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We are a nation that has forgotten many of our own infinite treasures passed on generation after generation by our forefathers. ‘Jathaka Katha,’ the stories of previous lives of the Buddha or stories of Bodhisattva which had been widely popular among all spectrums of our social fabric since the 13th century, have been forgotten or allowed to be forgotten after the so-called independence and modernisation of the country’s education system.
These Jathaka stories have had great impact on values, thinking and actions of our nation, and contributed towards a just and fair society with high morality, generosity, patience and wisdom in the past.
The first Jathaka story among over 500 stories, i.e. ‘Apannaka Jathaka,’ provides a mine full of gold and gems, if one reads it in true perspective. It gives deep insights, values and way of life, even encompasses modern-day strategic thinking and business management. There are many areas of relevance and much insight into managing modern day business, if one reflects on the ‘Apannaka Jathaka’ without any presumptions and prejudice.
The ‘Apannaka Jathaka’ story rolls out as follows:
Bodhisattva was a wise and righteous trader in Baranasi who had 500 carts and used to travel to faraway lands and sell his goods. There lived another trader who was ambitious and arrogant, with similar resources and engaged in the same business.
One day it so happened that the two traders each loaded their 500 carts full of goods and prepared to leave the same market in faraway land. The ambitious trader thought: “There will be many advantages if I reach the market first. I’ll get the road which is not yet cut up. My oxen will have enough grass. My men will get enough fruits and herbs for curries. The water will be undisturbed and clean. Best of all, I will be able to fix my own price for my goods since there are no such goods in the market, and can earn super profits.” So he went to Bodhisattva the merchant and said: “Look, the two of us can’t trade together, would you rather allow me to go first?”
The Bodhisattva, being righteous, was pleased to hear this because he saw may benefits in following after. He thought: “Those carts going first will level the roads where they are uneven and rough. I’ll be able to travel along the road they have already smoothed. His oxen will gaze off the matured and rough grass, and by the time my carts reach there, there will be more tender and sweet grass springing up for my oxen. My men will find fresh sweet herbs for curry where the old ones have been picked. If carefully observant, my men can see what to eat and what not. Where there is no water, the first caravan will have to dig to supply themselves and we will be able to use the same wells. Haggling over the prices is tiring work. He will do the work, and I will be able to trade my goods at price he has already fixed and even showing my quality goods I can earn good profits.” So he said to the ambitious trader: “Very well my friend, please go first.”
In the middle of the journey, ambitious trader reach the end of wilderness, after which he would have to cross 60 miles of desert which lay before him. He loaded enough water to his cargo and started to cross the desert with his 500 men and carts. In the middle of the desert, the Yakkas who haunted that wilderness had been watching the caravan. The Yakkas used their mystic powers to conjure up a lovely carriage drawn by decorated young bulls and escorted with a dozen disguised Yakkas with swords and shields, showing a Yakka as a mighty lord. His hairs and clothes were wet and he had a wreath of blue lotus and white water lilies around his head. All his escorts too were wet and draped in garlands. Even the hooves of his bulls and carriage wheels were muddy. The Yakka drew his carriage beside the merchant and after greeted him, had a courtesy chit chat.
The ambitious merchant observed the Yakkas and asked: “I see that your people are wet and carry fresh lotus and water lilies with them?” The Yakkas exclaimed: “What do mean? Over there is an oasis and plenty of water. It is always raining there and there are many lakes with lotuses and beautiful water lilies.”
So the ambitious merchant, without any hesitation, thought “because of my large supply of water, my caravan was moving slowly! Why need water, when there is enough supply just a few miles away? This burden has already delayed my reaching and earning profits. Need to speed up.” He ordered his men to throw away all the water and travel quickly.
Of course, along the way they did not find a drop of water. Soon they were exhausted from thirst and without water the men could not cook any rice either. The oxen too were exhausted without water and long travel. When the darkness spread, the Yakkas attacked, killing every man and all the oxen and ate the flesh. Skeleton were spread in every direction, but the 500 carts stood there with the valuable goods untouched.
The Bodhisattva, after six weeks passed since the ambitious trader had left, reached the edge of wilderness, filled up on water, assembled his men and announced: “Let not so much as a handful of water be used, nor eat any leaf, flower or fruit which you have never eaten before, without showing it to me first.” Having thus carefully advised his crew, he led the caravans into the desert in front of him.
The Yakkas appeared in the same manner on the path and had a courtesy chat with the Bodhisattva. The wise trader he was, he
observed something fishy about their behaviour and thought “I know there is no water in this desert” and was not convinced by the advice of the Yakkas.
As soon as the Yakkas had left, the crew of the Bodhisattva approached him and said: “Sir, these men were wet and wearing fresh lotus and water lilies. They told us that up ahead there was enough water and it was always raining. Why don’t we throw away our water and lighten the carts so we can proceed faster?”
Listening to his men, Bodhisattva ordered them to halt and questioned them as follows:
“Has any man among you ever heard that there was a lake or a pool in this desert?”
“No, sir,” they answered.
“We have been told there is rain just ahead. How far does rain wind carry?”
“A mile or two, sir.”
“Has anyone of you seen the top of even a single stormy cloud?”
“No, sir.”
“How far off can you see a flash of lightning?”
“Six to seven miles, sir.”
“How far off can one hear a peal of thunder?”
“Three or four miles, sir.”
“Has any of you have heard a peal of thunder”
“No, sir.”
Then the Bodhisattva explained to the men that the strangers were not humans but Yakkas. “They were waiting for us to throw away water and become weak and exhausted to destroy us.” By night, he ordered his men to arrange his carts in a fortified circle and take care of the oxen and themselves. He kept his strong men on guard with arms all through the night.
At sunrise, he saw the other merchant cargo remain untouched. He replaced his own weak carts with the stronger ones and exchanged his own common goods with more valuable goods. The Bodhisattva reached the market without losing any of his men or cargo but with enhanced value of goods. He traded his merchandise and earned two to three times their value. He returned back to Baranasi victoriously as a wise trader.
The ‘Apannaka Jathaka’ sheds light on strategy, leadership and marketing as well as management in general, if one studies the entire story from a different perspective. But to do that one should be open-minded and ought to dig deeper in this simple story to find timeless lessons, which encompass modern management thinking.
The word strategy derives from Latin, meaning “what generals do”. Even modern management as well as 2,000-year-old strategist Sun Tzu without exception use the word strategy with the same connotation of aggression and focusing on beating one’s competition.
But in contrast, the Bodhisattva’s approach is based on great compassion to men and matters, always relying on collaboration and cooperation with the competition. It is crystal clear this pure thinking creates an environment for everyone to become winners and space for all. Today’s world needs Bodhisattva’s thinking for sustainability, protecting the planet and enriching living standards of the masses.
Sun Tzu in his classic ‘The Art of War’ almost 2,000 years ago wrote that advantages can be gained by the armies who reach the battle ground early. More recently first mover advantages have been popularised by Al Ries and Jack Trout. Unfortunately, since then, without much deliberation, many even at highest corporate levels accept the first mover advantages as gospel truth. However, more and more research reveals that for every example of first mover advantage, there are 10 demonstrating the opposite.
In this era of digital destruction and immense space and speed of changes happening in the marketplace, being ‘first’ is becoming irrelevant. Wisdom and compassion of Bodhisattva enlighten us on the irrelevance of first mover advantage and teach us that even being a follower, success can be achieved with a righteous approach which brings service and benefits for masses.
The Bodhisattva’s thinking and approach on sharing the supply routes, resources for his men and oxen teaches us there is no need to fight to own the distribution channel or even for resources. This thinking on ‘abundance’ opposed to the modern business and economic rationale of ‘scarcity’ opens up new dimensions for corporates as well as nations for infinite success.
Unfortunately many of today’s corporates drain lots of resources, energy and time to own or gain superiority over distribution channels and end up passing on an unreasonable burden on end users. Modern disruptive technologies urge modern businesses to share, corporate and collaborate in distribution channel management, which brings productivity and cost efficiency as well as convenience for all.
Bodhisattva set the standard for safeguarding his core, but was observant and open to new changes. Until and unless he was sure about changes, he never threw away his core. He knew that business success could be achieved with a long and sustainable journey rather than quick and instant gratification. But most corporates today, obsessed with the digitalised new world, dump their resources, without much validation and or sustainability tests, which leads to weakening their core business.
The Bodhisattva, with great compassion and caring for the world, his men, oxen, cargo and even competitors and consumers, protected and safeguarded them from the danger. He put himself in front and faced danger to protect his men. This creates trust and cooperation. If leaders wants to optimise productivity, it is a prerequisite to create trust and cooperation among staff. It can happen only by feeling safe. Great leaders never sacrifice their people, organisation or even customer for their benefits, perks or bonuses. But they risk their career, profits and bonus to safeguard their staff, organisations and consumers.
However, today, most organisations lack great leaders and have only authorities at the top. They are very concerned about numbers but not about the hearts and minds of the people. They cannot create trust and cooperation, because people do not feel safe under them. Today’s corporates as well as nations have a huge lacuna in Bodhisattva-type leaders.
There are infinite lessons that can be learnt if one reflects on ‘Jathaka Katha,’ which have been venerated as ‘Jathaka Pothwahanse’ in our ancient society. It’s said that most top executives in Japan and China consider ‘The Art of War,’ ‘Code of Samurai’ and ‘Five Rings’ which are ancient classics as must-read books for success in business and strategy.
We would also like to invite all Sri Lankan academia, professional and business executives to read and reflect on ‘Jathaka Pothwahanse,’ which gives timeless lessons with great compassion, given that today’s modern world demands and seeks sustainable growth. The leadership examples and management lessons taught by ‘Jathaka Katha’ are incomparable in morality, wisdom and universality compared to modern thinking on business and strategy.
[The writer is a senior banker in a leading private commercial bank with over 28 years of experience in Sri Lanka and overseas, in branch banking, retail, SME and commercial lending, business strategy and adopting Balanced Scorecard as a performance management tool. He is an Associate of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka; a Chartered Marketer of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), UK, and a Certified Management Accountant of the Certified Management Accountants (CMA), Australia. He holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura and obtained his first special degree in Business Administration from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He holds a Higher Professional Level Module Certificate in Strategic Management from the University of Cambridge, and Diplomas in Bank Management and Credit Management.]
