The Panchatantra (also spelled Pañcatantra, Sanskrit पञ्चतन्त्र "Five Chapters", Kelileh va Demneh or Kalilag and Damnag in Persian) is a collection of Sanskrit fables in prose and verse. The original version, now lost, was written around 200 BC and is attributed to Vishnu Sarma.

The work illustrates the central priniciples of Raja neeti (political science) through animal stories. The five principles illustrated are:

• Mitra Bhedha (The Loss of Friends)
• Mitra Laabha (Gaining Friends)
• Suhrudbheda (Causing Dissension Between Friends)
• Vigraha (Separation)
• Sandhi (Union)

The Panchatantra reached its current form in the 4th-6th centuries AD. According to Hindu tradition, it was written around 200 BC by Pandit Vishnu Sharma, a sage. One of the most influential Sanskrit contributions to world literature, it was exported to China and South East Asia by Buddhist Monks on pilgrimage. During the Khosrau I of Persia era, his famous minister Burzoe translated the Indian Panchatantra from Sanskrit into the middle Persian language of Pahlavi and called it Kelileh va Demneh. From the Persian version, it was translated into various languages (including Arabic, translation by Ibn al-Muqaffa' , Arabic title Kalīla wa DimmaMuslim Neoplatonist: An Introduction to the Thought of the Brethren of Purity, Ian Richard Netton, 1991. Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-0251-8, which after the Muslim invasion of Persia (Iran) was the first language to be translated to from Persian). From Persian it was transmitted in the 11th century to Greece and thence to the rest of Europe. But it was a 12th century Hebrew translation that became the source of most European versions. 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" ("Je dirai par reconnaissance que j’en dois la plus grande partie à Pilpay sage indien") Avertissement to the Second Compilation of Fables, 1678, Jean de La Fontaine

The stories also travelled to Indonesia in both oral and written forms. A strong similarity exists between some stories in the Panchatantra and Aesop's fables. Similar tales are found in almost all cultures of the world - many folklorists look upon India as the source of all such tales.

See also

• Hitopadesa
• Kalilag and Damnag

Reference