Panchatantra The Panchatantra (IAST: Pañcatantra, Sanskrit: पत, "Five Treatises") is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story.[2] The surviving work is dated to roughly 200 BCE, based on older oral tradition.[3][4] The text's author is unknown, but has been attributed to Vishnusharma in some recensions and Vasubhaga in others, both of which may be pen names.[3] It is classical literature in a Hindu text,[3][5] and based on older oral traditions with "animal fables that are as old as we are able to imagine".[6] It is "certainly the most frequently translated literary product of India",[7] and these stories are among the most widely known in the world.[8] 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.[9] One version reached Europe in the 11th century.[2] To quote Edgerton (1924):[10] ...before 1600 it existed in Greek, Latin, Spanish, The first page of oldest surviving Italian, German, English, Old Slavonic, Czech, and Panchatantra text in Sanskrit[1] perhaps other Slavonic languages. Its range has extended from Java to Iceland... [In India,] it has been worked over and over again, expanded, abstracted, turned into verse, retold in prose, translated into medieval and modern vernaculars, and retranslated into Sanskrit. And most of the stories contained in it have "gone down" into the folklore of the story-loving Hindus, whence they reappear in the collections of oral tales gathered by modern students of folk-stories. An 18th-century Pancatantra The earliest known translation into a non-Indian language is in manuscript page in Braj dialect of Hindi (The Talkative Turtle) Middle Persian (Pahlavi, 550 CE) by Burzoe.[2][9] This became the basis for a Syriac translation as Kalilag and Damnag[11] and a translation into Arabic in 750 CE by Persian scholar Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa as Kalīlah wa Dimnah.[12] A New Persian version by Rudaki in the 12th century became known as Kalīleh o Demneh[13] and this was the basis of Kashefi's 15th-century Anvār-i Suhaylī (The Lights of Canopus),[14] which in turn was translated into Humayun-namah in Turkish.[2] 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).[15][16][2] Most European versions of the text are derivative works of the 12th-century Hebrew version of Panchatantra by Rabbi Joel.[2] In Germany, its translation in 1480 by Anton von Pforr has been widely read.[17] 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.[2][18] In Laos, a version is called Nandaka-prakarana, while in Thailand it has been referred to as Nang Tantrai.[18][19][20] Contents Author and chronology Content Book 1: Mitra-bheda Book 2: Mitra-samprāpti Book 3: Kākolūkīyam Book 4: Labdhapraṇāśam Book 5: Aparīkṣitakārakaṃ A Panchatantra relief at the Mendut Links with other fables temple, Central Java, Indonesia Origins and function Metaphors and layered meanings Cross-cultural migrations Early cross-cultural migrations How Borzuy brought the work from India Kalila wa Demna: Mid. Persian and Arabic versions The Arabic classic by Ibn al-Muqaffa Spread to the rest of Europe Modern era See also Notes Editions and translations Sanskrit texts Translations in English Further reading External links Author and chronology The prelude section of the Panchatantra identifies an octogenarian Brahmin named Vishnusharma (IAST: Viṣṇuśarman) as its author.[3][17] He is stated to be teaching the principles of good government to three princes of Amarasakti. 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.[3] 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.[21][22] 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.[3] 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.[23] 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 BCE, although we should remind ourselves that this is only an educated guess".[3] 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.[24] 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".[25] Content The Panchatantra is a series of inter-woven fables, many of which deploy metaphors of anthropomorphized animals with What is learning whose attaining, [27] human virtues and vices. According to its own narrative, it Sees no passion wane, no reigning illustrates, for the benefit of three ignorant princes, the central Love and self-control? [28] Hindu principles of nīti. While nīti is hard to translate, it Does not make the mind a menial, roughly means prudent worldly conduct, or "the wise conduct of Finds in virtue no congenial life".[29] Path and final goal? Whose attaining is but straining Apart from a short introduction, it consists of five parts. Each For a name, and never gaining part contains a main story, called the frame story, which in turn Fame or peace of soul? contains several stories "emboxed" in it, as one character narrates a story to another. Often these stories contain further —Panchatantra: Smart, The Jackal emboxed stories.[30][31] The stories thus operate like a Book 1: The Loss of Friends succession of Russian dolls, one narrative opening within Translator: Arthur William Ryder[26] another, sometimes three or four deep. Besides the stories, the characters also quote various epigrammatic verses to make their point.[32] The five books have their own subtitles.[33] Panchatantra Book subtitle Ryder's translation[33] Olivelle's translation[34] 1. Mitra-bheda The Loss of Friends On Causing Dissension among Allies 2. Mitra-lābha The Winning of Friends On Securing Allies On War and Peace: The story of the crows 3. Kākolūkīyam On Crows and Owls and the owls 4. Loss of Gains On Losing What You have Gained Labdhapraṇāśam 5. Ill-Considered Action On Hasty Actions Aparīkṣitakārakaṃ Book 1: Mitra-bheda If loving kindness be not shown, The first treatise features a jackal named Damanaka, as the to friends and souls in pain, unemployed minister in a kingdom ruled by a lion. He, along to teachers, servants, and one's self, with his moralizing sidekick named Karataka, conspire to break what use in life, what gain? up alliances and friendships of the lion king. A series of fables describe the conspiracies and causes that lead to close and —Panchatantra, Book 1 inseparable friends breaking up.[36] Translator: Arthur William Ryder[35] 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.[33] It is the longest of the five books, making up roughly 45% of the work's length.[37] Book 2: Mitra-samprāpti The second treatise is quite different in structure than the remaining books, states Olivelle, as it does not truly embox 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).