Long before the advent of motivational gurus, life coaches and agony aunts, India had the tradition of summing up all the words of wisdom in the form literary gems. Be it in the form of puranans, Upanishads, Vedas, the epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata or the Bhagavat Gita or fables. It was like, the adage of you name it, and we have it. We tend to forget the wisdom available in our mother land.
My intention is to throw some light into the story of Panchatantra and the application of its morals in one’s student life, as we all are students of life.
A brief introduction about Panchatantra:
Panchatantra is a technical or scientific treatise; thus it is considered a treatise on political science and human conduct. Panchatantra are a collection of five volumes of stories written by a teacher to instruct the different aspects of kinghood for princes. Panchatantra is written in five volumes:
Mitra-bheda: The Separation of Friends
Mitra-samprapti: The Gaining of Friends
Kakolukiyam: War and Peace
Labdhaprasam: Loss of Gains
Aparikitakaraka: Ill-Considered Action / Rash deeds
Let us move on the stories.
1. The Brahmin and his dream:
Remember the story of the Brahmin? Who begged for a living, who dreamt that he will sell the rice, buy goats, then have herds of cows….and would become richer than ever before?
And in the sleep, he hit the pot in which he stored the rice and alas…..
Moral :
Set realistic goals.
If you want to achieve the goals, work hard for them rather than building castle in the air and living in the same. If you want to get through the exam or get noticed at work, study hard, sweat yourself out. Push yourself to your extremes. Give your best.
2The Blue Jackal:
So there was this blue jackal, which fell into a tub of dye and made advantage of the situation and fooled every animal in the jungle. But one day, unable to control, he howled in front of all the animals and they all killed him.
Moral:
Be yourself.
You can fool others about your appearance, your qualifications, your knowledge, and your possessions. But it is not possible to do that in the long run. So it is always better to be the best you rather than a better some one else.
3The Brahmin and the goat:
The Brahmin was cheated by three cunning fellows who made him believe that he was carrying a donkey, dead calf and dog instead of a goat. But did that transform the goat? Nope, but the Brahmin deserted the goat and ran away where as the three fellows relished their meal.
Moral:
Believe in yourself.
Let other Tom, Dick and Harry say anything they want to say. You should have firm belief in your ideas and values. You should know the value of your dream and have conviction about the fact that others say doesn’t affect the achievement of your goals. Don’t succumb to peer pressure.
4The Monkey and the crocodile:
In this story, the crocodile revealed his intentions to the monkey after reaching the midst of the river.
But monkey managed to save his life!! He doesn’t know how to swim, his friend broke his trust, and he had no other option. Still the crocodile was left ashamed and the monkey reached the tree. How? He didn’t panic.
Moral:
Don’t panic.
It doesn’t matter how worse the situation is. What matters most is the way you approach the situation and how you find the most feasible solution to it.
5The Fox and the grapes:
The story says that the hungry fox branded the grapes as sour and went on his way.
Moral:
Don’t blame others.
If you are not able to achieve your goals, it is not others’ fault or the fault of circumstances or fate. Stop blaming others. Try to analyze where you went wrong and rectify the mistakes, grapes won’t be sour anymore.
6The rabbit and the lion :
Remember how the small rabbit managed to drown the lion into the well. How the rabbit accomplished the task? Application of intelligence.
Moral:
Apply your intelligence. The size of the enemy doesn’t matter much.
7The swans and the turtle:
The story revolves around a talkative turtle and two swans who tried to carry the turtle friend with them by holding it in to a stick. But in spite of the advice given by his friends, the turtle opened his mouth to speak!!! He fell to the ground and that was his end.
Moral:
Always listen to good advices; it is beneficial in the long run.
I have chosen only seven stories due to the constraint of time. Stories like these should not be branded as Amarchitra Katha stories meant for kids only. We can learn a lot from them!!!!!
Salutes to VishnuSarma, the creator of this wisdom.
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