The Panchatantra contains the most widely known stories in the world. It consists of five books of animal fables and magic tales. Each of the five book is independent, consisting of a framing story with numerous inserted stories told by one or another of the characters in the main story.
We have made the following stories independent of each other as to make them easy to understand. You can read them individually without worrying about the sequence.
The Separation of Friends
- The Monkey and the Wedge
- The Jackal and the Drum
- The Fall and Rise of a Merchant
- The Foolish Sage
- Fighting Goats and the Jackal
- The Cobra and the Crows
- The Crafty Crane and the Craftier Crab
- The Cunning Hare and the Witless Lion
- The Bug and the Poor Flea
- The Story of the Blue Jackal
- The Lion, Camel, Jackal and Crow
- The Bird Pair and the Sea
- The Turtle that fell off the Stick
- Tale of the Three Fishes
- The Elephant and the Sparrow
- The Lion and the Jackal
- The Bird and the Monkey
- How a Sparrow came to Grief
- Right-Mind and Wrong-Mind
- The Crane and the Mongoose
- The Rat that ate Iron
- The King and the Foolish Monkey
- The Thief and the Brahmins
The Gaining of Friends
- The Hermit and the Mouse
- Shandili and Sesame Seeds
- Elephants and King of Mice
- Story of the Merchant’s Son
- The Unlucky Weaver
- The Rescue of a Deer
Of Crows and Owls
- Of Crows and Owls
- Elephants and Hares
- The Cunning Mediator
- The Brahmin and the Crooks
- The Dove and the Hunter
- The Brahmin and the Cobra
- The Old Man, Young Wife and Thief
- The Brahmin, Thief, and Demon
- The Tale of Two Snakes
- The Wedding of the Mouse
- Tale of the Golden Droppings
- The Cave that Talked
- Frogs that rode a Snake
- The War of Crows and Owls
Loss of Gains
- The Monkey and the Crocodile
- The Greedy Cobra and Frog King
- The Lion and the Foolish Donkey
- The Story of the Potter
- Lioness and the Young Jackal
- The Donkey and the Washerman
- The Price of Indiscretion
- The Jackal’s Strategy
- The Dog who went Abroad