Panchatantra Is a Grand Collection of Stories

Panchatantra is a grand collection of stories in Sanskrit literature written by an ancient Indian pundit known as Vishnusharma. In ancient times the kingdom of Mahilaropya (in India) was ruled by an efficient ruler called Amarashakti. However his sons were not intelligent enough to take the responsibilities of kinghood. Vishnusharma who was a learned scholar in the royal court was entrusted with the job of imparting knowledge to the three royal heirs. The Panchatantra became very popular and by the third century AD and it was translated into Syrian and Arabian languages. The special quality about the fables of Panchatantra is that they are not only entertaining but educative as well. Each and every one of the stories is imbued with a moral and is written with a view to teach the young prince the art of kingship. The very fact that the 'Panchatantra' has been translated into more than fifty different languages throughout the world speaks for its immense popularity. [Tripod]

The Five Volumes

The Panchatantra is dated back to 200 BC and is composed of five separate volumes (pancha means five and tantra means devices). The five different and important aspects of kingship are discussed in each of these five treatises separately. The five volumes can be classified as 1) 'Mitrabedha' (loss of Friends), 2) Mitrasamprapti (Gaining friends), 3) Kakolookiyam (Dangers of befriending enemies), 4) Labdhapranasha (Acting intelligently in critical situations), and 5) Aprik*****akaraka (Using discriminative intelligence). All the important aspects of life that one is likely to encounter are clearly elaborated in these volumes. [Compare InfoBase]

Characters in Panchatantra

The Panchatantra is a repository of all the knowledge pertaining to leadership abilities and survival skills. One characteristic aspect of this literary work is that it is didactic and is portrayed mainly by animal characters. Throughout the stories we also see some special innate qualities associated with these animals. For example Jackals and foxes are presented as cunning animals while monkeys and rabbits, as being very shrewd and divine. [Shawn Wong] Furthermore we are told again and again that 'Might does not always win' and that 'Wit is better than brute force'. For example the story of the 'Foolish lion and the clever rabbit' expounds the superiority of intelligence over sheer strength. Let us see how this story elucidates this point.

As the story goes there was a ferocious lion, which was killing all the animals in the forest, just to express its superior strength. To escape the destructive action of the lion all the animals got together and decided upon a plan. The idea was that the animals would offer themselves to the lion as per a daily schedule and in return the lion promised to stop its ruthless killings. It was the turn of an old rabbit and this little animal conjured a good scheme to put an end to the lion's atrocity. The rabbit made it to the lions den rather belatedly and cleverly attributed its delay to another lion, which was claiming to be the king of the jungle. This irked the anger of the lion and it rushed to face the new adversary. The clever rabbit pointed to a big well filled with water. The mighty lion mistook its own reflection on the water for its adversary and foolishly jumped into the well to attack it leading to its own end. Now we can see how this fable stresses the superiority of Wit over brutal strength. In fact the Panchatantra is full of little stories like this each of which emphasizes a point in a symbolic manner. [Indiaoz.com]

Mitrabedha (Breaking friendship)

The first volume is virtually a treatise on the relationship between friends and how it can be broken up. It includes all the little niceties and the nuances associated with handling an enemy. The different strategies that are to be adopted with respect to the strength of the adversary are neatly enunciated. For example an emperor has to master the art of breaking down his enemies strength. This aspect is clearly elucidated in the 'Story of the bull'. In this story the strong relationship between Sanjivak, a bull stranded in the forest and the lion king Pignalik, is broken by the evil designs of the two foxes Damanak and Kartak for their personal gains. By their cunning ways the foxes achieve their ends and ultimately Pignalik the lion kills Sanjivak. Here again we see foxes are shown as cunning animals. This particular story is about the art of breaking the friendship.

Mitrasamprapti (making friends) well-known story of the pigeons and the mouse illustrates the importance of unity and usefulness of having friends. The pigeons, which are caught up in the hunters net, manage to fly off with the net by their collective effort. Hiranyaka, the mouse sets them free by biting off the net. Here we see the emphasis is on unity and friendship.

Labdhapranasha (Intelligent thinking under critical situations)

The story of the crocodile and the monkey falls under this section. A crocodile and a monkey become good friends and the monkey gives blackberries to the crocodile daily. One day the crocodiles wife feels that the monkeys heart would be tasting too good and wants to eat it. To satisfy his wife the crocodile brings the monkey on his back and announces her intention to the monkey. Taken aback the monkey maintains his cool and tricks the crocodile by saying that he has left his heart in the tree itself and says "lets go back and bring it." On reaching the tree the monkey jumps away to the security of the high branches. This is an excellent depiction of the necessity of staying calm and unperturbed even during critical situations. [Compare InfoBase]

Aprik*****akaraka (Common Sense)