“The Bird Eye View”- 3 Rules Why Arjun Stands out as a Great Warrior of the World

Reading Time: 4 minutes

It is time to redefine another tale from Indian mythology. This story is very simple yet has a very important and deep meaning to it. Before getting into the actual meaning of “the bird eye view”, let’s start with a story from the ancient scripture of India “Mahabharata”.

“Concentration is the secret of strength”

There is a chapter in Mahabharata, where Rishi Dronacharya (The Master of Archery) used to teach his disciples all the tricks and strategies to be a great warrior. Arjun was his favorite student; he always stands out on all his tests. That made the other students jealous of Arjun, and one day all the other disciples went to Rishis Dronacharya and complained about this.

To make his disciple understand why Arjun stands out, he thought of an exercise to teach his disciples a very important lesson about life. He wanted to show others why Arjun can be a great Dhanurdhar (Archer) and what makes him different from others.

The Exercise on “the Bird-eye View”-

He took all his students to the jungle and showed them a wooden bird placed on a branch of the tree. He told all of them to focus on the bird’s eye and aim the eye as their target. Following his instruction, all of them hold their position and start aiming at the target.

After some time Dronacharya asked each one of them what they are looking at-

Duryadhan replied– I can see the tree and branches

Dushasan replied– I can see the Bird sitting on the branch

And Arjun replied– I can see the bird’s eye

So, what exactly The Bird Eye View means-

The thing to learn from this mythological story is that- what is required to be a winner in life is not just your skills but your Focus and Determination are equally important.

“Achievements come by aiming at the target, not on the Obstacles”

Arjun stands out, not because he had more potential, others were equally competent too. But because-

• Arjun was a great listener, he listened to his teacher’s instructions and followed them correctly.
• He was focused– he didn’t show the tree or branches or the bird’s wings. The only thing he focused on was the Bird’s eye. He never lost his focus on the target.

The Bird eye view is a metaphor used here to describe- how we must focus on our target and not on the obstacles, which will ultimately increase our chances of winning.

Another metaphor for “The Bird Eye View”- give “Attention to details”-

To be a winner it is very important to have the following skills-

• Knowledge
• Listening skills
• Concentration
• Perseverance
• Focus
• Most importantly we must know our “WHY”…

Know your WHY- The moment you know your why behind what you are doing. You will automatically figure out how you will reach your target.

The 3^rd Metaphor for “the Bird eye view”–

“To understand the reason for your Distraction“

Is to look at the situation from a different perspective and never lose focus on the target.  Even though others describe what they are looking at, Arjun didn’t listen, he only kept his focus on what his teacher told him to.

–The secret of success is Concentration

–The secret of failure is Distraction

Arjun had a unbitable concentration on his target- whether it was the bird eye or the fisheye. He never lost his concentration on the target. That is what made him the finest warrior of Mahabharata.

Focusing is Saying “NO”. Steve Jobs

That means when you are doing something, say no to everything else, and pay attention to only the thing that you are doing.

What distracts your mind-

“Lake of a Goal”

When you do not have a goal or do not understand your goal, you get distracted by temporary pleasure and you keep losing interest in your work because you don’t get the desired results. However, the reason here is not that you don’t have potential but it is that you don’t know your goal. It is very important to know where you have to look, then only you can start concentrating- if it is bird’s eye, then you shall only see the birds eye and nothing else.

What is the main element for developing Focus-

It is “Interest”

The most important thing need to develop Focus is Interest. You must choose a goal of your interest, otherwise, you will keep losing your focus on your result and will get distracted with temporary pleasure.

It is Arjun’s passion to become the best Archer, that never made him lose his focus on his target.

How to find your Passion-If you are not passionate about what you are doing then you can never be able to keep your concentration on it. So it is very important to do something that interests you.

How to develop interest In order to develop your interest in work, you need to know its importance. Once you realize the importance of what you are doing, it will increase your focus on it.

What Arjun did- He always knew the following things and hence he won all the battles.

HE KNEW THE IMPORTANCE OF WHAT HE IS DOING– he knew it is required to be a great warrior to win battles

HE SET GOALS THAT INTEREST HIM – He wants to be the best archer in the world

KEPT DISCIPLINED FOCUS ON HIS TARGET– He never lost his focus on the target. Ultimately, he hit the target every time, whether it was the Bird’s eye or the Fish’s Eye.

There is only one way to overcome Temporary Distractions–

If you show your mind the long-term achievements of your hard work, you will not get distracted from the short-lived pleasure.

Hope this write-up gave you a fresh perspective on life.

Thank you for reading it- Constructive feedbacks are most welcome. If you have any suggestions for our blog, please drop feel free to drop an email or a comment below.

Thank you