The Dangers of Procrastination
From the Panchatantra comes a story about procrastination in deciding what should be done and what should not be done. In a pond that wasn’t very deep, there were three shakula fishes who were friends. Their names were Anagatavidhata, meaning far-sighted; Pratyutpannamati, meaning quick-witted; and Yadbhavishya, meaning resigned-to-fate. One day, some fishermen came to the pond.
By digging some channels, they started to drain water out of the pond. On realising that the water level was reducing, Anagatavidhata quickly went to his two friends.
He said, “There is a disaster for all of us who live in this pond. Let us quickly go somewhere else, through these channels, before the path is closed. Those who follow good policy counter a danger before it has arrived. We should decide to go quickly.”
Yadbhavishya said, “In my view, there is no need for us to hurry. If one is fated to die, one can die even if one goes to another lake.” Pratyutpannamati said, “I don’t want to do anything now. When it is the right time, I will do whatever needs to be done to save myself.” Seeing that his two friends were not ready to leave the pond, Yadbhavishya swam through the channel and went into a deeper body of water.
The next day, the fishermen came back to the pond. They saw that most water had been drained out from the pond, and very little remained. The fishes were thrashing around in the pond, and the fishermen started to capture them easily.
Together with the others, Yadbhavishya was captured. When he saw that the fish were being strung together on a rope, Pratyutpannamati used his presence of mind to save himself.
He entered into the midst of the ones that had already been strung and seized the rope in his mouth as if he had already been captured. The fishermen thought that all the fish had been captured.
They took the fish to a clean bit of water to clean them. Pratyutpannamati let go of the rope and swiftly escaped. Yadbhavishya could not escape and died.
A person who does not realise that the right time to do a thing has come and keeps delaying what is necessary may get destroyed, like Yadbhavishya. If someone thinks himself to be clever and does not take steps at the right time, he faces danger, like Pratyutpannamati. It was only by using his presence of mind that he was able to escape at the last moment.
A person who carefully considers all factors and takes the right decision and right steps at the right time is able to avoid calamities, like Anagatavidhata.