'PANCHATANTRA' AND A N D HAKSAR

                                                                   

A N D HAKSAR’S BOOK………… ‘TALES FROM PANCHATANTRA'

Aditya Narayan Dhairyasheel Haksar (born 1933) is a remarkable personality. He is a Sanskrit scholar, bureaucrat, intellectual and translator. A highly respected translator of Sanskrit classics, Haksar joined the Indian Foreign Service and served as High Commissioner and Ambassador, respectively, in the USA, Kenya, Portugal, and Yugoslavia, as well as earlier at the Indian mission to the UN in New York. He belongs to a Kashmiri family from Gwalior. The Haksars are a prominent Kashmiri Pandit clan with historical ties to administration, diplomacy, and scholarship. A N D Haksar is married to Priti Haksar .The Haksar family traces their ancestry to Pandit Mahesh Haksar of Tankipora in Srinagar city, who left Kashmir during the dark days of the Afghan rule. Some prominent persons from this clan who rose to eminence include P N Haksar ( Advisor to Indira Gandhi), Swaroop Narayan Haksar ( Dewan of Bundelkhand ), Iqbal Narayan Haksar ( Prime Minister of Bikaner State ), Ajit Narayan Haksar ( former Chairman ITC), Sir Kailas Narayan Haksar ( PM of Gwalior before 1947 and participant of first Round Table Conference ) , Rajan Haksar ( actor ), Raj Kumari Haksar Kaul ( mother of Atal Bihari Vajpaye's adopted daughter Namita ) and some more persons. A N D Haksar studied at the Doon School (Allahabad) and later joined Oxford for his higher studies. As a translator, he has focused on the Katha, or narrative Sanskrit literature, the manuscript archive of which may comprise approximately 40,000 volumes.

 It was only through Haksar 's translation that I read *Samay-Matrika, written by the eleventh century's tallest Sanskrit poet, Kshemendra of Kashmir. The book not only illuminates the reader's mind but also gives comprehensive details of life in Kashmir during that period.

Some important classics that Haksar has translated into English are, Tales from the Panchatantra, Kamasutra by Vatsyayan, Simhasana Dvatrimsika: Thirty two Tales of the Throne of Vikramaditya, Chanakya Niti, Ritusamharam ( Kalidasa ), Seduction of Shiva, Hanumannataka ( composed by Bhoja's court poet Damodara Mishra), Navarasa :(The Nine Flavors of Sanskrit Poetry ), Samaya Matrika of Kshemendra, Three Satires from Ancient Kashmir (Kshemendra), Raghuvamsam of Kalidasa, Darpadalanam of Kshemendra, Vikramorvashiyam of Kalidasa, My Shameless Heart: Love Lyrics of Amaru ( translation of Amaru Shatakam ) and Hitopadesa by Narayana Pandit. He has also translated works of luminaries from the Sanskrit canon, such as Bhasa (plays ) and Bhartrihari( Sanskrit poetry ). He also did a wonderful translation of Srivara’s Kathakautukam (from Kashmir), and Kalyana Malla’s Suleiman Charitra (from Uttar Pradesh), Anthology of Humorous Sanskrit Verses, Tales of Ten Princes ( from Dandin’s Sanskrit text ), among many others. For the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, he edited two major publications, ‘Glimpses of Sanskrit Literature’ and ‘A Treasury of Sanskrit Poetry (2002). Apart from this, he wrote innumerable articles, gave lectures and helped many in the West to understand ancient Indian classics and Sanskrit literature.

Coming to Panchatantra that I finished this week, I add that Haksar has done beautiful translations of 24 stories from Panchatantra, the ancient Indian collection of animal fables or stories in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story.All these translations first appeared either in the 'Statesman' , New Delhi , during 1988 or in the 'National Herald', New Delhi , during 1990. Each tale features animals and humans facing challenges, solving problems, and learning important life lessons. The Panchatantra is a series of inter-woven colourful tales, mostly fables. According to its introductory narration, these inter-woven tales are meant to illustrate, for the benefit of three ignorant princes, the primary Hindu principles of Nïti - "the wise conduct of life" or "prudent worldly conduct”. Apart from the stories, the characters are noted to quote various epigrammatic verses to illustrate their objectives.

Salutation to the makers

Of precepts on policy ,

To Manu and Vachaspati,

To Shukra and Prashara with his son,

And to Chanakya the wise.

Having well considered

The essence of all the precepts

Vishnu Sharma did contrive

This charming work with chapters five ."

The above prelude to the Panchatantra identifies Vishnu Sharma as the author of the work. There is no other independent external corroboration about him. Based on the analysis of various geographical features and animals described in the stories, Kashmir appears to be his birthplace of this book. It is one of the most famous books, translated into different languages and is known by different names in different cultures. The book has been translated into Persian, Arabic, Greek, Latin, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Bhasha Indonesia, Tamil, Taegu, Kannada, Malayalam, Urdu, Hindi, English, Bangla, Gujarati, Nepalese, Oriya, Old Slavonic and Czech, and many other languages.

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The stories of the Panchatantra feature animals that behave and interact like humans, often using cunningness, wisdom, or folly to convey a moral or practical lesson. The Panchatantra consists of five parts, each of which comprises several fables tied together by a larger frame story narrated by a single character. The exact period of the composition of the Panchatantra is uncertain, and estimates vary from 1200 BCE to 300 CE. Some scholars place it in the 3rd century BCE.

Adapting stories that had been told for thousands of years in India, Panchatantra was composed into an entertaining five-part work to communicate the essence of diplomacy, relationships, politics and administration to the princes. These five discourses are titled:

• Mitra Bhedha (The Loss of Friends)

• Mitra Laabha (Gaining Friends)

• Suhrudbheda (Causing Dissension Between Friends)

• Vigraha (Separation)

• Sandhi (Union)

I quote some impressive verses from the Panchatantra stories that I read:-

(1)

‘For drunkards and neuters

For breakers of vows,

Even for Brahmin killers,

The wise say there may be atonement,

But for the ungrateful there is none “...(page 65)

(2)

“This is yours or mine,

The small-minded show

‘This earth is a family ‘

The large-hearted know.”..(page 82)

(3)

The daughter would a groom select,

Her mother wealth, her father learning,

The kinsfolk a good family want,

The rest for a feast are yearning.”…(page 61)

(4)

“Faced with losing all

A wiseman gives up the half,

And makes do with the rest ;

For unbearable is total loss.”…( page 53 )

(5)

“That man gains a fresh lease on life

Who takes revenge on both –

Those who harmed him in adversity,

And laughed when he was down and out.”…( page 51)

(6)

“That which cannot be done

By gifts and conciliation,

There stratagem must be used

For it can give control.”…(page 37)

(7)

“Good or bad, however, secret,

That which is in men’s heart

Can be known through wine

And through talk in sleep.”…( page32)

(8)

“

Presentable and eloquent,

Free from greed and versed in various skills,

Able to know the mind of others,

Such should be the king’s messenger. “

(9)

Better than a foolish son

Is one deceased or never born,

The pain that gives is at least brief

But the fool gives cause for lifelong grief.”….( page1)

(10)

Endless is the learning and brief is the life ,

There are many obstacles in the way.

So, grasp the essence and leave the rest

As with milk and water do **swans, they say......(Page 2)

( Avtar Mota )

P S

*Samay Matrika is a Sanskrit work written by Kshemendra, an 11th-century Kashmiri poet and satirist. The text translates to "The Time-Matron" or "The Courtesan's Life", offering insights into the social and cultural life of medieval Kashmir. It's a notable work in Sanskrit literature, showcasing Kshemendra's mastery of language and satire.

** The Myth of Swans Separating Milk and Water.......The belief that swans can separate milk from water is largely rooted in folklore and cultural references. The Mute Swan, known scientifically as Cygnus olor, is often associated with this myth due to its unique feeding behaviour. Swans have a filtering system in their mouths that allows them to extract food from water, which may have contributed to the idea that they can selectively drink milk while leaving water behind. 

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