Essay name: Panchatantra: A reflex of Arthashastra
Author:
M. N. Indrani
Affiliation: Karnatak University / Department of Sanskrit
The essay studies the Panchatantra in relation to the Arthashastra by proposing that that Indian fable literature divides into educative and entertaining narratives, both traced back to the sacred Vedic texts. It highlights the 'Pancatantra' and its kin as representative of educative stories.
Chapter 1 - A survey of the Niti-Katha-Sahitya
27 (of 28)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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27
Before eating Lambakar峁嘺 the lion goes to bathe but jackal
eats the heart and the ears and then convinces the lion that
the ass had neither. The story praises the cunning of the jackal
and blames the stupidity of the ass and of the lion who is no
less a fool.
The theme of the fifth book, Aparik峁ta-K膩raka, (ill-
considered action) opens with the story of an young merchant
Manibhadra mourning over the loss of his fortune. In a dream,
he is bidden to slay a monk who will visit him in the morning;
the monk will then turn into his lost treasure. The merchant
does as he dreamt and gets back his wealth. A barber, having
seen all this, clubs to death several monks, expecting a lot of
treasure. Instead, he receives the death sentence at the hands
of justice. The fate of the barber reminds the merchant of the
tale of the brahmin-wife and the mongoose, and he relates the
tale to the judges. The brahmin-wife leaves the mongoose to
guard his sleeping child. On his return, however, the mongoose
runs to greet him with paws red with blood. Thinking that the
mongoose has killed his child, the brahmin-wife kills the
mongoose. She then discovers the mutilated body of a snake,
while his child is safe. The brahmin-wife is filled with remorse
for his thoughtless action in killing the mongoose that had
actually saved his child's life.
The tone of this book is rather unhappy since the different
tales are intended to demonstrate the bad effects of diverse
