[Panchathantra
Stories]
We
all are clapping the movie “Life of Pi”. The same way there are
Panchathantra stories which use animals, birds and human beings as the main
characters to convey messages of worldly wisdom.
These stories, 87 in all are dated
back to the 2nd century BC. These stories are said to be a part of
an educational curriculum for the two dull princesses, taught by Vishnu
sharman.
The stories adopt a case study
approach of the modern schools of management. Each of them carries several
lessons for us. Let us understand these stories.
These stories present a case study
method, currently popular in management education.Since these were lessons for
preparing the princes for becoming a king, they are relevant for to-day’s
managers. Let us look at some of these stories….
The Snake and the Frog
A snake lives near a pond, pretends to be suffering
from the curse of a Brahmin. His son was
killed by snake, hence he cursed the snake that it will become the vehicle for
frogs and could eat only what the frogs allowed it to eat.
Telling this story the snake allowed the pleasure
rides for frogs in the pond. The king of frogs liked it and permitted the snake
to eat the frogs of lower birth,when he saw the snake was less energetic, while
giving pleasure rides.Quoting this permission the snake ate all the frogs.
We
learn a few lessons on this. The desire for pleasure on the part of king was
exploited, by the snake.
The king did not bother about the
sacrifice of his subjects for his own pleasure. Also we learn that one should
not believe in the behavior of a person, which is not consistent with the
character.
A tiger will not become a vegetarian
by our throwing steaks at it repeatedly. We have to be careful especially when
we are offered free benefits by others. More Panchathantra stories to follow ….
Ancient Sastras says it all ….
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