So, let me start with the first story from Panchatantra.
And as with most of the Panchatantra stories, this is a nested story - where one-story thread leads to another story. This is from the first book of Panchatantra called ‘Conflict among friends’.
This is a story of a bullock. About how the bullock became friendly with a lion. And how that friendship was destroyed by a jackal.
This is how the story proceeds:
Somewhere in India was a city. A beautiful one. In that city lived a merchant. He was ambitious. His father had been a prosperous merchant and he wanted to make a name for himself. His motto in life was - everything in money, and everything in life can be achieved by money. One should always think of ways of increasing wealth. If one was rich, he would have friends. He would get recognized by people in the society. He decided to make money for himself. Away from home. The city of Mathura seemed to be a good option. The city was on the banks of river Yamuna. His plan was - he would travel to Mathura, set up his trade there, sell his wares and make money and come back richer. He made his mind. He would travel to Mathura.
He spoke with the elders in the family and decided the date of travel. On the date that was decided, he took leave of all and set off for Mathura.
In those days, there were no mechanized modes of travel. People had to rely on carts. Either pulled by horses or by bullocks. This merchant had two strong bullocks. They were sturdy and were capable of carrying heavy burden. He harnessed them the bullocks to a cart and set out for Mathura, accompanied by a few servants.
A few days of travel, and they approached the river, Yamuna. That is when tragedy struck. The cart was parked. The bullocks had been let loose to graze. One of the bullocks suddenly fell. The merchant and the servants managed to save the animal and then they noticed, that the bullock had, unfortunately, broken one of its legs. The merchant felt sorry for the animal. He decided he would stay there with the bullock and nurse it.
The servants were not very happy with the idea. They spoke to the merchant and said
This place is an unknown place. There are forests nearby. Who knows what kinds of wild animals are there, lions, tigers etc. We do not advise you to stay here. For the sake of an animal, it is not fair to put everyone’s lives in danger.
This seemed reasonable to the merchant. He chose a few servants and asked them to stay with the injured animal. He then asked the cart driver to drive the cart using the lone bullock, and they resumed their journey for Mathura.
As soon as the merchant had left, the servants who had been left behind, started thinking. Why sacrifice their lives for an injured bullock? The next day they left the place and caught with retinue of the merchant.
Why are you here? I asked you to be with the bullock. This bullock was born in front of my eyes and he is like a dear one. I left you there and asked you to take care of the animal. Please go back and be with him.
The servants had planned what to say. They said - Sir, the bullock died in the night. We cremated his body and after that, we have come looking for you.
The merchant was very sad to hear this. He said prayers for the departed bullock, performed funeral rites and resumed the journey.
Incidentally, the bullock did die then. He limped around the place. He found tender plants growing in a forest, near the river and he ate those. Slowly, he gained strength and his leg too started healing. He began to call this place, his new home and began living there, eating grass that grew near the banks of the river. Even though misfortune had struck him, the bullock had been able to survive there.
In that forest lived a lion. The lion had a group of animals that would accompany him, wherever he went. It so happened that, one day this lion was feeling very thirst. He went to the river, all alone, to drink water. As soon he was about to step closer and drink, he heard a terrible noise. This noise was the bellow of the bullock. The lion was confused. Even though he felt scared, he did not want express his feelings. He turned around and without drinking any water, went and sat near a tree. The group of animals, that followed him, came and sat near him. This lion once had a jackal had an advisor. This jackal was forever scheming and plotting. When the lion had discovered this, he had dismissed the jackal, from the post of the advisor. He had two sons, who roamed around the lion, trying to earn the lion’s favour.
The jackals sensed something was wrong. The lion had gone to drink water. He had come back. It looked weak, was looking at the river again, but not wanting to go there.
One of the jackals said
Brother, we need to talk to the lion. He went to drink water, but looks like, he came back thirsty. He seems tired and is sitting under a tree, surrounded by other animals.
The other jackal said
My dear brother. Why should that concern us? The lion has other animals to take care of him. We should not start doing jobs, that are not meant for us. If we do, we will act like the monkey who decided to take the wedge out of a log of wood.
What happened? What is all about - asked the other jackal.
Listen as I tell you about the monkey - said the jackal.
And here ends the first story from Panchatantra.
Analysis and Key Takeaways
Now let’s look through the story. Beyond the characters.
“Everything in money, and everything in life can be achieved by money” - the thought of the merchant represents excessive focus on wealth and ways to increase that.
While gaining wealth may be an aim of life, it should not be the sole aim.
The bullock survives despite being abandoned and injured, shows resilience and adaptation.
The servants’ decision to abandon the injured bullock illustrates the principle of self-preservation. They leave aside duty and empathy and leave the injured animal alone.
This story introduces the characters here. The lion, the bullock and the jackals are characters, which will appear in many stories going forward. And as earlier, while Panchatantra has names for the characters, I have avoided the names. The names have meanings - like lion, being brown/ tawny in colour is called Pingalaka, meaning brown. The jackals are called Karataka Damanaka who act as fraudsters and manipulators.
The Merchant represents attachment. His focus on wealth leads him to abandon a trusted asset (the bullock).
The Bullock is an outsider, living alone in the wild. Its bellow is an unknown force entering the forest, which confuses the lion.
The Lion is the king in his forest. His fear of the unknown becomes exploited later by the jackal.
The Jackals represent mind focused on manipulating circumstances for personal gain. They want to regain their father’s position.
One thing that needs to be seen here is, do not trust easily. The merchant trusts his servants without verifying facts.
The next story, next week will be about a monkey and a log of wood.
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