List of Panchatantra stories - Wikipedia 04/01/25, 11:30 PM

List of Panchatantra stories

The Panchatantra is an ancient Sanskrit collection of stories, probably first composed around
300 CE (give or take a century or two),[1] though some of its component stories may be much
older. The original text is not extant, but the work has been widely revised and translated such
that there exist "over 200 versions in more than 50 languages."[2] The actual content of these
versions sometimes differs greatly.

The lists of stories in a few notable versions are compared below.

Key
A-T — Aarne–Thompson tale type index number.
Edge — Franklin Edgerton's 1924 reconstruction of the Sanskrit text of the original
Panchatantra. Though scholars debate details of his text, its list of stories can be
considered definitive.[3] It is the basis of English translations by Edgerton himself (1924) and
Patrick Olivelle (1997 & 2006). The content of 2 other important versions, the "Southern"
Panchatantra and the Tantrākhyāyika are very similar to that of Edgerton's reconstruction.
Durg — Durgasimha's Kannada translation of c. 1031 CE is one of the earliest extant
translations into an Indian vernacular.
Soma — Somadeva's Kathasaritsagara ("Ocean of Streams of Story") of 1070 is a massive
collection of stories and legends, to which a version of the Panchatantra contributes roughly
half of Book 10. The numbers given are those of N. M. Penzer, which situate the
Panchatantra passages within the Kathasaritsagara as a whole. At the end of each of the
Panchatantra's books, Somadeva (or his source) adds a number of unrelated stories,
"usually of the 'noodle' variety."[4]
Purn — Purnabhadra's recension of 1199 CE is one of the longest Sanskrit versions, and is
the basis of both Arthur W. Ryder's English translation (https://archive.org/stream/ThePanch
atantraEnglish-AwRyder/ThePanchatantraEnglish-AwRyder1935#page/n3/mode/2up) of
1925, and Chandra Rajan's of 1993.
Nara — Hitopadesha by Narayana is probably the most popular version in India, and was
the second work ever translated from Sanskrit into English (by Charles Wilkins in 1787).
The Hitopadesha itself exists in several versions, without an extant original. However, in this
case the differences are comparatively trivial.[5] Narayana split, combined, and reordered
his source stories more extensively than most other revisers of the Panchatantra, so while
cells in other columns generally have a one-to-one relationship, this does not hold true for
the Hitopadesha.

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Table
In addition to the stories listed below, many versions begin with a prelude in which a king
bewails the stupidity of his sons, and the wise Vishnu Sharma[6] (the Panchatantra's reputed
author) bets that he can teach them statecraft in a mere 6 months; the tales constitute his
lesson. (Of the versions tabulated below, only Somadeva's Kathasaritsagara lacks this "master
frame" — an unsurprising omission, since the Panchatantra section is placed within the
"master frame" of the Kathasaritsagara itself.)

Story A-T Edge[7] Durg[8] Soma[9] Purn[10] Nara[11]

II.1; II.3;
The wily jackals- trouble between
I.Frame I.Frame 84 I.Frame II.7; II.9;
friends
II.10

The story of the evil King

I.1
Kachadruma
The naughty monkey and the
I.1 I.2 84A I.1 II.2
wedge
The jackal and the war drum I.2 I.4 84B I.2

The wise minister I.3

The adventures of an ascetic I.3a I.4a
The saint, his own pouch and the
I.3a I.5 I.4a
rogue

The wolf and the rams I.3b I.5.1 I.4b

The unfaithful wife Tantuvayika I.5.2
A weaver cuts the nose of a bawd I.3c I.4c II.6
The crows and the evil snake I.4 I.6 I.5 II.8; II.9

The crab cuts off the heron's head I.5 I.7 84C I.6 IV.7
The hare that outwitted the lion I.6 I.8 84D I.7 II.9
Weaver as Vișṇu I.8

The monkey who died by giving

I.9
shelter to a hunter
The Brahmin and the ungrateful
I.9.1 I.9
goldsmith
The guest I.7 I.11 84E I.10

The watersnakes and a cobra I.11.1

The owl and the poor swan I.11.2
The Blue Jackal I.11 III.8

Goose and owl I.12

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The camel and the foolish offer I.8 I.12 84F I.13 IV.11
The lion and the carpenter I.14

The sandpipers and the ocean I.9 I.14 84G I.15 II.10
The turtle and the geese I.10 I.14.1 84GG I.16 IV.2; IV.4
The Brahmin Devadatta, the story
I.14.1.1
teller, and the ogre

The lady who didn't listen to her

I.14.1.2
daughter-in-law
The tale of three fish I.11 I.14.2 84GGG I.17 IV.3; IV.4
The sparrows and the mighty
I.18
elephant

Goose and fowler I.19

The evil monster I.20
Jackal outwits lion I.21
King and ascetic I.22

Girl who married a snake 433[12] I.23

Indra's parrot and the god of death I.24

The stupid advice I.12 III.3 84H I.25 III.2

Two friends and betrayed trust 613[12] I.13 I.15 84I I.26

The cranes, the black snake and

I.14 I.15.1 84J I.27 IV.5
the 'helpful' enemy

Tit for tat 1592[12] I.15 84K I.28

The twins I.10 I.29

The robber's sacrifice I.30a

Faithful but foolish monkey kills the
king 1586[12] I.31b

The monkeys that died due to a

I.16
ram

(12 additional stories) 85-96

The four friends and the hunter- I.1; I.2;
II.Frame V.Frame 97 II.Frame
gaining of friends I.4; I.7; I.9
The pigeons and the fowler (II.Frame) V.1 (II.Frame)
The Bharunda birds II.1

A wise old bird V.1.1

The elephants and the mice V.2
The Brahmin and the crab V.3

The ascetic and the jumping mouse II.1 V.4 97A II.2 I.5; I.6

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The woman who traded sesame for II.2 97AA II.3

sesame
The greed of the jackal and the
II.3 V.4.1 97AAA II.4 I.7
bowstring

The man who got what was coming

II.5
to him
The weaver's options: to be
II.6
generous or stingy
The jackal waits for the bull's
testicles to fall 115[12] II.7

The mice who rescued the elephant II.8

How the deer Chitranga got caught
II.4 V.5 II.9
in a trap
(23 additional stories) 98-120

On war and peace: elect for the owl III.Frame III.Frame 121 III.Frame IV.1
How owls started to hate crows III.1
The owl is elected king of the birds III.2 III.3 121B III.1
The lake of the moon III.3 121BB III.2 III.4

The cunning mediator III.4 III.1.1 121BBB III.3 I.4

The ascetic and the bad world III.1.1.1
How Shishupala died in the hands
III.2
of Krishna

The Brahmin, the goat and the IV.10;

III.5 I.13 121C III.4
three crooks IV.11
The king cobra and the ants III.5
The cobra and the greed for the
gold coins 285D[12] III.6

The golden bird III.7

The hunter and the dove's sacrifice III.4 III.8
The old merchant and his young
III.6 121D III.9 I.6
wife

The thief, the demon, and a

III.7 III.5 121E III.10
Brahmin
The tale of two snakes III.11
How the unfaithful wife tricked her
III.8 121F III.12 III.7
foolish husband

The marriage of a mouse that

2031C III.9 III.7 121G III.13
turned into a girl
The sage who changed his pet dog
III.7.1
into different animals

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The bird and it's precious gold III.14

excreta
The jackal and the talking cave I.3 III.15

The foolish frogs III.10 III.8 121H III.16 IV.12

The Brahmin catches his wife's
III.8.1 III.17
lover
(13 additional stories) 122-132

On losing what you have gained:

The monkey and the unfaithful 91[13] IV.Frame IV.Frame 133 IV.Frame
crocodile
The poisonous friendship IV.1
The brainless donkey 52 IV.1 IV.1 133A IV.2

The honest muscular potter and his

IV.3
scar
The jackal that killed no elephants IV.4
The Brahmin and his ungrateful
IV.5
wife
Henpecked husbands IV.6

The donkey in the tiger's skin III.1 121A IV.7 III.3

The adulterous wife is tricked by
IV.8
her lover
The monkey and the annoying
IV.9 III.2
sparrow

The jackal's quick thinking IV.10

The dog and the famine 112[12] IV.11

(6 additional stories) 134-139

III.10;
The greedy barber's folly V.2 II.2 V.Frame
IV.13
The three proverbs which stopped
II.2.1
king from killing his own wives
On hasty actions: Killing a
mongoose in haste 178A[12] V.Frame II.Frame 140 V.1

The wheel on the head of the

V.2
excessively greedy

The dead lion III.6 V.3

The tale of two fishes and a frog 105[12] V.4

The singing donkey and the jackal V.5

The weaver's wish 750A[12] V.6

The beggar's dream; or building

castles in the air 1430[12] V.1 II.1 V.7 IV.8

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The old monkey's revenge V.8

The credulous demon V.9

The three-breasted princess V.10

The Brahmin and the soft-foot fiend V.11
The old pious lady Gautami II.3

(6 additional stories) 141-146

The false friend I.3
The merchant's bride I.8

The cat who became superfluous II.4

The canny procuress II.5
War (frame) III.1

The goose and the crow III.5

The crow and the quail III.6
The faithful servant III.9
The hermit and the mouse IV.6

The two ogres IV.9

Notes
1. Olivelle 1997, p xii.
2. Olivelle 1997, p ix.
3. "Most scholars would concede at least the following: (1) the reconstructed text contains
every story that was found in the original, and the original contained no stories other than
those included in the reconstructed text ... (3) The narrative sequence of the original was
the same as it is in the reconstructed version." (Olivelle 1997, pp xliv-xlv) Beyond these 2
points, the list is not concerned.
4. Penzer 1926, p 213.
5. "[C]ontrary as is the case with the Pañcatantra, we can hardly speak of different versions of
the Hitopadeśa and ... the additions or omissions of certain stanzas as well as some of the
textual differences between the various editions of the Hitopadeśa are of little importance."
(Sternbach 1960, p 1)
6. In some textual traditions, including Durgasimha's, the name is Vasubhaga Bhatta.
7. Olivelle 1997, pp vii-viii, 160-61.
8. Chandrashekhara 2009.
9. Penzer 1926, pp xxxv-xliii & 214-215.
10. Olivelle 1997, pp vii-viii, 160-63.
11. Sternbach 1960, pp 27-29.
12. Ashliman, D. L. "The Panchatantra" (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/panchatantra.html).
Retrieved 27 August 2015.

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13. Ashliman, D. L. "The Monkey's Heart" (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0091.html). Retrieved

7 March 2016.

References
Chandrashekhara, Aithal (2009), Karnataka Pañcatantram, Pampa Mahakavi Road,
Chamarajpet, Bengaluru: Kannada Sahitya Parishat (New Kannada translation of
Durgasimha's Halegannada Panchatantra)
Olivelle, Patrick (translator) (1997), The Pañcatantra: The Book of India's Folk Wisdom,
Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-955575-8 {{citation}}: |first= has generic
name (help)
Penzer, N. M. (1926), The Ocean of Story, being C.H. Tawney's Translation of Somadeva's
Katha Sarit Sagara (https://archive.org/details/oceanofstorybein05somauoft), vol. V, London:
Chas. J. Sawyer
Sternbach, Ludwik (1960), The Hitopadeśa and Its Sources, American Oriental Series,
vol. 44, New Haven, CT: American Oriental Society

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