Rash action

The Making Of An Enemy

Once upon a time, all the crows in a town found a huge banyan tree. They made it their home. The tree had many hundreds of branches. The king of the crows put up some strong walls so that his brood would be safe.

Likewise, all the owls of the town made their col. ony in a nearby cave. They, too, had a king. He had a strong and cunning army, which helped him rule.

There was a history of enmity between the owls and the crows. The owl king watched the banyan tree every night and killed any crow that happened to be outside the tree.

Gradually, the owl king managed to kill many crows. Perhaps that's why the wise men have said that whoever ignores a disease or the enemy their hands. dies at

Greatly disturbed at the gradual thinning of his flock, the crow king assembled his ministers and asked them to prepare a plan. He wanted to fight the owls. He discussed six strategies and asked them to pick the best plan.

The first minister suggested compromise as a tactic. One had first to survive and gain strength to later destroy the enemy. He said, 'Our elders have said that if the enemy is stronger, compromise at first. Attack the weak enemy. Go to war for reasons of power or wealth or friendship.'

The second minister disagreed. His strategy was cunning and trickery. He took the example of how Bheema in the Mahabharata had killed Kichaka, disguised as a woman. He also quoted wise men saying, 'Never make peace with an unjust enemy. He is bound to break his word and stab you in the back. It is easy to defeat an enemy if he is tyrannical, miserly, lazy, dishonest, cowardly and foolish. Peaceful words make an enemy blinded by anger even angrier.' O king the third minister said, 'out enemy is gong and terribly wicked, too. Compromise of trick- ery will be unsuccessful with him. Exile is perhaps, the best way out. We shall wait. We will strike only when the enemy is weak. The leamed have also said that neither peace not bravado can overcome a strong enery: Where these two options do not work, flight is the only and best option to follow.

The fourth minister was against all these tactics. He suggested that the king of crows should stay in his own fort and try to gain added support from his friends. With a big, strong army, he should arrack the enemy. He said, 'I quote the learned, "A king who rans away is like a cobra without fangs. A crocodile in its home in the water can haul an elephant

Therefore, the minister said, "a strong friend makes a person as strong as wind aids fire by spread- ing it. The king must stay where he is and gather allies for support.

The fifth minister offered a strategy similar to that of the fourth. 'Stay in your fort and seek the help of a friend who is stronger than your enemy. It is also a good idea to form a big group of weak allies" The king listened to all his ministers and then turned to the wisest and senior-most among sellors, Sthirajeevi, and asked him for his his coun advice.

O king of crows," said Sthirajeevi, 'now is the time to use treachery to overcome the enemy. Only then can you keep your throne.'

'Sir, we have no idea of where the owl king lives and what his weaknesses are.' 'It's not difficult to find out. Just send

your spies. They will bring back information on the owl king's important advisers. The next step is to cause trouble among them by creating divisions within them. First tell me, why is there enmity between the

crows and owls?' asked the crow king. "That is another story,' Sthirajeevi said.

Long, long ago all the birds in the jungle-swans, parrots, cranes, nightingales, owls, peacocks, pigeons, pheasants, sparrows and crows-came together for a meeting. There, they discussed how sad they were that their king, Garuda, had stopped taking care of them and did not save them from poachers. They thought that, without a protector, they were travelling in a ship that had no captain. Thus, they all decided to elect a new king, Soon, they chose an owl as their king

As the owl was being crowned, a crow flew into the assembly. He asked them what they were celebrating and why. When the birds told him, the crow stopped them from doing so. He said, "The owl is a wicked and ugly bird. When Garuda is still alive, won't it be unwise to choose another leader?

He added that to crush their enemies they had to just call out Garuda's name, as he was very powerful; that was how the hares managed to live happily by taking the name of the moon. The crow then nar- rated the story of the hares and the elephants to all the birds.