The Pancatantra

Didactic tales and fables.

The Pancatantra is one of the earliest books of fables and its influence can be seen in the Arabian Nights, the Decameron, the Canterbury Tales and most notably in the Fables of La Fontaine... Tradition ascribes this fabulous work to Visnu Sarma, whose existence has not been conclusively established. Faced with the challenge of educating three unlettered princes, to awaken their intelligence, Visnu Sarma evolved a unique pedagogy - for his aim was to teach the princes how to think not what to think - and it was thus that these entertaining and edifying stories came to be composed. The Pancatantra started travelling from the land of its origin before AD 570, as a version in Pehlevi. Since then more than 200 versions have been executed in more than fifty languages. Chandra Rajan, a noted Sanskrit scholar, has based her translation on the Purnabhadra recension (AD 1199). While remaining faithful to the original, she breathes new life into the stories, skillfully combining prose and verse to give us an eminently readable translation.