• Stories of Panchtantra

  • By: Sutradhar
  • Podcast
Stories of Panchtantra By cover art

Stories of Panchtantra

By: Sutradhar
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  • Summary

  • More than 2000 years ago, there was a kingdom in southern India named Mahilaropya. The Kingdom was ruled by king Amarshakti. Amarshakti had three sons, Bahushakti, Ugrashakti and Anantashakti. King Amarshakti was a just and able king, well versed in the knowledge of society, economics and diplomacy, however his sons were complete idiots. They would never spend time studying and acquiring knowledge, instead they spent their entire time playing around and doing mischiefs. This worried the good king, for he wanted his children to be prepared to conduct the duties of running a kingdom without hassle. One day the king decided to discuss his worries among his ministers and asked for their advice. The king said, “My wise ministers, I am really worried about my children. They do not spend their time studying scriptures. I am worried that they are not prepared to run this kingdom after me. I urge you all to suggest a way out.” One of the ministers said, “O King! The first twelve years are spent in learning grammar, after that Manu’s Dharmashastra, then Chanakya’s Arthashastra and in the end one learns Vatsyayana’s Kamashastra. It is after learning all four that one's knowledge is complete.” Hearing this the king replied, “Human life is very uncertain and learning all these scriptures and understanding them well will require a very long time. Isn’t there a faster way to gain all this knowledge? I want them to be prepared before I decide to handover this kingdom to them.” At this point a minister named Sumati spoke, “There is a learned teacher by the name of Vishnusharma. He is wise and loved by his disciples. I suggest you hand over the responsibilities of your children to him. He is the only one capable of imparting knowledge to your kids in a short duration.” Considering Sumati’s advice, the King invited Vishnusharma to his court and said, “O learned one! I need your help. I want you to educate my children and teach them about social, practical and political matters in a short time. If you do that I will reward you with 100 villages.” Vishnusharma heard the king patiently and replied, “O king! I am a teacher. I would not even know what to do with the reward of 100 villages. I do not have that kind of desire. However I will certainly take up the responsibility of educating your kids and if I fail to educate them appropriately in the next 6 months, I will happily accept any punishment you deem suitable.” Hearing these words from the learned teacher, the King became free of worries and he instructed his children to go with the teacher to his gurukul and study as per his instructions. Vishnusharma brought those princes with him to his gurukul and started teaching them through interesting stories centered around animal characters. Vishnusharma divided his lessons into five parts. First part was about differences or conflicts among friends, the second part was choosing the right friend and forming relationships, the third part was about stories of crows and owls, the fourth part was about what to do in desperate situations and the fifth part was how to navigate in situations about which one does not have complete visibility. Thus Vishnusharma imparted social and practical knowledge to young princes through interesting stories. These five chapters collectively became popular as Panchtantra and teach children basic knowledge about dealing with social situations and impart moral lessons. In this series we will be bringing out stories from Panchtantra with interesting visuals, which you can watch with your kids.
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Episodes
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  • The Saint and the Rat

    The Saint and the Rat
    Dec 8 2022
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  • Covetous jackal

    Covetous jackal
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    शिथिलौ च सुबद्धौ च पततः पततो ना वा। निरीक्षितौ मया भद्रे दश वर्षाणि पक्ष च॥a That is, one gets as much as it is written in his fate, look how the jackal had to wander for fifteen years in the hope of killing the bull alone. In a forest, there lived a bull named Tekshnasringa, he got intoxicated with his power, got separated from his herd and used to roam alone. He ate green grass, drank cold water and used to play with his sharp horns. A covetous jackal also lived with his wife in the same forest. Seeing the bull who had come to drink water on the bank of the river, his wife said, "How long will this lone bull be able to live? Go, you chase this bull. Now we will get some good meat to eat. The jackal said, "Hey, let me sit here. Both of us will satisfy our hunger by eating the rats that come to drink water. It is foolish to run after what we cannot get." The wife of the jackal said, “You seem lazy, that is why you are satisfied with only a few things you get from luck. If you leave your laziness and follow this bull with full focus, then you will surely get success. Even if you don't go, I'm going."
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    4 mins
Literature & Fiction Drama & Plays
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