Page 20 - Śrī Pañcatantra - Eng

xviii Preface

it have ‘gone down’ into the folklore of the story-loving Hindus,
whence they reappear in the collections of oral tales gathered
by modern students of folk-stories.”

* * *

Though the great nīti-śāstras were spoken by brāhmaṇas, nīti
or common sense is meant for every person of each varṇa and
āśrama. That is why it is called common sense, because it is
common to all people including the common man. In the first
chapter of Śukra-nīti, Śrī Śukrācārya, the great poet mentioned
in Bhagavad-gītā, describes the necessity of having a foundation
in nīti-śāstra:
“Lord Brahmā has given ten million verses on nīti, but it is their
essence that must be understood since this life is too short
to learn all of them. There are different śāstras that describe
certain branches of knowledge, but nīti is useful in all cases.
It is respected by all persons. As without nourishment, the
physical body cannot be maintained, so without an intelligent
application of nīti-śāstra no person can maintain his position
in life. The absence of nīti-śāstra is like a leaking pot. One who
does not follow the precepts of nīti-śāstra becomes subject
to unlimited miseries. Life without nīti is akin to licking the
sharpened edge of a sword.”

In preparing this edition we have referred to our old favorite,
the G.L. Chandiramani version. Therefore, of what use, it
might be asked, is another edition of Pañcatantra when some
good ones may already exist in English? All śāstra is meant to
ultimately lead the student to bhakti which is the intention
of our Vaiṣṇava interpretation. Nīti is the last word of the
Bhagavad-gītā (18.78): dhruvā nītir matir mama: “It is My
opinion that where there is Kṛṣṇa there is common sense.”