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Sutradhar

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.

Stories of Panchtantra

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That is, on the wishes of the Creator and even after working hard, one can never get more than one's fortune.

In the region of South India, there was an abbey of Bhagwan Shankar outside the city Mahilaropya, where a monk named Tamrachud used to earn his living by asking for alms from the city. He used to fill his hunger by eating half of the collected alms and tied the other half in a bundle and hung it on a hook. He used to give that saved alms to the people who cleaned the monastery as their salary. In this way, the maintenance of that monastery was done well.

 

One day, rats living around the monastery said to a mouse named Hiranyaka who lived in the monastery, “We wander here and there to satisfy our hunger, while delicious food is tied in a bundle hanging on a hook. We are not able to reach that hook even after trying. Why don't you help us with something?"

Hearing the words of his companions, Hiranyaka reached the monastery with them. He took a high jump. He himself ate the food kept in the bundle and also fed it to his companions. Now this started to happen every day. Due to this, the sanitation workers stopped working as they were not getting their salary and the saint got upset. The sage tried his best to stop Hiranyaka, but as soon as he slept, Hiranyaka used to engage in this work. Suddenly, Tamrachud brought a torn bamboo and started banging that bamboo on the ground before sleeping to keep Hiranyaka away from the begging bowl. Fearing the attack of bamboo, Hiranyaka used to run away without eating any food. In this way, the whole night the sage and Hiranyaka spent evading each other.
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The Saint and the Rat

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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Covetous jackal

That is, some people earn money, but they are not able to use it. Somilak also reached the forest, but he could not take any advantage of it.

 

अर्थस्योपार्जनं कृत्वा नैव भोगं समश्नुते। 

अरण्यं महदासाद्य मूढः सोमिलको यथा॥

A tailor named Somilak, who lived in a town, was a respected and well known artist. He used to stitch fine clothes for the kings, but still he could not earn as much money as ordinary tailors. Distressed by his financial condition, one day Somilak said to his wife, "“ear! What kind of game is being played by God that even ordinary weavers earn more than me. I think maybe this place is not right for me, so I want to try my luck by going to some other place.”

Somilak's wife said, “You are not right to think like this. Even if you go to Meru parvat, even if you start living in the desert. Wherever you go, if you do not use the money you have accumulated, then the money earned will also go away. That's why I say that you keep doing your business by staying here."

 

The artisan said, "Dear! I do not agree with your view. Anyone can change their destiny by working hard. That's why I will definitely go to another place."

 

Thinking of this, Somilak went to another city and started working efficiently and in no time he earned three hundred gold coins. Then he took those gold coins and went towards his house. As the sun was setting, he slept on a tree branch to avoid wild animals. In the middle of the night, he heard two people known as Bhagya and Purushartha speak.

Bhagya said to Purushartha, "When you know that not much money has been written in the fate of this tailor, then why did you give him three hundred gold coins?"

Purushartha replied, "I had to give him the fruits of his labor, the rest is up to you."

 

On hearing this, the tailor woke up and took his bag, which was by then empty. Seeing this, he started crying. Not considering it appropriate to go home empty-handed, he again returned to his work and started working hard again.

Having collected five hundred gold coins in a year, he again went to his home one day. This time, even after sunset, he did not think it proper to stop or sleep and kept on moving.
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Tailor's money

Once upon a time, a hunter went hunting in a dense forest. Then his eyes fell on a black, fati wild boar. The hunter attacked the boar with his arrow. The injured boar also turned an dthrusteded his horns into the hunter's chest. In this way, the wild boar died due to the arrow

and the hunter also died due to the horn of the boar.

In the meantime, a jackal, tortured by hunger, came there. As he saw two dead beings, it

applauded its fate and said, "Looks like God is pleased with me today. That's why I found so

much food without wandering." The jackal thought that I should use this food in such a way

that it could last for a long time so I don't have to go in search of food now and then.

Therefore, today, I should make do by eating only the string attached to the bow of the

hunter.

Thinking of this, the jackal started chewing the string of the bow. But as soon as the string

broke, the upper part of the bow hit the jackal's chest so fast that it squeaked and fell and

lost its life.
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The Greedy Jackal

That is, if Shandali wants to take black sesame by giving her washed sesame seeds, then there must be some reason behind it.

 

A Brahmin lived in a town. One morning the Brahmin told his wife that today is Dakshinayan Sankranti and any donation done today will have a good result. I am leaving with this hope. You must also feed a Brahmin today. Hearing this, the Brahmani said, “Aren't you ashamed to say all this? What is kept in this poor house that I should feed someone? Neither do we have any good clothes to wear, nor do we have any gold or silver. How can we donate anything to anyone!”

 

 

Hearing the harsh words of the wife, the brahmin said, “It is not proper for you to say all this. No one has got the money till date. True charity is to give a little out of what we have to the needy."

 

On such persuasion of her husband, the brahmin said, “Okay. There are few sesame seeds kept in the house, I take off their skins and I will feed them to a Brahmin.”

 

As soon as he got assurance from his wife, the Brahmin went to another village to collect donations. Here Brahmani crushed, washed the sesame seeds and kept them in the sun to dry. Then a dog urinated on the sesame seeds that were drying in the sun. The Brahmani thought that we have nothing and the flour is now wet. Now by giving my washed sesame seeds to someone, I will try to get unwashed sesame seeds.

 
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Brahmini and black sesame

सर्वेषामेव मत्त्याँनां व्यसने समुपस्थिते। 

वाङ्मात्रेणापि साहाय्यं मित्रादन्यो ना सन्दधे॥

That is, in times of crisis, even verbal assurance can be obtained only from a friend, just as Hiranyaka received help from his friends as soon as he asked for.

 

Many birds and animals lived in a forest under the shade of a banyan tree. A crow named Laghupatanak also lived on the same tree. One day as soon as he went out in search of food, he saw a hunter with a net in his hand going towards his home, the banyan tree. The crow immediately thought that this evil person had come to kill my fellow birds and I must warn everyone.

 

Thinking this, he returned and gathered all his companions and started telling them- “The hunter will spread his net and will put rice here and whoever is lured by those rice will surely get caught in the net. That's why no one must go near the rice."

 

After a while, the hunter spread out the net and threw some rice and hid and sat on one side. At the same time, when a pigeon named Chitragriva, who was in search of food with his family members, saw those rice, he got greedy. The crow tried to stop Chitragriva, but Chitragriva did not listen to the crow and got caught in the trap along with the whole family.

 

Hunter, pleased to see the pigeons trapped in his net, went towards them to catch them. But seeing the hunter coming, the head of the pigeons, explaining to his family members and said -

 

“All of you fly away with this trap for a while, till then I will think of some way to free us all from this trap. If we do not do this, we will surely die by falling into the hands of the hunter."

 
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Pigeons and the hunter

A monkey was a devotee and confidant of a king. The king had appointed that monkey as his bodyguard and he was allowed to move freely anywhere in the palace.

 

One day the king was sleeping and the monkey was blowing air with a fan standing near him. A fly sat on the king's chest while he was sleeping. Even after repeatedly trying to remove it with the fan, it kept sitting on his chest again and again.

 

Frustrated, the foolish monkey struck the fly with a sharp sword. The fly flew away but the king's chest was broken in two and he died then and there.

 

That's why it is said that friendship with a fool can be harmful.

 

On the other hand, there lived a learned Brahmin in a city who had become a thief due to some circumstances. Once four Brahmins from another city came there. When he saw these Brahmins earning money by selling some things, he thought, "Why not steal their money somehow?" Thinking this, he came to the Brahmins and joined them by buttering them up with sweet honeyed words. 

The brahmins bought precious gems with all their money and put them in a bundle and tied them around their thighs inside the clothes. Seeing all this, the thief thought that he should somehow accompany them so when there was a chance, he could steal them. He somehow persuaded them to take him along with them by talking sweetly to them.

 

Seeing the five of them on the way, the crows cried out, "Oh Kirats! Run and run, the very rich ones are going. Kill them and take away all their wealth."

 

When the Kirats heard the crows, they surrounded the brahmins and checked all their belongings but they did not find any money. Then the bandits said, "These crows do not lie. Give us whatever money you have, otherwise we will kill you and take everything you have."

Hearing them, the thief thought, "If they kill these brahmins and find jewelry with them, they will think that I also have jewelry and will kill me too."

Thinking so, he went ahead and said, "O Bandits! If so, then you check me thoroughly."

The dacoits beat him and searched him in every way but found nothing. Then the thieves felt that the rest of the Brahmins would also have nothing and they let them go.

Thus a wise enemy saved the lives of those brahmins.

 
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Silly monkey and king

Jirnadhan & the Scale

When mice can eat the iron scale, then there is no doubt that an eagle can snatch a child and fly away. 

There lived a merchant named Jirnadhan in a city. After running out of money, he thought of going to a distant country for business.

He had a large heavy iron scale from his ancestors. Having mortgaged it to Seth's house, he went abroad. After a long time, the merchant returned to his city and went to Seth and said, "Seth ji! Give me back my scales I mortgaged to you." Seth said, "Brother we don't have scales. Rats ate him." Jirnadhan said, "Now the scales have eaten rats, then it is not your fault in this."

After thinking, Jirnadhan further said, “Sethji! I am going to take a bath on the bank of the river now. I have so much stuff, so send your son with me”.

 

Seth thought that if he stayed here for long then they would be caught, so he happily sent his son with him. After taking a bath, Jirnadhan locked the boy in a cave and closed it with a big stone. After that Jirnadhan returned home alone. When Seth ji could not see his son anywhere, he asked, "O Jernadhan! Where is my son? He went to bathe in the river with you, didn't he?" Jernadhana said, "Yes! But the eagle took him away.

 
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Jirnadhan & the Scale

Silly heron and crab

 Many herons used to live on one of the trees in the jungle. A black dreadful snake lived in the hole of the same tree. He used to eat the young ones of the herons without the wings. Once upon seeing the snake eating his children and being saddened by their death, the heron went to the bank of the river and sat down with tears in his eyes.

 

Seeing him like this, a crab came to him and asked, "Sir! What happened? Why are you crying today?" The heron said, "Brother! What should I do? The snake living in the trunk of the tree ate my unfortunate children. That's why I'm crying with sadness. Tell me if there is any way to destroy that snake.

After listening to the heron, the crab thought that since herons are our enemy, I will tell him a way that all his children will be destroyed. Thinking so, he said, "Brother! If so, then put pieces of fish from the hole of the mongoose to that of the snake. On doing so, the mongoose will follow the same route and kill the snake.

The heron did the same. The mongoose reached the snake's hole and on seeing the snake, the mongoose killed it. After killing the snake, the mongoose also ate the herons living on that tree one by one.

That is why it is said that before taking any advice, one should also think about its consequences.

 
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Silly heron and crab

Once there was a big jungle where there lived a very greedy Lion called Bhasurak. Everyday he would hunt lots of animals in the Jungle - deer, rabbits and many more. He always hunted much more than he could eat. 

One day all the animals went to request him "Dear Lion King, if you keep hunting and eating this way, you will end up killing all the animals. Our whole Jungle will be destroyed. 

Can we offer to send you one animal each day to satisfy your hunger and in return you promise us to not hunt more than that?"

Bhasurak agreed and said " This sounds good, but do remember - if you miss sending an animal to me even for one day, I will hunt all of you down." 

The animals happily agreed to this and left the Lion alone. 
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The Lion and The Clever Rabbit

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