Eons ago, the city-state of Mahilaropyam in southern India was governed by Amarasakti. He had three rambunctious sons who were a constant source of anxiety for him. The king called upon his ministers and asked for their counsel after realizing that his sons had no interest in learning.
Sumati, the king’s Prime Minister, proposed to Vishnu Sharma, a famous scholar revered by hundreds of his pupils, and requested the king to commit his boys to him and observe the difference.
The king summoned Vishnu Sharma and asked him to turn his boys into brilliant scholars, promising Vishnu Sharma a large sum of money if he succeeded. Vishnu Sharma refused to accept any money in exchange for six months of teaching his sons. The king called his sons and entrusted them to the knowledgeable man’s care.
Vishnu Sharma took them to his monastery and began traditionally teaching them, however, there was no fruitful result. Then, Pandit Vishnu chose to teach them new things through storytelling because they were too mischievous to understand and follow traditional teaching techniques. He was successful as his way of teaching was entertaining while teaching the virtue of justice and imparting important life lessons.
It was the moment when Pandit Vishnu realized the power of teaching his pupils through stories. It is how Panchatantra’s stories came into existence. They were originally written in the 2nd century BC by Pandit Vishnu Sharma and his team of scholars. The purpose of introducing Panchatantra was to ingrain governing skills and moral values in the sons of the king, and it is India’s greatest contribution to the art of storytelling.
What is Panchatantra?
Stories, they have such a fascinating way of taking us into our imaginations. Once upon a time, long ago, once… these were the stairs to a world where we still find ourselves that little kid who awaited storytime. Those were not just the stories but a foundation for the values we still carry in our hearts and pursue in our actions. Stories help us to relate and create connections with everything around us. They help us to interpret the lesson and understand ourselves better.
“Knowledge is the true organ of sight, not the eyes.” It is the running theme of the Panchatantra and a practical guide to the art of intelligent living (niti). Panchatantra is a Sanskrit word, and if we break the word, it is Pancha – five and tantra – system, and it has five volumes with almost fifty stories in each volume. It never becomes dull and is kept interesting by the involvement of animals.
The Panchatantra has so much to offer that can be inculcated in human behaviour, even though the stories are based on the animal kingdom. The oldest translations were in Arabic and Pahlavi, which is entirely attributed to the personal physician of the Persian Emperor, Borzuy. He came to India in 570 CE in search of Mritasanjeevani, a mystical herb to revive the dead. He did not find the herb, however, he found the treasure of Panchatantra instead. When he read it, he made a powerful remark, “I found the herb I was looking for, the magical herb is Knowledge and the dead is Ignorance.”
What are the Different Volumes of Panchatantra?
It is a collection of stories in five different books, and they are divided as follows: The Loss of Friends or Mitra Bheda, The Winning of Friends or Mitra Samprapti, Crows and Owls or Kakolookiyam, The Loss of Gains or Labdha Pranasam, and Ill-Considered Action or Aprikshita Karakam are the five sections of the collection.
Mitra Bheda [The Loss of Friends]
It is about not letting go of something precious to you. It is a collection of stories that portrays loss. There are two themes in this section related to trauma and pain after losing a friend and the reason we lose friends in the first place.
Mitra Labha [The Winning of Friends]
This section is about communication, good performance, and motivation. It has a collection of stories that teach us about winning friends. The primary principle here is the importance of friends and how good company can change our lives for good.
Kakolookiyam [Crows and Owls]
This book contains stories on war and peace rules and techniques. It is a fantastic medium for young minds to learn about the importance of peace over violence.
Labdha Pranasam [The Loss of Gains]
These stories teach about the loss of something gained once. The stories in the Panchatantra’s Labdha Pranasam volume offer discussions on how to get out of difficult situations without losing everything. Every person (kids or adults) will confront challenging circumstances at some point in their lives; how we deal with these challenges and emerge from them without losing things like faith is explored in this part.
Aprikshita Karakam [Ill-Considered Actions]
It is a unique collection of stories on how rash decisions lead to losing crucial things. These stories tell us why we should avoid actions without thinking at all costs and how critical it is to prepare and consider things.
The stories of the Panchatantra pique the interest of children and adults. Vishnu Sharma chose stories to convey the message as it is easier to understand if the technique was entertaining yet ended with a learning experience. The Panchatantra is a powerful book to make one a worldly-wise and successful man.
What are the Benefits of Reading Panchatantra to Kids?
The Panchatantra stories contain the possibility of shaping our lives more meaningfully in all aspects. The wisdom in the stories makes the readers ponder upon their character and personalities, and brings a significant change in their lives. It is how the readers become aware of the fact that every solution lies within, and they are the key to their locked selves.
Igniting Curiosity and Brain Development
The stories narrated in the Panchatantra are fun-filled and have the power to generate curiosity. When the kids read these stories, they learn about human actions and reactions in different circumstances. It allows them to handle real-life situations according to the lessons they learn from the stories, and it directly helps develop the brain.
Learn about Rich Indian Heritage
The stories comprise the culture and values we Indians follow. They teach so much about the different objects of human desires, Neeti (policy), Kama (pleasure of the senses), Dharma (religion or moral conduct), and Artha (worldly wisdom).
Qualitative Time
Storytelling is a fantastic way for a child and parent to bond since the parent can involve the youngster in the story and ask questions, making it a two-way dialogue. As a result, the child will develop communication skills and concentration, as they will need to pay attention to the story to answer the questions.
They are Fun to Read
The majority of the characters are animals, making it an enjoyable read for kids. They recall the narrative readily and may relate to it in some ways. Although it is not preachy, it contains a strong moral message.
Enhances Reading Habit
If a parent introduces the stories to the children at an early age, it builds a habit of reading. Once a reader, always a learner and this habit can carve a path of success for them. If they imbibe the gist of the Panchatantra stories, they can do wonders in life with the lessons of those stories.
Many people mistake these for pre-school nursery stories or fables because the story characters are usually animals. It is a mere misconception. Pandit Vishnu Sharma’s brilliance is in writing stories about animals without regard for cultural bias because animals are animals in any society. The Panchatantra has the power to alter our perceptions of numerous problems in life.
The stories are based on real-world circumstances and demonstrate a virtuous and realistic approach to leading a happy life. Learning is always relevant to what a person will encounter every day. Although the book is over two thousand years old, the ideas and knowledge in it transcend time and culture since it teaches us how to be wiser, spot frauds and cheating, create friends, and live life with our intelligence.
Image Source: https://kathakids.com/static/story-images/2019/07/The-Man-who-wrote-Panchatantra.jpg
Written By: Jimmy Jain
Edited By: Afreen Fatima
Society of Design Thinking Professionals
