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Articles: Moral Stories | Panchatantra stories
- Mr. Siri Siri
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CHATURAK - THE JACKAL
A lion named Vajradanta lived in a forest. He had two attendants. One was Chaturak- the jackal and Kravyamukha - the wolf. Both the attendants followed their master, wherever he went.
One day, the lion killed a she-camel, which was pregnant and had strayed from rest of the herd. As soon as he tore apart her abdomen, he saw a calf in the abdomen of the she-camel. The lion, the jackal and the wolf devoured the she-camel but brought the young camel to their den because of compassion. They named it Shankukarna. In due course of time, Shankukarna grew up.
One day, the lion had a fight with an elephant in which he was seriously injured. His injury rendered him incapable of hunting. The lion instructed the jackal and the wolf to search such an animal, which he could kill even in his injured state. The jackal and the wolf tried hard but did not find such an animal. Then the jackal said to Shankukarna.
‘Our master is unable to bear the pangs of hunger. If anything happens to him, it will be impossible even for us to sustain our lives as easily as we do today'.
Then the cunning jackal trapped the simpleton young camel with his fraudulence. He said -
'Give your body to the master at double profit. This way not only his hunger would be satisfied, your body would also double in size'.
The young camel liked this plan. He too was desirous of having enormous size like the other camels. He replied -
'If this is so then I will be glad to be of some help to the master. But I will do it only in the witness of lord-of-death'.
Both of them went to the lion. Chaturak said -
'Lord! We could not find any such animal as you could kill even in your injured condition. Now the Sun has already set. Shankukarna is willing to give his body in the witness of lord of the death at double-profit'.
The lion agreed to this proposal. As soon as the lion nodded his permission, the jackal and the wolf killed Shankukarna. Vajradanta then went to take a bath instructing both of them to take care of Shankukarna’s flesh.
Now Chaturak wanted to devour the whole flesh himself. He thought of a plan to remove Kravyamukha from his way.
Chaturak said to Kravyamukha -
'Friend! You seem to be very hungry! Eat up this flesh! I will prove your innocence when the master returns'. As soon as Kravyamukha began to eat the flesh, Chaturak warned him that the master was coming. Kravyamukha moved aside. When the lion saw that the heart of the camel was missing, he angrily asked -
'Who has dared to touch this flesh?'
Kravyamukha started to look at the face of Chaturak in anticipation that he would defend him. But Chaturak was quiet. He said to Kravyamukha -
'Why are you looking at my face? Inspite of my repeated request and warnings, you did not listen to me and started eating the flesh'. Kravyamukha fled from the scene.
As the lion was about to eat the flesh, suddenly he heard the sound of ringing bells. He curiously sent Chaturak to find out where the sound was coming from.Chaturak went for some distance and then returned back. He said -
'Lord! Just run away if you can. The lord of death is angry with you, as you have killed Shankukarna prematurely. He is coming along with the ancestors of Shankukarna. The camel, which is ahead of all the other camels, has a bell hanging down from his neck. That very bell is producing this formidable sound '.
The lion went ahead to check for himself if it was true. When he saw the herd of camels approaching towards him, he became terrified and ran away. The jackal happily devoured the whole flesh.
After the story was completed, Damanak said -
'This is the reason why I say that one must apply just any means to accomplish a task'. After Damanak had gone, Sanjeevak thought that it was his mistake to have a friendship with Pingalak. 'Where should I go? What should I do? Should I go back to Pingalak? Perhaps taking his refuge will save my life'.
Thinking like this he went towards the place where Pingalak lived. When he reached there, he found Pingalak in the same posture as described by Damanak. It convinced Sanjeevak fully that whatever Damanak had said was absolutely right. He sat at a distance from Pingalak without greeting him.When Pingalak saw this he too was convinced that Damanak was absolutely right in his inferences. Pingalak angrily pounced on Sanjeevak and injured his back. Sanjeevak too attacked him with his horns and somehow managed to stand at a distance.
When Kartak saw both of them injured, he admonished Damanak that he had not done a proper thing by causing differences between them. He said -
'Damanak! You are a fool! If Pingalak dies of his injury then all your efforts would go in vain and if he survives the attack, it would be inauspicious because the danger from injured Sanjeevak would always loom large over him. So it is very essential for Sanjeevak to die. You fool! Actually it is not your fault. It is the fault of master who was so naive to have full faith in you. You are not fit to become his minister. Just as there is no use making an effort to cut a stone with the knife in the same way there is no use teaching an unworthy disciple, for example as was the case with Suchimukha'.
Damanak wanted to hear the study of Suchimukha. Kartak narrated this following story-
SUCHIMUKH - THE BIRD
There used to live a troupe of monkeys at the foothills of a mountain. Once, the winter was exceptionally chilling due to excessive snowfall. As a result, the monkeys were unable to bear the cold.
Some of the monkeys saw some fibrous fruits on the ground, which were glowing like cinders. Mistaking them for cinders, they started blowing over them with the intention of making fire. A bird named Suchimukh saw them doing this. She tried to convince them about the futility of their efforts but the monkeys did not listen to Suchimukh.
Suchimukh said: 'You all are fools! These are not the cinders but fibrous fruits. You can never make fire from them. It would be better for you to look out for some shelter to protect yourselves from this chilling cold'.
One of the monkeys angrily replied that it was none of her business, and they would do whatever they deemed fit. It has rightly been said that an intelligent person should not try to advise a person who fails repeatedly in accomplishing his task.
But Suchimukh constantly and repeatedly reminded them about the futility of their effort. The monkeys, who were already frustrated due to their unsuccessful attempts of igniting fire, became angrier. They killed Suchimukh dashing her against a rock.
After finishing his story Kartak said - 'Discourse given to a foolish person acts as a catalyst in increasing his anger. For example, a foolish monkey rendered his master homeless'.
Damanak curiously asked about the story of the foolish monkey and his master.
Kartak then narrated the following story -
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