Panchatantra
The
Panchatantra (also spelled
Pañcatantra, Sanskrit पञ्चतन्त्र "Five Chapters",
Kelileh va Demneh or
Kalilag and Damnag in Persian) is a collection of
Sanskrit fables in prose and verse. The original version, now lost, was written around
200 BC and is attributed to
Vishnu Sarma.
The work illustrates the central priniciples of
Raja neeti (political science) through animal stories. The five principles illustrated are:
Mitra Bhedha (The Loss of Friends)
Mitra Laabha (Gaining Friends)
Suhrudbheda (Causing Dissension Between Friends)
Vigraha (Separation)
Sandhi (Union)
The
Panchatantra reached its current form in the
4th-
6th centuries AD. According to
Hindu tradition, it was written around 200 BC by Pandit Vishnu Sharma, a sage. One of the most influential Sanskrit contributions to world
literature, it was exported to
China and
South East Asia by
Buddhist Monks on
pilgrimage. During the
Khosrau I of Persia era, his famous minister
Burzoe translated the Indian
Panchatantra from
Sanskrit into the middle Persian language of
Pahlavi and called it
Kelileh va Demneh. From the Persian version, it was translated into various languages (including
Arabic, translation by
Ibn al-Muqaffa' , Arabic title
Kalīla wa Dimma[Muslim Neoplatonist: An Introduction to the Thought of the Brethren of Purity, Ian Richard Netton, 1991. Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-0251-8], which after the Muslim invasion of Persia (Iran) was the first language to be translated to from Persian). From Persian it was transmitted in the
11th century to
Greece and thence to the rest of
Europe. But it was a
12th century Hebrew translation that became the source of most
European versions. French fabulist
Jean de La Fontaine acknowledged his indebtedness to the work in the introduction to his Second Fables:
|
A page from Kelileh va Demneh, the Persian translation of the Panchatantra, dating 1429, from Herat, depicts the Jackal trying to lead the lion astray. |
"This is a second book of fables that I present to the public... I have to acknowledge that the greatest part is inspired from Pilpay, an Indian Sage" ("Je dirai par reconnaissance que j'en dois la plus grande partie à Pilpay sage indien") Avertissement to the Second Compilation of Fables, 1678, Jean de La Fontaine
The stories also travelled to
Indonesia in both oral and written forms. A strong similarity exists between some stories in the Panchatantra and
Aesop's fables. Similar tales are found in almost all
cultures of the world - many folklorists look upon India as the source of all such tales.
*
Hitopadesa*
Kalilag and Damnag*
Panchatantra Tales : The Origin of Panchatantram
*
TITUS texts*
Tales from the Panchatantra *
An example of comparison with an Aesop's fable
