Abstract

The Pancatantra is the most famous collection of fables in India and was one of the earliest Indian books to be translated into Western languages. No other work of Indian literature has had a greater influence on world literature, and no other collection of stories has become as popular in India itself. The Pancatantra teaches the principles of good government and public policy through the medium of animal stories, providing a window on to ancient Indian society. Its positive attitude towards life and its advocacy of ambition, enterprise, and drive are a salutary antidote to the pious pronouncements about the passivity and other-worldliness of ancient Indian society and religion.