Contents of Panchatantra

The Panchatantra emanated from the pen of Visnusarma to whom the sons of king Amarasakti were entrusted on his promising to teach them polity within six months. As its name suggests (Panca-five), the Pancatantra is divided into five parts, each of which deals with an aspect of practical wisdom. The first book, entitled Mitrabheda, handles efficiently the theme of the seperation of friends. The frame story relates how a wicked jackal brings about the estrangement of the lion Pingalaka from the bull Sanjivaka. Pingalaka treats Sanjivaka as dear friend, to the absolute disgust of the sly jackal, Damanaka, and his mate. Ultimately the lion is made to distrust the bull and slay him. As Pingalaka, feeling penitent, laments the death of his one-time faithful attendant, Damanaka refers to the principles of polity to consol him. Polity, he says recommends extermination of even the nearest and dearest, if he endangers the stability of the administration. Statecraft,

23 Damanaka adds, is sometimes false and sometimes true, sometimes harsh and sometimes soft, sometimes marked by ferocity and sometimes by compassion, sometimes bestows pain and sometimes profit; and in all this, he says, it may be compared to a clever courtesan who presents herself in different forms. Damanaka then cites from the Bhagavadgita the memorable teaching of the Lord never to lament the living or the dead. Finally Pingalaka is consoled; he continues to administer his domain with the help of his jackal minister Damanaka. Then, there is the story of the crow-couple and the cobra, which shows the advantage of clear ruse over force. The cobra has slain the offspring of the crows. To punish him the female crow puts into his hole a golden chain stolen from the prince. The king's men find the chain there, and they kill the cobra. The next story, about the heron and the crab, demonstrates the error of over-greed. The heron deceives the fish into trusting him to remove them from their lake to another in order to save their lives from the fisherman. Each day however, he eats the fish he carries away. When it is the crab's turn to be saved, he discovers the heron's trick and with his nippers cuts off the heron's head. The intelligence leads to success and folly to ruin is proved by the tale of the lion and the hare. The hare kills the lion by persuading him to leap into a well in order to attack and kill his

24 rival. The lion he sees there, however, is only his own reflection in the water. Another interesting story emboxed within other stories concerns two friends, the sons of merchants. Their names are Dharmabuddhi (Honest-wit) and Papabuddhi (Evilwit). Together, the two friends bury a sum of money under tree, but it is removed by Papabuddhi who then charges Dharmabuddhi with the theft. In the court, Papabuddhi mentions the tree as the witness to the crime; he then persuades his father to conceal himself in the hollow of the tree. In the presence of the magistrate the tree-spirit declares the guilt of Dharmabuddhi. But Dharmabuddhi sets fire to the tree, and Papabuddhi's father comes out and confesses everything. Papabuddhi is punished. This story is intended to be a warning against embarking upon a project without knowing the various effects that are likely to follow from it. With the winning of friends as the topic of its central theme, the second book, Mitra-samprapti, tenders the advice to have friends and deal with them fairly; as it says at the end, his antagonists never put one with a rich collection of sincere allies to difficulty. The frame-story opens with a description of the way the clever king of the doves, Citragriva, with the whole retinue fell into the hunter's net makes all pegions fly up together, carrying the net with them; and ultimately he has bonds cut by the mouse - Hiranyaka being careful to see that he himself is released last of all. A crow, named Laghupatanaka, who watches Hiranyaka as he helps the pegions, succeeds in

25 making friends with the mouse and is introduced by him to his old friend the tortoise-Mantharaka. A fifth friend is added in the shape of a deer who in the course of his wanderings, is caught in a snare but is released finally by his comrades. The hunter also takes Mantharaka, but by a clever stratagem his friends rescue him. This frame story provides ample scope for the introduction of a number of tales, each of which, is incorporated order to substantiate a point raised by one of the characters. The third book, named Kakolukiya, illustrates the theme of war and peace, using a frame-story about the crows (Kakah) and the owls (Ulukah). The king of the owls, by name Arimardana, destroys the retinue of the king of the crows, Megha-varna, who summons his ministers and seeks their advice on the steps to be taken against Arimardana. This gives the author an opportunity to discuss the six expedients recommended in the treatises on polity and also to throw light on the relative strength of these expedients. At last, on the advice of the minister, Sthirajivi, Meghavarna decides to apply the policy of dissension. Sthirajivi himself presents to the owls as a supplement for help, saying that he has been cast out by the crows for offering good counsel to the king. He expresses a desire to burn himself and become an owl in his next birth. The owl-minister, Raktaksa, warns the foolish sovereign, but Arimardana persists in permitting his enemy to live within the gates. Finally at an opportune moment, Meghavarna and his

26 retinue set the stronghold of the owls on fire and, as a result, the entire host of owls perishes. The fourth book entitled as Labdha-pranasa, (the loss of one's getting), is illustrated by a frame-story about a monkey and a crocodile. The monkey and the crocodile are friends, and every day the monkey entertains the crocodile with delicious fruits. The friendship between the two grows so strong that the crocodile's wife is jealous. She begins a fast, saying that she will be content with nothing, save the monkey's heart. The crocodile invites the monkey to his home, and they set out together. On the way, however, the crocodile reveals his purpose; but the monkey declares that his heart has been left behind on the figtree, and together they go back for it. As soon as they reach the bank of the river, however, the monkey takes shelter in the tree and tells the crocodile that, following in the footsteps of Gangadatta, he will never return. Thus starts the story of the king of the frogs, Gangadatta, who to have his enemies destroyed, invites a serpent into the stronghold. The serpent destroys the enemies but eats the frogs themselves as well, whereupon Gangadatta escapes never to return. The monkey tells the crocodiles further that he is not a fool like that ass, Lambakarna. This introduces the story of the lion, the jackal, and the ass. Lambakarna is persuaded by the jackal to visit the lion who is old and feeble. The lion tries to jump upon Lambakarna but misses, and latter escapes. A second time, however, Lambakarna is persuaded to return and is killed.

27 Before eating Lambakarna the lion goes to bathe but jackal eats the heart and the ears and then convinces the lion that the ass had neither. The story praises the cunning of the jackal and blames the stupidity of the ass and of the lion who is no less a fool. The theme of the fifth book, Apariksita-Karaka, (illconsidered action) opens with the story of an young merchant Manibhadra mourning over the loss of his fortune. In a dream, he is bidden to slay a monk who will visit him in the morning; the monk will then turn into his lost treasure. The merchant does as he dreamt and gets back his wealth. A barber, having seen all this, clubs to death several monks, expecting a lot of treasure. Instead, he receives the death sentence at the hands of justice. The fate of the barber reminds the merchant of the tale of the brahmin-wife and the mongoose, and he relates the tale to the judges. The brahmin-wife leaves the mongoose to guard his sleeping child. On his return, however, the mongoose runs to greet him with paws red with blood. Thinking that the mongoose has killed his child, the brahmin-wife kills the mongoose. She then discovers the mutilated body of a snake, while his child is safe. The brahmin-wife is filled with remorse for his thoughtless action in killing the mongoose that had actually saved his child's life. The tone of this book is rather unhappy since the different tales are intended to demonstrate the bad effects of diverse

28 types of human weakness. There is for example, the story of the goblin and the weaver. The goblin offers to give the weaver anything he wants. The weaver hurries home and consults first the barbar and then his own wife. The barber tells him to ask for kingdom, but his wife says that would involve a lot of trouble. Instead, he should ask for a second pair of arms and a second head, for then he would be able to double his weaving. The weaver follows his wife's advice and the goblin grants his wish. On the way home, however, the weaver is mistaken for a friend and killed by the villagers. Thus ends the Pancatantra, all five books of which are interspersed with verses containing maxims, which deal with moral, religious, philosophical, and political ideas and also with general codes of conduct.