Panchatantra, is a collection of five volumes of stories written by a teacher to help instruct the different aspects of kinghood for princes. The five volumes together serve as a manual for a prospective king, to help him in deciding how to rule, how to choose his fellow friends, fellow ministers, how to conduct himself in daily life etc. The collection of stories in Pancha Tantra are a real treat for parents to help them in guiding them towards values in human life. Every story in Pancha Tantra is accompanied by a moral.
The story of Panchatanra itself is an interesting one in that, the intention of writing it was precisely the one mentioned in the previous paragraph, namely, to serve as a manual for a prince to rule as an ideal king. The background story of Panchatantra goes as follows:
"Long ago in the kingdom of Mahilaropya, there lived a king who was ruling very ideally. He had three sons, who were not intelligent. The king was worried about the heir to the throne, as he knew that his sons were incapable of governing. He was desperate to find a good and knowledgable teacher for his sons who would teach them the scriptures and make them knowledgeable in a short time. His minister then pointed towards a skilled pundit, VishnuSharman. Vishnusharman was old and the king was worried as to how the teacher could accomplish the teaching to his sons as he told that even an intelligent man takes more than twelve years to grasp all the elements of scriptures. Then VishnuSharman convinced the king that he would teach the princes about kingly conduct through a series of stories, which would be more effective than the scriptures. Thus VishnuRaman compiled the collection in five volumes termed as PanchaTantra meant to serve as the guide for the princes to learn about kingly behaviour."
Almost every child in India is read stories from Pancha Tantra either by parents or grandparents to drive home some particular moral points. In this page we shall try to bring as many stories from the Panchatantra to you as possible. If you have any story to contribute, please contact us, and we shall add your story with your credits.
Panchatantra is written in five volumes:
The Loss of Friends
The winning of friends
Crows and Owls
Loss of Gains
Ill-considered action
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The Carpenter and the Ape
AN APE one day sat watching a Carpenter who was splitting a piece of wood with two wedges. First the Carpenter drove the smaller wedge into the crack, so as to keep it open, and then when the crack was wide enough, he hammered in the larger wedge and pulled the first one out.
At noon the Carpenter went home to dinner, and the Ape now thought that he would try his hand at splitting boards. As he took his seat on the Carpenter's bench, his long tail slipped into the crack in the board.
The Ape did not notice this, but set to work. The first wedge he drove in exactly as he had seen the Carpenter do. But then he forgot, and pulled it out before he had driven in the second one. The two sides of the board instantly sprang together, and caught the Ape's tail between them.
At noon the Carpenter went home to dinner, and the Ape now thought that he would try his hand at splitting boards. As he took his seat on the Carpenter's bench, his long tail slipped into the crack in the board.
The Ape did not notice this, but set to work. The first wedge he drove in exactly as he had seen the Carpenter do. But then he forgot, and pulled it out before he had driven in the second one. The two sides of the board instantly sprang together, and caught the Ape's tail between them.
The mice and the elephants
Once upon a time there lived a group of mice under a tree peacefully. But once a group of elephants came that way and destroyed the homes of all the rats as a result of which many of them were crushed to death. Then the king of rats decided to approach the elephant chief and request him to guide his herd through another route.
The elephant king agreed to this and took another route to the water. And so the lives of the rats were saved. One day a group of elephant-hunters came and trapped the group of elephants in huge nets. Then the elephant king suddenly remembered the king of the rats. He summoned one of the elephants of his herd which had not been trapped, to go and contact the king of rats.
On listening to the elephant, the rat king took his entire group of mice and they cut open the nets which trapped the elephant herd. So the elephant herd was totally set free.
MORAL: A friend in need is a friend indeed.
The elephant king agreed to this and took another route to the water. And so the lives of the rats were saved. One day a group of elephant-hunters came and trapped the group of elephants in huge nets. Then the elephant king suddenly remembered the king of the rats. He summoned one of the elephants of his herd which had not been trapped, to go and contact the king of rats.
On listening to the elephant, the rat king took his entire group of mice and they cut open the nets which trapped the elephant herd. So the elephant herd was totally set free.
MORAL: A friend in need is a friend indeed.
The heron serpent and the mongoose
Once upon a time there lived a group of herons on a banyan tree. In the hollow trunk of the tree dwelt a black serpent who ate the young herons before they grew. Out of sorrow the heron, approached the crab.
The crab heard of the serpent and then thought to itself, " The heron is also the natural enemy of our race. So i need a scheme to get rid of all of them". So he advised the heron to throw fish bits all the way from the house of the mongoose to the tree where it lived.
The heron did as told and the mongoose following the trail of the fish came and ate the seprent and at the same time crept up the tree and ate all the herons too.
MORAL: Don't listen to the advice of your natural enemy.
The crab heard of the serpent and then thought to itself, " The heron is also the natural enemy of our race. So i need a scheme to get rid of all of them". So he advised the heron to throw fish bits all the way from the house of the mongoose to the tree where it lived.
The heron did as told and the mongoose following the trail of the fish came and ate the seprent and at the same time crept up the tree and ate all the herons too.
MORAL: Don't listen to the advice of your natural enemy.
The jackal and the drum
Once upon a time there lived a jackal in a forest. One day it was very hungry and it reached the king's battleground. It heard a loud noise suddenly and was frightened upon hearing the noise. He was frightened that something dangerous was happening to him. He reached a war-drum nearby and struck it with grass and it made noise.
He mistook it be a huge animal with lots of food on the inside of it. With great difficulty it pierced the drum and reached inside. On reaching inside then it was disappointed to find it to be only wood and leather.
With great difficulty it came out of the hole and backed off and crept away to safety laughing at her judgement.
MORAL: Extreme circumstances can mutilate judgement.
He mistook it be a huge animal with lots of food on the inside of it. With great difficulty it pierced the drum and reached inside. On reaching inside then it was disappointed to find it to be only wood and leather.
With great difficulty it came out of the hole and backed off and crept away to safety laughing at her judgement.
MORAL: Extreme circumstances can mutilate judgement.
The bird with the two necks
Once upon a time there lived a special kind of bird which had two necks and shared a common stomach.
One day, one of the heads found a jar of nectar, and on seeing this the other head also wanted to taste the nectar but the first neck refused to let it have it. Enraged, the other neck soon found a jar of poison and it consumed it. The poison reached the common stomach and both the necks perished.
MORAL: Sharing of a good thing with others is always good.
One day, one of the heads found a jar of nectar, and on seeing this the other head also wanted to taste the nectar but the first neck refused to let it have it. Enraged, the other neck soon found a jar of poison and it consumed it. The poison reached the common stomach and both the necks perished.
MORAL: Sharing of a good thing with others is always good.
The geese and the tortoise
Once upon a time there lived a pair of geese and a tortoise all three of whom were great friends. One day they faced a huge drought and the lake in which they lived was drying up. They decided to leave the lake and look for a new lake. But the tortoise could not fly. So the geese thought of a plan, where by the tortoise would have to hold a piece of stick by its mouth which would be carried by the two geese. The only condition was that the trotoise should not speak or it will fall from the stick to death. The tortoise agreed to be silent.
But on seeing this stange arrangment , people on the way started laughing at the tortoise. Unable to control his anxiety, he spoke out "What are they laughig about?", and so fell to his death. If he had kept quiet he could have saved his own life.
But on seeing this stange arrangment , people on the way started laughing at the tortoise. Unable to control his anxiety, he spoke out "What are they laughig about?", and so fell to his death. If he had kept quiet he could have saved his own life.
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