The Panćatantra (Penguin Classics)

Description 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. Enduring and profound, it is among the earliest and most popular of all books of fables. Language Notes Text: English (translation) From the Back Cover 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. About the Author Tradition ascribes The Pancatantra to Visnu Sarma whose existence has not been conclusively established. 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, skilfully combining prose and verse to give us an eminently readable translation.