Showing posts with label Panchatantra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Panchatantra. Show all posts

Thursday, 29 October 2020

Brevity is the soul of wit, not of wisdom.

Context:

I am currently reading 2 books: One has just the Suktis (moral at the end of the story) from Panchatantra, and the other has the stories, followed by the Sukti.

Reading the Suktis book leaves one perplexed and wondering if Vishnu Gupta was very focused on the acquisition and management of wealth.

For instance:
The employer who remembers that his primary goal is to keep his employees provided for, and one who gives their salary on time, will find that they are largely tolerant of his whims. But the employer who forgets to pay his employees will find that they are very disagreeable indeed.

Read as a sukti, it left one puzzled. But in the book of stories, one read about a lion who befriends a bull and is convinced that vegetarianism is the way of the future. This leads to starvation of the jackals who depend on the lion for their food.

After this context, the lesson made perfect sense.

Has this ever happened to you, that brevity points, but context explains?

Today's lesson from the Panchatantra


The friendship of the dishonest is like the shadow in the first half of the day - It appears to be long and deep at the start, but slowly fades until it is no more.
Friendship among the honest is like the shadow in the latter half of the day - it starts small and slowly grows until it is taller than them both.

It is the same with business partnerships.