The Panchatantra (IAST and ISO: Pañcatantra; ; ) is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story.Panchatantra: Indian Literature , Encyclopaedia Britannica The text's author is unknown, but it has been attributed to Vishnu Sharma in some recensions and Vasubhaga in others, both of which may be fictitious pen names. It is likely a Hindu text,, Quote: "Pancatantra (Hindu text)..." and based on older oral traditions with "animal fables that are as old as we are able to imagine". Doris Lessing, Problems, Myths and Stories , London: Institute for Cultural Research Monograph Series No. 36, 1999, p. 13
It is "certainly the most frequently translated literary product of India",Introduction , , quoting . and these stories are among the most widely known in the world., Translator's introduction: "The Panchatantra contains the most widely known stories in the world. If it were further declared that the Panchatantra is the best collection of stories in the world, the assertion could hardly be disproved, and would probably command the assent of those possessing the knowledge for a judgment." It goes by many names in many cultures. There is a version of Panchatantra in nearly every major language of India, and in addition there are 200 versions of the text in more than 50 languages around the world. One version reached Europe in the 11th century. To quote :. The word "workt" has been changed to conventional spelling.
The earliest known translation, into a non-Indian language, is in Middle Persian (Pahlavi, 550 CE) by Burzoe. This became the basis for a Syriac translation as Kalilag and Damnag and a translation into Arabic in 750 CE by Persian scholar Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa as Kalīlah wa Dimnah. A New Persian version by Rudaki, from the 9th-10th century CE, became known as Kalīleh o Demneh. Rendered in prose by Abu'l-Ma'ali Nasrallah Monshi in 1143 CE, this was the basis of Kashefi's 15th-century Anvār-i Suhaylī (The Lights of Canopus),, , , which in turn was translated into Humayun-namah in Turkish. The book is also known as The Fables of Bidpai (or Pilpai in various European languages, Vidyapati in Sanskrit) or The Morall Philosophie of Doni (English, 1570).The Fables of Pilpay, facsimile reprint of the 1775 edition, Darf Publishers, London 1987 Most European versions of the text are derivative works of the 12th-century Hebrew version of Panchatantra by Rabbi Joel. In Germany, its translation in 1480 by has been widely read. Several versions of the text are also found in Indonesia, where it is titled as Tantri Kamandaka, Tantravakya or Candapingala and consists of 360 fables.A. Venkatasubbiah (1966), A Javanese version of the Pancatantra , Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 47, No. 1/4 (1966), pp. 59–100 In Laos, a version is called Nandaka-prakarana, while in Thailand it has been referred to as Nang Tantrai., Quote: "the Thai collection of stories called the Nang Tantrai features, which are based on the third century BCE Indian collection of animal fables known as the Pancatantra"
Author and chronology The prelude section of the Panchatantra identifies an octogenarian Brahmin named Vishnusharma (IAST: Viṣṇuśarman) as its author. He is stated to be teaching the principles of good government to three princes of Amarasakti, the king of Mahilaropya. It is unclear, states Patrick Olivelle, a professor of Sanskrit and Indian religions, if Vishnusharma was a real person or himself a literary invention. Some South Indian recensions of the text, as well as Southeast Asian versions of Panchatantra attribute the text to Vasubhaga, states Olivelle. Based on the content and mention of the same name in other texts dated to ancient and medieval era centuries, most scholars agree that Vishnusharma is a fictitious name. Olivelle and other scholars state that regardless of who the author was, it is likely "the author was a Hindu, and not a Buddhist, nor Jain", but it is unlikely that the author was a devotee of Hindu god Vishnu because the text neither expresses any sentiments against other Hindu deities such as Shiva, Indra and others, nor does it avoid invoking them with reverence.Johannes Hertel (1915), The Panchatantra , Harvard University Press, Editor: Charles Lanman (Harvard Oriental Series Vol. 14), p. ix, Quote: "This volume contains the Sanskrit text of the Tantrakhyayika or Panchatantra, a collection of ancient Hindu tales in its oldest extant form. (...) The Panchatantra, he adds, is not only the oldest extant work of Hindu artistic fiction, but it is (...)".
Various locations where the text was composed have been proposed but this has been controversial. Some of the proposed locations include Kashmir, Southwestern or South India. The text's original language was likely Sanskrit. Though the text is now known as Panchatantra, the title found in old manuscript versions varies regionally, and includes names such as Tantrakhyayika, Panchakhyanaka, Panchakhyana and Tantropakhyana. The suffix akhyayika and akhyanaka mean "little story" or "little story book" in Sanskrit.
The text was translated into Pahlavi in 550 CE, which forms the latest limit of the text's existence. The earliest limit is uncertain. It quotes identical verses from Arthasastra, which is broadly accepted to have been completed by the early centuries of the common era. According to Olivelle, "the current scholarly consensus places the Panchatantra around 300 CE, although we should remind ourselves that this is only an educated guess". Johannes Hertel had dated the work to around 200 BC, stating that individual fables by this time were already ancient., Introduction, p. xv; , Translator's introduction, quoting Hertel: "the original work was composed in Kashmir, about 200 B.C. At this date, however, many of the individual stories were already ancient." The text quotes from older genre of Indian literature, and legends with anthropomorphic animals are found in more ancient texts dated to the early centuries of the 1st millennium BCE such as the chapter 4.1 of the Chandogya Upanishad. According to Gillian Adams, Panchatantra may be a product of the Vedic period, but its age cannot be ascertained with confidence because "the original Sanskrit version has been lost".Gillian Adams (2004) and Ruth Bottigheimer (2004), International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature, p. 233
Content
The Panchatantra is a series of inter-woven fables, many of which deploy metaphors of anthropomorphized animals with human virtues and vices., Translator's introduction: "Thus, the lion is strong but dull of wit, the jackal crafty, the heron stupid, the cat a hypocrite. The animal actors present, far more vividly and more urbanely than men could do, the view of life here recommended—a view shrewd, undeceived, and free of all sentimentality; a view that, piercing the humbug of every false ideal, reveals with incomparable wit the sources of lasting joy." See also Its narrative illustrates, for the benefit of three ignorant princes, the central Hindu principles of nīti.For this reason, Ramsay Wood considers it an early precursor of the mirrors for princes genre. While nīti is hard to translate, it roughly means prudent worldly conduct, or "the wise conduct of life"., Translator's introduction: "The Panchatantra is a niti-shastra, or textbook of niti. The word niti means roughly "the wise conduct of life." No precise equivalent of the term is found in English, French, Latin, or Greek. Many words are therefore necessary to explain what niti is, though the idea, once grasped, is clear, important, and satisfying."
Apart from a short introduction, it consists of five parts. Each part contains a main story, called the frame story, which in turn contains several embedded stories, as one character narrates a story to another. Often these stories contain further embedded stories. Besides the stories, the characters also quote various epigrammatic verses to make their point., Translator's introduction: "These verses are for the most part quoted from sacred writings or other sources of dignity and authority. It is as if the animals in some English beast-fable were to justify their actions by quotations from Shakespeare and the Bible. These wise verses make the real character of the Panchatantra. The stories are charming when regarded as pure narrative, but it is the beauty, wisdom, and wit of the verses which lift the Panchatantra far above the level of the best story-books."
The five books have their own subtitles. + Panchatantra Book subtitle Ryder's translation Olivelle's translation 1. Mitra-bheda The Loss of Friends On Causing Dissension among Allies 2. Mitra-lābha The Winning of Friends On Securing Allies 3. Kākolūkīyam On Crows and Owls On War and Peace: The story of the crows and the owls 4. Labdhapraṇāśam Loss of Gains On Losing What You have Gained 5. Aparīkṣitakārakaṃ Ill-Considered Action On Hasty Actions
Book 1: Mitra-bheda
The first treatise features a jackal named Damanaka, as the unemployed minister in a kingdom ruled by a lion. He, along with his moralizing sidekick named Karataka, conspire to break up alliances and friendships of the lion king. A series of fables describe the conspiracies and causes that lead to close and inseparable friends breaking up.
The Book 1 contains over thirty fables, with the version Arthur Ryder translated containing 34: The Loss of Friends, The Wedge-Pulling Monkey, The Jackal and the War-Drum, Merchant Strong-Tooth, Godly and June, The Jackal at the Ram-Fight, The Weaver's Wife, How the Crow-Hen Killed the Black Snake, The Heron that Liked Crab-Meat, Numskull and the Rabbit, The Weaver Who Loved a Princess, The Ungrateful Man, Leap and Creep, The Blue Jackal, Passion and the Owl, Ugly's Trust Abused, The Lion and the Carpenter, The Plover Who Fought the Ocean, Shell-Neck Slim and Grim, Forethought Readywit and Fatalist, The Duel Between Elephant and Sparrow, The Shrewd Old Gander, The Lion and the Ram, Smart the Jackal, The Monk Who Left His Body Behind, The Girl Who Married a Snake, Poor Blossom, The Unteachable Monkey, Right-Mind and Wrong-Mind, A Remedy Worse than the Disease, The Mice That Ate Iron, The Results of Education, The Sensible Enemy, The Foolish Friend.Arthur Ryder (1925), The Panchatantra , Columbia University archives, Book 1
It is the longest of the five books, making up roughly 45% of the work's length.
Book 2: Mitra-samprāpti The second treatise is quite different in structure than the remaining books, states Olivelle, as it does not truly embed fables. It is a collection of adventures of four characters: a crow (scavenger, not a predator, airborne habits), a mouse (tiny, underground habits), a turtle (slow, water habits) and a deer (a grazing animal viewed by other animals as prey, land habits). The overall focus of the book is the reverse of the first book. Its theme is to emphasize the importance of friendships, team work, and alliances. It teaches, "weak animals with very different skills, working together can accomplish what they cannot when they work alone", according to Olivelle. United through their cooperation and in their mutual support, the fables describe how they are able to outwit all external threats and prosper.
The second book contains ten fables: The Winning of Friends, The Bharunda Birds, Gold's Gloom, Mother Shandilee's Bargain, Self-defeating Forethought, Mister Duly, Soft, the Weaver, Hang-Ball and Greedy, The Mice That Set Elephant Free, Spot's Captivity.
Book 2 makes up about 22% of the total length.
Book 3: Kākolūkīyam