The Rescue of a Deer

Mandharaka ended the story of Somilaka telling Hiranyaka and Laghupatanaka that a rich person who does
not spend money is as poor as any poor person can be. Not being able to enjoy is common to both the poor
and the miserly rich. Nothing on this earth is greater than charity and there is no greater enemy than
miserliness.

The crow then advised Hiranyaka, “Listen to what the turtle is saying. Elders have said that it is easier to get
friends who talk sweetly but difficult to find friends who venture to tell you the truth however bitter it is. The
latter alone deserve to be called friends.

The crow and the mouse put a brake to their conversation when they saw a frightened deer darting towards
the lake. The crow flew to the top of a tree. The mouse scampered into his hole and the turtle sank into the
water. From the treetop, the crow could see the deer now clearly and told his other friends, “Friends, he is
only a deer who is thirsty. These footfalls are not those of a man.”

The turtle replied, “The deer is panting. It seems someone is chasing him. He has not come to quench his
thirst. Surely, some hunter might be after him. Please go to the top of the tree and look if you can find any
hunter.”

Assured that these are friends only, the deer named Chitranga, now said, “Friend, you have guessed correctly.
I have escaped the arrow of the hunter and reached here with difficulty. I am in search of a shelter the hunter
cannot reach. Please show me a place safe from the hunter.”

Mandharaka, the turtle, said, “the scriptures have mentioned two ways of escaping danger. One is to use your
muscle power and another is to run as fast as you can. Now, run into the forest before the hunter could
come.”

“That is not necessary,” said Laghupatanaka, the crow.

“I have seen the hunters taking a good catch of food and going the way they came. O Mandharaka, you can
now come out of the water.”

With Chitranga, the deer, they became now four friends, happily spending time in each other’s company. The
learned have said that when you have plenty of cordial conversation, to be happy you do not need a woman.

The man who has no store of good words is not capable of uttering them.

One day, Chitranga had not come when the other three had gathered at the lakeside for their daily discourse.

They thought, “Poor Chitranga has not come so far. Is it possible that a lion or a hunter has killed him? Or, is
it possible that he has fallen into a pit?” Well-wishers naturally suspect the worst when their near and dear
ones are not seen for a while.

Mandharaka told the crow, “Friend, you know neither Hiranyaka nor I can move fast. You alone can fly and
see more things than we can. Please go immediately and find out what is happening to our friend.”

The crow did not fly too long before he saw Chitranga trapped in a hunter’s net near a small pond. Moved by
his plight, the crow said, “Friend, what happened to you?” Trying to check tears in his eyes, the deer said,

“Death is chasing me. It is good that you came to see me.”

The crow said, “Friend, don’t lose courage when we are here. I will rush back and bring Hiranyaka here.”
Laghupatanaka flew fast to where the mouse and the turtle were anxiously waiting for him to come and tell
them what happened to the deer. On hearing his account, Hiranyaka immediately decided that he should go
and bite off the strings of the hunter’s net.

He got on to the back of the crow and together they flew to the spot where the deer lay helplessly in the
hunter’s net. When the deer saw his friends rushing to his aid, he realized how necessary it was to collect
good friends and how nobody could overcome troubles without the help of good friends.

Hiranyaka asked the deer, “How did you, such a learned being, get into this hole?” The deer replied, “Friend,
this is not a time for a debate. The hunter may come any time. First, get me out of this net.” The mouse
laughed and said, “Why are you scared of the hunter when I am here? But tell me how did you let yourself
trapped in this way?”

The deer replied, “Friend, when luck is not with you, you will lose discretion. As the elders say when death is
lurking for you and when wickedness overtakes you, your thoughts too take a crooked path. Nobody can save
you from what God has in store for you.”

As they were discussing their plan to escape, Laghupatanaka and Hiranyaka saw that the turtle also was
coming. The crow said, “Look, this slow-footed guy is coming. Neither can we save the deer or ourselves.
See this fellow’s foolishness. If the hunter comes, I can fly away and you can beat a fast retreat. But how can
this turtle escape?”

The hunter came when they were debating this point. The mouse did a fast job of biting off the strings of the
net and the deer rushed into the thick forest. The mouse too disappeared into the nearest hole. But the poor
turtle was slowly plodding its way to safety. But the hunter saw him and bound him to his bow and slung it
across his shoulder and began going home.

Hiranyaka saw this from a distance and began reflecting, “Troubles do not come in singles. I have already
lost everything I have. I have lost my relatives and my retinue. Now, this loss of a great friend! We come
close to each other only to part. Everything in this world is temporary. Yet, I am grateful to God, for, he has
created this sweet relationship we call friendship.”

Meanwhile, the deer and the crow came, disturbing the mouse’s reverie. Recovering, Hiranyaka said, “Let’s
not brood over the past. Let us first look for a way to rescue the turtle.” The crow said, “Listen, and do as I
tell you. Chitranga will go to a small lake on the hunter’s way taking him home. He should pretend he is dead
and I will sit on his head and pretend pecking his eyes. Seeing the motionless deer, the hunter will then rest
the turtle on the ground and reach for the deer. Hiranyaka should at once reach the turtle and bite off the
strings binding him to the bow.”

“All right, we will do as you say,” said the mouse and the deer. Meanwhile, the hunter, seeing the motionless
deer, thought it was dead. Leaving the turtle on the ground, he came to the deer. The deer at once ran away
and the crow flew away. At the other end, the mouse bit off the strings binding the turtle to the bow. The
turtle entered water and the mouse ran to his hole.

Disappointed, the hunter returned to where he had rested the turtle. When he found that the turtle had
escaped, he cried bitterly and went home. After making sure that they were far away from the hunter’s reach,
the four friends gathered and celebrated their reunion.

Concluding his discourse, Hiranyaka said, “It is a lesson to mankind on the value of friendship. One should
not try to cheat friends. The elders have said that he who is faithful to his friends shall never taste defeat”.
Thus we come to the end of the second part of Panchatantra called Gaining Friends.

Third Strategy: Of Crows And Owls
This third part of the Panchatantra begins with a verse:
Trust not even a close friend
Who earlier was your enemy.

This is the story of how the crows burnt the home of a trusting pack of owls.


Once upon a time all the crows in a town called Mahilaropya made a huge banyan tree their home. The tree
had hundreds of branches. Their king, known as Meghavarna, set up strong fortifications to ensure security
for his brood. Similarly, the owls of the town made a nearby cave their colony. They also had a king, called
Arimardana, who ruled with the help of a strong and cunning army.

The owl king kept a close eye on the banyan tree and on account of previous enmity killed every night any
crow he sighted outside the tree. Slowly, the owl king managed to kill all crows that could be seen outside
the tree. That is why wise men had always said that whoever neglects disease or the enemy perishes in their
hands.

Alarmed at the loss of his flock, Meghavarna assembled his ministers and asked them to prepare a plan to
fight the owls. He placed before them six strategies and asked them to name the best of the six. The first
minister suggested compromise as a tactic because one had first to survive to gather strength and later destroy
the enemy. The elders have said,

“Bend to the enemy when he is strong
Attack him when he is vulnerable.
Don’t wage a war if it doesn’t bring
Power, or wealth or friendship.”

The second minister ruled out compromise and offered trickery as a formula. He cited the example of how
Bheema in the Mahabharata had killed Keechaka in the disguise of a woman. He also quoted elders saying,

“Never accept peace with
An enemy who is not just
For, he will break his word
And stab you in the back.”

The minister referred to the learned as saying that it is easy to defeat an enemy who is a tyrant, a miser, an
idler, a liar, a coward and a fool. Words of peace will only inflame an enemy blinded by anger.

The third minister said, “O lord, our enemy is not only strong but also wicked. Neither compromise nor
trickery will work with him. Exile is the best way. We shall wait and strike when the enemy becomes weak.”

“Neither peace nor bravado
Can subdue a strong enemy
Where these two do not work
Flight is the best alternative.”

The fourth minister opposed all these tactics and suggested the king of crows should stay in his own fort,
mobilize support from friends and then attack the enemy. He quoted the learned as saying,

“A king who flees is like
A cobra without fangs.
A crocodile in water
Can haul an elephant.”

Therefore, the minister said, “An ally is what wind is to fire. The king must stay where he is and gather allies
for support.”

The fifth minister offered a strategy similar to that of the fourth and said, “Stay in your fort and seek the help
of an ally stronger than the enemy. It also pays to form an axis of less strong allies.”

After listening to all the ministers, Meghavarna turned to the wisest and senior most among his counsels,
Sthirajeevi, and asked him for his advice. The wise man told Meghavarna,

“Oh, king of crows, this is the time to use duplicity to finish the enemy. You can thus keep your throne.”

“But learned sir, we have no idea of where Arimardana lives and of what his failings are.”

“That is not difficult. Send your spies and gather information on the key men advising the king of owls. The
next step is to divide them by setting one against the other.”

“Tell me why did the crows and owls fall out in the first place,” asked Meghavarna.

Sthirajeevi said, “That is another story. Long, long ago all the birds in the jungle—swans, parrots, cranes,
nightingales, owls, peacocks, pigeons, pheasants, sparrows, crows etc.—assembled and expressed anguish
that their king Garuda had become indifferent to their welfare and failed to save them from poachers.
Believing that people without a protector were like passengers in a ship without a captain, they decided to
elect a new king. They chose an owl as their king.

As the owl was being crowned, a crow flew into the assembly and asked them why and what they were
celebrating. When the birds told him the details, the crow told them, the owl is a wicked and ugly bird and it
is unwise to choose another leader when Garuda is still alive. To crush enemies it is enough if you mentioned
Garuda’s name or for that matter the name of anyone who is great. That was how the hares managed to live
happily by taking the name of the moon.”

The birds asked the visiting crow, “Tell us how this has happened.”

“I will tell you,” said the crow and began telling them the story of the hares and the elephants.