In this episode, we’re covering two stories from the Panchatantra. These stories have nothing much in common other than that they feature jackals. But like all of the other Panchatantra stories there are morals.
The first story begins with a Jackal. Let’s call this jackal Kapati, which is a hindi word that means deceitful. Kapati was just strolling through the forest, whistling a tune, as was his usual practice. It’s true Jackals can’t whistle. They can howl, growl and make yipping noises. But this is a work of fiction. And we have to attribute some human attributes to animals. Including talking to all other animal species as the situation demands, and being able to climb into barrels much like a human would. Climbing into a barrel is exactly what Kapati had to do. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Kapati’s path took him closer to the edge of the forest. Not his fault, everyday with deforestation the village was fast expanding at the expense of the forest. But this is no time to think about ecological disasters, Kapati thought to himself. Because just at that moment, he heard and smelled, something he feared above all else. Dogs.
These were friends of the villagers, they seemed similar to Kapati himself in shape, and yet they sided with the two-legged creatures. And they reacted very loudly whenever they sensed him. Kapati was particularly worried because today their barking sounded closer than ever, and their smell was stronger than ever.
Kapti quickly took to his heels. And not a moment too soon, he heard the menacing sound of snapping jaws behind him. He picked up pace and scampered through the bushes. He was a little smaller than his larger cousins, which was an advantage.
When he ran out of forest, he was able to slip through the fence into a villager’s yard. The dogs who were much larger had to go a long distance around. By that time, Kapati decided that it was time to change tactics. If he continued to run, he would be caught. But instead he would rely on his wits instead of legs. He would hide. Now, you might think that dogs that could smell him from a mile away through the dense forest would have no trouble in finding him in a tiny backyard. If you did, you’re overlooking one thing. The yard was full of junk. There were rusted old parts of bullock carts, some old children’s toys, some barrels, and a disused swimming pool. Kapati went straight for the barrel because that’s where the strongest odors were coming from. The dogs seemed to be rounding the corner, so without a further thought, he hopped into one of the barrels. It was sticky, and icky. Kapati held his breath and kept absolutely still.
The dogs barked all around the yard. They were puzzled. They couldn’t figure out where Kapati had gone. They thought he had vanished into thin air. Probably. Or maybe he went back out of the fence. A wise old dog in the pack claimed he had seen something like this happen before. It was definitely aliens, he said. A flying saucer came and light-beamed up the jackal. It had happened to one of his own masters before. Or so he claimed. The other dogs shrugged and when one of them suggested they go back to their poker and beer, the response was unanimously enthusiastic.
Kapati wasn’t a fool. He knew all too well that it was possible for the dogs to go back to talk loudly about walking away and then hide waiting for him to emerge from his secret hiding spot.
So he stayed there until he definitely heard the far off sound of dogs squabbling over poker chips.
Kapati decided that it would definitely be safe to emerge now and he slowly made it out. It was weird, that the sticky icky feeling did not go away when he emerged. Oh well, it would just take some time, he thought. Also his paws looked funny, but he couldn’t quite place his finger on it.
As he was walking back in the forest, he happened upon a wild boar and his family.
“Oh my god!” the boar said
“Why, what happened?” Kapati asked, surprised by the Boar’s reaction.
“God!” said the boar again
“Yes, go on?” asked Kapati
“It really is you! God!” and then the Boar bowed before Kapati.
It was only then that Kapati caught on. For whatever reason, this was a Boar that was a little dim-witted. Or just habitually sycophantic. Either way, the Boar seemed to want to worship Kapati. And Kapati was cool with that. Truth be told, he had seen this Boar before but they hadn’t really spoken. Just a polite hello at a mutual friend’s birthday party.
But right now, the Boar was bringing fruits and garland, and a coconut to Kapati. Kapati would have objected but honestly, he was hungry. And those fruits looked delicious. The kind that would be picked for a divine offering. Divine offering, he thought again and stopped. Nah, it couldn’t be and he dismissed the thought.
Just then a family of rabbits showed up, curious as to what the Boar’s family was doing. One look at Kapati and they too fell down on their knees and started praying.
Kapati realized now that yes, it wasn’t the boar and the rabbits being silly. There was something different about him. It was blue paint. That’s why his paws had felt different. There must have been blue paint in the barrel, and staying there for so long made it stick. No one had seen such an unusual color on an animal before. No one remarked that he looked like a blue colored Jackal. The blueness of his coat dazzled his devotees to the point that they didn’t pay attention to the shape.
And that was further reinforced when more and more animals appeared on the scene and brought more offerings. Some asked for his blessings. Some asked if it would rain, some asked if he could make the humans disappear, some asked for his autograph. Kapati answered them vaguely, which only served to reinforce the devotees had in their minds.
For the next few days, things were beyond better. Kapati was living a life of luxury, walking the red carpet everywhere. Always accompanied by a security detail consisting of a lion, a rhino, a tiger and a bear.
There were queues of animals waiting to see the Jackal. The Boar who had been the first to recognize the Jackal’s holiness also found a way to monetize the situation. He was charging Special Entry Darshan tickets for an extra price, with a free laddu. May remind you of modern Temple darshans.
Well, all good things come to an end. Amongst those wishing for a Darshan were a family of Jackals. They were doing normal Jackal things, which as we’ve seen before is howling, growling, and yipping. That was music to Kapati’s ears. Being in the company of all these animals for so long, and far away from his own kind was a bit tiring.
They were great, but they weren’t Jackals. They laughed at his jokes, but because he was God, not because they found the jokes funny, as other Jackals would surely have done. The fruits were great, but what Kapati wanted to eat was Rabbits. And yet, he couldn’t because they were amongst his biggest devotees.
So when Kapati heard the growling, howling and yipping of the Jackals in the queue, he suddenly felt a surge of enthusiasm for all of Jackalkind. He jumped up and expressed himself, just the way his fellow Jackals had done. By Howling, Growling and Yipping.
That’s when the scales fell from the eyes of all the other animals there. Everyone came to a more or less sudden realization that this creature before them was no God. This was a Jackal plain and simple. Well not simple, because they couldn’t explain why it was blue. But there was circumstantial evidence. None of their prayers had actually been answered. All Kapati had done since ruling over them was just to sit on a throne and eat and drink. And cut ribbons at various ceremonies.
Kapati’s security detail had a close-up view, so they could explain the blue fur. Given their proximity to Kapati, they could see the blue color didn’t extend all the way to the root. It was as if it had been painted on a few weeks ago, and new hair had grown since, in the natural Jackal fur color.
Once they realized that Kapati wasn’t a God, nothing would stop them from getting their revenge. It hadn’t mattered that Kapati had never himself claimed to be a God. What mattered is that they were deceived.
Revenge was swift. Without going into too much detail, let’s just say that the animals who came for a glimpse of Kapati and a bite of Prashad, instead did not get even a glimpse of Prashad, but they each got a bite of Kapati. Or what was left of him.
Our second story begins on a similar note. A Jackal strolling through a forest.
This one was clever, so let’s call him Chatur.
Chatur stumbled on something. It’s really hard for a four legged animal to stumble, but just like Kapati, Chatur was also whistling a tune and not paying attention to where he was stepping. That’s when he stumbled on an elephant. It wasn’t a live elephant. It was lying, dead. Chatur couldn’t believe his luck. This would supply him with breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next month or two. But there was a problem. He couldn’t just dig in. The Elephant skin was a little too tough for the Jackal’s teeth. There was no wound to give Chatur an opening.
But the manner of the Elephant’s death was nothing much to worry about. Chatur presumed that this elephant had not passed away from a deadly virus. More likely it had suffered a stroke. This was an extremely obese elephant and judging by the pack of extra extra extra large fries it was carrying in its trunk, it was not a very healthy eater.
But now the problem remained, how was Chatur going to get through the tough Elephant skin? He couldn’t use a fork and knife because he had no opposable thumbs. He couldn’t operate a circular saw for the same reason.
He was still trying to figure out a next step here, when a Lion came along. This was a ferocious lion with very sharp teeth too. Very likely the Lion would prefer to kill the Jackal, if there was the slightest provocation. Chatur decided the best course of action here was Diplomacy.
“Welcome, your majesty,” he spoke up. “I have been guarding this Elephant only for you”
That caught the Lion by surprise. He had expected Chatur to run and hide, leaving him the Elephant. Or if the Jackal were really foolish he would try and fight the Lion. But a polite welcome was the last thing he expected.
This puzzled the Lion. He was the King of the Beasts and he had to act as such. He had to appear magnanimous and principled at the same time.
“I only eat what I kill. You can have the Elephant yourself”. With that he walked away.
“What a pity” the Lion thought to himself. In reality he had no hesitation in eating the Elephant. He would even have loved to try those extra extra extra large fries it had been carrying. But he had an image to maintain.
“What a pity” thought the Jackal. The Lion had the sharpest teeth in the business. Even if he had eaten most of the elephant, there would have been enough for Chatur. Probably.
The Jackal kept wondering about what should be done next, when a Tiger happened on the scene.
The Tiger came drooling, looking at the body of the Elephant.
This adversary needed a different tactic, Chatur thought.
“Welcome, Lord Tiger Sir,” he said cheerfully. “Have you come to greet the Lion? He’s around, he’s gone for a quick sip of water and left me to guard his prey”
“The Lion took this Elephant down, by himself?” the Tiger asked, surprised. “What were Lions coming to, these days? He thought to himself. Next, they’d be jumping in the Ocean and catching Whales.
“Yeah, and Elephants are a particular favorite of his Majesty, the TigerKiller”
Detecting the look of shock on the Tiger’s face, Chatur explained that his Lion master, the King of the Jungle was named TigerKiller on account of the time he caught a Tiger eating his Antelope meal. The Lion decided that he would eat his Antelope, even if it was encapsulated by a Tiger. Also, could the Tiger take a step backwards, he was breathing on the Lion’s meal. That would be just as bad.
The Tiger waited no longer. Mumbling about a hastily remembered appointment, he scurried off.
Another challenge for the Elephant’s body was now averted, but the problem remained. How could the Jackal get to the Elephant meat?
In folk tales and stories, things come in threes. Naturally a third big cat appeared on the scene. It was a Leopard. The Leopard approached the Elephant thinking the only competition it had was a puny Jackal.
But Chatur explained that no he didn’t bring down this Elephant all by himself. He had help from the Lion. Who was off to get a sip of water. But Chatur could sense that the Leopard was a good guy. Chatur wouldn’t mind letting the Leopard have a bite. Hey I scratch your back and you can scratch mine someday, right? He said.
But hastily he added “Stop” as the Leopard actually got his claws out to scratch Chatur’s back.
Chatur said he would look out for the Lion but to just go ahead and dig in.
Just as the Leopard tore into the tough Elephant Skin and the Jackal detected that the hole was large enough for him to work with, he gave the emergency signal.
“The Lion’s coming back” he whispered loudly. And that sent the Leopard scampering. The Jackal laughed at how clever he had been and finally was about to dig in, when surprise. A fourth animal stumbled on the scene.
This one was a female Jackal. Chatur was annoyed, not least because it had just been predicted by myself just a minute ago that these things come in threes not fours.
Chatur had used lies, deception, and wisdom to guard his elephant, and now he would use his strength.
The fight didn’t last long. Maybe it was the agonizingly long wait to taste that Elephant meat that motivated Chatur but he quickly had defeated this new Jackal.
Finally, he began happily eating his Elephant with the extra extra extra large fries made an excellent side.
There was another happy ending for the Jackal too. Though they had met as competitors for the meal, they ended up as partners in life. And the amount of Elephant meat they had at their disposal covered food not just for themselves but for their kids as well.
That’s all for now
Some notes on the show
The Panchatantra was written by Vishnu Sharma, in response to a contest. A King was having a hard time managing his sons. They just didn’t have the inclination to read textbooks and turn in assignments and sit through long exams. So the King announced a contest, bit of a learning hackathon if you will.
Vishnu Sharma who was a learned man, took on the challenge of teaching the boys… wisdom!
And to do this, he thought of a revolutionary new idea. At least, it was revolutionary 2 or 3 thousand years ago. He told them stories instead of boring lectures. Vishnu Sharma deserves credit for taking creative writing to the next level.
So the Panchatantra was a bit like The For Dummies or the Idiot’s guide book series – “Wisdom for Princes – a storybook for the rest of us”
All of the stories in the Panchatantra are actually chains of stories. At the conclusion of each incident, one of the characters narrates a new story. A little bit like in the 1001 tales from the Arabian Nights, but without all the cliffhangers.
Thanks to Ancient and Medieval Tourism and Trade, the Panchatantra tales are well known in other parts of the world.
There are many other versions of the first story, known in other parts of the world. There’s a Russian variation that features a Fox instead of Jackal. That story ended with the Jackal’s deception being uncovered by rain. But he faced a similar ending, becoming part of the Jungle feast.
In keeping with the tradition on this show, I have named the characters after things they did. So Kapati means cunning. And Chatur means clever.
Previous Panchatantra stories are here.
That’s all for now.
Next Time
In the next episode, we’ll continue the Ramayana. We had previously accompanied Hanuman and other Vaaanars to the edge of land, trying to figure out how to get to Lanka. We’ll see Hanuman figure out a way to cross, thanks to some help from a friendly Bear who was also an honorary Vaanar.