Essay name: Panchatantra: A reflex of Arthashastra
Author:
M. N. Indrani
Affiliation: Karnatak University / Department of Sanskrit
The essay studies the Panchatantra in relation to the Arthashastra by proposing that that Indian fable literature divides into educative and entertaining narratives, both traced back to the sacred Vedic texts. It highlights the 'Pancatantra' and its kin as representative of educative stories.
Chapter 3 - Contents of the Panchatantra
2 (of 60)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
57
啶膏啶侧ぞ啶班啶ムざ啶距じ啷嵿い啷嵿ぐ啶膏ぞ啶班 啶溹啶むた 啶膏ぎ啶距げ啷嬥啷嵿く 啶掂た啶粪啶｀啶多ぐ啷嵿ぎ啷囙う啶 啷�
啶むえ啷嵿い啷嵿ぐ啷堗 啶啷嵿啶た啶班啶む啷嵿啶曕ぞ啶� 啶膏啶え啷嬥す啶班 啶多ぞ啶膏啶む啶班ぎ啷� ||
[sakal膩rtha艣膩stras膩ra峁� jagati sam膩lokya vi峁ａ箛u艣armedam |
tantrai岣� pa帽cabhiretaccak膩ra sumanohara峁� 艣膩stram ||
] In the Mangala slokas above, the author Vi峁ａ箛u艣arm膩 pays
homage to the gods such as Brahma, Rudra, K膩rtikeya, Vi峁ａ箛u,
Varu峁嘺, Yama, Agni, Indra, Kubera, Candra, S奴rya, Saraswati,
presiding deities over four yugas. Goddess Lak峁i, A艣vins,
goddess P峁泃hvi, four Vedas, all holy rivers, eight Vasus [1. Apas
2. Dhruva 3. Soma 4. Dhar膩 5. Anila 6. Prabh膩sa 7. Praty奴峁
8. Anala].
Further, showing due regard for ancient preceptors of
Artha艣膩stra, Vi峁ａ箛u艣arm膩 offers his salutations to Manu,
B峁沨aspati, 艢ukr膩c膩rya, Vy膩sa, Par膩艣ara and C膩峁嘺kya too. As
stated in the third verse above, all five tantras of the
Pa帽catantra in one or the other way inherit the essence of the
texts on the Artha艣膩stra brought to light by the ancient
scholars. Thus, it is evident that the Pa帽catantra has the basis
of Artha艣膩stra itself.
Further, the Kath膩mukha proceeds to narrate that how
Vi峁ａ箛u艣arm膩 happened to write the didactic treatise on the
science of polity by name Pa帽catantra.
There was a king by name Amara艣akti ruling over
Mahil膩ropya kingdom. He had three sons named Bahu艣akti,
1.
鈥�
Pa帽catantra, Gokuldas Gupta, Chowkhamba Vidyabhavan, V膩ra峁嘺si,
Kathamukha, verses 1-3, p. 1.
