Patrick Olivelle - Pancatantra: The Book of Indias Folk Wisdom

OXFORD WORLD'S CLASSICS PANCATANTRA THE PA:'iC.-I. TANTRA, composed around 300 CE, is the most famous book of animal 'folk' tales of India, a book that has had a greater impact on "orld literature than possibly any other piece of Indian Literature. Versions and translations of it exist in over fifty languages, and Pancatantra stories have influenced ,\rabic and European narrathe literature of the Middle Ages, including The Arabian Sights and La Fontaine . Although story-telling is the primary literary genre of the book, it has a serious purpose. It intends to teach the Art of GO\unment through animal folk-tales interspersed with gnomic\' erses, transporting the reader to the imaginary world of talking animals and of animal kingdoms structured along the lines of human societies. PATRICK OLiVEl.LE is the Chair, Department of Asian Studies, and Director, Center for Asian Studies, at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is the Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions.

Among his recent publications are The Sil11!nyiisa Upanis,ads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation (Oxford, 1992). The Arama System: History and Hermeneutics of a Religious Institution (Oxford, 1993), and Rules and Regulations of Brahmanical Asceticism (State University of New York Press, 1995). His translation of Upilnis.ads was published in Oxford World's Classics in 1996 and won the 1998 A.K. Ramanujan Book Prize for Translation. This translation of The Dharmasiitras was published in Oxford World's Classics in 1999. OXFORD WORLD'S CLASSICS For almost 100 years Oxford World's Classics have brought readers closer to the world's great literature.

Now with over 700 titles-from the 4, ooo-year-old myths 0/ Mesopotamia to the twentieth century's greatest novels-the series makes available lesser-known as well as celebrated writing. The pocket-sized hardbacks o/the early years contained introductions by Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, Graham Greene, and other literary figures which enriched the experience o/reading. Today the series is recognized for its fine scholarship and reliability in texts that span world literature, drama and poetry, religion, philosophy and politics. OXFORD WORLD'S CLASSICS Pancatantra THE BOOK OF INDIA'S FOLK WISDOM Translated from the Original Sanskrit by PATRICK OLIVELLE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford Cniversity Press is a department of the University of Oxford. OXFORD WORLD'S CLASSICS Pancatantra THE BOOK OF INDIA'S FOLK WISDOM Translated from the Original Sanskrit by PATRICK OLIVELLE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford Cniversity Press is a department of the University of Oxford.

It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai !'\airobi Paris Sao Paulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw with associated companies in Berlin Ihadan Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York Patrick 01ivelle 1997 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published as a World's Classics paperback 1997 Reissued as an Oxford World's Classics paperback 1999 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organizations. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford Lniversity Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Panchatantra. English. Pai'icatantra: the book of India's folk wisdom / translated from the original Sanskrit by Patrick Olivelle. I. 0 livelle, Patrick. II. Title. Ill. Series. Series.

PK374l.P3E5 1997 891'.2 3-dc21 97-2843 ISBN 0-19-283988-8 (paperback) 1 357910864 2 Typeset by Pure Tech India Ltd., Pondicherry, India Printed in Great Britain by Cox & Wyman Ltd. Reading, Berkshire PREFACE THE inspiration for undertaking this translation of the Paiicatantra came from the students in my first-year Sanskrit classes. Reading and translating the Paiicatantra stories for and with them was truly enjoyable; it also made me aware of the inadequacy of existing translations. I gave serious thought to translating the entire Paiicatantra after the publication of my Upani$ads in The World!' Classics when Judith Luna was hunting for other Indian classics for inclusion in the series. I want to thank Judith for her kindness and humour and for making sure that my prose did not degenerate into scholarly jargon. Anne Feldhaus and Gregory Schopen read the introduction and offered insightful criticisms and valuable suggestions.

Over the years both Anne and Gregory have read most of what I have written and have pushed me constantly into thinking clearly and into looking at texts from new perspectives. To both a big thank-you for friendship and support. At an early stage in the preparation of this translation Bette Rae Preus read Book I and returned the typescript with red ink across every page. Her insightful criticisms of my prose from the perspective of a writer who fortunately knows no Sanskrit helped me take one more step from philological accuracy to readable prose. At the very end of this project Huberta Feldhaus, retired schoolteacher and grandma extraordinaire to my daughter, read the entire translation. Merry Burlingham, the South Asia Bibliographer at the library of the University of Texas, has always been most generous with her time and advice, obtaining for me books and journal articles from libraries in the USA and abroad.

To all these a heartfelt thank-you. As usual, my wife Suman and my daughter Meera have shared the labour of this translation in many and different ways- cups of coffee brought to my computer desk, a loving and stable environment conducive both to sustained thought and work and to relaxation when needed. Suman also read the entire translation and introduction several times and caught the frequent errors and typos that I am so prone to make. To both Suman and Meera love and thanks. This page intentionally left blank