Timeless Leadership and Unity

Once upon a time, there was a flock of pigeons flying around in the forest in search of food. Meanwhile, a hunter scavenging for prey laid a bait for the birds. Unaware of the hunter’s trap, the birds began pecking at the food and were caught. After a lot of struggle, they decided to fly off together, and in a great display of unity, they lifted the hunter’s net and flew away. They went to a friend, a mouse, and sought his help. The mouse bit through the net and freed the pigeons.

We were taught this story as kids! It is picked from the wonderful work called Hitopadesa authored by the Indian poet Narayana.

As is our practice at Kathapedia, let us begin the deep dive into the original text of this story and see what else it has to offer!

Good Source – Good Result; Bad Source – Bad Result (Well, almost always)

This flock of birds had a leader. The leader of the flock warned the other birds against eating the food. He observed the terrain closely and stated:

"My friends! This forest is a lonely place. What is the possibility of rice grains being found out of nowhere? I don’t see any good coming from this. A desired result rooted in an undesirable source could bring negative results. Even nectar, when contaminated with poison, becomes poison and needs to be treated as such!

These grains available inside this thick jungle don’t seem like a good possibility to me. Though they could fulfill our hunger, they could potentially lead to something bad. Let us ward ourselves off this bait and move on!"

Applying this in our day-to-day life:

The world is full of opportunities. It is easy for us to grab any opportunity that seems like a low-hanging fruit! The strength to resist our minds from surrendering to every opportunity is an essential skill to develop.

For instance, there could be ten ways to make money, but only one way to make money doing what you like and what you ought to be doing. Resisting the temptation to pursue the other nine easy ways of making money could potentially define our being.

Warding ourselves off from the bait is nothing but knowing what not to do. Knowing what not to do may be more essential than knowing what to do.

When to Lead, When to Follow?

The pigeons were extremely hungry. They were in search of food for survival. They found food and were now being denied the opportunity to feast on it!

A young, hungry pigeon in the group could not take it any longer. "I don’t understand this," he jabbed with arrogance. "We are hungry and we need to live. We found food. Let us eat. Let us not analyze the situation any further." He looked at the leader and then his mates and said, "The counsel of experienced people needs to be sought and acted upon in times of calamity. If we consider this kind of counseling in all matters, we will slow down and never proceed with life or anything at hand!"

When the mind is in absolute need of something material, it is surprisingly easy to get influenced by external factors!

All the pigeons ignored the leader and started feasting on the grains. In no time, they were caught!

What happens next is interesting!

Once caught in the net, all the pigeons started blaming the young chap who had influenced them with his talk. It seems pigeons are no different from us, humans!

This time again, the leader stepped in, displaying outstanding calm, and said, "Stop blaming the poor guy and start thinking of a possible solution to overcome this hurdle. In times of adversity, perplexity itself is a sign of a weak-minded individual!" Such powerful words.

Here, he took a minute to tell the team what a leader is made of. He talked about an amazing combination of qualities that could make any individual a leader!

He listed six powerful qualities to cultivate for successful leadership:

• Resilience in adverse situations: Soaking in the entire pressure during bad times and still staying strong.

• Restraint in prosperity: Joyous, but not overly gleeful during good times.

• Eloquence in an assembly: Speaking up with clarity and courage when required.

• Valor on the battlefield: Displaying alertness, boldness, and swiftness in times of emergency.

• Graceful acceptance of fame: Being open, comfortable, and graceful in receiving recognition, without letting fame go to the head.

• Strong attachment to study: The more knowledgeable the leader, the more effective their leadership. Thus, anchoring their knowledge in deep study of relevant texts.
  
  

Quickly after stating the above, he listed six traits to avoid under any circumstance if you want to be a successful leader:

• Sleepiness

• Sluggishness

• Fearfulness

• Anger

• Idleness

• Procrastination

The leader pigeon displayed all of the positive traits and never got carried away by the situation! He remained calm, studied the situation, and swiftly proposed a solution to save their lives!

He proposed flying away from the bait – which was opposed – and all the pigeons followed the wrong advice and got caught. Yet, the leader stood by the young pigeon and stopped the rest from blaming him. Instead, he gave everyone advice that could help them discover the leader within themselves. He stayed unruffled in the life-threatening situation, which helped him retain his calm. In this calm state, he came up with the out-of-the-box idea of flying away with the hunter’s net!

Strength in Unity

Unity in strength is the most obvious learning from this story. However, what is not obvious is bringing consensus in a group to work towards a unified understanding. This is sometimes a huge hurdle in driving desired results.

One interesting observation is that the leader pigeon was unable to drive consensus when he warned them against feasting on the food grains. The pigeons ignored his warning and got themselves into a fix.

At this moment, the leader did not lecture them, saying, "Told you so…" Instead, he included the young pigeon in the team and also helped the rest reflect on themselves. Then, he proposed an idea, which this time was unanimously accepted.

Inclusive leadership, wonderfully displayed by the leader pigeon, helps in building unity among the group.

Servant Leadership

The pigeons managed to get away from the hunter but were still stuck within the barbed net. They had to seek external help to free themselves. Again, the leader stepped in. He flew them to his friend, the mouse. This leader was well-networked and knew exactly which expert knowledge to leverage!

The mouse was aged. He told the leader that he would not be able to free all of them as each pigeon had its leg stuck in the net. He proposed freeing only the leader, stating his teeth were too delicate to free the rest. Furthermore, the mouse quoted that it is indeed one of the survival codes that when in danger, one should first protect oneself!

Now, this was a tricky situation – the leader could get himself freed and fly away. Instead, he convinced the mouse to bite through the net and help all his team members!

He said:

"My friend (mouse), the codes are true, no doubt. But I, for one, cannot let my team suffer. They depend on me to get them free, and I cannot let them die while I free myself instead."

Further, he said:

"My friend, look at these pigeons. How am I different from them? They are equal to me in kind, substance, and qualities. You tell me, when and what will be the fruit of my being their leader if I let them down? Even without wages, they do not leave my side! I intend to save them even at the sacrifice of my own life! Hence, please help me out."

These sentences need to be inscribed in gold! This is the essence of leadership. A leader is not different by kind, substance, or qualities. He is one among the team and yet unassumingly and selflessly works for the team's cause!

The Mouse’s Take on Friendship

The mouse put in all efforts and helped his friend free the pigeons. The leader and the pigeons flew away after thanking him profusely for risking his life to free them. The mouse was happy and returned to his burrow. Just as he was entering, a crow greeted him! This crow had witnessed the whole event and was immensely surprised at the commitment and appreciation the two friends shared. He wanted to befriend the mouse and offered his friendship!

To this, the mouse responded:

"Friendship between the food and its eater is simply the cause of misfortune! You are a crow and I am your food. There can be no friendship between us! The wise should always unite only what is fit to be united! The rest he needs to pass!"

So saying, he smiled and rushed into his burrow!

A story is almost always more than a story! Don’t you think?

Sources: Hitopadesa by Narayana kavi. Chapter 1: Mitralaabhah

1. अनिष्टादिष्टलाभेऽपि न गतिर्जायते शुभा | यत्रास्ते विषसंसर्गः अमृतं तदपि मृत्यवे ||

2. वृद्धानां वचनं ग्राह्यम् आपत्काले ह्युपस्थिते | सर्वत्रैवं विचारेण भोजनॆप्यप्रवर्तनम् ||

3. विपत्काले विस्मय एव कापुरुषलक्षणम् |
   विपदि धैर्यमथाभ्युदयॆ क्षमा सदसि वाक्पटुता युधि विक्रमः |
   यशसि चाभिरुचिर्व्यसनं श्रुतौ प्रकृतिसिद्धमिदं हि महात्मनां ||

4. षड्दोषाः पुरुषेणेह हातव्या भूतिमिच्छता | निद्रा तन्द्रा भयं क्रोधं आलस्यं दीर्घसूत्रता ||

5. सखे! नीतिस्तावदीदृष्येव | किन्तु अहं अस्मदाश्रितानां दुःखं सोढुं सर्वथा असमर्थः |

6. जातिद्रव्यगुणानाम् च साम्यमेषां मया सह | मत्प्रभुत्वफलं ब्रूहि कदा किं तद्भविष्यति ||
   विना वर्तनमेवैते न त्यजन्ति ममान्तिकम् | तन्मे प्राणव्ययेनापि जीवायैतान्ममाश्रितान् ||

7. यद्येन युज्यतॆ लोके बुधस्तत्तेन योजयेत् | अहमन्नं भवान् भोक्ता कथं प्रीतिर्भविष्यति ||

• English translation of Hitopadesa by MR Kale