New Delhi: A loyal pet mongoose saves a baby from a snake but is hit by his owner. A donkey is beaten for braying about a thief. And a talkative turtle carried on a stick falls to the ground upon opening his mouth. These Panchatantra fables, which every Indian child has grown up on, are more than just light-hearted entertainment; these important Sanskrit texts shed light on human-animal relationships of the past and delve into ‘niti’, or polity and morality.
“The animal voice and perspective is central to these stories, often displacing the human voice,” said historian Shonaleeka Kaul at a lecture on the Panchatantra-Hitopadesha tradition at the India International Centre in Delhi.
Kaul, a professor of history at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), argued that stories from the Hitopadesha challenge the conventional understanding of animal representation in literature. They subvert the notion that animals are mere metaphors for humans and their experiences.
The Panchatantra, consisting of Sanskrit stories from the 3rd century BCE, is said to be the source of the Hitopadesha, which was written much later in the 12th Century BCE.
“Animals in the Hitopadesha are not just metaphors for humans; they are very much beings in their own right with their own values and actions,” she said.
A subversive language
The displacement of humans from the centre of the narrative indicates that Sanskrit literature was invested in recovering other voices—non-urban, non-elite, and non-human, too. By reading these texts and their representation of animals, we “renegotiate our understanding of Sanskrit,” said Kaul.
She went on to cite The Snake And The Mongoose, where the human is portrayed as reckless and the animal as faithful. In this tale, the human mistakenly kills her pet mongoose, assuming that he poses a threat to her child instead of the snake.
The Donkey And The Thief focuses primarily on conversations between animals, making the human voice secondary.
Kaul also gave examples of Hitopadesha stories that betray an awareness of social hierarchies, caste order, and women’s agency. The mongoose story, which features a Brahmin couple, does not shy away from showing them in the wrong.
Kaul argued that Sanskrit literature boldly questioned the status quo despite exclusive use of the language by Brahmins and other ‘upper’ castes. It understood as well as satirised social order and hierarchy through its representation of animal voices and lives.
“We think that just because something is provocative, it has to be said by women or the marginalised. But Sanskrit literature like the Hitopadesha shows how that is not true.”
Also read: Anti-women proverbs from around the world—garden trespassed by cattle; decent ones stay at home
Hitopadesha – a ‘delightful shastra’
Kaul expanded on how animals in the Hitopadesha changed the way life lessons were taught. The shastra (ancient scripture) wasn’t just didactic; it was rooted in reality.
Some stories had teachings as simple as ‘learn when to keep your mouth shut’ or ‘don’t interfere in what doesn’t concern you’.
“The Hitopadesha is, therefore, a shastra, but it is a manoharam shastra — a delightful shastra that teaches you about real life,” said Kaul.
Most fables either use animals to teach human beings a lesson or they appear as stand-ins for humans. Rarely are animal stories told from and by animals themselves, without them turning into fantasy stories.
Toward the end of the lecture, a curious audience member asked Kaul if her focus was on animal histories in early India or on Sanskrit literature. The two are closely linked, she said. Animal history in ancient India cannot be discussed without understanding Sanskrit literature and its proponents. At the same time, animal representation in the Hitopadesha adds to Sanskrit literature and enhances its understanding.
“As a historian, I cannot choose between medium and content because you cannot talk about one without the other.”
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)
Source: The Print
