Page 17 - Śrī Pañcatantra - Eng

Preface xv

So tightly woven into the fabric of Indian culture are these
stories and permutations of them, that anyone who has spent
any amount of time studying Indian lore would have come face
to face with many of these fables. The teachings are profound
yet simply told. Just like the great brāhmaṇa Viṣṇuśarmā,
our Guru Mahārāja sometimes taught us the most profound
lessons through the examples of sparrows, jackals, lions,
hares, crocodiles and monkeys. Śrīla Prabhupāda was himself
like a modern Viṣṇuśarmā and he had at his fingertips an
unlimited command of such stories, examples and verses. Like
Viṣṇuśarmā, who was charged with the duty of teaching three
princes who were not that bright, Śrīla Prabhupāda had his
own assortment of sons and daughters to bring out of Western
so-called “civilization” and into Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Thus the
world’s greatest teachers may conceal important lessons in the
simplest of instructions.

Once at darśana, Śrīla Prabhupāda asked me about my brother
and my mother who he knew from New York. “I am trying to
make them Kṛṣṇa conscious,” I explained. His Divine Grace
replied with a story. He said, “There was a hunter who captured
a young bird in his net. So the mother went to save her child
and she also became caught. The father bird said to himself,
‘What can I do, if I try to save them then I will also become
trapped.’ So he flew away.” In this way Guru Mahārāja gave a
simple example from nīti-śāstra through which my whole life
would be changed. The message was clear: “First save yourself
before you can save anyone else.”

As it is said, “There is nothing new under the sun.” From the
stories of Pañcatantra, it becomes evident that thousands of
years ago there were also scoundrels posing as ascetics and
yogīs. Then, as now, there were cheats who misinterpreted
the scriptures for their own benefits. By pretending to be