Panchatantra

Recently the Government of India launched its new National Education Policy. One of the key
features that stands out in this policy is the adoption of holistic learning and innovation in
teaching. However there is no clarity about how they would implement such an approach.
Maybe they should take a look at ancient India and take out a leaf from the book of Vishnu
Sharma,  The Panchatantra. You may ask why? The reason is because Panchatantra was
devised as an alternative education strategy to transform a 12 year course of Niti Shastra into a
book of stories.

So let me tell you the fascinating story of its origin and how two foxes of ancient India by the
name Karataka and Damanaka became known worldwide and influenced fables, rhymes and
ballads all over the world.
The Panchatantra is approximately dated to 200 BC. It was authored  by Vishnu Sharma. We
might all have come across the stories of Panchatantra in our childhood. These are stories
which often have interesting characters such as talking animals who impart us with practical
wisdom and morals. These stories also give us fascinating insights into the society of that time.
The story of the origin of Panchatantra is mentioned at the beginning of the book itself.
There lived a king named Amarshakti, who ruled the kingdom of Mahilaropaya. The king was a
learned man and used to stay very busy with affairs of the state and hence he did not spend
enough time with his three sons. When he got older, he started thinking about his legacy. One
day he decided to talk to his three sons about the same. But he was apalled when he found that
his sons were totally dis-interested in learning and did not have any idea about statecraft. Those
were the days when Taxila was flourishing and India had an elaborate education system.
According to Indians there were four goals to be achieved in life- Dharma, Artha, Kama and
Moksha. Dharma stands for righteous conduct; Artha signifies accumulation of wealth and fame,
Kama deals with fulfillment of desires in an aesthetic manner and Moksha deals with spiritual
practice and finally liberation from the cycles of birth and death. The goal of the education
system was to empower the students in all these four aspects and make them ready for life.
Seeing the dis-interested nature of his children the king was worried how they would go through
this elaborate education system and hence was worried about his succession. So, he called a
meeting with his ministers and revealed his concern.
One of the ministers said 'O king, it takes 12 years of hard work to master the knowledge of
Dharmshastra, the Arthashastra of Chanakya and the Kama Shastra of Vatsayana. One must
read these texts, then reflect on Dharma, Artha and Kama and only then intellect would get
developed.
Another minister exclaimed that 12 years were too long. Then a minister called Sumati stood up
and said, 'the study of these Shastra is intensive, so it is better to extract the essential principles
just like a swan extracts milk out of kheer. A way has to be thought out to make the princes'
capable of gaining knowledge which is precise and simple'. He recommended Vishnu Sharma
for the job.

Vishnu Sharma realized that normal teaching methods won't work with the Princes. So, he took
up the challenge of devising an abbreviated and entertaining course on the Niti Shastra in which
the princes were taught through the medium of stories designed in imparting practical wisdom
necessary for governance. In this manner the Panchatantra was devised as an alternative
education methodology.

Panchatantra literally means 5 treatises. It is named so because the book is divided into 5
sections, each containing several fables related to a particular topic. The first section is named
Mitra bheda meaning loss of friends and covers 45% of the book length. This section is about
two Jackals called Kamataka and Damanaka. Damanaka is a cunning Jackal who is an
unemployed minister of the Lion King and Kamataka is his moralizing friend. The first section
deals with the story of these two Jackals and how they conspire to break alliances and
friendships of the Lion king. Also, through conversation of these two Jackals, several other
fables are told.

The stories travelled out of India for the first time  into Persia where they were translated into
Pahlavi and Kamataka and Damanaka and became Kalilag and Dimnag. From Pahlavi they
followed into Arabic and finally reached Europe in 8th century where the came to be accepted
as Calila and Damna. They also somehow managed to reach Indonesia.

The story of how Panchatantra travelled out of India is well known. Burzoe was a physician in
the court of course Khosraou I the ruler of Persia. He had heard of an elixir called Sanjeevani
which grew in the mountains of India and could bring back the dead. He travelled all over India
in vain. Finally he met a saint who told him that the plant was actually a metaphor for a book.
The Saint directed him to the book. However he secretly copied the contents of the book and
sent it to Persia. The text is lost now. The first available translation is in old Syrian language
which was discovered in 1870s in a monastery in Turkey. In 750, it was translated into Arabic
under the Caliph and was titled Kalilah and Dimnag. Subsequently it reached Europe and got
translated into Greek, Hebrew, Latin , Italian and other European languages. In 1483 the
German translation became the first printed copy to be published by the famous Gutenberg
Press. Earlier, it had already migrated to Tibet, China and other South East Asian countries. An
old Javanese version composed in 1031 titled Tantri Kamanadaka has been found in Indonesia.
A Laos version called Nandaka Prakarana and a Thai version called Nang Tantrai have also
been discovered.

It is believed that the Aesop's Fables,  the Arabian Mights and 30 to 50% of Western nursery
rhymes and ballads have been influenced by Panchatantra. Panchatantra became famous in
the middle East and the West as The Fables of Bidpai or the Fables of Pilpay. Jean de La
Fontaine, a famous French novelist of the 17th century has acknowledged his indebtedness to
sage Pilpay for inspiration. Apart from Panchatantra, Jataka Tales and the Hitopodesha too
played their part. And in this way a book of fables from India ended up influencing all of Asia,
the Middle East and the West.