Where Was the Panchatantra Composed?
Most of the stories of the Panchatantra are set in or around the city of Mahilaropya. We do not know the exact location of this city, or even if it was a real place (the meaning of its name is also unclear—it could mean ‘a city as beautiful as a woman’, or more probably, ‘the city of beautiful women’). The Panchatantra only states, rather vaguely, that Mahilaropya was the capital city of ‘a kingdom in the south’. It would therefore seem logical to conclude that the work was composed in southern India. But scholars disagree. Though some do maintain that it was composed in southern India, others give the north as its location of origin.
The Structure of the Panchatantra
The original Panchatantra is a mixture of verse and prose. The stories are narrated mainly in prose, but the lessons derived from the tales are usually given in verse form.
The works consists of five parts (hence the name Panchatantra: pancha, meaning five, and tantra, meaning part), each of which deals with a particular aspect of kingship, government, life and living. The longest is the first part, accounting for almost half the stories.
A distinguishing feature of the Panchatantra is its ‘story within a story’ structure—individual stories are placed within other stories, and each individual part or tantra replicates the structure of the work as a whole. So the Panchatantra takes its audience into a series of stories, deeper and deeper, from one level to the next. Let us see how this structure works:
Level 1
The very first enclosing story is the entire Panchatantra itself, which is being told by a narrator we do not know or see, and which is being heard (or read) by all listeners (including us), everywhere.
Level 2
The Prologue, the story of the king and his three sons, and which explains why the Panchatantra was composed; here, too, the narrator remains anonymous and the listeners are still all of us. The Prologue encloses the five parts of the Panchatantra.
Level 3
Each individual part or tantra begins with its own particular frame story. For instance Part 1 begins with ‘The Story of Sanjivaka the Bull and Pingalaka the Lion’, Part 2 with ‘The Story of the Crow, the Mouse, the Turtle and the Deer’, and so on. The frame story of each part is our third level of story. The narrator is now Vishnusharma, and his listeners are the three princes.
Level 4
Within the frame story of each part are contained the stories in that part, which may contain more stories, some of which may contain even more stories. These form successive levels of story. So, for instance, in Part 1, Level 4 would be ‘The Story of the Crow and the Cobra’. The narrator is now Damanaka the jackal, and his listener is his friend and companion, Karataka. Similarly, in Part 2, ‘The Story of the Mouse and the Mendicant’ would be at Level 4. Here, the narrator is the mouse, Hiranyaka, and the listeners are his friends, Laghupatanaka the crow and Mantharaka the turtle.
Levels 5 and 6
Within some of the level 4 stories are contained further stories, which become the next level of stories: for example, in Part 1, ‘The Story of the Heron and the Crab’ (the narrator here is a jackal, and the listeners are his friends, a pair of crows), and in Part 2, ‘The Story of the Brahmin’s Wife and the Sesame Seeds’ (the narrator now is the ascetic Brihadsphik, and the listener is his friend, the mendicant Tamrachuda). In Part 2 we also find stories at the next level—for example, ‘The Story of the Huntsman, the Boar and the Jackal’ (the narrator is a brahmin, the listener is his wife).
The Table of Contents indicates this structure.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Translations and Retellings
The Panchatantra as we know it is regarded by most scholars to have been composed around 300 CE. The Sanskrit Kashmiri recension (revised edition of a text) called the Tantrakhyayika predates the version of the Panchatantra available to us today. The subject matter of the Panchatantra and its delightful tales made it a very popular text. Its stories, carried far and wide by travellers and merchants, spread rapidly across the world, and the text was translated again and again into various languages through the centuries. Today, there exist more than 200 translations and retellings of the Panchatantra in fifty languages around the world. Here then, is a list of some of the more important translations and retellings:
By Barzoi into Pahlavi, 550 CE
The Panchatantra was first translated in 550 CE into Pahlavi, at the command of the Sassanian ruler Khusru I (531–579 CE) of Persia. He was known as ‘Anushirwan’ or ‘he of the immortal soul’, and is famous for his encouragement of art and literature. He sent his physician Barzoi to India to procure books on government and kingship, in particular, the Panchatantra. Barzoi translated the Panchatantra from Sanskrit into Pahlavi and included in it, in appendix form, stories from other Indian sources, including the Mahabharata. This Pahlavi translation is lost.
By the Periodeut Bud into Syriac, 570 CE
Barzoi’s Pahlavi translation was the source for the first Syriac translation of the Panchatantra in 570 CE by the Periodeut Bud. Known as Kalilag and Damnag (after two of the principal characters, the jackals Karataka and Damanaka), this translation survives in manuscript form.
By Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa into Arabic, 750 CE
Based on Barzoi’s Pahlavi translation, Ibn al-Muqaffa’s translation, Kalilah wa Dimnah, was literary and stylistic. Like the Syriac translation, this translation too was named after the jackals Karataka and Damanaka. The book was written mainly for the instruction of civil servants, but its stories became extremely popular and were retold again and again so that his original wording changed considerably over time. The stories became a part of the folklore of the Islamic world, and the work was carried by the Arabs to Spain. There, it was translated into Old Castilian in 1252 as Calila e Dimna.
Ibn al-Muqaffa’s translation was put into verse in Arabic three times:
by Ibn al-Muqaffa’s contemporary, al-Laqiki; this version has been lost.
by Ibn al-Habbariya in 1100; this was based on both Ibn al-Muqaffa’s translation and al-Laqiki’s verse rendition.
by Abd al-Mumin, completed on 15 November 1242.
The Kalilah wa Dimnah led to many other versions, including a second Syriac version by a Syriac priest—this translation had Christian overtones.
The Persian poet Rudhaki (died 916 CE) translated it into Persian in verse form as Kalileh o Demneh. Only sixteen of his verses survive today.
The Kalilah wa Dimnah was also a source of inspiration for artists, and there exist many illustrated manuscripts from Persia. It was also translated twice into Eastern Turki, and into old Ottoman Turkish, Ethiopic and Malay. In 1080, it was translated into Greek, as the Stephanites kai Ichnelates.
In the twelfth century, it was translated into Hebrew by the Rabbi Joel; this was translated into Latin by John of Capua as Directorium Humanae Vitae (Directory of Human Life). The Latin translation was printed in 1480, and became the source of most later European versions. A German translation was printed in 1483, making it one of the first books to be printed by Johannes Gutenberg after the Bible.
The Latin version was also translated into Italian, by Anton Francesco Doni in 1552. This became the source for the first English translation, in 1570, by Sir Thomas North, as The Fables of Bidpai.
Some of the stories of the Kalilah wa Dimnah can be found in the seventeenth-century fables of the French writer La Fontaine and in the nineteenth-century collection of folk and fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm.
By Kashifi into Persian, 1504
Kashifi translated Ibn al-Muqaffa’s version into Persian in 1504, in a style that was more ornate. His version met with instant popularity. He called it Anwar-i Suhayli in honour of a minister in the king’s court. In 1836, the Anwar-i Suhayli was printed in England, as a textbook for teaching Persian to the officials of the East India Company in India.
From this, it was translated into several Indian languages, thus bringing the wheel full circle. The
stories also travelled to Indonesia in both oral and written forms.
In India, the Hitopdesa (Good Advice) was composed by Narayana in the thirteenth century and circulated mostly in Bengal. It appears to be an independent retelling of the Panchatantra.
The Panchatantra continues to be translated and retold in modern times.
Other Collections of Fables from Around the World
The Jataka Tales (Pali)
Consisting of some 550 tales, this is one of the largest collections of fables from ancient India. The tales are part of the canonical literature of Buddhism, and speak of the previous incarnations of the Buddha, in many of which he took the form of an animal. These tales were composed and collected in the period between 300 BCE and 400 CE.
Aesop’s Fables (Greek)
Aesop is the supposed author of a collection of animal fables. His stories, like the Panchatantra, teach shrewdness and worldly wisdom. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Aesop lived during the sixth century BCE and was probably a slave on the island of Samos. It is said that Aesop was ugly and deformed, and those who came to listen to his tales laughed as much at him as at his stories. Though no historical information on Aesop is available, he was probably a real person. In later times, his name became synonymous with ‘fable’ and many tales not composed by him were nevertheless attributed to him.
The Fables of Phaedrus (Latin)
Phaedrus (c. 15 BCE–50 CE) lived in ancient Rome and was the first person to translate into Latin and put into verse whole books of the Greek prose fables then in circulation and attributed to Aesop. Phaedrus was a slave by birth. He went to Rome early in life and became a freedman in the household of the Emperor Augustus. Phaedrus was familiar with the works of Greek and Roman writers. Though others before him had rendered fables into verse and used them in their work, Phaedrus considered himself a pioneering artist, and believed his poems would give him immortal fame. His fables include favourites such as The Fox and the Grapes and The Wolf and the Lamb.
Phaedrus became extremely popular in Europe during the Middle Ages.
The Fables of La Fontaine (French)
Jean de La Fontaine (1621–1695) was a French poet, but is remembered mainly for his Fables, a work which is considered to be one of the masterpieces of French literature. La Fontaine based his fables mainly on Aesop, but also used the Latin verse translations by Phaedrus. More than a dozen of his fables are drawn from the Panchatantra. He enriched the original tales considerably by adding deft touches of drama or humour to the stories. He wrote his fables in verse, and set them mainly in the countryside. Sometimes he turned to satire and sometimes he commented on contemporary political issues through his stories, but he did so lightly and with humour. The main theme of his tales, however, remains that of the traditional fable: the everyday moral issues of mankind.
Characters in the Panchatantra
Most of the characters of the Panchatantra are animals that behave, think and speak like humans. In every culture across the world, people have given human characteristics to animals. But the qualities that people see in particular animals vary across cultures. Thus, an owl is considered wise in England, but evil and unlucky in India. The animals of the Panchatantra conform to the ideas held about them in Indian culture. So, a heron is regarded as deceitful and cruel, for he stands still for hours on one leg pretending to be an ascetic doing penance when we all know that he is actually waiting to grab the next unwary fish that swims too close. Similarly, an elephant is noble and proud, a jackal is greedy and cunning, and a lion, though the king of the animals, is arrogant and often easily fooled by a weaker, more intelligent animal. An ox is loyal, a dog is unclean and greedy, and a cobra dangerous and untrustworthy. The audience for which the stories of the Panchatantra were meant would have known these qualities of particular animals, and so would have known instantly what to expect of them in the stories.
The author of the Panchatantra has used one more device to make it easy for his audience to understand the nature of his characters, and that is their names. He has given his characters, whether human or animal, names that highlight certain aspects of their appearance or behaviour, or give insights into their nature. Thus, we have Pingalaka the lion, whose name means ‘one who is red–gold’, named for his fiery coat; Dantila the jeweller whose name means ‘one who has big and projecting teeth’ and immediately gives us a vivid image of the man; Chaturaka the wily jackal whose name means ‘one who is sly and cunning’; and Agnimukha the bedbug, whose name means ‘fire-mouth’ and almost makes us go ‘ouch’ as we imagine his bite!
Here then, in alphabetical order, are the characters in each book of the Panchatantra, and the meanings of their names:
PROLOGUE
Amarashakti King of Mahilaropya, whose request to Vishnusharma to educate his sons led to the composition of the Panchatantra. His name means ‘of eternal might, or as mighty as the gods’.
Anantashakti Son of King Amarashakti. His name means ‘of boundless might’.
Bahushakti Son of King Amarashakti. His name means of great might.
Sumati Minister to King Amarashakti. His name means ‘good sense’.
Ugrashakti Son of King Amarashakti. His name means ‘of fierce might’.
Vishnusharma The brahmin scholar and teacher who is widely regarded as the author of the Panchatantra. His name means ‘one whose joy or refuge is Lord Vishnu’.
PART 1: THE FALLING OUT OF FRIENDS
Agnimukha A bedbug. His name means ‘fire mouth’.
Anagatvidhata A fish. His name means ‘one who arranges or plans the future’.
Ashadhbhuti A thief. The meaning of his name is unclear. Its literal meaning is ‘one born in the month of Ashadh’. Ashadh is the fourth month of the Hindu calendar, and corresponds to July–August. It could also refer to the planet Mars, which is known as Ashadhbhuta, and taken to mean ‘he who is born under the influence of Mars’.
Bhasuraka A lion. His name means ‘the terrible’.
Chandarava A jackal who fell into a vat of indigo dye. His name means ‘furious clamour’ or ‘loud din’.
Chaturaka A wily jackal, follower of the lion Vajradanstra. His name means ‘one who is sly and cunning’.
Damanaka A jackal in the train of Pingalaka the lion. His name means ‘one who conquers or subdues’.
Dantila A wealthy jeweller and governor of the city of Bardhaman. His name means ‘toothy’, or ‘one who has big and projecting teeth’.
Devasharma An ascetic. His name means ‘one whose joy or refuge are the gods’.
Dharmabuddhi A merchant, friend of Papabuddhi. His name means ‘one of righteous mind’.
Gomayu A jackal.
Gorambha A poor man who worked in the royal palace of the king of Bardhaman. His name means ‘the lowing of cattle or the bellow of a bull’.
Jirnadhan A merchant. His name means ‘one whose wealth has decayed’.
Kakud-druma The false name taken by Chandarava, the jackal. The name is made up of two words: kakud, which means ‘a symbol of royalty’, and druma, which means ‘a tree growing in paradise’.
Kambugriva A turtle who didn’t know when to stop talking. Her name means ‘one who has a neck marked like a shell’.
Karataka A jackal in the train of Pingalaka the lion, and sidekick to Damanaka. The exact meaning of his name is unclear—its literal meaning is a crow. Crows are regarded as being wise and cautious, and since his personality is supposed to be in contrast to the aggressive and scheming Damanaka, his name may be taken to signify ‘one who is prudent or cautious’.
Kathanaka A camel. The literal meaning of his name is a storyteller, but in this context it could perhaps mean ‘someone about whom stories are told’, or ‘about whom people talk and gossip’.
Kirata A tribe of robbers, who would rob their victims and then kill them.
Kravyamukha A wolf, follower of the lion Vajradanstra. His name means ‘carrion mouth’, or ‘one who eats raw flesh’.
&n
bsp; Madarakta A wild goose. His name means ‘red with love’, or ‘mad with love’.
Madotkata A lion. His name means ‘furious’ or ‘arrogant’.
Mandavisarpini A little white louse who lived amongst the king’s bedclothes. Her name means ‘one who moves slowly’.
Meghanada A frog. His name means ‘the rumbling or thundering of clouds’.
Nandaka A bull belonging to the merchant Vardhamana. His name means ‘one who is joyous or happy’.
Papabuddhi A merchant, friend of Dharmabuddhi. His name means ‘one with a wicked mind’.
Pingalaka A lion. His name means ‘one who is red–gold or the colour of fire’.
Pratyutpanmati A fish. His name means ‘one who is quick-thinking’, or ‘one who has presence of mind’.
Sanjivaka A bull belonging to the merchant Vardhamana. His name means ‘one who is animated or lively’.
Sankata A swan, friend to the turtle Kambugriva. Her name means ‘narrow’ or ‘slim’.
Shankukarna A young camel, under the protection of the lion Vajradanstra. His name means ‘the one with spiky ears’.
Suchimukha A tailorbird. His name means ‘needle-faced’.
Vajradanstra A lion. His name means ‘one whose fangs are as hard as the rock adamant’.
Vardhamana A merchant. His name means ‘prosperous’.
Vikata A swan, friend to the turtle Kambugriva. Her name means ‘large’ or ‘fat’.
Vinarava A fly. Her name means ‘one with a voice like the vina, an ancient, Indian, multi-stringed musical instrument’.
Yadbhavishya A fish. His name means ‘one who says, “what will be will be”’, or ‘one who believes in and relies on the power of fate’.
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