the enemy, just copying the enemy will lead to sure defeat”.
Dirghakarna heard out the queen and then continued to recite the rest of his story.
He said, “So the angry birds shouted at me and said- ‘you wicked, vile crane, while you eat food from our fields, you also dare to criticise our kingdom and king. This cannot be tolerated.’ In this way, they continued to poke me with their beaks.
Finding my skin and body soft and prone to getting injured they jestingly told me, ‘You foolish crane, your queen, the swan, must be also spiritless like you. One whose skin is as soft and gentle as yours can never take care of even herself. What will she take care of a kingdom and in what way can she provide you protection and security? So how can she ever hope to run a kingdom? But you are all frogs in a well so what will you know about selecting a leader.
Do you not even have this much wisdom to know that if one has to live in a tree, then it is best to look for a tree which can provide not only fruits but also shelter and shade? But if due to some reason if this tree is unable to provide fruits as food, it will least be able to provide shelter and shade.
What is the point of taking the protection of the weak? Only a strong leader is worthy of being a sovereign. Do you not know that in a wine maker’s hand, even water is considered wine by others? Have you not heard of the story of the goat which roamed free due to the favour and blessing of the lion? Even the great become little if they depend on the little or the worthless, just lie the elephant also looks small in a mirror. Have you heard how the little hares used the name of the mighty moon to save themselves from the huge elephants?’
Now I asked how that was and they told me the following story –
Even the name of the mighty can serve to save the small….
Once due to the absence of rain, the animals of a forest had to love through a drought and several died for lack of water. A herd of elephants which lived in the forest, said to its leader, Vishalkarna, ‘there is no water for our needs. We can neither bathe nor even have drinking water’. So Vishalkarna led the group of elephants forward in search of water and found a shallow pool after walking some distance.
The thirsty and tired elephants rushed into the water and under the weight of their feet, many hares which lived on the banks of that pool were crushed to death. The leader of the hares was very concerned with the arrival of the elephants and noted that the elephants would come every day to their pool as water was scarce and continue to kill and crush the hares living there. He called all the hares and they all reflected on the problem and tried to think of a quick solution.
After some time an old, wise hare by the name of Vijay came forward and said that maybe he could solve the problem. Vijay then set out to meet with Vishalkarna. On the way he thought to himself, an elephant can kill even it means to only touch, just like a snake which only wishes to smell will unintentionally kill.
So keeping a safe distance he mounted the hill on which the herd of elephants was living. Vishalkarna noticed the old hare and asked who he was and why he had come towards them?
Vijay replied, ‘I am an envoy sent by the great Moon. As you know, an envoy is chosen for his/her high character and so even standing in a hostile group of armed enemies never speaks the untruth. In the same spirit as the envoy of the Mighty moon, I am going to convey the message truthfully to you’. He then said – ‘The hares on the banks of the pool are the guardians of the lake appointed by the Moon himself. I have been appointed their protector by the moon. But I see that they have been killed and driven away from the pool by your big herd.This has not been a good thing to happen. I have come to speak with you as the hares are under my care’.
Hearing the authority with which the old hare spoke and his having invoked the name of the Moon, which is divine for all animals, Vishalkarna immediately showed deep regret and told him that the actions of the elephants were due to their ignorance of the matter and such events would not be repeated by his herd.
Vijay kept up his authoritarian approach and saluted the Moon which was shimmering in the pool. He asked Vishalkarna to also salute the Moon. Then he addressed the moon and explained that the elephant herd was regretful and they would no longer visit the pool and harm the hares.’
The birds then told Dirghakarna, ‘So therefore we say that the king should be famed as a valiant, mighty and powerful leader’.
So Dirghakarna responded, “that is the kind of leader our queen is and forget about a kingdom, she is fit to rule the universe. Hearing this they pushed me roughly and took me to their king and told him about me and where I had come from and said, ‘This wicked crane has no respect for our country,. Even while roaming within it and feeding himself from our land, he says insulting things about us.
On hearing this, their Prime Minister, a huge vulture, asked me who was the Prime minister of our country. I told him that Chakravaak, the Goose was the Prime Minister. The Prime noted that Chakravaak was known to him as he belonged to their kingdom and was a very educated and wise person.
Hearing this a parrot sitting close by said that the island of Karpadwipa on which our pond Padmakeli exists is part of their kingdom of Jambudwipa. All present agreed to that.
However, I protested and said that just by mere words no island can become part of another kingdom. To this the peacock king responded by laughing and asked me then how could boundaries be determined. I responded by telling him that only war would help to decide boundaries.
Hearing this he asked me to go back and inform you to prepare for a war. But I retorted and told him that such a message must be sent through his appointed envoy.
The King then asked, ‘So who should be the right individual to carry such a message?’ Then he answered it himself saying, ‘An envoy should be loyal, talented, pure, dextrous, brave, virtuous, patient, well educated, acquainted with the weak points of others and endowed with presence of mind.’
Then the vulture Prime Minister intervened and said, ‘There are many with some of the above qualities but biggest difference is made by those who have many of these but alongwith it they must necessarily be well educated. Success is attained by a king through clarity of purpose and action not merely through nobility.’
The king then declared that the parrot be assigned the role of envoy.
The parrot agreed to taking the role but objected saying, ‘Sir I will do as you command, but I cannot travel with this wicked crane as one should never accompany the evil. I could suffer the same fate as that of the gander and quail which accompanied the crow.’
The King asked, ‘How was that?’ The the parrot related the following story –
Never associate with the wicked and evil….
On a lonely road to the city of Ujjain, there was a peepul tree, on which lived a crow and a gander. One hot summer day, a weary traveller decided to take rest under the tree and so placed his bow and arrow under the tree and lay down to rest. As the sun progressed during the day, the shade of the tree shifted and the glare of the sun started falling on the face of the sleeping man. The gander took pity on him and decided to spread his wings to provide cool shade to the man. The man being tired and in deep sleep was unaware that he was sleeping with his mouth wide open. The wicked crow was watching him and overcome by his evil nature, decided to drop his excrement into the mouth of the unaware sleeping man and quietly flew away. The crow droppings rudely awoke the man and as he looked up in disgust he saw the gander sitting right above him. Mistaking the wicked act to be that of the gander he quickly picked up his bow and arrow and killed the innocent and kind gander.
So I say that never be in the company of evil people, practice virtue, cultivate the company of the good and always remember the transitory nature of your life.
Now let me relate the next story – that of the quail.
There lived a crow on a tree under which a quail had made its home. Once when all the birds decided to travel on a pilgrimage in honour of the Great Garuda, King of all birds, the crow and the quail also decided to join the group. On the way, they saw a cowherd carrying fresh milk in a vessel on his head. The greedy crow kept diving into the vessel to peck at the fresh milk. The cowherd realizing that a bird was pecking at the milk, put down the vessel and look around to catch the bird. The greedy crow was quick to fly away, leaving the slow moving quail behind. The cowherd noticed the quail and mistaking it to be the pecking thief of the milk, instantly killed it. Thus, I say it is best to stay away from the evil and wicked.’
Having told this story the parrot said to me, ‘your villainy is evident from your conversations taking place with our king. If a war takes place it is you who will be the primary cause for it. It is also true that only a fool accepts a conciliatory offer from one who has openly acted in a wrong, evil way. So even if you made conciliatory, I will not be like the foolish man who accepted the manipulative conciliation of his openly unfaithful wife.
The king became curious and asked the parrot to explain more. So the parrot narrated the following story ….
‘There was in a village a foolish farmer who had often heard that his wife had many lovers and was unfaithful to him. But he had never seen her with anyone and so wanted to investigate for himself. So one day he pretended to pack his bags and leave for work in town. After seeing him off, the wife quickly arranged for her lover to visit. Unknown to her, the farmer had come back home and hid under the bed. As she welcomed her lover, the sharp woman noticed that there was someone under the bed and quickly realised it was her husband hiding there. She quickly showed lack of interest in her lover and on his enquiry said, ‘what to do I am missing my dear husband, who has left today on work and will be traveling a long distance. I worry about this dear husband and wonder if he is well and comfortable, if he got anything to eat or not. Such worrying thoughts keep coming to my mind.’ Hearing this the lover was not happy and left shortly.
Meanwhile on hearing what his wife had to say, the foolish farmer started feeling very happy that his wife was so virtuous as to think about him while he was away and worry about his welfare. He felt so happy with such thoughts that he completely forgot her unfaithfulness and rejoiced in the idea of how he was so dear to her that she missed him while he was away.’
So said the Parrot to the King, ‘I am not like that foolish farmer, I am wise enough to know when another is a wicked person. So, Sir, do not ask me to go with this wicked crane.’
Dirghakarna was then asked by the king to go back from where he came. The Parrot was later dispatched by the king to meet with the Queen and convey his message of war.
So does war really take place between the King’s and the Queen’s kingdom or is it avoided through diplomacy?
………..To find out read Part 10
