Panchatantra

Pandit Vishnu Sharma

ISBN 10: 8171670652 / ISBN 13: 9788171670659

Published by Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd, 1991

About this Item

Enduring and profound, among the earliest and most popular of all books of fables First recorded 1500 years ago, but taking its origins from a far earlier oral tradition, the Pancatantra is ascribed by legend to the celebrated, half-mythical teacher Visnu Sarma. Asked by a great king to awaken the dulled intelligence of his three idle sons, the aging Sarma is said to have composed the great work as a series of entertaining and edifying fables narrated by a wide range of humans and animals, and together intended to provide the young princes with vital guidance for life. Since first leaving India before AD 570, the Pancatantra has been widely translated and has influenced a cast number of works in India, the Arab world and Europe, including the Arabian Nights, the Canterbury Tales, and the Fables of La Fontaine. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Seller Inventory # CIN8171670652A

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Panchatantra
• Publisher: Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd
• Publication Date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 8171670652
• ISBN 13: 9788171670659
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Fair

About this title

Synopsis

The Panchatantra is a collection of folktales and fables that were believed to have been originally written in Sanskrit by Vishnu Sharma more than 2500 years ago. This collection of stories features animal characters which are stereotyped to associate certain qualities with them. The origins of the Panchatantra lie in a tale of its own when a King approached a learned pandit to ask him to teach the important lessons of life to his ignorant and unwise sons. This learned scholar knew that the royal princes could not understand complex principles in an ordinary way. So he devised a method wherein he would impart important knowledge in the form of simple and easy-to-understand folktales.Thus the Panchatantra came into origin. It is one of the most popular collection of Indian tales and has influenced literature all over the world since the time of its conception. This particular version of the Panchatantra was translated by G L Chandiramani who has also translated the Hitopadesha. Panchatantra comes from the individual words ‘ pancha’ and ‘ tantra’ . While pancha refers to the number five tantra refers to ways/strategies related to inner fulfilment.The stories in this book aim to impart the deeper wisdom of life through the simple portrayal of animal characters. The story of two geese and an tortoise is dedicated to the moral of heeding a trusted friend’ s advice. Another story deals with a wise old rabbit and an angry lion who can’ t control his impatience.This paperback version of the Panchatantra was published in 1991 by Rupa & Co.

About the Author

Believed to be original author of the Panchatantra, Vishnu Sharma belonged to the Kashmir region going by the kind of animals he featured in his stories. His magnum opus, the Panchatantra was translated into Pahlavi in 570 AD, Arabic in 750 AD, and by the 16th century, appeared in German, Greek, Czech, Latin, etc. He is considered to be one of the most-widely translated authors in history who authored non-religious books.