PANCHATANTRA REVISITED

Introduction

The art of story telling is perhaps as old as the human existence. It has evolved
with the growth of the mankind as a social creature and has taken different
modes of expression. A story has the dual purpose of entertaining people and
giving them some thoughts to ponder upon. Thus it has two parts, the narrative
and the ideas that it wants to convey, the first being overt, the second covert.
Panchatantra is a collection of stories that ostensibly transpose the two parts,
since it is stated in the very beginning that the stories were intended to make
three wayward princes learned and wise in the ways of conducting themselves in
the prevailing social environment. Still the ideas behind the narratives remain
covert and subtle. It is the oldest extant collection of stories in the world, yet the
ideas and life strategies laid down in them are as relevant today. The immense
popularity of the book is demonstrated by the fact that it has been translated into
more than fifty languages.

Panchatantra has been widely acclaimed as children’s book partly because of its
origin but largely because the characters in the stories are mostly animals
although with human traits. It has certainly served the purpose of entertaining
and educating children through the ages. But the ideas expressed in the stories
are as useful, if not more, to grown-ups. It is one of the few books on niti-shastra
in classical Sanskrit literature. The word shastra means a branch of knowledge
and niti means manner of proper conduct in a social environment. So it
represents a branch of knowledge that is more appropriate for grown-ups even
though the narrative of the stories may seem to be more suited to children. The
other reason for using animals as the main characters is more subtle. If we take
the view of the modern theory of evolution, there is an ascending order that goes
from the lowest form of life to the highest. Man is currently at the highest rung of
the evolution ladder but it does not mean that it is the highest stage of evolution
even though he may think that way. Man is just a social animal even if a thinking
and speaking one. In his physical nature he is still an animal because in his
material habits and instincts he behaves like one. So man has yet to evolve to a
stage where he remains man in his external form but his consciousness rises to
such a level that he recognizes his oneness with the universe and the concept of
superiority and inferiority ceases to exist. The use of animals as main characters
in the stories underscores this point.

The purpose of the present version of the book is to narrate the stories and then
to elucidate the tenets of niti-shastra expressed through them. They do not deal
with ideals or philosophy but with practical ideas of how to lead a successful and
comfortable life in any circumstance avoiding the pitfalls commonly encountered.
The starting premise of the book is that knowledge and wisdom are two different
things. Knowledge is vast and rational; there are many branches of knowledge
and it takes a long time to learn thoroughly even one. Wisdom is intuitional; it can
appear in a flash and is useful in all walks of life. The stories in Panchatantra
deal with worldly wisdom needed for survival and prosperity.

In reading a translated book the reader should also be aware of some inherent
limitations of translation. A language is closely related to the culture and,
therefore, has nuances unique to the particular culture. A language can be
translated but not the culture. Quite often a particular word of one language has
no equivalent single word in another. This is particularly true for translating
Sanskrit literature into English. A word can have several different meanings
depending on the context and even then it may not be possible to determine the
meaning or even the context unambiguously. For example let us consider the
word ‘tantra’ in the title of this book. It has been translated differently by different
translators and none can be categorically said to be wrong. A characteristic of
stories in Sanskrit literature is that the names of the characters whether animals
or human, have meanings closely associated with the character’s role. To
translate these names makes no sense and it is better to leave the proper nouns
as in the original. This is especially true in the case of Panchatantra. At the very
beginning of the story in the First Tantra we come across the name of the
merchant Vardhaman. Then come the names of two bulls Sanjeevak and
Nandak before the lion Pingalak and the jackal brothers Karatak and Damanak
are introduced. Vardhaman means growing or ascending. Sanjeevak means one
who restores life and Nandak one who gives pleasure. Pingalak means one who
makes others pale; Karatak means one who is vile and spreads meanness;
Damanak is someone who beguiles with words. As the story develops one can
see how apt the names are for the particular characters. Another characteristic of
the stories in Panchatantra is the clever nesting of sub-stories one leading to the
other and finally getting back to the beginning. Each has its own moral
complementing the main theme of the section. The wisdom contained in the
stories pertains to different aspects of the human nature that has not intrinsically
changed over the ages. In that sense it is perennial and not affected by time.

***************

The first part (Tantra 1) is called ‘Rift between Friends’. The main story describes
how a cunning jackal Damanak drives a wedge between the lion Pingalak – the
king of the forest and his fast friend the bull Sanjeevak. The bull originally
belonged to a merchant who was traveling through the forest on his way to
another city with his troupe. The bull was one of the two harnessed in the main
cart. While crossing a ford he broke his leg. The merchant left him with a few
servants for his care but the servants were afraid of wild animals in the forest.
They abandoned the bull and rejoined the merchant telling him that the bull died.
But Sanjeevak survived and with all the nourishment around he became very
strong. Occasionally he would snort and make loud roar. One day Pingalak heard
the roar and thought that it was some mighty and mysterious creature that would
take over the kingdom.
Damanak sensed his fear and saw a good opportunity to regain the post of
minister that his father had held before. He approached Pingalak and knowing
the cause of his fear arranged a meeting between him and Sanjeevak. To his
disgust the two became fast friends and now he started thinking about breaking
the friendship. He succeeded in his evil design that resulted in the lion killing the
bull. Within this main story there are twenty-three nested stories each having its
own moral to take note of. There is enough material in here to resolve issues that
crop up in real life. We shall present here the stories that have relevance to
situations in every age and culture.

The Foolish Monkey

The first story comes up when Karatak, the brother of Damanak tries to dissuade
him from meddling into the affairs of the king. In a certain town a temple was
being built. The construction workers were on a break when a group of monkeys
came to the site. One of the monkeys became curious about a block of wood that
was being sawed. The workers had put a metal wedge between the two split
parts to keep the parting open. Out of curiosity the monkey started pulling the
wedge. Unfortunately his private parts were hanging in the opening. When he
pulled out the wedge they were caught between the split sections and the
monkey met his end. The moral here is: never meddle in something that is none
of your concern.
*************

The Jackal and the Drum

To counter the brother’s arguments Karatak gives a long discourse on how easy
and profitable it is to gain king’s favor if one uses intelligence and tactics. He
goes over to Pingalak and tells him that one should not to be afraid of something
unknown but try to know what it is. He sites the story of a jackal who was hungry
and looking for food. He saw a drum lying at a distance; it had been abandoned
quite sometime back and many bushes had grown around it. Blown in strong
wind the branches hit the drum and it produced its usual sound. Not knowing
what it was he thought that it was someone dangerous making that sound; he
thought of running away from the forest before this someone spotted and killed
him.

On second thought, though, he decided to first find out who or what it was. He
slowly approached the drum and noticed that the sound was being produced by
the branches. To make sure he himself tried beating it. Now he felt very happy
seeing that it was big and had skin on it, so must have a lot of meat inside.
Thinking about food he tore open the skin and was terribly disappointed to find
that it was just a hollow space.
The morals of the story are: 1) One should never be afraid of the unknown but try
to find the reality of the cause of the fear. 2) Taken by sudden fear or joy one
should not take any action on impulse but think the whole thing over.

Crow Couple and Snake.

This story has two more stories nested in it. Here they are narrated separately.

In a remote region there was a huge banyan tree. A crow couple had made their
nest on it. But there was also a black snake living in a hollow space in one of the
big branches. Whenever the female crow laid eggs the snake would crawl out of
the hollow and eat the eggs. It went on for sometime and caused extreme grief to
the crow couple at the prospect of not having any offspring. The female crow
suggested that they move out and make nest somewhere else. But the male
crow said that they should seek some help.

They approached their friend – a jackal who also lived under the tree in an
underground hole. They narrated their sad story to him and he assured them that
there must be some way to get rid of that vile snake. What cannot be done by
physical strength must be done by wit. To illustrate his point he narrates the story
of the heron and the crab.

At the end of the story the male crow asked if the jackal had any specific plan in
mind to get the snake killed. ‘Let me think’ the jackal said. After a little while he
smiled and said: “Go to the center of the kingdom. Find some careless rich
people who may leave their valuables unguarded. Pick up some gold and make
sure that they see and run after you. Get back to the tree fast and place the gold
in the hollow where the snake lives.”

The crow couple immediately departed for the center of the city. They saw a
number of ladies from the palace taking bath in a pond. They had put their
jewelry in the open even though there were guards not far away. The female
crow picked a gold necklace and flew back with the male following at a distance.
The ladies cried to the guards and they ran after the crows. They saw them going
into the tree. They climbed the tree and saw the necklace at the mouth of the
hollow. With the commotion the snake foolishly came out and the guards killed
him. They recovered the gold and went back and thereafter the crow couple lived
happily in the tree.

The moral of the story: What cannot be done in a straightforward way must be
done in a devious way. It is a pragmatic approach to life.

**************

The Greedy Heron and the Witty Crab

In a certain forest there was a lake that housed a large number of aquatic
creatures. An old heron also lived at its shore that was unable to catch fish due to
his old age. Suffering from acute hunger he sat on the shore with sad face and
tears streaming from the eyes. A crab accompanied by different types of fish
came to the shore and respectfully asked: “Uncle, why are you so sad today?
You are not even looking for food, just crying.”

The crab replied: “My child, having eaten so much fish in my life I am full of
remorse and have decided to end my life. That is why I am not catching even the
fish coming near me.”

“But what is the reason for your decision?” the crab asked.

“I was born here and have lived all my life watching you all. Now I have learned
of an impending calamity. There will be no rain for years to come and being
rather small this lake will dry up. I am worried about what would happen to you. I
do not want to see the end of all that has been my life.”

The crab and all the other fish, frog etc. got alarmed and asked if there was any
way to save their lives.

Still crying the heron said: “ Maybe there is. I know of another much larger lake
that would not dry up even if that draught came to be. I can carry you one by one
on my back to that lake. That way I can atone for my past deeds and will be able
to die with no remorse left. But it will take many days even months to carry you
all.”

They all believed him and each one was eager to go first. The heron started with
one fish, took it to a rock nearby, smashed it on the rock, and fed on it. He
repeated it day after day and hunger was no longer a problem.

The crab was a little disappointed that he was not among the first to be
transported especially since it was he who had started the dialog. One day he
asked the heron why he was giving preference to fish. The heron was also tired
of eating fish every day and thought that the crab would be a welcome change.
He agreed to take the crab next. When he was approaching the rock the crab
saw from a distance the pile of bones that he recognized as those of fish. He
asked the heron: “Uncle, how far is the lake? You must be tired with my weight
on the back.”

The heron smiled and said: “Idiot, there is no lake. This is a ploy to get me food.
Now you also get ready to die.”

The crab did not waste any time. As they were approaching the rock he grabbed
the long and slender neck in front using his sharp claws and teeth. The heron
died immediately and the body under him cushioned the fall to the ground. He
severed the neck and carried it slowly back to the pond.

Seeing him the other creatures started asking why he came back. He told them
the whole story and all were glad that he saved not only his own life but their
lives as well.

Moral of the story: Even with an impending danger one should not lose the
presence of mind and should devise means to avert it.