The King and The Foolish Monkey

Once upon a time, there was a king who kept a monkey as a pet. The monkey served the king in whatever
way he could. He had a free run of the royal household because he was the king’s pet. One hot day the
monkey sat fanning by the side of the king who was sleeping. He noticed a fly on the chest of the king and
tried to swish it away. The fly would go away for the moment and come back again to sit on the king's chest.
The monkey could take it no longer and decided to teach the fly a lesson. He looked for a dagger to kill it and
when he found it brought it down with all force on the fly. The fly flew away but the king died as result of
the dagger blow delivered by the monkey.

Karataka said, “Therefore, the lesson is that a king who cares for his life should not have a fool as his
servant.’ He went on to relate a second story to show how shrewd people save the lives of others.
Once upon a time a Brahmin lived in a big city and as a result of his misdeeds in his previous birth he
became a thief. He saw four other Brahmins from another city selling a variety of goods in his city. He
thought he should somehow deprive the four Brahmins of their money and through sweet words become their
good friend. He was useful to them in whatever way he could. True, it comes naturally for women of vice to
act coy and for charlatans to pretend to be learned.

The four visitors sold all their goods and with the money from the sales bought pearls and precious jewels.
The Brahmin thief was keeping an eye on what they were doing even as he pretended to serve them
faithfully. One day, in the presence of the Brahmin, the traders cut open their thighs and storing the jewels
and pearls inside the thighs sewed them back.

The Brahmin was disappointed that they did not give him even a small part of their wealth. He immediately
decided to follow them and kill them in the middle of their journey back home and take all that wealth from
them.

He told the traders with tears in his eyes, “Friends, you seem to be ready to leave me behind. My heart is
broken because it is difficult for me to snap the bonds of friendship with you. If you will be so kind as to take
me with you, I will be very grateful to you.”

Moved by his request, the traders started their homeward journey accompanied by the Brahmin thief. They
passed through several villages, towns and cities before they reached a village inhabited by thugs. Suddenly,
they heard a group of crows loudly shouting, “You thugs, very rich people are coming. Come, kill them and
become rich.”

The thugs at once attacked the Brahmin traders with sticks and began examining their bags. But they found
nothing. They were surprised because this was the first time that the words of the crows turned out to be
false. They told the traders, “O traders, the crows always tell the truth. You have the money with you
somewhere. Take it out or we will cut every limb of yours and bring it out.”

The Brahmin thief pondered, “These thugs will certainly pierce the body of the traders to grab the jewels. My
turn also will come. It is better I offer myself to these thugs and save the lives of the Brahmins. There is no
point in fearing death because it will come today or after hundred years. One cannot escape it.”
With these thoughts on his mind, the Brahmin thief asked the thugs to first kill him and see if there was
anything valuable on his body. The thugs accepted the offer and found nothing on him after they pierced his
body. They let go the other four Brahmins thinking that they also did not have anything precious on their
bodies.

As Karataka and Damanaka were discussing the ways of the world, Sanjeevaka engaged Pingalaka in a short
battle in which Pingalaka clawed him to death. But the lion was immediately struck by remorse and, recalling
the good days he had spent with the bullock, began repenting:

“O I have committed a great sin by killing my friend. There cannot be a greater sin than killing a trusted
friend. They who forget a favour or breach a trust or let down a friend will all go to hell as long as the sun
and the moon shine in the sky. A king will perish whether what he loses is his kingdom or a faithful servant.
A servant and a kingdom are not the same because you can always win back the kingdom but not a trusted
servant. In the court, I have always praised Pingalaka. How can I explain his death to the courtiers?”
Damanaka approached the grief-stricken king and told him, “O lord, ruing the death of a grass eater is
cowardice. It is not good for a king like you. The learned have always said that it is not a sin to kill a person
for treason even if that person is a father, brother, son, wife or a friend. Similarly, one must abandon a tenderhearted
king, a Brahmin who eats all kinds of food, an immodest woman, a wicked assistant, a disobedient
servant and an ungrateful person.”

Damanaka continued, “You are mourning the death of someone who does not deserve sympathy. Though you
are talking like a learned man, you forget that learned men do not think of the past or the dead.”

These words of Damanaka worked like a tonic providing relief to Pingalaka’s troubled mind. Pleased with
this advice, the lion king reappointed Damanaka as his minister and continued to rule the forest.
Second Strategy: Gaining Friends

This is the second strategy of Panchatantra known as Gaining Friends beginning with this stanza:

Even without the wherewithal
Learned men and intellectuals
Achieve what they want like
The crow, the rat, the deer and the turtle.

Now the story. There was a city called Mahilaropyam in the south not far off from where was a large banyan
tree. Many species of birds came there to eat the tree’s fruit. In the hollow of the great tree lived poisonous
reptiles like snakes and scorpions. Travelers found the tree a great shelter in their journeys.

A crow called Laghupatanaka made this tree his home. As he was flying one day towards the city for
collecting food, he sighted a hunter carrying a net and approaching the tree like a messenger of death. The
crow at once sensed danger and, sure that the hunter came to trap the birds on the tree, told all the birds,
“Friends, this wicked hunter have seeds in his bag that he will scatter to lure you. don’t trust him and avoid
the seeds like poison.” The hunter came, sowed the seeds and spread the net. He left the spot and sat
elsewhere not to arouse the suspicion of the birds. Warned by Laghupatanaka, the birds stayed away from the
seeds as though they were poisonous berries.

Meanwhile, Chitragriva, king of doves, saw the seeds from a distance and landed there with his retinue of
one thousand doves. They came to eat the seeds ignoring the warnings of Laghupatanaka and soon the hunter
spread his net and trapped all of them. That is why elders have said that fools can never foresee peril. People
often lose sense when danger lurks in the corner.

Chitragriva and his retinue, however, kept their cool in the face of danger. He appealed to his friends not to
panic. Elders have said that they tide over dangers, who are not scared by crisis. “Let us fly together and land
elsewhere where the hunter cannot reach us. We can then plan a strategy to get out of this net. If we don’t fly
now, we are all doomed,” said Chitragriva. Thereupon, all of them flew together.

The hunter followed the flight of the doves and looking upwards chanted, “They are flying together. But the
moment there is a break in their unity they will crash to the ground.” Laghupatanaka, the crow, also followed
the flying doves to see what they would do. When he lost sight of the birds, the hunter gave up and went
home ruing that he had lost his net also.

When he was sure that the hunter had failed to chase them, the king of the doves told his friends, “The hunter
has disappeared. Let us all now fly towards Mahilaropyam where I have a friend Hiranyaka, who is a rat. He
is our only hope. It is only a friend who will come to the aid of those in trouble.” The birds, heeding the
advice of the king, flew to the fort of Hiranyaka in Mahilaropyam.

Standing outside the fort, Chitragriva shouted,

“O friend, come quickly. We are in great trouble.”

Without coming out, Hiranyaka shouted back, “Who are you sir and what do you want from me? What is the
kind of trouble that is bothering you? Let me know.”

“I am your friend Chitragriva, king of the doves. Come out soon.”

Hiranyaka came out and was happy to see Chitragriva with his retinue and asked what the matter was. The
king of the doves said,
“Whatever man does for whatever reasons,
in whatever manner and wherever in his last birth.
He reaps the consequences for the same reasons,
in the same manner and in the same place.”

“All of us are trapped in this net because of our weakness for food. Come at once and free us from this trap,”
urged Chitragriva.

Hiranyaka said, “It is rightly said that a bird can recognize food from fifty miles but cannot see the danger
lurking next to him.”

After delivering this sermon, the rat set out to free Chitragriva first. But the king of doves pleaded with him
to first liberate his friends. The rat was angry and reminded Chitragriva that it was fair that the king became
free first and then the servants. “No, it is not like that,” countered Chitragriva. “They are all dedicated to my
service and have left their families behind to come with me. I have to repay that debt,” he said.

Pleased with his friend’s love for his servants, Hiranyaka said, “Friend, I know the duties of a king. I was
only testing you. I will free everyone now. This will win more doves for your retinue.” With the help of his
servants, the rat then bit off the entire net and all the doves came out. Hiranyaka saw off Chitragriva and
retinue and went back into his fort.

Seeing the whole drama of Hiranyaka liberating Chitragriva and his friends, Laghupatanaka, the crow,
thought, “I don’t trust anyone. On top of it, I have a fickle mind. I will seek his friendship. Our ancestors
have always said that even if a wise man has everything he needs, he should still seek friends. Even if all the
rivers flow into the Sea, the Sea still waits for the Moon to come out.”