pañcatantram
Ancient fables for wise living
The Panchatantra ("Five Treatises") is a set of moral fables about the wise conduct of everyday life. It is one of the most translated non-religious books in the world and one of the crown jewels of world folklore.
Like many Indian story collections, the Panchatantra is told as a frame story, meaning that all of the stories in the work are nested within other stories. Our rendition, which is based on the Panchakhyanaka recension by Purnabhadra, preserves the structure of the original stories while making their language more accessible.
mitrabhedaḥ
— Separation of Friends —