Preface of my English Book
Famous book of fables known as PANCHATHANTRA, is perhaps the oldest collection of Indian fables still surviving. It’s written around 200 BC, Panchathantra means ‘the five books’. It’s a ‘Nitishastra’ which means book of wise conduct in life. The oldest book that crossed 20 centuries is surely the first anthology of animal stories.
Narration of stories in Panchathantra followed the old oral tradition of storytelling. Vishnusharma, an Indian Brahmin scholar telling the stories to the princess of Pataliputra. The book is written in the form of simple stories and each story has a moral and philosophical theme which has stood the test of time in modern age of atomic fear and political madness. It helps us to attain success in life by understanding human nature. This is not a religious text or a book of ‘complete morals’ though there are references of many religious subjects. It exposes the hypocrites in religion and is full of admiration for wisdom based upon reason.
When we read the Chanakya sutras* in our time it seems to be a complete guide for attaining and sustaining ‘power’. Panchathantra’s rebellion characters of evils also appear with valuable life lessons of wisdom. This book contains plenty of comments and quotes especially about women which requires political correctness. In fact, those comments should not be considered as the opinion of author but it must be attributed to the views of characters. The original and complete Sanskrit text inter-mixing prose and verse is not available now. Around 25 versions of Panchathantra discovered in India.[1]
The oldest extant version is the Tantric narrative in Kashmiri. Almost all the stories in the Hitopadesha of Narayana compiled in the eighteenth century are from Panchatantra. Panchatantra stories can also be found in the famous book of ‘Kathasaritsagara’ of Somadeva composed in the XI century. The style followed in the book is ‘teaching through pleasing’. It attracts both children and adults. We do not find excessive use of sex here as in the Arabian Nights. We can find in it a replica of the social system that prevailed in ancient India. The harmony among the stories, the technique of connecting the end of one with the beginning of the other, and the suspense retained throughout each Tantra are also other peculiarity of Panchatantra.
Five Tantntra discusses five different subjects. In the five parts of book story teller and listener are same but the stories of each tantra connected and co-related. The subjects of five tantra covered five aspects of human condition throughout the existence of mankind in this vast universe.
Let’s look the five principles of Tantras:
- Mitra Bhedha (Loss of Friends)
- Mitra Laabha (Gaining Friends)
- Kakolukiyam( war and peace)
- Labdhapranasam: (Loss Of Gains)
- Apariksitakarakam(Rash deeds).
‘Kalila-wa-Dimna’
Panchatantra was translated into the Pahlavi, an ancient Persian tongue in 550 CE. A copy of the stories was taken away by Barzawaihi, the court physician for the Persian king Anushirwan the great. It was translated into Syriac in 570 CE by anonymous, and in Arabic in 750 CE by Abdulla bin Al Muqaffa, a Basrian scholar during the reign of Abbasid Caliph Abu Jafar Al Mansur with the title of ‘Kalila-wa-dimna’. The words Kalila and Dimna literally mean Karataka and Damanaka, two jackals, the major characters of First Tantra of Panchatantra. Kalila-wa-dimna was re-translated into the Persian in the XII century. This is the basis of the great work, Anwer Suhaili written by Mulla Hussain bin Ali Wais al Kaashifi in the XV century. Neither the Pahlavi version nor the Syriac version is available. The oldest available translation of Panchatantra is Kalila-wa-Dimna. Arabic version played its major part to introduce Panchatantra into the western world.
The soaring number of English translations from Sanskrit in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries shows the keen interest of western world in Panchatantra stories. At the very beginning of Kalila-wa-Dimna it is stated that some additions had been made to the original. At the end of the first trick a chapter named Damanaka’s trial is added. Also, in the beginning four chapters are appended as those of the translators. At the end of Kalila-wa-Dimna we find more stories included which are not found in any Indian versions of Panchatantra.
(The trial, the four chapters in the foreword, and a few stories as appendices to the fifth tantra can be seen in this book.)
My contribution and aspiration to this version
With lack of my Sanskrit knowledge, I inspired by Panchatantra poems of Kunchan Nambiyar an early Malayalam poet and Sanskrit scholar (1705-1770 AD), love of letters and beauty of story motioned in my mind, finally I decided to tell the story in my own language. Before I jump into this task I read and reread different versions of Panchatantra, like Panchatantram Kathakal of Siso Books – the first complete translation in Malayalam, Kalila–wa–Dimna (Arabic), Hitopadesha Stories by Narayanan, Kathasarithasagara of Somadev and the English versions translated directly from Sanskrit published by the world-renowned publishers like Penguin, Oxford, Cambridge & Chicago press. To make out certain tough expressions in Kalila-wa-Dimna, the book ‘Kaleelayum Dimnayum’ by T.K. Ubaid has been helpful to me. Also, the book Panchatantram Kathakal by R.V.Sasidharan Nair, published by Viswabharati publications, Thiruvananthapuram has been of use during the work of final touches. Sasidharan Nair has claimed that his book is a prose rendering of the almost complete translation by Mathew M. Kuzhiveli in 1955 AD.
I left out long philosophical discussions afraid of being a tedious text. Yet almost all aphorisms are retained. Stories spanning over chapters have been put as separate units. I took the advantage to modify certain chapter headings to express the themes through the titles. Some additional sentences are used to clarify certain ideas and they are given only in brackets. You may find here some stories not found in other translations. They are found in the appendices of other translations in the same situations. Reference given below for further reading.
I prepared this book with openness and good intention. The book and its stories embraced by millions of people from all walks of life. Long journey of the book throughout the centuries shaped human thoughts and influenced generations after generations across the globe. All the seeds do not sprout with the rains; all those which sprout do not bear fruits. However, certain seeds sprout and supply fruits to man, animals and birds. Witnessing that, heaven is pleased. The Creator’s laugh, God’s laugh…!
A very special thanks to Mr. Umer Ibrahim, my friend and neighbour who helped me to translate in a renewed structure.
MAY THE ALMIGHTY BESTOW HIS BLESSINGS UPON ALL OF US.
[1] THE PANCHATANTRA / Arthur Ryder: Page. 3