Application of
Panchatantra Stories In Today’s Context
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.
2 The 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.
3 The 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.
4 The 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.
5 The 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.
6 The 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.
7 The 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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