Panchatantra

Tantrkhyyik[6] (Sanskrit: ) and inspired

the Hitopadesha. It was translated into Middle Persian
in 570 CE by Borzya. This became the basis for a
Syriac translation as Kalilag and Damnag[7] and a translation into Arabic in 750 CE by Persian scholar Abdullah
Ibn al-Muqaa as Kallah wa Dimnah[8] (Arabic:
). A New Persian version from the 12th century became known as Kalleh o Demneh[9] (Persian: )
and this was the basis of Kashes 15th century Anvr-e
Soheyl [10] (Persian: , 'The Lights of Canopus').
The book in dierent form is also known as The Fables of
Bidpai[11][12] (or Pilpai, in various European languages)
or The Morall Philosophie of Doni (English, 1570).
A 'Panchatantra' relief at the Mendut temple, Central Java, Indonesia.

1 Content

The Panchatantra (IAST: Pacatantra, Sanskrit: ,

'Five Principles or Techniques) is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in verse and prose,
arranged within a frame story. The original Sanskrit
work, which some scholars believe was composed around
the 3rd century BCE,[1] is attributed to Vishnu Sharma.
It is based on older oral traditions, including animal fables that are as old as we are able to imagine.[2] It is
certainly the most frequently translated literary product
of India,[3] and these stories are among the most widely
known in the world.[4] To quote Edgerton (1924):[5]

For lists of stories in the Panchatantra, see List of

Panchatantra Stories.
The Panchatantra is a series of inter-woven fables,
many of which involve animals exhibiting animal stereotypes.[13] According to its own narrative, it illustrates, for
the benet of three ignorant princes, the central Hindu
principles of nti.[14] While nti is hard to translate, it
roughly means prudent worldly conduct, or the wise conduct of life.[15]
Apart from a short introduction in which the author,
Vishnu Sharma, is introduced as narrating the rest of the
work to the princes it consists of ve parts. Each part
contains a main story, called the frame story, which in
turn contains several stories emboxed in it, as one character narrates a story to another. Often these stories contain further emboxed stories.[16] The stories thus operate
like a succession of Russian dolls, one narrative opening
within another, sometimes three or four deep. Besides the
stories, the characters also quote various epigrammatic
verses to make their point.[17]

...there are recorded over two hundred different versions known to exist in more than fty
languages, and three-fourths of these languages
are extra-Indian. As early as the eleventh
century this work reached Europe, and before 1600 it existed in Greek, Latin, Spanish, Italian, German, English, Old Slavonic,
Czech, and perhaps other Slavonic languages.
Its range has extended from Java to Iceland...
[In India,] it has been worked over and over
again, expanded, abstracted, turned into verse,
retold in prose, translated into medieval and
modern vernaculars, and retranslated into Sanskrit. And most of the stories contained in
it have gone down into the folklore of the
story-loving Hindus, whence they reappear in
the collections of oral tales gathered by modern students of folk-stories.

The ve books are called:

Mitra-bheda: The Separation of Friends (The Lion
and the Bull)
Mitra-lbha or Mitra-samprpti: The Gaining of
Friends (The Dove, Crow, Mouse, Tortoise and
Deer)

Thus it goes by many names in many cultures. In India, it had at least 25 recensions, including the Sanskrit

Kkolkyam: Of Crows and Owls (War and Peace)

1

1 CONTENT
Labdhapraam: Loss Of Gains (The Monkey and
the Crocodile)
Aparkitakraka: Ill-Considered Action / Rash
deeds (The Brahman and the Mongoose)

1.1

Indian version

Mitra-bheda, The Separation of Friends

In the rst book, a friendship arises between the lion
Pigalaka, the king of the forest, and Sajvaka, a bull.
Karataka ('Horribly Howling') and Damanaka ('Victor')
are two jackals that are retainers to the lion king. Against
Karatakas advice, Damanaka breaks up the friendship
between the lion and the bull out of jealousy. This book
contains around thirty stories, mostly told by the two jackals. It is the longest of the ve books, making up roughly From a Syrian painting. The owls are burned to death by the
crows.
45% of the works length.[18]
Mitra-samprpti, The Gaining of Friends

Labdhapraam, Loss of Gains

Seeing the favour the rat performed to free the dove (or
pigeon) and her companions, a crow decides to befriend
the rat, despite the rats initial objections. The storyline
evolves as their friendship grows to include the turtle and
the fawn. They collaborate to save the fawn when he is
trapped, and later they work together to save the turtle,
who falls in the trap. This makes up about 22% of the
total length.[18]

The story tells of a symbiotic relationship between the

monkey and the crocodile. The crocodile risks the liaison
by conspiring to acquire the heart of the monkey to heal
his wife. When the monkey nds out the plan, he avoids
the grim fate.
Aparkitakraka, Hasty Action
Main article: The Brahmin and the Mongoose
A Brahman leaves his child with a mongoose friend.
When he returns, he sees blood on the mongooses mouth,
and kills his friend, believing the animal killed his child.
The Brahman discovers his child alive, and learns that the
mongoose defended the child from a snake. He regrets
having killed his friend.

1.2 Mid. Persian and Arabic versions

Kkolkyam, Of Crows and Owls

The Persian Ibn al-Muqaa' translated the Panchatantra

(in Middle Persian: Kalilag-o Demnag) from Middle Persian to Arabic as Kalla wa Dimna. This is considered
the rst masterpiece of Arabic literary prose.[19] By the
time the Sanskrit version migrated several hundred years
through Pahlavi (Middle Persian) into Arabic, some important dierences arose.

Traditional enemies, the crows and the owls are at war.

One of the crows pretends to be an outcast from his own
group to gain entry into the rival owl group; he learns their
secrets and vulnerabilities. He later summons his group
of crows to set re to all entrances to the cave where the
owls live and the creatures suocate to death. This is
about 26% of the total length.[18]

The introduction and the frame story of the rst book

changed.[20] An initial introduction explains how the
book was rst composed at the time of Alexander the
Greats (called in the book- he with two
horns) attempt to reach India. In it an Indian King repents past misdeeds and requests an Indian sage (called
Bidaba) to compose a body of work with wisdom and fables that are to be passed down for the future generations.

A page from the Arabic version of Kalila wa dimna, dated 1210

CE, illustrating the King of the Crows conferring with his political
advisors.

1.2

Mid. Persian and Arabic versions

3
the castle before he is able to access the book and return with it to Persia. The Persian emperor then rewards
him and allows him to translate the book into the Persian
language to be read by everyone. Ibn Al-Muqaa then
follows this long introduction, interjected with many sayings of wisdom, fables and noteworthy morals, with the
actual fables of Kalila and Dimna.[21]
The two jackals names transmogried into Kalila and
Dimna. Perhaps because the rst section constituted most
of the work, or because translators could nd no simple equivalent in Zoroastrian Pahlavi for the concept expressed by the Sanskrit word 'Panchatantra', the jackals
names, Kalila and Dimna, became the generic name for
the entire work in classical times.

A page from Kelileh o Demneh, depicts the jackal-vizier

Damanaka ('Victor')/ Dimna trying to persuade his lion-king
that the honest bull-courtier, Sajvaka/Schanzabeh, is a traitor.
The 1429 Persian translation (from Herat) was derived from the
Arabic version, Kalila wa Dimna, of the Indian Panchatantra.

After the rst chapter, Ibn al-Muqaa inserted a new

one, telling of Dimnas trial. The jackal is suspected of instigating the death of the bull Shanzabeh, a key character in the rst chapter. The trial lasts for two days without
conclusion, until a tiger and leopard appear to bear witness against Dimna. He is found guilty and put to death.
Ibn al-Muqaa' inserted other additions and interpretations into his 750CE re-telling (see Francois de Blois
Burzys voyage to India and the origin of the book
Kallah wa Dimnah). The political theorist Jennifer
London suggests that he was expressing risky political
views in a metaphorical way. (Al-Muqaa' was murdered
within a few years of completing his manuscript). London has analysed how Ibn al-Muqaa' could have used his
version to make frank political expression at the 'Abbasid court (see J. Londons How To Do Things With
Fables: Ibn al-Muqaas Frank Speech in Stories from
Kalila wa Dimna, History of Political Thought XXIX:
2 (2008)).
Al-Muqaa' also changed the characterisation of some
animals, perhaps to have local types which his readers
would recognise. For instance, the crocodile in the fourth
chapter is changed to a tortoise, and the mongoose into a
weasel. The Brahman is described as a hermit.
He begins each chapter of Kalila wa Dimna with a guiding frame-story theme that suggests key aspects of leadership:
1. One should always be wary if one friend accuses another of crime;

From the same 1429 Persian manuscript.

Sajvaka/Schanzabeh, the innocent bull courtier, is murdered
unjustly by King Lion. The scheming jackal vizier [left]
Damanaka ('Victor')/Dimna watches in full view of his shocked
brother Karataka ('Horribly Howling')/Kalila [right].

2. (Added chapter) Truth will be revealed, sooner or

later;

This is then stored in the great vault of kings as a national

treasure. In the second part a Persian emperor hears of
a great book of wisdom in the vaults of treasures in the
land of the Indian kings. He sends one of his trusted aides
who spends years winning the trust of the inner circle in

5. One must be careful not to betray friends, especially

guarding against ones own tendencies towards foolishness; and

3. Cooperation among friends is vital to their survival;

4. Mental strength and deceit are stronger in warfare
than brute force;

6. One should be wary of hasty judgements.

3 ORIGINS AND FUNCTION

Links with other fables

Scholars have noted the strong similarity between a few

of the stories in The Panchatantra and Aesops Fables.
Examples are 'The Ass in the Panthers Skin' and 'The
Ass without Heart and Ears'.[22] The Broken Pot is similar to Aesops "The Milkmaid and Her Pail",[23] The
Gold-Giving Snake is similar to Aesops The Man and
the Serpent and Le Paysan et Dame serpent by Marie
de France (Fables)[24] Other well-known stories include
"The Tortoise and The Geese" and "The Tiger, the Brahmin and the Jackal". Similar animal fables are found in
most cultures of the world, although some folklorists view
India as the prime source.[25][26] India is described as the
chief source of the worlds fable literature in Funk and
Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore Mythology and
Legend.[27]
The French fabulist Jean de La Fontaine acknowledged
his indebtedness to the work in the introduction to his
Second Fables:
This is a second book of fables that I present
to the public... I have to acknowledge that the
greatest part is inspired from Pilpay, an Indian
Sage.[28]

The evil jackal Damanaka meets the innocent bull Sajvaka.

Indian painting, 1610.

the tales were based on earlier oral folk traditions, which

The Panchatantra is the origin also of several stories in were nally written down, although there is no concluArabian Nights, Sindbad, and of many Western nursery sive evidence.[31] In the early 20th century, W. Norman
Brown found that many folk tales in India appeared to be
rhymes and ballads.[29]
borrowed from literary sources and not vice-versa.[32]

Origins and function

In the Indian tradition, The Panchatantra is a ntistra.

Nti can be roughly translated as the wise conduct of
life[15] and a stra is a technical or scientic treatise;
thus it is considered a treatise on political science and human conduct. Its literary sources are the expert tradition
of political science and the folk and literary traditions of
storytelling. It draws from the Dharma and Artha stras, quoting them extensively.[30] It is also explained that
nti represents an admirable attempt to answer the insistent question how to win the utmost possible joy from life
in the world of men and that nti is the harmonious development of the powers of man, a life in which security,
prosperity, resolute action, friendship, and good learning
are so combined to produce joy.[15]

An early Western scholar who studied The Panchatantra

was Dr. Johannes Hertel, who thought the book had a
Machiavellian character. Similarly, Edgerton noted that
The so-called 'morals of the stories have no bearing on
morality; they are unmoral, and often immoral. They
glorify shrewdness and practical wisdom, in the aairs
of life, and especially of politics, of government.[22]
Other scholars dismiss this assessment as one-sided, and
view the stories as teaching dharma, or proper moral
conduct.[33] Also:[34]
On the surface, the Pacatantra presents
stories and sayings which favor the outwitting
of roguery, and practical intelligence rather
than virtue. However, [..] From this viewpoint the tales of the Pacatantra are eminently
ethical. [...] the prevailing mood promotes an
earthy, moral, rational, and unsentimental ability to learn from repeated experience[.]

The Panchatantra shares many stories in common with

the Buddhist Jataka tales, purportedly told by the historical Buddha before his death around 400 BCE. As the
[30]
scholar Patrick Olivelle writes, It is clear that the Bud- As Olivelle observes:
dhists did not invent the stories. [...] It is quite uncertain
Indeed, the current scholarly debate rewhether the author of [the Panchatantra] borrowed his
garding the intent and purpose of the 'Pastories from the Jtakas or the Mahbhrata, or whether
catantra' whether it supports unscrupulous
he was tapping into a common treasury of tales, both oral
Machiavellian politics or demands ethical conand literary, of ancient India.[30] Many scholars believe

4.1

Early cross-cultural migrations

duct from those holding high oce underscores the rich ambiguity of the text.

In the rst frame story, the evil Damanaka ('Victor') wins,

and not his good brother Karataka. The persistent theme
of evil-triumphant in Kalila and Dimna Part One, frequently outraged readers among Jewish, Christian and
Muslim religious leaders who encountered the work in
translation. Some scholars believe that Ibn al-Muqaa inserted a chapter at the end of Part One, which puts Dimna
in jail, on trial and eventually to death, in an eort to assuage religious opponents of the work.

5
Arabic in 750. This became the source of versions in European languages, until the English translation by Charles
Wilkins of the Sanskrit Hitopadesha in 1787.

4.1 Early cross-cultural migrations

The Panchatantra approximated its current literary form

within the 4th6th centuries CE, though originally written
around 200 BCE. No Sanskrit texts before 1000 CE have
survived.[37] According to Indian tradition, it was written by Pandit Vishnu Sharman, a sage. Buddhist monks
on pilgrimage took the inuential Sanskrit text (probaThe pre-Islamic original, The Panchatantra, contains no
bly both in oral and literary formats) north to Tibet and
such dogmatic moralising. As Joseph Jacobs observed in
China and east to South East Asia.[38] These led to ver1888, "... if one thinks of it, the very raison d'tre of the
sions in all Southeast Asian countries, including Tibetan,
Fable is to imply its moral without mentioning it.[35]
Chinese, Mongolian, Javanese and Lao derivatives.[29]

Cross-cultural migrations

4.2 How Borzuy brought the work from India

See also: Hitopadesha

The work has gone through many dierent versions and

Early history based primarily on Edgerton (1924).

The foolish carpenter of Sarandib, hiding under the bed on which

lie his wife and her lover. She notices his foot and contrives a
story to prove her innocence. Persian illustration of the Kalileh
and Dimneh, 1333.

The Panchatantra also migrated westwards, during the

Sassanid reign of Khosru I Anushiravan. Around 570
CE his notable physician Borzuy translated the work from
Sanskrit into the Middle Persian language, and transliterated the main characters as Karirak ud Damanak.[39][40]
According to the story told in the Shh Nma (The Book
of the Kings, Persia's late 10th century national epic by
Ferdowsi), Borzuy sought his kings permission to make a
trip to Hindustan in search of a mountain herb he had read
about that is mingled into a compound and, when sprinkled over a corpse, it is immediately restored to life.[41]
He did not nd the herb, but was told by a wise sage of
Adaptations and translations from Jacobs (1888); less reliable
for early history.

translations from the sixth century to the present day.[36]

The original Indian version was rst translated into a foreign language (Pahlavi) by Borzya in 570CE, then into

a dierent interpretation. The herb is the

scientist; science is the mountain, everlastingly
out of reach of the multitude. The corpse is the
man without knowledge, for the uninstructed
man is everywhere lifeless. Through knowledge man becomes revivied.

MODERN ERA

The sage pointed to the book Kalila, and Borzuy obtained

the kings permission to read and translate the book, with
the help of some Pandits.[41]

4.3

The Arabic classic by Ibn al-Muqaa

The bird lures sh and kills them, until he tries the same trick with
a crab. Illustration from the editio princeps of the Latin version
by John of Capua.

An illustration from a Syrian edition dated 1354. The rabbit fools

the elephant king by showing him the reection of the moon.

Borzuys 570 CE Pahlavi translation (Kalile va Demne,

now lost) was translated into Syriac. Nearly two centuries later, it was translated into Arabic by Ibn alMuqaa around 750 CE[42] under the Arabic title, Kalla
wa Dimna.[43] After the Arab invasion of Persia (Iran),
Ibn al-Muqaas version (two languages removed from
the pre-Islamic Sanskrit original) emerged as the pivotal
surviving text that enriched world literature.[44] Ibn alMuqqaas work is considered a model of the nest Arabic prose style,[45] and is considered the rst masterpiece
of Arabic literary prose.[19]
Some scholars believe that Ibn al-Muqaas translation
of the second section, illustrating the Sanskrit principle
of Mitra Laabha (Gaining Friends), became the unifying
basis for the Brethren of Purity (Ikwhan al-Safa) the
anonymous 9th century CE encyclopedists whose prodigious literary eort, Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Sincerity, codied Indian, Persian and Greek knowledge. A
suggestion made by Goldziher, and later written on by
Philip K. Hitti in his History of the Arabs, proposes that
The appellation is presumably taken from the story of
the ringdove in Kalilah wa-Dimnah in which it is related that a group of animals by acting as faithful friends
(ikhwan al-safa) to one another escaped the snares of the
hunter. This story is mentioned as an exemplum when
the Brethren speak of mutual aid in one risaala (treatise),
a crucial part of their system of ethics.

into Greek in 1080, into 'modern' Persian by Abu'l Ma'ali

Nasr Allah Munshi in 1121, and in 1252 into Spain (old
Castilian, Calyla e Dymna).
Perhaps most importantly, it was translated into Hebrew
by Rabbi Joel in the 12th century. This Hebrew version was translated into Latin by John of Capua as Directorium Humanae Vitae, or Directory of Human Life,
and printed in 1480, and became the source of most
European versions.[46] A German translation, Das Buch
der Beispiele, of the Panchatantra was printed in 1483,
making this one of the earliest books to be printed by
Gutenberg's press after the Bible.[29]
The Latin version was translated into Italian by
Antonfrancesco Doni in 1552. This translation became
the basis for the rst English translation, in 1570: Sir
Thomas North translated it into Elizabethan English as
The Fables of Bidpai: The Morall Philosophie of Doni
(reprinted by Joseph Jacobs, 1888).[11] La Fontaine published The Fables of Bidpai in 1679, based on the Indian
sage Pilpay.[29]

5 Modern era

It was the Panchatantra that served as the basis for

the studies of Theodor Benfey, the pioneer in the
eld of comparative literature.[47] His eorts began to
clear up some confusion surrounding the history of
the Panchatantra, culminating in the work of Hertel
(Hertel 1908, Hertel 1912, Hertel 1915) and Edgerton
(1924).[29] Hertel discovered several recensions in India, in particular the oldest available Sanskrit recension,
4.4 Spread to the rest of Europe
the Tantrakhyayika in Kashmir, and the so-called North
Western Family Sanskrit text by the Jain monk PurnabAlmost all pre-modern European translations of the Pan- hadra in 1199 CE that blends and rearranges at least three
chatantra arise from this Arabic version. From Arabic it earlier versions. Edgerton undertook a minute study of
was re-translated into Syriac in the 10th or 11th century, all texts which seemed to provide useful evidence on the

7
lost Sanskrit text to which, it must be assumed, they all
go back, and believed he had reconstructed the original
Sanskrit Panchatantra; this version is known as the Southern Family text.
Among modern translations, Arthur W. Ryder's translation (Ryder 1925), translating prose for prose and verse
for rhyming verse, remains popular.[48] In the 1990s two
English versions of the Panchatantra were published,
Chandra Rajans translation (based on the Northwestern
text) by Penguin (1993), and Patrick Olivelles translation
(based on the Southern text) by Oxford University Press
(1997). Olivelles translation was republished in 2006 by
the Clay Sanskrit Library.[49]
Recently Ibn al-Muqaas historical milieu itself, when
composing his masterpiece in Baghdad during the bloody
Abbasid overthrow of the Umayyad dynasty, has become
the subject (and rather confusingly, also the title) of a
gritty Shakespearean drama by the multicultural Kuwaiti
playwright Sulayman Al-Bassam.[50] Ibn al-Muqqafas biographical background serves as an illustrative metaphor
for todays escalating bloodthirstiness in Iraq once
again a historical vortex for clashing civilisations on a
multiplicity of levels, including the obvious tribal, religious and political parallels.
The novelist Doris Lessing notes in her introduction to
Ramsay Wood's 1980 retelling of the rst two of the
ve Panchatantra books,[51] that

7 Notes
[1] Jacobs 1888, Introduction, page xv; Ryder 1925, Translators introduction, quoting Hertel: the original work was
composed in Kashmir, about 200 B.C. At this date, however, many of the individual stories were already ancient.
[2] Doris Lessing, Problems, Myths and Stories, London: Institute for Cultural Research Monograph Series No. 36,
1999, p 13
[3] Introduction, Olivelle 2006, quoting Edgerton 1924.
[4] Ryder 1925, Translators introduction: The Panchatantra
contains the most widely known stories in the world. If it
were further declared that the Panchatantra is the best collection of stories in the world, the assertion could hardly
be disproved, and would probably command the assent of
those possessing the knowledge for a judgment.
[5] Edgerton 1924, p. 3. reacht and workt have been
changed to conventional spelling.
[6] Hertel 1915
[7] Falconer 1885
[8] Knatchbull 1819
[9] Wood 2008
[10] Eastwick 1854, Wollaston 1877, Wilkinson 1930,
[11] Jacobs 1888

"... it is safe to say that most people in the

West these days will not have heard of it, while
they will certainly at the very least have heard
of the Upanishads and the Vedas. Until comparatively recently, it was the other way around.
Anyone with any claim to a literary education
knew that the Fables of Bidpai or the Tales
of Kalila and Dimna these being the most
commonly used titles with us was a great
Eastern classic. There were at least twenty English translations in the hundred years before
1888. Pondering on these facts leads to reection on the fate of books, as chancy and unpredictable as that of people or nations.

See also
Arthashastra
Katha (storytelling format)

[12] The Fables of Pilpay, facsimile reprint of the 1775 edition,

Darf Publishers, London 1987
[13] Ryder 1925, Translators introduction: Thus, the lion is
strong but dull of wit, the jackal crafty, the heron stupid,
the cat a hypocrite. The animal actors present, far more
vividly and more urbanely than men could do, the view of
life here recommendeda view shrewd, undeceived, and
free of all sentimentality; a view that, piercing the humbug of every false ideal, reveals with incomparable wit the
sources of lasting joy. See also Olivelle 2006, pp. 2631
[14] For this reason, Ramsay Wood considers it an early precursor of the mirrors for princes genre.
[15] Ryder 1925, Translators introduction: The Panchatantra is a niti-shastra, or textbook of niti. The word
niti means roughly the wise conduct of life. Western civilization must endure a certain shame in realizing that no
precise equivalent of the term is found in English, French,
Latin, or Greek. Many words are therefore necessary to
explain what niti is, though the idea, once grasped, is clear,
important, and satisfying.
[16] Edgerton 1924, p. 4

Kathasaritsagara
Mirrors for princes
Wisdom literature

[17] Ryder 1925, Translators introduction: These verses are

for the most part quoted from sacred writings or other
sources of dignity and authority. It is as if the animals in
some English beast-fable were to justify their actions by
quotations from Shakespeare and the Bible. These wise

7 NOTES

verses it is which make the real character of the Panchatantra. The stories, indeed, are charming when regarded as pure narrative; but it is the beauty, wisdom, and
wit of the verses which lift the Panchatantra far above the
level of the best story-books.
[18] Olivelle 2006, p. 23
[19] Lane, Andrew J. (2003), Review: Gregor Schoelers crire
et transmettre dans les dbuts de lislam, Cambridge: MIT
Electronic Journal of Middle East Studies, archived from
the original on 6 March 2008
[20] Franois de Blois (1990), Burzys voyage to India and the
origin of the book of Kallah wa Dimnah, Routledge, pp.
2223, ISBN 978-0-947593-06-3
[21] http://www.al-hakawati.net/arabic/Civilizations/75.pdf
[22] The Panchatantra translated in 1924 from the Sanskrit
by Franklin Edgerton, George Allen and Unwin, London
1965 (Edition for the General Reader), page 13
[23] They are both classied as folktales of Aarne-ThompsonUther type 1430 about daydreams of wealth and fame.
[24] They are both classied as folktales of Aarne-Thompson
type 285D.
[25] K D Upadhyaya, The Classication and Chief Characteristics of Indian (Hindi) Folk-Tales: It is only in the tness
of things that Professors Hertel and Benfey should regard
this land as the prime source of fables and ction.
[26] Anne Mackenzie Pearson (1996), 'Because it gives me
peace of mind': Ritual Fasts in the Religious Lives of Hindu
Women, SUNY Press, p. 279, ISBN 978-0-7914-3037-8
[27] Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore
Mythology and Legend (1975), p. 842

has frequently taken its material from literature. This process has been so extensive that of the 3000 tales so far reported, all of which have been collected during the past
fty years, at least half can be shown to be derived from
literary sources. [...] This table aords considerable evidence in support of the theory that it is the folk tales and
not the literary tales that are borrowed.
[33] Falk, H. (1978), Quellen des Pacatantra, pp. 173188
[34] Roderick Hindery (1996), Comparative ethics in Hindu
and Buddhist traditions, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., p.
166, ISBN 978-81-208-0866-9
[35] Jacobs 1888, p.48
[36] See:
Kalila and Dimna, Selected fables of Bidpai, retold
by Ramsay Wood (with an Introduction by Doris
Lessing), Illustrated by Margaret Kilrenny, New
York: Alfred A Knopf, 1980
Kalila and Dimna, Tales for Kings and Commoners,
Selected Fables of Bidpai, retold by Ramsay Wood,
Introduction by Doris Lessing, Rochester, Vermont:
Inner Traditions International, 1986
Tales of Kalila and Dimna, Classic Fables from India, retold by Ramsay Wood, Introduction by Doris
Lessing, Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International, 2000, Amazon.com. This is a reprint of
the 1986 edition, repackaged with a fresh title and
a new cover.
Kalila and Dimna, Fables of Friendship and Betrayal, by Ramsay Wood, Introduction by Doris
Lessing, Postscript by Dr Christine van Ruymbeke,
London: Saqi Books, 2008

[28] (Je dirai par reconnaissance que jen dois la plus grande
partie Pilpay sage indien) Avertissement to the Second
Compilation of Fables, 1678, Jean de La Fontaine

Kalila and Dimna, The Panchatantra Retold, Book

One, by Ramsay Wood, Introduction by Doris Lessing, Random House India, Noida, Uttar Pradesh:
2010

[29] Vijay Bedekar, History of the Migration of Panchatantra,

Institute for Oriental Study, Thane

Kalile e Dimna, Fiable indiane di Bidpai, cura

di Ramsay Wood, Venice: Neri Pozza, 2007
Internetbookshop.it

[30] Olivelle 2006, p. 18

[31] Bedekar: Its probable relation to early folk and oral tradition of story telling in India has been suggested by many.
Rather, it is fashionable to make such statements that 'Panchatantra' and allied Katha literature in India had their origin in early folk stories. However, not a single credible evidence has been produced till this date, other than lengthy
discussions on hypothetical assumptions.
[32] Brown, Norman W. 1919. "'The Panchatantra' in Modern
Indian Folklore, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol 39, pp 1 &17: It is doubtless true that in the
remote past many stories had their origin among the illiterate folk, often in pre-literary times, and were later taken
into literature. It is also just as true that many stories that
appear in literature existed there rst and are not indebted
to the folklore for their origin. But leaving aside questions
concerning the early history of Hindu stories and dealing
strictly with modern Indian ction, we nd that folklore

Animal Tales of the Arab World by Denys JohnsonDavies, Hoopoe Books, Cairo 1995
Kalila und Dimna, oder die Kunst, Fruende zu
gewinnen, Fabeln des Bidpai, erzahlt von Ramsay
Wood, Vorwort von Doris Lessing, translated by
Edgar Otten, Herder/Spektrum, Freiberg 1996
Kalila y Dimna, Fabulas de Bidpai, Contadas por
Ramsay Wood, Introduccio de Doris Lessing ,
translated from the English by Nicole d'Amonville
Alegria, Kairos, Barcelona 1999
Kalila wa Dimna or The Mirror for Princes by Sulayman Al-Bassam, Oberon Modern Plays, London
2006, Amazon.co.uk
Kalila et Dimna, Fables indiennes de Bidbai,
choisies et racontes par Ramsay Wood, Albin
Michel, Paris 2006 Alapage.com
[37] Edgerton 1924, p. 9

[38] Tarquin Hall Review: Colin Thubron, Shadow of the Silk

Road, London: Chatto & Windus, 2006, New Statesman,
25 September 2011, Review includes description of how
some of the monks likely traveled in ancient times.
[39] IIS.ac.uk Dr Fahmida Suleman, Kalila wa Dimna, in
Medieval Islamic Civilization, An Encyclopaedia, Vol. II,
p. 432-433, ed. Josef W. Meri, New York-London:
Routledge, 2006
[40] Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub, Naqde adabi, Tehran 1959 pp:
374379. (See Contents 1.1 Pre-Islamic Iranian literature)
[41] The Shh Nma, The Epic of the Kings, translated by
Reuben Levy, revised by Amin Banani, Routledge &
Kegan Paul, London 1985, Chapter XXXI (iii) How
Borzuy brought the Kalila of Demna from Hindustan,
pages 330 334
[42] The Fables of Kalila and Dimnah, translated from the Arabic by Saleh Sa'adeh Jallad, 2002. Melisende, London,
ISBN 1-901764-14-1
[43] Muslim Neoplatonist: An Introduction to the Thought of the
Brethren of Purity, Ian Richard Netton, 1991. Edinburgh
University Press, ISBN 0-7486-0251-8
[44] See fourteen illuminating commentaries about or relating
to Kalila wa Dimna under the entry for Ibn al-Muqqaa in
the INDEX of The Penguin Anthology of Classical Arabic
Literature by Rober Irwin, Penguin Books, London 2006
[45] James Kritzeck (1964) Anthology of Islamic Literature,
New American Library, New York, page 73:
On the surface of the matter it may seem
strange that the oldest work of Arabic prose
which is regarded as a model of style is a
translation from the Pahlavi (Middle Persian)
of the Sanskrit work Panchatantra, or The
Fables of Bidpai, by Ruzbih, a convert from
Zoroastrianism, who took the name Abdullah ibn al-Muqaa. It is not quite so strange,
however, when one recalls that the Arabs had
much preferred the poetic art and were at rst
suspicious of and untrained to appreciate, let
alone imitate, current higher forms of prose
literature in the lands they occupied. Leaving
aside the great skill of its translation (which
was to serve as the basis for later translations
into some forty languages), the work itself is
far from primitive, having beneted already
at that time 750 CE from a lengthy history
of stylistic revision. Kalilah and Dimnah is
in fact the patriarchal form of the Indic fable in which animals behave as humans as
distinct from the Aesopic fable in which they
behave as animals. Its philosophical heroes
through the initial interconnected episodes illustrating The Loss of Friends, the rst Hindu
principle of polity are the two jackals, Kalilah
and Dimnah. It seems unjust, in the light of
posteritys appreciation of his work, that Ibn
al-Muqaa was put to death after charges of
heresy about 755 CE.

See also pages 69 72 for his vivid summary of Ibn alMuqaas historical context.
[46] Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bidpai, Fables of".
Encyclopdia Britannica 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
[47] Harvard Oriental Series. Books.google.com. Retrieved 14
April 2013.
[48] Ahsan Jan Qaisar; Som Prakash Verma, eds. (2002), Art
and culture: painting and perspective, Abhinav Publications, p. 33, ISBN 978-81-7017-405-9: it became the
most popular and easily accessible English translation, going into many reprints.
[49] Rajan (1993), Olivelle (1997), Olivelle (2006).
[50] Kalila wa Dimna or The Mirror for Princes by Sulayman
Al-Bassam, Oberon Modern Plays, London 2006
[51] Kalila and Dimna, Selected fables of Bidpai, retold by
Ramsay Wood (with an Introduction by Doris Lessing), Illustrated by Margaret Kilrenny, A Paladin Book,
Granada, London, 1982

8 Editions and translations

(Ordered chronologically.)

8.1 Sanskrit texts

Critical editions
Hertel, Johannes (1908), The Panchatantra: a collection of ancient Hindu tales, in the recension called
Panchakhyanaka, and dated 1199 A.D., of the Jaina
monk, Prabhadra, critically edited in the original
Sanskrit (in Ngar letters, and, for the sake of beginners, with word-division), Harvard Oriental Series
Volume 11
Hertel, Johannes (1912), The Panchatantra-text of
Prabhadra : critical introduction and list of variants, Harvard Oriental Series Volume 12
Hertel, Johannes (1912), The Panchatantra-text of
Prabhadra and its relation to texts of allied recensions as shown in parallel specimens, Harvard Oriental Series Volume 13
Hertel, Johannes (1915), The Panchatantra: a collection of ancient Hindu tales in its oldest recension,
the Kashmirian, entitled Tantrakhyayika, Harvard
Oriental Series Volume 14
Edgerton, Franklin (1924), The Panchatantra Reconstructed (Vol.1: Text and Critical Apparatus,
Vol.2: Introduction and Translation), New Haven,
Connecticut: American Oriental Series Volumes 2
3

10

9 FURTHER READING

Others
Kntha Puraga Paraba, ed. (1896), The
Pachatantraka of Vishusarman, Tukrm Jvj,
Google Books
Pandit Guru Prasad Shastri (1935), Panchatantra
with the commentary Abhinavarajalaxmi, Benares:
Bhargava Pustakalaya (Text with Sanskrit commentary)
Shayamacharan Pandey (1975), Pacatantram,
Vras:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
ISBN
9788120821583 (Complete Sanskrit text with
Hindi translation)

8.2

Translations in English

Knatchbull, Rev Wyndham (1819), Kalila and

Dimna or The Fables of Bidpai, Oxford Google
BooksGoogle Books (translated from Silvestre de
Stacys laborious 1816 collation of dierent Arabic
manuscripts)
Eastwick, Edward B (transl.) (1854), The Anvari
Suhaili; or the Lights of Canopus Being the Persian
version of the Fables of Pilpay; or the Book Kallah
and Damnah rendered into Persian by Husain V'iz
U'L-Kshif, Hertford: Stephen Austin, Bookseller
to the East-India College Also online at Persian Literature in Translation
Wollaston, Arthur N. (transl.) (1877), The AnwarI-Suhaili Or Lights of Canopus Commonly Known
As Kalilah And Damnah Being An Adaptation By
Mulla Husain Bin Ali Waiz-Al-Kashi of The Fables
of Bidapai, London: W H Allen
Falconer, Ion Keith (1885), Kalilah and Dimnah or
The Fables of Bidpai, Cambridge University Press,
reprinted by Philo Press, Amsterdam 1970
Jacobs, Joseph (1888), The earliest English version of the Fables of Bidpai, London Google Books
(edited and induced from The Morall Philosophie of
Doni by Sir Thomas North, 1570)
Tales Within Tales adapted from the fables of Pilpai, Sir Arthur N Wollaston, John Murray, London
1909
Wilkinson (1930), The Lights of Canopus described
by J V S Wilkinson, London: The Studio Limited
Ryder, Arthur W. (transl) (1925), The Panchatantra, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 817224-080-5 (also republished in 1956, reprint 1964,
and by Jaico Publishing House, Bombay, 1949).
(Translation based on Hertels North Western Family Sanskrit text.)

Rajan, Chandra (transl.) (1993), Viu arma: The

Panchatantra, London: Penguin Books, ISBN 9780-14-045520-5 (reprint: 1995) (also from the North
Western Family text.)
Olivelle, Patrick (transl.) (1997), The Pancatantra:
The Book of Indias Folk Wisdom, Oxford University
Press, ISBN 978-0-19-283988-6 (Translation based
on Edgertons Southern Family Sanskrit text.)
Dharma, Krishna (transl.) (2004), Panchatantra A
vivid retelling of Indias most famous collection of fables, Badger CA, USA: Torchlight Publishing, ISBN
978-1-887089-45-6 (Accessible popular compilation derived from a Sanskrit text with reference to
the aforementioned translations by Chandra Rajan
and Patrick Olivelle.)
Olivelle, Patrick (2006), The Five Discourses on
Worldly Wisdom, Clay Sanskrit Library, ISBN 9780-8147-6208-0
Wood, Ramsay (2008), Kalila and Dimna, Fables of
Friendship and Betrayal, Introduction by Doris Lessing, Postscript by Dr Christine van Ruymbeke, London: Saqi Books, ISBN 978-0-86356-661-5
Wood, Ramsay (2008), Kalila and Dimna, Fables of
Friendship and Betrayal (Vol. 1: Books 1 & 2) Introduction by Doris Lessing (US Kindle edition), Edinburg: Zirac Press, ISBN 0-86356-661-8 Also in
Europe..
Wood, Ramsay (2010), Kalila and Dimna, The Panchatantra Retold Book One, Introduction by Doris
Lessing, Noida: Random House India
Wood, Ramsay (2011), Kalila and Dimna, Fables of
Conict and Intrigue (Vol. 2: Books 4 & 5), Introduction by Michael Wood (US Kindle edition), Edinburg: Zirac Press, ISBN 0-9567081-0-2 Also in
Europe..

9 Further reading
N. M. Penzer (1924), The Ocean of Story, Being C.H. Tawneys Translation of Somadevas Katha
Sarit Sagara (or Ocean of Streams of Story): Volume
V (of X), Appendix I: pp. 207242
Burzoys Voyage to India and the Origin of the Book
of Kalilah wa Dimnah Google Books, Francois de
Blois, Royal Asiatic Society, London, 1990
On Kalila wa Dimna and Persian National Fairy
Tales Transoxiana.com, Dr.
Pavel Basharin
[Moscow], Tansoxiana 12, 2007
The Past We Share The Near Eastern Ancestry
of Western Folk Literature, E. L. Ranelagh, Quartet
Books, Horizon Press, New York, 1979

11
In Arabian Nights A Search of Morocco through
its Stories and Storytellers by Tahir Shah, Doubleday,
2008.
Ibn al-Muqaa, Abdallah. Kalilah et Dimnah.
Ed. P. Louis Cheiko. 3 ed. Beirut: Imprimerie
Catholique, 1947.
Ibn al-Muqaa, Abd'allah. Calila e Dimna. Edited
by Juan Manuel Cacho Blecua and Mara Jesus
Lacarra. Madrid: Editorial Castalia, 1984.
Keller, John Esten, and Robert White Linker. El
libro de Calila e Digna. Madrid Consejo Superior
de Investigaciones Cienticas, 1967.
Latham, J.D. Ibn al-Muqaa` and Early `Abbasid
Prose. `Abbasid Belles-Lettres. Eds. Julia Ashtiany,
et al. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1989. 4877.
Parker, Margaret. The Didactic Structure and Content of El libro de Calila e Digna. Miami, FL: Ediciones Universal, 1978.
Penzol, Pedro. Las traducciones del Calila e
Dimna. Madrid,: Impr. de Ramona Velasco, viuda de P. Perez,, 1931.
Shaw, Sandra. The Jatakas Birth Stories of the
Bodhisatta , Penguin Classics, Penguin Books India,
New Delhi, 2006
Wacks, David A. The Performativity of Ibn alMuqaas Kalla wa-Dimna and Al-Maqamat alLuzumiyya of al-Saraqusti. Journal of Arabic Literature 34.12 (2003): 17889.

10

External links

Sept 26 29th 2012 Leipzig Conference on The

Pacatantra Across Cultures and Disciplines
History of the Migration of Panchatantra
Monograph Series No 59: Extraordinary Voyages
of the Panchatantra and how we limit our understanding of the word story.

12

11

11
11.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Panchatantra Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchatantra?oldid=641902873 Contributors: Llywrch, Ahoerstemeier, ,

Kaysov, Charles Matthews, Nataraja, AnonMoos, Calieber, Wereon, Busybox, Rudolf 1922, Meursault2004, Varlaam, Gilgamesh, Per
Honor et Gloria, Semprini, Antandrus, Yamavu, Alren, Kwamikagami, NetBot, Viriditas, Alansohn, TheParanoidOne, Anthony Appleyard, Japanese Searobin, Bobrayner, Woohookitty, Shreevatsa, Dangerous-Boy, Marudubshinki, BD2412, Amir85, Rjwilmsi, Koavf,
Bhadani, Chobot, DaGizza, K2wiki, YurikBot, Butsuri, Sudarshanhs, Deeptrivia, RussBot, Pigman, Robertvan1, Chechtal, Samir, Sandman1142, Lokesh 2000, Esprit15d, InvisibleSun, GrinBot, Ned-kogar, SmackBot, KnowledgeOfSelf, Jagged 85, Matthuxtable, Eskimbot,
Nil Einne, Reza1615, Dgl, MalafayaBot, Sadads, Colonies Chris, Mahanchian, Liontooth, BostonMA, Fullstop, Nepaheshgar, Vina-iwbot,
Ohconfucius, Shyamsunder, Groggy Dice, Richman271, Hu12, Norm mit, TwistOfCain, CmdrObot, Pais, Bazzargh, Johbeil, Cdanek,
Thijs!bot, Hammerhorn, Escarbot, AntiVandalBot, WinBot, Jj137, Debongu, JAnDbot, 100110100, TAnthony, Magioladitis, Bongwarrior, Faizhaider, Thetanmancan, Aziz1005, Jahangard, Gwern, R'n'B, Admira Bang, Adavidb, Dhawal1, Ctesiphon7, Johnbuckman,
Zerokitsune, Versades, GrahamHardy, Idioma-bot, VolkovBot, Aesopos, F.chiodo, JESL2, Enigmaman, Arjun024, GoonerDP, SieBot,
Matthew Yeager, JabbaTheBot, Carnun, Phil wink, Bpeps, Artistpro, ClueBot, The Thing That Should Not Be, Niceguyedc, Parkwells, Zen
Mind, Aua, Geebean, ResidueOfDesign, Simon D M, Sun Creator, XLinkBot, Kalavati, Dthomsen8, WikHead, Addbot, Annielogue, MrOllie, Ahmad2099, Aktsu, The Deceiver, Abjiklam, , Luckas-bot, TaBOT-zerem, KamikazeBot, AnomieBOT, Shahrbaraz, Hunnjazal, Citation bot, ArthurBot, LilHelpa, Xqbot, Arslan-San, GrouchoBot, Verbum Veritas, FrescoBot, Citation bot 1, DrilBot, HRoestBot,
MJ94, MondalorBot, Comancheros, Trappist the monk, Lotje, Aoidh, RjwilmsiBot, EmausBot, Mzilikazi1939, WikitanvirBot, ZxxZxxZ,
Nimnadas, The Nut, Redav, H3llBot, Prabinepali, Nagarjuna198, Helpsome, ClueBot NG, Rgimvl, Helpful Pixie Bot, Titodutta, Leonxlin,
Solomon7968, Mark Arsten, Id 1948, EnzaiBot, Ghufranraghib, , WrobjexWiki, Malerisch, Agrawalbinit43 and Anonymous: 119

11.2

Images

File:Arabischer_Maler_um_1210_001.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Arabischer_Maler_um_

1210_001.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN
3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. Original artist: Arabischer Maler um 1210
File:Bidpai_pedigree.png Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Bidpai_pedigree.png License: Public domain
Contributors: Joseph Jacobs, ed: The earliest English version of the fables of Bidpai, The morall philosophie of Doni by Sir Thomas
North. London: David Nutt, 1888. (insert after p. lxxx) Original artist: Joseph Jacobs; PNG by Phil wink adapted from PDF at archive.org
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artist: ?
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Contributors: The earliest English version of the fables of Bidpai: The morall philosophie of Doni, by Sir Thomas North. Edited and induced
by Joseph Jacobs (1888)", page lxiii Original artist: From the _editio princeps_ of the Latin version by John of Capua
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Kalilah_wa_Dimna_002.jpg Original artist:
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North. Edited and induced by Joseph Jacobs (1888)", frontispiece Original artist: executed in 1610 for Tana Sahib, the last Rajah of
Golconda (See Rieu, Cat. Pers. MSS. p. 756)"
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11.3

11.3

Content license

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