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Panchatantra Book 1 - 019 - How the Story of Three Fishes Explains Foresight and Action

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Recap

After sharing the tragedy of the turtle, the female bird warned her mate against ignoring good advice. She classified people into three types: those who plan ahead, those who react quickly to trouble, and fatalists who resign themselves to fate and perish. To illustrate this further, she started the story of three fishes.

Story of Three Fishes

To explain about the three types of people, the female bird began telling the story of three fishes - Anagatavidhata, Pratyutpannamati and Yadbhavishya. These three fishes were friends and lived with families in a reservoir. One evening, when the fish had come up to the surface to breathe, they heard some people talking. The fishes wanted to know what was going on. The people were fishermen who had come to inspect the place on their way home. One fisherman said to the other, ‘How come we never spotted this reservoir? This seems to be full of fish. We need to explore this. We have enough catch for today. Let us meet at our usual place and instead of going and exploring other places, let us come here and drop our nets.’ The other men agreed and they agreed to meet at their meeting place at dawn and come to the reservoir. The three fish had heard this conversation. There was no time to lose. Anagatavidhata dived into the waters and gathered his friends near him and said to them, ‘Did you hear what these men said? We need to plan our relocation. There are other lakes nearby and we should plan to go there instead of staying here. If we have to face a strong enemy like these fishermen then we need to either escape or take shelter in a secure area. Tomorrow the fishermen will come here and destroy us. This is how I see it. Your views could differ. I am planning to leave this place with my family. The clever ones who have alternatives do not wait. They will not wait for things to get destroyed.’

Hearing this, Pratyutpannamati said, ‘What you have said is correct. We should leave this place and go someplace else. Those who are afraid of relocation or have excuses for everything will suffer. It is good to be attached to your home, but when the option is to choose between the home and life, it is better to choose life.’

Yadbhavishya heard what his friends had said and he began laughing. The other two said, ‘This is a time when we need to think how to escape. Do you have a plan ready? Why are you laughing?’ Hearing that, Yadbhavishya said, ‘What you saying and thinking is not correct. We have lived here for generations. Is it proper to leave this place based on some words of some people whom we do not know? We do not know if this was casual talk or if they have plans. And remember one thing, if you are destined to die, you will die. Any amount of relocation will not save you. There have been cases where children have survived harsh conditions and then there are the rich who had a lot, yet they died. Sorry, but I am not planning to leave this place. Now, if you two plan to leave, I will not stop you.’ Saying this, Yadbhavishya left that place. Seeing their friend walk away, Anagatavidhata and Pratyutpannamati looked at each other. They had made up their minds to leave. It would have been great if they had all left together. That night, Anagatavidhata and Pratyutpannamati bid everyone farewell and left the place. Yadbhavishya stood there quietly. He was sure nothing would happen.

As they had planned, the fishermen came at dawn and cast their nets on the water. They had brought some friends with them and soon they had caught each and every fish that was there in the lake.

Ending the story, the female bird said, ‘See, the ones who planned ahead saved themselves. They were far sighted.’

The male bird did not like the tone of the story and said, ‘I am not sure what you are indicating. Are you saying I am like Yadbhavishya? You think I have no powers? I will show you what I can do. I shall dry this ocean up. I am that powerful.’

A Warning Against Empty Pride

Hearing this, the female bird said, ‘That is something I would really like to see – you versus the ocean. Do not say things that can cause you harm. Anger does not suit those who have no power and it ends up hurting them. You going to fight the ocean is like a moth trying to fight the flames.’

The male bird said, ‘No, you should not say things like this. Those who are determined can challenge enemies much bigger than themselves. The elephant is huge but it gets controlled by the small goad. When you light a lamp, darkness vanishes. Does that mean that the lamp is bigger than darkness? Mountains crumble when hit by thunderbolts. Is the thunderbolt bigger than the mountain? You just watch. I will suck the ocean dry.’

Reality Check

The female bird said, ‘Look, dear husband. Think. The ocean is fed by mighty rivers. You can barely drink a few drops of water in one go; how will you use your beak to dry out the ocean?’

The male bird said, ‘Look, it is about the effort. I will continue my effort nonstop and one day I will drink up all water that is there in the ocean.’

Power of Unity

The female bird said, ‘Listen to me carefully. If you are determined to fight the ocean, then do that after gathering other birds. A group of small weak things together can form something big. A blade of grass is weak, but when wound together to form a rope, it can be used to tie an elephant. It was by working together, that a sparrow, a fly, a frog and a woodpecker were able to defeat an elephant.’

The male bird wanted to know about that and the female bird started that story.

I shall share that story in the next Panchatantra post.

Analysing the Three Fishes tale

Before I start sharing that, a quick look inside this tale of the three fishes.

Core Principles of Niti

  1. Foresight and action will help one survive; relying on fate will lead to destruction.
  2. Know your enemy before planning your move.

Characters

Character Name meaning Actions Effect Human tendency represented Modern example
Anagatavidhata "One who provides for the future" Risk-anticipation; treats overheard talk as actionable intelligence Leaves and survives The proactive planner The employee who studies market signals and diversifies/exits before a downturn
Pratyutpannamati "One with presence of mind / quick wit" Agrees fast, rationalises the decision (life over home) Leaves and survives The follower who validates a good decision The colleague who trusts a warning and acts without demanding certainty
Yadbhavishya "Whatever will be, will be" Fatalism; scepticism of unverified information; Stays; is caught in the net Complacency dressed up as philosophy The person who dismisses warnings ("it won't happen to me") citing fate
  • Yadbhavishya's argument is not stupid — he raises an objection (unverified hearsay, survivor-bias examples of rich dying and poor surviving). His fault is timing: His reasoning is applied only to justify inaction.

Competencies

Competency Example
Risk assessment / environmental scanning Anagatavidhata’s treatment of the fishermen’s words.
Decisive execution Both fishes leaving "that night" — no delay after decision
Group persuasion / influence Anagatavidhata rallying his friends immediately
Poor change-management / resistance to disruption Yadbhavishya's refusal, typical of an organisation ignoring disruption signals
Coalition-building Female bird's advice to gather other birds before taking on the ocean —"resource pooling" in strategic management

The lapwing story is part of book 2 of Hitopadesha and the Three Fishes is part of book 4 of the Hitopadesha.
Unlike Panchatantra, these stories are not linked to each other in Hitopadesha.

Take a moment: are you taking steps to safeguard your path, or are you hoping things simply work out on their own? Think.

The next post of Panchatantra will be about an unruly elephant which was defeated by a sparrow, a fly, a frog and a woodpecker when they worked together.

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