In a pond, there lived three good friends, Dooradarsi, Kusagrabudhi, and Mandabudhi. Dooradarsi was an intelligent and alert fish, Kusagrabudhi was very well versed in taking wise decisions at the right time, while Mandabudhi was a foolish and lethargic fish.
One day, Dooradarsi came to his friends and said, “Dear friends! We are in grave danger. Some fishermen were talking about fishing this pond tomorrow. If they do so, I am sure we all would die. Let us go away to a safer place from here immediately.”
Kusagrabudhi was skeptical and said, “How can you be so sure, Dooradarsi? This pond has been our home for years, and nothing has ever happened.”
Mandabudhi agreed, “Yeah, Dooradarsi, you’re just being paranoid.”
But Dooradarsi insisted, “I overheard the fishermen talking, and they sounded very serious. We need to leave now.”
Kusagrabudhi and Mandabudhi still didn’t believe him and asked Dooradarsi to keep quiet. Dooradarsi knew that he couldn’t convince them, so he left the pond and went to a safer place.
The next day, as Dooradarsi had predicted, the fishermen arrived and started fishing in the pond. Kusagrabudhi and Mandabudhi were among the fishes that were caught in the net. Kusagrabudhi realized that he had made a mistake by ignoring Dooradarsi’s warning and regretted his foolishness.
“I should have listened to Dooradarsi. But still, I have some time to think of an escape plan,” he thought.
When the fishermen pulled out the net from the water, Kusagrabudhi cleverly acted as if he was already dead. On seeing him still, the fishermen threw him away and picked up those fishes that were still alive. Since Mandabudhi had no escape plan, he was caught by fishermen and died.
Kusagrabudhi held his breath for a few moments and when no one was watching him, he jumped into the pond swiftly and saved his life.
The moral of the story is that we should always listen to our friends’ advice, especially when they are warning us about danger. It’s better to be safe than sorry.