More than 2000 years ago, there was a kingdom in southern India named Mahilaropya. The Kingdom was ruled by king Amarshakti. Amarshakti had three sons, Bahushakti, Ugrashakti and Anantashakti.
King Amarshakti was a just and able king, well versed in the knowledge of society, economics and diplomacy, however his sons were complete idiots. They would never spend time studying and acquiring knowledge, instead they spent their entire time playing around and doing mischiefs. This worried the good king, for he wanted his children to be prepared to conduct the duties of running a kingdom without hassle.
One day the king decided to discuss his worries among his ministers and asked for their advice. The king said, “My wise ministers, I am really worried about my children. They do not spend their time studying scriptures. I am worried that they are not prepared to run this kingdom after me. I urge you all to suggest a way out.”
One of the ministers said, “O King! The first twelve years are spent in learning grammar, after that Manu’s Dharmashastra, then Chanakya’s Arthashastra and in the end one learns Vatsyayana’s Kamashastra. It is after learning all four that one's knowledge is complete.”
Hearing this the king replied, “Human life is very uncertain and learning all these scriptures and understanding them well will require a very long time. Isn’t there a faster way to gain all this knowledge? I want them to be prepared before I decide to handover this kingdom to them.”
At this point a minister named Sumati spoke, “There is a learned teacher by the name of Vishnusharma. He is wise and loved by his disciples. I suggest you hand over the responsibilities of your children to him. He is the only one capable of imparting knowledge to your kids in a short duration.”
Considering Sumati’s advice, the King invited Vishnusharma to his court and said, “O learned one! I need your help. I want you to educate my children and teach them about social, practical and political matters in a short time. If you do that I will reward you with 100 villages.”
Vishnusharma heard the king patiently and replied, “O king! I am a teacher. I would not even know what to do with the reward of 100 villages. I do not have that kind of desire. However I will certainly take up the responsibility of educating your kids and if I fail to educate them appropriately in the next 6 months, I will happily accept any punishment you deem suitable.”
Hearing these words from the learned teacher, the King became free of worries and he instructed his children to go with the teacher to his gurukul and study as per his instructions.
Vishnusharma brought those princes with him to his gurukul and started teaching them through interesting stories centered around animal characters. Vishnusharma divided his lessons into five parts. First part was about differences or conflicts among friends, the second part was choosing the right friend and forming relationships, the third part was about stories of crows and owls, the fourth part was about what to do in desperate situations and the fifth part was how to navigate in situations about which one does not have complete visibility. Thus Vishnusharma imparted social and practical knowledge to young princes through interesting stories.
These five chapters collectively became popular as Panchtantra and teach children basic knowledge about dealing with social situations and impart moral lessons. In this series we will be bringing out stories from Panchtantra with interesting visuals, which you can watch with your kids.
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More than 2000 years ago, there was a kingdom in southern India named Mahilaropya. The Kingdom was ruled by king Amarshakti. Amarshakti had three sons, Bahushakti, Ugrashakti and Anantashakti.
King Amarshakti was a just and able king, well versed in the knowledge of society, economics and diplomacy, however his sons were complete idiots. They would never spend time studying and acquiring knowledge, instead they spent their entire time playing around and doing mischiefs. This worried the good king, for he wanted his children to be prepared to conduct the duties of running a kingdom without hassle.
One day the king decided to discuss his worries among his ministers and asked for their advice. The king said, “My wise ministers, I am really worried about my children. They do not spend their time studying scriptures. I am worried that they are not prepared to run this kingdom after me. I urge you all to suggest a way out.”
One of the ministers said, “O King! The first twelve years are spent in learning grammar, after that Manu’s Dharmashastra, then Chanakya’s Arthashastra and in the end one learns Vatsyayana’s Kamashastra. It is after learning all four that one's knowledge is complete.”
Hearing this the king replied, “Human life is very uncertain and learning all these scriptures and understanding them well will require a very long time. Isn’t there a faster way to gain all this knowledge? I want them to be prepared before I decide to handover this kingdom to them.”
At this point a minister named Sumati spoke, “There is a learned teacher by the name of Vishnusharma. He is wise and loved by his disciples. I suggest you hand over the responsibilities of your children to him. He is the only one capable of imparting knowledge to your kids in a short duration.”
Considering Sumati’s advice, the King invited Vishnusharma to his court and said, “O learned one! I need your help. I want you to educate my children and teach them about social, practical and political matters in a short time. If you do that I will reward you with 100 villages.”
Vishnusharma heard the king patiently and replied, “O king! I am a teacher. I would not even know what to do with the reward of 100 villages. I do not have that kind of desire. However I will certainly take up the responsibility of educating your kids and if I fail to educate them appropriately in the next 6 months, I will happily accept any punishment you deem suitable.”
Hearing these words from the learned teacher, the King became free of worries and he instructed his children to go with the teacher to his gurukul and study as per his instructions.
Vishnusharma brought those princes with him to his gurukul and started teaching them through interesting stories centered around animal characters. Vishnusharma divided his lessons into five parts. First part was about differences or conflicts among friends, the second part was choosing the right friend and forming relationships, the third part was about stories of crows and owls, the fourth part was about what to do in desperate situations and the fifth part was how to navigate in situations about which one does not have complete visibility. Thus Vishnusharma imparted social and practical knowledge to young princes through interesting stories.
These five chapters collectively became popular as Panchtantra and teach children basic knowledge about dealing with social situations and impart moral lessons. In this series we will be bringing out stories from Panchtantra with interesting visuals, which you can watch with your kids.
A monkey was a devotee and confidant of a king. The king had appointed that monkey as his bodyguard and he was allowed to move freely anywhere in the palace.
One day the king was sleeping and the monkey was blowing air with a fan standing near him. A fly sat on the king's chest while he was sleeping. Even after repeatedly trying to remove it with the fan, it kept sitting on his chest again and again.
Frustrated, the foolish monkey struck the fly with a sharp sword. The fly flew away but the king's chest was broken in two and he died then and there.
That's why it is said that friendship with a fool can be harmful.
On the other hand, there lived a learned Brahmin in a city who had become a thief due to some circumstances. Once four Brahmins from another city came there. When he saw these Brahmins earning money by selling some things, he thought, "Why not steal their money somehow?" Thinking this, he came to the Brahmins and joined them by buttering them up with sweet honeyed words.
The brahmins bought precious gems with all their money and put them in a bundle and tied them around their thighs inside the clothes. Seeing all this, the thief thought that he should somehow accompany them so when there was a chance, he could steal them. He somehow persuaded them to take him along with them by talking sweetly to them.
Seeing the five of them on the way, the crows cried out, "Oh Kirats! Run and run, the very rich ones are going. Kill them and take away all their wealth."
When the Kirats heard the crows, they surrounded the brahmins and checked all their belongings but they did not find any money. Then the bandits said, "These crows do not lie. Give us whatever money you have, otherwise we will kill you and take everything you have."
Hearing them, the thief thought, "If they kill these brahmins and find jewelry with them, they will think that I also have jewelry and will kill me too."
Thinking so, he went ahead and said, "O Bandits! If so, then you check me thoroughly."
The dacoits beat him and searched him in every way but found nothing. Then the thieves felt that the rest of the Brahmins would also have nothing and they let them go.
Thus a wise enemy saved the lives of those brahmins.
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Stories of Panchtantra
More than 2000 years ago, there was a kingdom in southern India named Mahilaropya. The Kingdom was ruled by king Amarshakti. Amarshakti had three sons, Bahushakti, Ugrashakti and Anantashakti.
King Amarshakti was a just and able king, well versed in the knowledge of society, economics and diplomacy, however his sons were complete idiots. They would never spend time studying and acquiring knowledge, instead they spent their entire time playing around and doing mischiefs. This worried the good king, for he wanted his children to be prepared to conduct the duties of running a kingdom without hassle.
One day the king decided to discuss his worries among his ministers and asked for their advice. The king said, “My wise ministers, I am really worried about my children. They do not spend their time studying scriptures. I am worried that they are not prepared to run this kingdom after me. I urge you all to suggest a way out.”
One of the ministers said, “O King! The first twelve years are spent in learning grammar, after that Manu’s Dharmashastra, then Chanakya’s Arthashastra and in the end one learns Vatsyayana’s Kamashastra. It is after learning all four that one's knowledge is complete.”
Hearing this the king replied, “Human life is very uncertain and learning all these scriptures and understanding them well will require a very long time. Isn’t there a faster way to gain all this knowledge? I want them to be prepared before I decide to handover this kingdom to them.”
At this point a minister named Sumati spoke, “There is a learned teacher by the name of Vishnusharma. He is wise and loved by his disciples. I suggest you hand over the responsibilities of your children to him. He is the only one capable of imparting knowledge to your kids in a short duration.”
Considering Sumati’s advice, the King invited Vishnusharma to his court and said, “O learned one! I need your help. I want you to educate my children and teach them about social, practical and political matters in a short time. If you do that I will reward you with 100 villages.”
Vishnusharma heard the king patiently and replied, “O king! I am a teacher. I would not even know what to do with the reward of 100 villages. I do not have that kind of desire. However I will certainly take up the responsibility of educating your kids and if I fail to educate them appropriately in the next 6 months, I will happily accept any punishment you deem suitable.”
Hearing these words from the learned teacher, the King became free of worries and he instructed his children to go with the teacher to his gurukul and study as per his instructions.
Vishnusharma brought those princes with him to his gurukul and started teaching them through interesting stories centered around animal characters. Vishnusharma divided his lessons into five parts. First part was about differences or conflicts among friends, the second part was choosing the right friend and forming relationships, the third part was about stories of crows and owls, the fourth part was about what to do in desperate situations and the fifth part was how to navigate in situations about which one does not have complete visibility. Thus Vishnusharma imparted social and practical knowledge to young princes through interesting stories.
These five chapters collectively became popular as Panchtantra and teach children basic knowledge about dealing with social situations and impart moral lessons. In this series we will be bringing out stories from Panchtantra with interesting visuals, which you can watch with your kids.
