HOLY MAN AND A SWINDLER

Once upon a time, in a lonely temple there lived a holy man called Dev Sharma. Many people used to visit him and present him with money and finely woven garments, which he sold and got very rich on the proceeds.

And by nature, he trusted nobody.

Night and day he kept the treasure purse under his armpit and would not part with it even for a second.

A swindler, who robbed other men of their money, noticed that the holy man always kept the treasure purse under his armpit.

He said to himself, 'How could I rob this holy man of his money! It's difficult to make a hole through the walls of the temple or to get in over the high gates, so what I'll do is, charm him with honeyed words so that he accepts me as his disciple.

And when he has put confidence in me, some day he'll fall into my clutches.'

When he had resolutely made up his mind, to carry out this plan, the swindler i approached the holy man, stood before him with reverence and said, 'Om Namaha Shivaya!'( I bow before Lord Shiva, the God of death)

With these words he threw himself humbly on the ground before the holy man and said, 'Oh Guruji! I am fed up of this life. Please do guide me so that I follow the right path in this life and find happiness .'

When the holy man heard this, he said kindly, 'My son, you are indeed blessed that you have come to me at this young age, surely I will guide you.'

When the swindler heard this, he fell on the ground before the holy man, touched his feet, and said, 'Oh, Guruji, please do accept me as your disciple.'

'My child! answered the holy man 'I will, but on one condition, that you will never enter the temple at night, because a holy man is recommended to stay alone at night without company and meditate . We will keep to it, you and I.'

'And so', continued the holy man, 'after taking the vow of initiation, you will have to sleep in a thatched hut at the gate of the temple.'

'I shall willingly carry out your wishes', said thr swindler

At bedtime, the holy man initiated the swindler according to the rituals and made him his disciple. The swindler massaged his hands and feet, waited upon him and made him happy but nonetheless the holy man did not part with his money bag even for a second.

After some time, the swindler began to think, 'He does not trust me at all! Shall I knife him in broad daylight, poison him or kill him like a wild animal?'  While he was thinking this over, the son of one of the holy man's disciples, from a nearby village, came to give him a personal invitation and said, 'Guruji,! Today the ceremony of the sacred thread takes place in our house.

Please come and sanctify it with your presence.'

The holy man accepted the invitation willingly and started off accompanied by the swindler

On the way, they came to a river.When the holy man saw the river, he folded his money bag in his robe and said, ' Oh my child! Look after this robe with the vigilance of a Yogi until I return.'

And he went into the bushes.The minute the holy man's back was turned, the swindler vanished with the money bag.After the holy man had answered the call of nature, he slowly returned, thinking about his money.When he got back, he failed to find the swindler but saw only his robe, lying on the ground.He peered anxiously inside but could not find his purse. He began to cry out, 'Alas! I have been robbed'. And he fell on the ground in a swoon.After sometime he returned to his senses.

He got up and began to shout ' Oh! Where are you, you rascal! Answer me!'

After he had shouted like this in a loud voice, he slowly trailed the swindler's footsteps until, just before evening, he came to a village.He stayed there for the night and in the morning, returned to his temple.

This wise indeed say : Do not be taken in by the sweet words of a swindler.'

THE PEDIA OF PANCHTANTRA

The Panchatantra (IAST: Pañcatantra, Sanskrit: पञ्चतन्त्र, !پنچ تنتر}} 'Five Principles') is an ancient Indian inter-related collection of animal fables in verse and prose, in a frame story format. The original Sanskrit work, which some scholars believe was composed in the 3rd century BCE,^[1] is attributed to Vishnu Sharma. It is based on older oral traditions, including "animal fables that are as old as we are able to imagine", including the Buddhist Jataka Tales.^[2][3] It is "certainly the most frequently translated literary product of India",^[4] and these stories are among the most widely known in the world.^[5] To quote Edgerton (1924):^[6]

…there are recorded over two hundred different versions known to exist in more than fifty languages, and three-fourths of these languages are extra-Indian. As early as the eleventh century this work reached Europe, and before 1600 it existed in Greek, Latin, Spanish, Italian, German, English, Old Slavonic, Czech, and perhaps other Slavonic languages. Its range has extended from Java to Iceland… [In India,] it has been worked over and over again, expanded, abstracted, turned into verse, retold in prose, translated into medieval and modern vernaculars, and retranslated into Sanskrit. And most of the stories contained in it have "gone down" into the folklore of the story-loving Hindus, whence they reappear in the collections of oral tales gathered by modern students of folk-stories.

Thus it goes by many names in many cultures. In India, it had at least 25 recensions, including the Sanskrit Tantrākhyāyikā^[7] (Sanskrit: तन्त्राख्यायिका) and inspired the Hitopadesh. It was translated into Middle Persian in 570 CE by Borzūya. This became the basis for a Syriac translation as Kalilag and Damnag^[8] and a translation into Arabic in 750 CE by Persian scholar Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa as Kalīlah wa Dimnah^[9] (Arabic: كليلة و دمنة‎). A New Persian version from the 12th century became known as Kalīleh o Demneh^[10] (Persian: کلیله و دمنه‎) and this was the basis of Kashefi's 15th century Anvār-e Soheylī^[11] (Persian: انوار سهیلی‎, 'The Lights of Canopus'). The book in different form is also known as The Fables of Bidpai^[12][13] (or Pilpai, in various European languages) or The Morall Philosophie of Doni (English, 1570).

TORTOISE AND GEESE

a TORTOISE and two Geese lived together in a pond for many years. At last there came a drought and dried up the pond. Then the Geese said to one another,-

"We must seek a new home quickly, for we cannot live without water. Let us say farewell to the Tortoise and start at once."

When the Tortoise heard that they were going, he trembled with fear, and besought them by their friendship not to desert him.

"Alas," the Geese replied, there is no help for it. If we stay here, we shall all three die, and we cannot take you with us, for you cannot fly."

Still the Tortoise begged so hard not to be left behind that the Geese finally said,-

"Dear Friend, if you will promise not to speak a word on the journey, we will take you with us. But know beforehand, that if you open your mouth to say one single word, you will be in instant danger of losing your life."

"Have no fear," replied the Tortoise, "but that I will be silent until you give me leave to speak again. I would rather never open my mouth again than be left to die alone here in the dried-up pond."

So the Geese brought a stout stick and bade the Tortoise grasp it firmly in the middle by his mouth. Then they took hold of either end and flew off with him. They had gone several miles in safety, when their course lay over a village. As the country people saw this curious sight of a Tortoise being carried by two Geese, they began to laugh and cry out, - "Oh, did you ever see such a funny sight in all your life!" And they laughed loud and long.

The Tortoise grew more and more indignant. At last he could stand their jeering no longer. "You stupid . . . " he snapped, but before he could say more he had fallen to the ground and was dashed to pieces.