The Panchatantra By Visnu Sarma

The Panchatantra means five books. It is possibly the oldest surviving collection of Indian fables, having been written around 200BC by Pandit Vishnu Sharma, a Hindu scholar.

The book is called a Nitishastra, which means book that imparts wisdom on the correct conduct in life. The book comprises of simple stories, with each story having a philosophical theme and an enduring moral that is as relevant to today’s human society as it was in 200BC. The stories in the book are meant to guide the reader on the path to success by teaching thm how to understand human nature. The stories in their abridged form are commonly told to children as they are growing up in order to teach them important life lessons. The fables feature animal characters, and were originally written in verse and prose. The stories include The Lion and the Bull, The Dove, Crow, Mouse, Tortoise and Deer, War and Peace, The Monkey and the Crocodile, and The Brahman and the Mongoose. The morals of these stories range from being wary of accusatory friends to the importance of cooperation to mind over matter to the danger of hasty decisions.

This version of the book has been translated by Chandra Rajan. It is based on the Purnabhadra recension (AD 1199). It remains faithful to the original and skilfully combining prose and verse to provide an authentic yet readable book. The Panchatantra was published by Penguin India in 2005 in paperback.