1. The Loss of Friends

The first book of the Panchatantra shows how fear, incomplete information, and poor advice can divide even good companions. Its frame story begins with a merchant, a bull, a lion, and two jackals. Many smaller tales will be told inside their story.

In a town in southern India lived a merchant named Vardhaman. He worked hard and hoped to grow his business. One morning, he loaded cloth, spices, and other goods onto a wooden cart and set out for the markets of Mathura. Two strong bullocks pulled his cart: Nandaka and Sanjeevaka.

The journey lasted many days. Sometimes the road shone in full sunlight; sometimes it disappeared beneath the shade of tall trees. Near the Yamuna River, the travellers came to a patch of soft, muddy ground. Sanjeevaka’s foot sank deep into the mud. He stumbled, sat down, and could no longer pull the cart.

Vardhaman cared for his bull. He stopped the caravan and tended to Sanjeevaka for several days. The other merchants, however, worried that it was unsafe to remain in the forest. At last Vardhaman told two attendants, “Stay with Sanjeevaka. When he can walk again, bring him to me.” Then he continued his journey with Nandaka.

Two nights later, the attendants heard wild creatures calling in the distance. Fear took hold of them. They abandoned Sanjeevaka, hurried after the caravan, and told Vardhaman that the bull had not survived. It was not true, but they were too ashamed to admit that they had run away.

Sanjeevaka lay quietly beside the river for a while. Cool breezes moved through the reeds, tender grass grew all around him, and clear water flowed nearby. He began to eat. Each day he walked a little; each day his leg grew stronger. Before long, he was healthy and powerful again.

One morning, Sanjeevaka gave a joyful bellow so deep and strong that it rolled across the river like thunder.

The king of that forest was a lion named Pingalaka. He had come to the river to drink when the strange call stopped him in his tracks. He had never heard such a mighty voice. “How enormous must the creature be,” he wondered, “if its voice alone can shake the forest?”

Pingalaka returned to a great banyan tree without taking a sip. The other forest animals gathered around him, but he said nothing. He did not want anyone to know that he was afraid.

Nearby lived two jackals named Karataka and Damanaka. Their fathers had once served as the lion’s ministers, so the brothers knew the ways of the royal court.

“Our king is troubled,” Damanaka whispered. “He came back from the river without drinking. We should discover what happened.”

Cautious Karataka shook his head. “Stepping into another’s work before we understand it can bring trouble. Have you never heard what happened to the monkey who pulled a wedge from a log?”

Damanaka’s eyes brightened with curiosity. “No,” he said. “Tell me that story.”

And so, inside the first tale, another tale began—The Monkey and the Wedge.