Panchtantra Stories

There lived a washerman's donkey, whose name was Uddhata. During the day, the donkey would carry the washerman's bags, but during the night, he was set free to eat the green grass in a nearby field. However, instead of grazing in the nearby fields, he crept into nearby farms and ate vegetables of his choice. Before day-break it would come back to the washerman's house. One night, the donkey met a jackal while wandering in a nearby farm. They became good friends, and started meeting every night. The donkey, being fat, was able to break the fences of the farms. While he ate on the vegetable, the jackal would enter through the broken fence and ate the poultry on the farm. Before day-break, they would return to their respective home to meet again next night. This continued for many days. One night, the donkey said to the jackal, "Nephew, I feel like singing on nights like tonight, when the moon is full and beautiful. What Raaga (note combination) sh...

Shuddapatta was a washerman, who had a donkey to help him with his chores. But he could not take proper care of his donkey. The surroundings where he lived, lacked grass; and the washerman did not have enough to offer the donkey to eat. As a result, the donkey had grown lean and weak. Even Shuddapatta was worried with his donkey's health. One particular day, Shuddapatta was wandering in the jungle, where he came across a dead tiger. He at once struck an idea. He thought, "It is my luck that I have a dead tiger. I will skin the tiger and take the skin home. I will cover the donkey with the tiger's skin and let him graze in the nearby barley fields after sunset. The farmers will not dare to come near him fearing my donkey as a tiger. This way, he will be able to eat as much as he wants." The washerman did so after sunset, and the donkey returned unharmed after he had eaten to his heart's content. From then onwards, the washerman would cover his...

There was a wide jackal called Mahachaturaka, who lived in a jungle. One day, as he was wandering about in the jungle in search of food, he saw a dead elephant. He knew that the dead elephant will provide him food for many days. But his happiness soon turned into frustration, as he was not able to tear the elephant's thick skin. He went round and round, trying his luck from all side, but in vain. As he was still trying to figure out, the jackal saw a lion approaching. He quickly bowed, and said, "O King of jungle, I found this dead elephant and was keeping a watch over it so that you can have it. Please be kind to eat to your heart's content." But the lion refused, "I eat a prey only when I hunt it myself. That is my nature. Thank you for your offer, but you can have the elephant for yourself" The lion departed after being thanked by the jackal. But his problem remained. He wondered how he can tear apart the elephant's thick skin. ...

Two large fishes, Sahasrabuddhi and Satabuddhi lived in a big pond, and were close friends with a frog called Ekabuddhi. They spent a lot of time together on the bank of the pond. The Tale Of Two Fishes And A Frog - Panchatantra Story Picture One evening, as they were assembled on the bank of the pond, they saw a few fishermen approaching. They had nets and big baskets with them, which were full of fishes that they had caught. While passing by the pond, they noticed that the pond was full of fishes. One of them said to the others, "Let us come here tomorrow morning. This pond is not very deep, and is full of fishes. We have never caught fishes in this pond." The Tale Of Two Fishes And A Frog - Panchatantra Story Picture They agreed to return the very next morning, and continued their journey homewards. The frog was depressed on hearing the fishermen and said, "O Friends, we should decide what to do, whether to run or hide. These fishermen will re...

There was once a jungle that was ruled by a lion called Madotkata, who had a leopard, a jackal and a crow at his service, along with other animals. As they did regularly, they were wandering about the jungle one day, when the lion saw a camel at a distance. This camel had separated from its caravan and was feeding itself on the green grass of the jungle. The lion took a fancy on this animal that he had not seen before, "Let us go and ask this extraordinary animal, where he comes from." The crow, who flies to far-off places was aware and replied, "Master, it is called a camel and this animal lives in villages. The flesh of this animal tastes good, let us kill it and eat it." But the lion disagreed, "He does not belong to the jungle, so he is our guest. I will not kill it. Please go and assure him that no harm will be done, and bring him to me". As per the lion's instruction, they went to the camel and assured him that they were to...

Once, there lived a jackal named Chandarava. One day he was very hungry, and could not find any food. So, he wandered into a nearby village in search of food. The dogs in the village saw the jackal, and a group of dogs surrounded him, barking and attacking with their sharp teeth. The jackal started running to save itself, but the dogs chased. In an attempt to flee from the dogs, he ran into a house, which belonged to a washerman. There was a big vat of blue dye inside. As he jumped without knowing, his entire body was dyed in blue colour. He no longer looked like a jackal. Frustrated, he came out. When the dogs saw him again, they were unable to recognize him anymore. Fearing that it was an unknown animal, they became terrified and ran off in all directions. The disappointed jackal went back to the jungle, but the blue dye would not come off. When the other animals in the jungle saw this blue-coloured jackal, they ran away in terror. They said to themselve...

There was once a powerful lion called Bhasuraka who ruled the jungle. He was merciless and killed other animals indiscriminately. One day, all the animals went together to the lion to surrender. They said, "O Master, you kill many of us every day without necessity. One animal a day is enough to satisfy your hunger. Please come to an understanding. Starting from today, we promise to offer one amongst us to you every day. In this way, you will not have to hunt and many of our lives will be spared." Hearing this, the lion agreed, "It is true, but I warn you, if I do not receive an animal every day, I shall proceed to kill every one of you." In accordance to the understanding, the animals drew lots, and the unlucky animal that got chosen was sent to the lion. The others roamed about the jungle without any fear of being attacked by the lion. One day, a hare was chosen. Unwilling to become the lion's food, he started for the lion's den. ...

There lived a turtle called Kambugriva in a lake, who had two swans as her good friends. All three of them would meet on the banks of the lake every day, and exchanged stories, before returning at sunset. They enjoyed each other's company. One year, there was no rain and lake started to dry. The swans got worried about the declining water level of the lake, and said to the turtle, "You will not be able to survive in this lake. All the water in the lake will soon dry up". The turtle was aware of the problem, "It is indeed difficult to live here anymore. Dear friends, please look for an alternate lake which is full of water. Then, find a strong stick from somewhere." The turtle continued, "Once you find another lake, you can carry me to the lake with a stick. I can hold the stick tightly with my mouth, while both of you can hold the stick at either ends and fly". As planned, the swans flew to distant places and after some time...

A couple of sparrows lived happily in their nest on top of a huge tree in a jungle. The female sparrow had laid her eggs in the nest and they were expecting their newborns soon. On a particular day, unable to bear the heat of the summer sun, an elephant went berserk. He crashed into all trees in his way. On his way, he broke the branches of the tree that supported the nest of the sparrow couple. As the branches fell, so did the nest and all the newly laid eggs smashed against the ground. Although the sparrows managed to escape by flying away, they were heart-broken to see that they had lost the eggs. The female sparrow began to cry and wail loudly. A woodpecker, who was at a little distance, was touched by cries. He went to her and said, "Dear good sparrow! There is nothing you can do by crying. What is destined to happen, will happen for sure." The female sparrow replied, "That is indeed true. But all my children were killed by this wicked ele...

There lived a lion called Vajradaunstra in the jungle, who had two attendants, a jackal and a wolf. One day a caravan was passing by, and one of the camels in the caravan was an expectant female. As she was not able to walk, and was in labour pains, the caravan set her free and left her behind. Within moments, she fell prey to the lion, and while the three of them were eating. They cut the womb of the camel, from which a baby camel came out. Since, it was just a baby, and they already had a good meal out of the camel, the lion decided to spare the baby camel's life. He brought the baby camel home. The lion said to the little camel, "From now onwards you will live with us, and will have nothing to fear from, even me. I will let everybody know that you are under my protection, and you can wander about fearlessly and feed on the green grass of the jungle." From then onwards, they lived happily. The four of them would tell each other stories, and...

A couple of sparrows lived on the branches of a huge tree, deep in the jungle. They had worked very hard in building their nest, and it was a comfortable home that protected them in all weathers. One day, during the winter, as they were enjoying the comforts of their nest, it started raining outside. Sometime later, a monkey came to take shelter under the very same tree. The monkey was all drenched in the rain, and his teeth were chattering in the cold. When the female sparrow saw this, she felt pity on him and said from her nest, "O Monkey, You have hands and feet similar to humans. You can use them for many reasons. Why don't you make yourself a protected home?" The monkey was already suffering from the rain and the cold, and was in no mood for an advice. He replied, "You wicked sparrow! Why can't you keep your mouth shut?" But the female sparrow continued her advice. She explained how she was able to enjoy the comforts of her home,...

Deep in the jungle, there lived a big group of elephants. The elephants lived in a certain place beside a pond, and did not require venturing out. There came a time, when the pond started drying up due to lack of rain for a few years. Some of the elephants met the king of the elephants, and said, "Your Majesty! We do not have any more water. Some of our little ones are on the verge of death. We must find some other place which has abundant water." After thinking a while, the elephant king said, "I remember knowing a place where there is a very big lake. It must still be full of water. Let us go there." Next morning they started to march. After travelling for five days and five nights, the elephants finally reached the place. There was indeed a big lake, full of water. There were innumerable holes in the soft earth around the lake, in which a group of hares lived. When the elephants saw so much water in the lake, they rejoiced, and started ...

One afternoon a fox was walking through the forest and spotted a bunch of grapes hanging from over a lofty branch. “Just the thing to quench my thirst,” he thought. Taking a few steps back, the fox jumped and just missed the hanging grapes. Again the fox took a few paces back and tried to reach them but still failed. Finally, giving up, the fox turned up his nose and said, “They’re probably sour anyway,” and proceeded to walk away. Moral: It’s easy to despise what you cannot have.

One summer’s day, in a field, a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great effort an ear of corn he was taking to his nest. "Why don’t you come and chat with me," asked the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling your life away?" "I am helping to store up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and I recommend you to do the same." "Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper. "We have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When winter came, the Grasshopper found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing, every day, corn and grain from the stores they had collected in summer. Then the Grasshopper knew... MORAL: WORK TODAY AND YOU CAN REAP THE BENEFITS TOMORROW!

Before several centuries, there was a very large, dense and dark forest. A group of monkeys arrived at the forest. It was winter season, and the monkeys struggled hard to survive the freezing cold nights. They were hunting for fire to get warm.   One night, they saw a firefly and considered it a dab of fire. All the monkeys in the group shouted ‘Fire, Fire, Fire, Yeah we got fire!’ A couple of monkeys tried to catch the firefly and it escaped. They were sad as they could not catch the fire. They were talking to themselves that they couldn’t live in the cold if they didn’t get the fire.   The next night, again they saw many fireflies. After several attempts, the monkeys caught a few fireflies. They put the fireflies in a hole dug in the land and tried to blow the flies.   They blew the flies very hard without knowing the fact that they were flies!  An owl was watching the activities of the monkeys. The owl r...

Kharanakhara was a lion who ruled over a certain part of a jungle. One day, he could not prey upon a single animal after wandering around the jungle in search of food. It was almost sunset, and the lion started returning in spite of being very hungry. On his way, he saw a big cave, and thought to himself, "It is for sure that some animal must be living in this big cave. Such a nice cave cannot be un-inhabitated. At sunset, whatever animal lives here is bound to return. I shall hide inside the cave and wait for my dinner to arrive." The cave was the home to a jackal, who arrived a while after the lion had hidden himself inside. While entering he noticed the footprints of the lion leading into the cave, but could not find any footprint coming out. He thought, "If a lion is indeed entered, I will be dead as soon as I enter. But, how can I be sure? There is no reason for me to stay away from my home if there is no lion inside. I must find out a way...

There was an old snake named Mandavishya, who lived near a mountain. Due to his old age, he was unable to prey on frogs. He thought, "I am too old to hunt for food. I will not be able to live long without food, and it is only going to make me weaker to hunt, as well. I have to think of something". Suddenly, an idea struck him. As planned, he went to a nearby pond, which was full of frogs, and relaxed on the bank of the pond without any intention to hunt. He behaved as though he had nothing to do with the frogs. At first the frogs ran away, but as he was not hunting, the frogs gathered some courage and approached him. One of them asked, "O Snake! Why do you not hunt, as is your behaviour?" The snake replied casually, "I have no desire for food, as I am unfortunate. I'll explain to you. Last night, when I was wandering about in search of frogs, I bit a Brahmin's son in frustration of not finding any prey. The Brahmin cursed me. He ...

There was a huge Banyan tree near a city called Mahilaropyam. Its unnumerable branches were home to a large number of crows. Meghavarana was the king of these crows. There was a cave nearby, which was home of a large number of owls. Arimaradana was the king of these owls. The owls, as they regarded the crows as enemies, would fly around the Banyan tree every night. And if they caught hold of any crows, they would attack them and kill them. The crows could not see as clearly as the owls during the night, and could not save themselves. As time went by, many crows were killed. Meghavarana, the king of crows had a council of five ministers: Ujjeevi, Sanjeevi, Anujjevi, Prajeevi and Chiranjeevi. He addressed them, "O Ministers, our enemy takes advantage by attacking at night and succeeds in killing many of us as we cannot fight them in dark. We cannot attck them at daytime since we don't know their stronghold. The enemy is dangerous and we need to decide what ...

There was a Jamun (Black-berry) tree on the bank of a river, which was full of sweeet Jamun fruits throughout the year. This tree was home to a monkey called Raktamukha. He used to pass his days happily by playing and jumping, and used to eat the sweet Jamun fruits. One day, a crocodile named Karalamukha came out of the river to take some rest under the Jamun tree. When Raktamukha saw him from the tree, he said, "O Crocodile, this tree is my home and you have come under this tree to take rest. This makes you my guest. Please accept some Jamun fruits." Raktamukha plucked lots of fruits and threw them in the crocodile's mouth. Karalamukha loved the sweet fruits, and became friendly with Raktamukha. Karalamukha left in the evening after thanking the generosity of the monkey. Karalamukha started coming to the Jamun tree every day, and they became good friends. They would talk for a long time and enjoy eating the sweet Jamun fruits together. One day, K...

Gangadatta was a king among frogs. He ruled over a group of frogs that lived in a well. His relatives were always nagging to him over small things, and he was fed-up with them. One day, he climbed up the water-wheel and left his kingdom. He sought revenge on his relatives, due to whose constant torment; he had to leave his kingdom. Just then, he saw a cobra entering his cobra. He thought of a plan of having his relatives eaten up by the cobra. He went to the entrance of the hole, and said, "My friend, I have come to make friends to you. I am the king of frogs!" On hearing this, the cobra realized that it was not the voice of his kith or kin, but his natural enemy. He decided not to leave his hole and come out, for he suspected some foul reason. He suspected someone might be trying to catch him through mantra (magic spell), or maybe flute, or even herbs. He answered cautiously, "Who are you? Why do you talk this nonsense about friendship? Can timbe...