Once upon a time, there lived three fishes in a pond. They were close friends and were living together for years, in the same pond. No fishermen had ever come to the pond and they had lived their peacefully all their lives.
The first fish was very intelligent. He always did everything after careful thought. The second one was not as smart but was practical and knew the first fish was intelligent. He was open to suggestions by the first fish. The third fish was stupid and ignorant. He believed in fate and believed whatever was to happen will happen and nobody could change it.
One day, a fisherman passing through the way saw that the pond was filled with fishes. He was surprised and delighted, and immediately informed his fellow fisherman about it. Together, they decided to come the next morning and catch some fishes.
The first fish, who was also the wisest, heard the conversation between the fisherman and his fellows. He decided at once to leave, to make the long, difficult trip to the ocean. He thought, “I won’t consult with these two fishes on this. They will only weaken my resolve, because they love this place so much. They call it home. Their ignorance will keep them here.” Having so decided, the first fish took a brave leap and jumped onto a stream which was flowing down from the pond into the vast and dangerous sea. Once he reached the sea, he was finally free. The sea was rough and new, but once the fish settled in, he was happy of the courageous decision he had taken.
The second fish thought, “The intelligent one has gone. I ought to have gone with him, but I didn’t, and now I’ve lost my chance to escape. I wish I’d gone with him.” But he realized there was no point of dwelling on past mistakes. He mourns the absence of his guide for a while, and then thinks, “What can I do to save myself from these men and their nets? Perhaps if I pretend to be already dead! I’ll belly up on the surface and float like weeds float, just giving myself totally to the water. To die before I die.”
So he did that. He bobbed up and down, helpless, within arm’s reach of the fishermen. “Look at this! The best and biggest fish is dead.” One of the men lifted him by the tail, spat on him, and threw him out on the ground. The fish rolled over and over and slid secretly near the water, and then, jumped on the stream which was falling into the sea. He was finally free and thanked GOD for a second chance.
The third fish, however, mocked at the other fish. He felt that the pond was their home, and they should not have left their home. However, he was also worried about his fate and was agitatedly jumping about, trying to escape as the fishermen spread their nets. The net, of course, finally closed around him, and as he lay in the terrible frying-pan bed, he thought, “If I get out of this, I’ll never live again in the limits of the lake. Next time, the ocean! I’ll make the infinite my home.”
The End
Learnings
1: This is a very interesting story where the different perspectives of human beings are shown. The first fish was very intelligent and was able to see that there would be problems if he continues to live in the way he has been living. He made an early attempt. Second fish was not as wise as the first fish but realized his mistake and mended his ways. Third fish was an ignorant one. The third fish is like a normal person who keeps going round and round in his life, and does not see the larger picture. There are a lot of examples of wisemen who are able to climb out of this vicious circle of life and are able to look at the larger picture, but we don’t normally follow them. We find it very difficult to change what has become a cozy comfortable setting for us even if it gives us a lot of pain. The fear of unknown keeps us stuck even when we know we are headed into trouble. When we are on death bed, most of us regret our decisions and we promise ourselves that in the next life-time when we come, we will be doing things differently.
2: Fear of death can take us beyond our usual self! This beautiful story explains how once a person becomes aware of his impending death, he tries to seriously ponder over his situation and can make an attempt to overcome it. Such situations are major/pivotal events in life where some major breakthrough can come provided an effort is made.
3: This story is a great allegory. The pond depicts our limited world of existence and our nature to be comfortable in our state of being. There are three kinds of people, who have wisdom, are innovative and create paths for others to emulate without caring about the world's opinion. Second type follows the Right Path as shown by great teachers. Third type are ignorant and waste their life. The men on the shore are like impending death which is the certainty of life. Swimming in the sea symbolizes freedom from mundane existence and being one with innate nature.
4: First fish was intelligent enough to sense the impending danger and make up his mind to give up a comfortable life and take a plunge into the unknown. He knew that if this plan was discussed, his friends would dissuade (just like all the great ones in the world have been ridiculed in their early days). Do not share your plan with the people whom you think will not encourage you but would rather pull you down.. Ponder on how many times you have abandoned your plan of action because of outside influence and you later regretted doing so
5: Second fish was smart enough to follow the first fish. Second fish shows an efficient method to break free. Outside world is only interested in you till the time you appear to be of some use otherwise they will just throw you just like the men on the shore threw the fish which appeared to be dead. When you appear useless to the world around you, they will leave you alone and that is the best time to do your practice! This is how the second fish feigned death and was able to save itself.
6: Everyone who is too much attached to his current surroundings, faces his fate like that third fish. Fooled by the seeming safety and stability of the status quo around, we get into the habit of complacency and laze around. We forget that the only thing that is constant is change. We only regret at death bed how we have wasted our life but by that time, its too late.
7: Important lesson is that we should not be attached to our current surroundings and should be ready to give up our comforts. One should never be complacent about the situations in which he is! The ability of discernment, distinguishing between the right path and the wrong path, can really help one during difficult times. One needs to push himself/herself out of comfort zone to find innovative ways to get out of troubled situations
STORY CREDIT: This story has its source in Panchtantra by Vishnu Sharma. The Panchatantra means five books. It is possibly the oldest surviving collection of Indian fables, having been written around 200BC.
Comments