PANCATANTRA. ^..General information. An ancient book of distinction written by the scholar Visnusarma in the form of stories for the use of children to give them an idea of the different aspects of life. 1 ) Origin. There is a statement in the preface itself regarding the composition of this book : Three sons were born to an emperor named Amarasakti. All the three were dull-witted. The emperor was very sorry for them but found no way to improve them. Greatly disappointed the King called the royal council and told them about his sons. Then one of the members of the council, a man named Sumati, stood up and said Oh best of Kings, let us not try to tcrach your children the :astras one by one. It will not only be unpleasant study but would also take a long time to complete. If we can mix all the sastras cleverly and make it palatable like sweetmeats the children would take it easily. There is a suitable man also for this work in our state. He is Visnusarma, a kind-hearted scholar who is not only well-versed in all the rastras but also an adept in the art of the up-bringing of children. I am sure he would make your children wise and learned. When the emperor heard this he sent for Visnusarma and told him everything. After understanding well the nature of his would-be disciples and the ambition of their father, Visnusarma took charge of his wards and within six months he taught the sons of the emperor the science of government. The stories which he used to teach them the science of administration were all compiled into a volume called Pancatantra. 2 ) A general idea of the book. The book contains five divisions each division illustrating one tantra ( tact, diplomacy) by several stories. It contains prose and verse. The first tantra is called Mitrabheda. Stories under this head explain the philosophy of Divide and rule in politics. The main characters in these stories are two foxes named Karataka and Damanaka. Stories under Mitrabheda relate to how these sly foxes enjoy themselves in breaking the intimacy between a lion and an ox using slander against each other. Mitralabha is the theme of the next tantra. It is an advice that you should select your friends with care selecting them only after studying them in detail properly. The author has selected as characters in his stories for this purpose a tortoise, a deer, a crow and a rat. The third tantra is called Kakoluklya. This deals with the evils behind an intimacy between born enemies. The main characters in the stories relating PANCATANTRA 554 PANCATANTRA to this are a crow and an owl. The fourth tantra is called Labdhapranasa. It describes how a man loses what has come into his possession by his foolishness. A monkey and a crocodile are the characters in this story. The fifth tantra is Apariksitakaraka. It deals with the bad side of not looking into all the possible aspects of what you hear. Several stories are there to illustrate this point. 3 ) Popularity of the book. Though no correct records are there in history in support of the belief, it is believed that AmaraSakti was the ruler of Mahilaropya in Deccan and that Pancatantra must have originated from there. But Pancatantra received a global publicity and popularity and was translated from Sanskrit into many other languages. Directed by King Kosru Anusirva, a Persian poet named Buryoe translated it into the Persian language during the period 531-575 A.D. That translation is not available at present. In the year 570 A.D. it was translated into the Syrian language by a poet named Bud. A scholar named Abdulla Ibaal Mogaffa in the year 750 A.D. translated it into the Arabic language. It was from this Arabic translation that it was translated into many European languages. The Greek translation appeared in the year 1080 A.D., Hebrew in 1100 A.D., Latin in 1270 A.D., German in 1480 A.D., Italian in 1582 A.D. and French in 1678 A.D. Next to the Bible this is the book which has received the greatest publicity and popularity. The great linguist Hertel says that Pancatantra has appeared in about 200 translations in fifty different languages. 4) Period of composition. Because the translation into the Syrian language appeared in the year 570 A.D it must have been composed earlier than that date. Again, since it takes at least two centuries for a work to get popular enough to be translated into a foreign language, the composition must have been done early in the fourth century A.D. Some believe that the work was done in Kashmir. While others assert that it was written in Magadha. The original title of the book is believed to be Karataka and Damanaka by a few. 5) Two editions. Two different editions of the book are now found. One edition popular in Kashmir is known as Tantrakhyayika. The other is in the form found in Kathasaritsagara and Brhatkathamanjari. The original Sanskrit work is very rarely found. There are several editions of this in Daksina Bharata. Changes in the stories according to the change of times are also noted. (History of Classical Sanskrit Literature). B. Contents (Stories). 1 ) Mitrabheda. There was once a very good merchant in the land of Mahilaropya called Vardhamana. He was once travelling in a bullock-cart. One of the bullocks drawing the cart was named Sanjlvaka. The leg of Sanjwaka broke on the way striking against a stone. Leaving the bullock to the charge of four of his attendants Vardhamana continued his journey. When night came the attendants were frightened by the surrounding forests and so, leaving the bullock to its fate the attendants left the place. The bullock got well and it roamed about in the forests bellowing loudly. The King of the forests, Pihgalaka the lion, was frightened by the bellowing of the bullock. The lion remained in the forest without stirring out from its cave. The minister of the lion was a fox. That fox had two sons named Karataka and Damanaka. Damanaka wanted to know what made the lion worried and told his brother about it. Karataka advised him not to interfere unnecessarily with the affairs of others and told his brother Damanaka a story to stress his point. A group of sawers were sawing wood near a temple for its construction. At lunch time one of the sawers placed a wedge on a half-sawn timber and went for his midday meal. One of the monkeys sitting on the branch of a tree near the temple jumped on to the halfsawn timber and pulled out the wedge. His tail had fallen without his knowing into the space between the sawn planks and when the monkey later jumped out from the timber his tail was wedged between the planks and the tail got crushed. If you poke your nose into the affairs of others without any purpose such dangers are sure to happen. Hearing that, Damanaka said, Brother, are we serving the lion, our master, just for our food ? If we want only our food what difference is there between ourselves and the dog? Have you not seen the uproar the dogs make when they see food. A dog has no modesty, humility or self-confidence. Some men are also like that. But some others are not like that. Look at the elephant. It never makes an exhibition of its- happiness when it gets its food. Its majestic stand, look and gestures are worth noticing. The best of men are also like this. Everybody should keep this in mind. He who earns his livelihood without depending on others but does it by his own wits and efforts is the most revered of men. But food is not enough, we must earn fame also. So even though we are children we must try to remove the worry that hangs over our lord, the lion. The brother was not moved by this philosophy of Damanaka and so he said again, Anywhere and in any venture success is difficult to achieve and failure is very easy. It is difficult to rise up but it is easy to fall down. It is a very hard labour to roll a stone up a mountain but to push it down from the top is very easy. He is blessed who can read correctly the thoughts of other people. I have, looking at the face of our King, understood that something big is worrying him. Karataka said, Admitting what you say to be correct how are we to know the thing that worries . the King? It is a dangerous task. Damanaka said Regarding the achievement of success, there are three kinds of people namely the Uttama (best), the madhyama (mediocre) and the adhama (worst) . The adhama type will never start a venture fearing failure. The madhyama type would start his endeavour but would turn back at the sight of obstacles. But the Uttama type would never turn back without achieving success. They are the adorable type of men in this world. The Uttama would act according to the circumstances of the situation. If he wants to talk to another and obtain a favour from him he would not go to him at random without looking into the time, place and opportunity to do so. Even Brhaspati has his moods. In fact, there is nothing impossible in this world. Disappointment and failures are due to want of experience and lack of endeavour. The great ocean with its huge rolling waves gives one a fright at first sight. But if he starts bathing in it for a long time he finds it not so unapproachable or ghastly. When Karataka heard these moral preachings of his PANCATANTRA 555 PANCATANTRA brother he allowed him to do what he wanted to do. Damanaka went to the cave of the lion. Far from the cave itself Damanaka started walking humbly with his head bent down. The lion saw Damanaka walking thus to him and was immensely pleased. The King of the beasts asked him thus Damanaka, it is a long time since I saw you and your brother. Why is it that you both, sons of my minister, do not come and see me as often as your father ? Damanaka replied very humbly Oh mighty King, of what use can we insignificant creatures be to you ? Yet, if one thinks over it, even little things can also be of use at times to great people. Damanaka then recited to the King a poem which in substance was thus: Even grass over which we trample while walking, is ofuse as fodder to the cattle. Some are used for cleaning the teeth and still some, dry and brittle, to tickle the ear when it itches badly. Great men retain their greatness even when they fall. A burning torch would send its flame only upwards even when you keep it upside down. Similarly all things will shine only in their proper places. An ornamental waistbelt would not shine round a neck nor would bangles shine on ones ears. Anyhow let me ask your highness one question. Is it true that when your highness went to drink water something happened to make your highness worry ? Pihgalaka the lion said: What you say is correct. When I went today to drink water in the river I heard the horrifying bellow of a fierce animal and was frightened. I am thinking of leaving this forest and going to some other one. Damanaka said Oh Lord, be not frightened. Appearances are often deceptive and cannot be believed. I shall tell you the story of a fox who mistook an ordinarydrum for an animal with good flesh. Once a fox saw a drum lying in a battlefield. It was making a sound when the wind blew over it. The fox mistook it for an animal with plenty of flesh and blood. Rejoicing at the prospect of having a hearty meal the fox mustered courage and went near it. It tore the leather open. Only then could it understand its blunder. The King liked the story very much. So he sent Damanaka to enquire where the bellow came from. Damanaka found out Sanjivaka, the ox and told him everything and added that he had been sent by the King to fetch him to his presence. Sanjlvaka was at first afraid to go but the consoling words of Damanaka gave him courage and it went to the lion. The lion and the ox became great friends and gradually the intimacy developed to such an extent that the King of the beasts started becoming indifferent to the welfare of the other beasts in the forest. The subjects of the King Pingalaka were in trouble.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 05:04:43 +0000
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