The Panchatantra (Purnabhadra's Recension of 1199 CE)/front matter
"One Vishnusharman, shrewdly
gleaning
All Worldly wisdom's inner
meaning
these five Books the charm
compresses
Of all such books the world
possesses
And this is how it happened.
In the southern country is a city called Maiden's Delight. There lived a King named Immortal Power. This king had three sons …and they were supreme block-heads."
The Panchatantra, one of the world's great collections of tales was gathered together in India in the Vale of Kashmir, over 2,000 years ago. Told, so the story goes, to a king's three blockhead sons, the fables have ever since traveled the world, illustrating wise conduct of life through the storyteller's art.
Witty, wise, shrewd, full of life and humor, the animal-actors in these tales present life filled with sources of lasting joy. The stories are splendid as pure narrative; the verses are captivating and sophisticated. Here, translated from the Sanskrit, they charm the reader with their oriental flavor and spirit.
About the Author
The late ARTHUR W. RYDER,
distinguished translator of The Bhagavad-Gita, The Ten Princes,
and The Panchatantra, was Professor
of Sanskrit at the University
of California for many years
before his death in 1938.