From The Pages Of Panchatantra

Priyanka Rout

From The Pages Of Panchatantra

A pair of jackals, a crocodile and a monkey, a forest that has troubles and pitfalls, some old rivers and deep wells that hold secrets, stories tumble out of everywhere we look. The tales from Panchatantra are no less than the Elixir of Life that has the ability to revive some of the most ancient and dead intelligence.

Panchatantra Tales. Illustrated by Miloni Munipally: Visual Storyteller at ThisDay

One Vishnusharman shrewdly gleaning

All worldly wisdom’s inner meaning:

In these five books, the charm compresses

Of all such books, the world possesses.

— From Arthur Ryder’s 1925 translation of the Panchatantra

More than 1,500 years ago, a pair of jackals started their journey- a journey that held thousands of secrets and stories, a journey that could connect nations and cultures, which could teach morals and values to millions. Monikered as Karataka and Damanaka, they were the protagonists of a vast collection of fabulous animal tales called the Panchatantra. But the story was not limited to the confinements of the Indian border.

A Persian physician named Borzuya carried these jackals to Iran, where the names knew them of Kalilag and Dimnag. Stories of this jackal pair soon found their way into the Arabic culture, then to Syria, and last but not least, Germany. Finally, in the 8th century, the jackals- one crafty and clever, virtuous and righteous- entered the Old Castilian. But this was not the end of their journey.

These stories traveled to far, and wide areas, and the Gen Z would most probably compare these to the 'viral memes' that often stand out on their social media posts. However, Panchatantra has a lot more importance in our culture as it teaches us the pleasures and menaces of friendship and moral conduct.

All the stories in Panchatantra can be termed frame stories. Frame stories can be formally defined as a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story. The concept of frame stories can be compared to Matryoshka dolls or measuring cups that are nested within one another. Tales of Panchatantra have inspired generations of writers like Geoffrey Chaucer to Bocaccio. Personifying animals as having human-like qualities has inspired Aesop's Fables and Jean de La Fontaine's poems.

Vishnu created a strategy that consisted of gathering and adapting ancient Indian legends. He then constructed the Panchatantra, a five-part engaging and amusing work that he termed the Five Principles. Tantra means "treatises," and Pancha means "five." The five segments were given the following titles.

These five sections included Mitrabheda or The Separation of Friends, Mitrasamprapti or The Gaining of Friends, Kakolukiyam or War and Peace, Labdhapranasam or Loss Gains, and Apariksitakarakam or Rash Deeds.

The Panchatantra's renown has not faded with the progression of time, nor has it lost even its brilliance. As Franklin Edgerton pointed out, the book is available in practically every primary Indian language, and "there are 200 variants of the text in more than 50 languages throughout the world." The journeys of this short but powerful narrative, on the other hand, are truly remarkable.

Vishnu Sharma picked the fables as his medium because he recognized that humans may accept their own flaws if they are presented in a fun way, such as stories about monsters that are inferior to them in many respects. The fables of the 'Panchatantra' provide us with the opportunity to enrich and meaningfully enrich our life. The 'Panchatantra' presents a glimpse of ourselves, flaws and all, via the wisdom of its stories. As a result, we become more conscious of the reality that answers may be found inside ourselves.

Most academics think that the oldest compiled Panchatantra – the original Sanskrit, now forgotten, has been rebuilt from previous translations – was most likely composed in Kashmir between 350 and 400 CE by an elderly Brahmin called Vishnu Sharma.

There is a legend behind the creation of Panchatantra, which is mentioned in the book's introduction. Long long ago, there lived a king whose name was Sudarshan. Though he was pretty powerful and witty, his three sons were dumb and slow. Worried about their future, the king asked his ministers for advice. One of the ministers, named Sumati, advised him that all his three sons should learn politics, diplomacy, and the sciences. However, they both knew that the princes could not understand such disciplines.

Sumati then asked the king to call a learned scholar named Vishnu to his court since only he could solve this issue. Wasting no time, the king immediately summoned Vishnu to his court. Though the king offered Vishnu a handsome amount of money in return for his services, he refused it. Vishnu took the task of educating the princes within six months and transforming them into able rulers.