Panchatantra – Lions and Jackals – {Ep.228} – Stories From India – Podcast

Today we’ll cover a couple of stories from the Panchatantra. Both of these feature Lions and Jackals. The first one has another take on the nature vs nurture debate, and in the second we’ll hear of an ancient version of a smart home speaker!

Welcome to “Stories From India”. This is a podcast that will take you on a journey through the rich mythology, folklore and history of the Indian subcontinent. I am Narada Muni, the celestial storyteller and the original “time lord”. With my ability to travel through space and time, I can bring you fascinating stories from the past, the present, and the future. From the epic tales of the Mahabharata and Ramayana to the folktales of the Panchatantra to stories of Akbar-Birbal and Tenali Raman, I have a story for every occasion.

The purpose of the stories is neither to pass judgment nor to indoctrinate. My goal is only to share these stories with people who may not have heard them before and to make them more entertaining for those who have.

Today’s Story

In this episode, we’re doing two stories from the Panchatantra. The first features a nature vs nurture debate.

Let’s jump straight into the lion’s den. That’s not a metaphor. I mean that literally. We’re inside the home of a lion family. Which consisted of a lioness who uncharacteristically was doing household chores. Her three cubs were playing. They were imaginatively named Cub Number 1, Cub Number 2, and Cub Number 3. Her husband sat lazily on the couch. He stared at an empty part of the wall. You can only imagine that had television existed back then, the Lion would be watching Nat Geo Tame, or Human Planet or some other food channel. It’s funny to imagine how he might have handled the remote.

But that’s besides the point. Right now, Mrs. Lioness wasn’t very happy with her mane man, if you’ll excuse the pun.

“Dear, isn’t it time to get groceries?” she reminded him.

He groaned, but what could he do? If he didn’t get up and go now, he’d never hear the end of it.

“Alright, what do you want?” He roared.

Mrs. Lioness was ready. “Get me a deer, preferably a Sambar or a Barasingha. Make sure it’s not sick or anything, the last one you got gave me a stomachache. If there aren’t any deer, other animals will do as well. Birds are fine, or a couple of cheetahs. But just no monkeys please – you know that cub number 3 has an allergy. And if you’re getting any rabbits, get at least a dozen!”

Mr. Lion grumbled and walked into the jungle that to him, was the equivalent of a Kwik-E-Mart or 7/11. The main difference from your corner grocery store was that all the food was alive! And secondly, he didn’t have to pay anything. He was King of the jungle after all.

What gives it away easily as fiction is that in this case the Lion had the hunting responsibilities in the family. In real life, it is usually the lionesses that do most of the hunting.

The Lion walked around, but had no luck finding food. To be fair there was food. But there were birds but they were up on the branches, and they were too high for the Lion to climb. They’d probably fly off anyway if the Lion started climbing. So why bother? There was a cheetah, but it would have been too fast for the lion, so he didn’t bother chasing that either. There was a deer but it was on the other side of the river, and the Lion didn’t want to get his feet wet. All this walking about for food was making him tired. So he laid down under a tree and hoped one of the birds would lose its footing on the branch above and land into his open mouth.

It wasn’t long before he was disturbed. There were sounds coming from nearby. They were howls and they were playful. There were a pair of Jackals. Mr. Lion was trying to recall what Mrs. Lioness had said. Her instructions had covered birds, cats, rabbits, and monkeys, but said nothing about jackals. Oh well, two jackals were close enough to the exchange rate of a dozen rabbits.

The Lion pounced on them in one swoop and just like that both jackals were dead, crushed under the lion’s paws. This was great! The Lion was beaming with pride. He had done it. And without too much effort. Now his family could eat. Well at least he could eat, and so could Mrs. Lioness. The kids may have to eat some leftovers because two jackals weren’t enough to feed the family.

And then he saw a movement from the corner of his eye. He had mistaken it for an insect, but now he could clearly make out the shape.

“Mom? Dad? Wake up!” the baby jackal said, approaching its parents.

The Lion felt guilty immediately, and then felt guilty for having felt guilty. He was a predator. This baby jackal was food. His cubs need not survive on leftovers alone. They could have a cub sandwich. The lion’s share would still go to the parents of course.

So he lifted his paw to strike the baby jackal. And then he paused. The baby jackal was looking at him. Not with fear or malice, but with just innocence. As if he were saying “Oh please tell me mister Lion that you’re here to protect me from the bad guys with your big strong paws.”

The Lion couldn’t do it. He couldn’t crush this innocent little baby jackal whom he had just orphaned. The Lion decided to take him home. Then his wife could crush this innocent little baby jackal.

The Lion gently placed the baby jackal on his head. The baby jackal didn’t have sunglasses and a lemonade and lounge chair, but the Lion’s thick mane was a comfortable resting spot. He dozed off quickly enough not to notice the Lion carrying its parents in his mouth and racing back home.

Mrs. Lioness had the same problem that her husband had. How could she kill the baby jackal? Look at him so cutely staring at them with eyes like those of characters from a disney film.

She told the Lion to set the table for six. That puzzled the Lion who thought there were only 5 members in his family. Did she have some good news to share in his absence? Was Cub Number 4 on the way?

Mrs. Lioness said it wasn’t anything like that. It was a lot simpler. They now had 4 kids. Because yes, she had just now adopted this baby jackal. She would raise him to be a tough little animal

Mr. Lion also looked a little worried now that they had one more mouth to feed. I mean, he had only set up savings accounts and a college fund for three. And more importantly, what about dinner tonight? Surely, she wasn’t thinking of feeding the baby Jackal the main course. That would be pretty gross.

Mrs. Lioness told him not to worry. Their kids would eat whatever’s lyin’ around. Get it? Lion around. Mr. Lion roared. Roared with laughter, that is. He had a bit of a soft spot for dad jokes.

The three cubs grew to love the pup, and vice versa. They even bent their rules to let the Jackal join their cub scouts troop, even though he was a pup, not a cub.

At his wife’s urging, Mr. Lion sometimes took his cubs to pride rock. Even though he thought that was stretching it a bit. Were they looking to get sued here for copyright violation? Nevertheless he took them and explained to his 4 children that everything the light touched was their kingdom. Except that shadowy place which of course was an elephant playground.

Well, if you need kids to stay away from a place, it’s a mistake to talk about the place in an awe-inspired voice and it’s doubly a mistake to tell them not to go there. So promptly the very next morning, the four children were off to the elephant playground. But without the need for a full ensemble song like “I just can’t wait to be king” to distract anyone. 

The Jackal went happily too with his brothers, maybe because he didn’t know what size an elephant really was. Going by the size of toys in their nursery, elephants were tiny creatures indeed. Imagine his surprise then, at discovering that the mountain they were approaching was actually …. an elephant. When the elephant turned around to face them, the ground shook as if there was an earthquake.

The Jackal was scared. He wanted to go back home to the warm comforting arms of mummy Lioness. But his brothers merely laughed. And what’s more they were getting ready to attack the elephant. The Jackal pleaded with them. They needed to go home now. He didn’t want his brothers to get flattened.

Finally, they listened to his pleas and gave in. But all the way back they kept making fun of him. “What a coward he is,” Cub Number 1 jeered. 

“Like the cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz,” Cub Number 2 added.

“Watch out Elephant behind you,” shouted Cub Number 3 in mock fright. But it was enough to scare the Jackal again. And the three cubs burst out laughing.

It didn’t stop at home either. Mrs. Lioness noticed it and had the whole story out of them in no time.

The Jackal felt that this was the moment Mrs. Lioness was going to take her cubs to task for taking on such a risk. 

That should teach his brothers not to make fun of him, the Jackal thought.

But he wanted to add insult to injury, so he confidently spoke up, sort of Mrs. Lioness’s behalf that being brave didn’t mean they had to go looking for trouble.

But Mrs. Lioness stopped him right there. No. What the Jackal said was completely wrong. What was the point of being brave if you didn’t go looking for trouble? Of course they should go take on any animal they wanted. Their father was King of the Jungle, they could do whatever they wanted. 

The Jackal’s jaw dropped. And when all the cubs started roaring with laughter it only infuriated the little pup. He gnashed his teeth and swore that this was the worst he had ever been treated. How dare these cubs make fun of him? As if he was inferior to them? He swore he would have his revenge on them by killing them.

For a second time Mrs. Lioness stopped the Jackal. She looked at him and said that he was right. No one had treated him worse so far, that was technically the truth as well. And yes, he was definitely not inferior to the Lions. He had intellect and cunning, and she did not for a second doubt that if he decided to, he could certainly carry out his threat.

But by issuing his threat, he had crossed a line. By rights, she should crush him right now. That would save Mr. Lion a trip to the grocery store. But she would give him one chance.

“Run. Jackal. Run away and never return.” she said ominously.

The Jackal stared at the Lioness, and suddenly he was back in the same old situation as with Mr. Lion all those years ago. A helpless little animal that could have been easily crushed by the massive predator staring down at it. He quickly tucked his talk between his legs and scampered away.

“Golly, he looks pale.” Cub Number 1 said.

Cub Number 2 disagreed. “Seems more like a golden color to me,” he said.

You know how they say – pride goes before the fall. The Jackal certainly lost his pride, but whether he also had a fall – who knows? His lack of confidence and unusual upbringing did put him in difficult situations though I don’t think he actually ever fell. Probably because it’s much harder for a 4 legged animal to trip.

Well that’s that for the first story. In the nature vs nurture debate, the Panchatantra lands pretty firmly on the nature side. A Jackal is a Jackal, the Panchatantra asserts. And no amount of upbringing from a Lion family can shake the Jackal out of him. 

It does also make a point about being self-aware, and knowing one’s place in the food chain, or circle of life, if you prefer.

The Second story also features a Jackal and a Lion.

This one begins with a rather well-to-do Jackal. She owned a pretty big cave in a rather affluent neighborhood. Good within commuting distance of her regular hunting grounds, water hole not too far away. And what’s best – she had the entire place to herself. She didn’t need to share her home or her food or anything with anyone else. 

She loved her cave! And because she had a flair for interior design, she had spruced up her home to make it as comfortable and cozy as possible. There were houseplants, some decorative wind chimes, a cuckoo clock – everything you might expect to see in the home of an anthropomorphic wild animal.

Everyday, she usually headed out punctually on her 9 to 5. Her occupation was to go hunting for food. Sometimes fish down by the river, sometimes a little bunny here and there. Or maybe a bird or two. And sometimes if she was adventurous she might even venture near where the lions dumped their kill. As a Jackal, she didn’t mind scavenging. Truth be told, fresh meat and stale meat tasted the same to her.

So this fine day as well, she went hunting. For birds. But if you imagined this to be an adventure like Wile. E. Coyote chasing after the roadrunner, that’s not quite how it’s going to turn out. The Jackal was a very capable hunter without having to rely on incompetent solutions from the ACME company. Before the day was over, she had stuffed herself with birds.

She was strolling home slowly. And though she was in a cheerful mood, she immediately sobered the moment she approached her home. There was something odd about it.

What could possibly be odd about her home? The stones hadn’t been displaced. The welcome mat was just as she had left it. The mailbox hadn’t been disturbed. The fake lawn sign advertising that she had the best home security system on the planet was as it is.

And then she realized what it was. Footprints. There were footprints leading straight to her cave. What was odd was that the footprints weren’t hers. A much larger 4 legged animal had made them. There was no doubt. The front right paw was slightly less deep than the others, undoubtedly the animal wasn’t limping, but it was definitely not putting too much pressure on that foot. The pressure was exactly what Sherlock Holmes might have attributed to a minor accident when clipping its claws.

But what was more disturbing than all this evidence was that the footprints only led into the cave. There were no footprints going out.

Unknown to the Jackal there was a very good reason for this. A Lion was waiting inside the cave. He had wandered the jungle, looking for food. Because he had the same attitude towards hunting as Mr. Lion did in the previous story, this second story Lion decided to take the easy way out. He would go inside the cave and wait. Why bother hunting, when food was likely to willingly walk into the cave and straight into the Lion’s mouth? 

Speaking of which, as the Lion crouched in the darkness he could hear some footsteps outside. He held his breath.

The jackal cautiously approached. And then said, “what’s the matter? You didn’t greet me today?”

The lion was surprised. Was the Jackal talking to someone? But no one was there. The Lion was sure of that. He kept still.

“You’re still so quiet. All I want is to hear your voice. You didn’t ask me how my day was.”

Pause

“Are you even listening to me, cave? Why aren’t you answering? I wonder if you’ll listen to a direct command. Cave, turn on the front porch lights”

The Lion began to get worried. Apparently, the Jackal talked to her Cave everyday, and the Cave usually must be answering back! But what happened today – why was the Cave silent? And then realized. The Cave must have been quiet to warn the Jackal that someone was there. Or maybe the Lion had tripped over a power cord or something and rendered it inoperative.

There was nothing else to do, but to salvage the situation. So the Lion spoke up in the best Cave-like voice he could muster – “Hi Jackal, welcome home”

Instantly there was a pattering of feet. The Lion realized too late that the feet were pattering away, not towards him. He hurried out of the cave. But the Jackal had already run away to a safe distance.

Obviously, he didn’t need to point it out, or maybe he did, that the Lion had been very foolish in speaking up. Of course, caves couldn’t talk. If the Lion had just kept his mouth shut for a few more seconds, the Jackal was about to walk in, assuming that she must had made a mistake after all.

Sadly, the Lion had to admit that the Jackal had outfoxed him.

Which annoyed the Jackal in no small measure. She was a Jackal, not a fox! Why did people keep using the wrong term? But she didn’t hang around to dispute that. She was off. And she’d never come back to this home of hers. Small price to pay but it was totally worth it.

That’s all for now

Some notes on the show

The Panchatantra are a series of dozens of stories organized into just 5 stories really. Each of the 5 stories is a story that never ends. Because at the conclusion of any particular narration, one of the characters narrates a new story. This keeps going several levels deep.

They were written by a Scholar – Vishnu Sharma, who wanted to help a King out, by teaching his lazy children some life lessons.

Check out this link for previous Panchatantra stories.

That’s all for now. 

Next Time

In the next episode, we’ll be back into the Mahabharata main storyline. We’ll continue on with the Pandavas traveling the countryside in disguise.

Feedback

Thank you all for the comments on Social Media and on Spotify’s Q&A! I can’t directly reply to the questions there, but I’ll address them here on this show.

Parasasapbi, thank you for the feedback and thank you for being a long time listener of this show!

Thank you Shalu for the honest feedback, and I will certainly look to inject a bit more humor in future history episodes.

Thank you Darsh for your feedback as well

Aarush, thanks for recommending the Indus Valley civilization story. I haven’t forgotten your earlier request.

With the Indus Valley Civilization, it’s trickier because I have to use my time-traveling skills to the fullest. Both to travel to the past to witness some things first handed, and to the future to the point where the script has been deciphered. The research takes a bit longer. So I appreciate your patience as I navigate through the backlog in the meantime.

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Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time!