Panchatantra – an example of
using narratives in teaching in
ancient Indian education
Shirin Kulkarni
Abstract
This article presents the historical account of using narratives as a means of
education in ancient India. Historians and other scholars found that in between
300–500 BC, in India, stories and animal fables were narrated for educating
students with a special purpose of making them learned within a short period of
six months. The collection of these stories is known as Panchatantra. The word
Panchatantra can be split into two words as Pancha and Tantra. Pancha means
five and Tantra means technique or strategy, so Panchatantra was narrated to
teach the five strategies of Politics, Public administration and Nitisastra (wisely
code of conduct). In this article, I am presenting the history of migration of
Panchatantra, its content, its educational evaluation, usefulness and adaptation
of its techniques in the modern education. The main aim of this article is to
present an ancient book with its specialties and its use in the modern education.
It is also important to have a look at how one can adapt the technique of
narrating stories not only using morals but also using the principles of different
subjects. How can this kind of story form be adapted in explaining different
concepts of Science or Mathematics? Some suggestions will be discussed from
learning point of view.
Keywords: Panchatantra, narratives in teaching, India, education, animal
fables
Shirin Kulkarni: Panchatantra – an example of using narratives in teaching
in ancient Indian education.
Teoksessa Eero Ropo & Maiju Huttunen (toim.)
Puheenvuoroja narratiivisuudesta opetuksessa ja oppimisessa.
Tampere: Tampere University Press 2013, 199–216.
◆ Shirin Kulkarni ◆
Introduction
Once upon a time, in ancient India, there was a kingdom named as
‘Mahilaropya’ and ‘Amarshakti’ was the king. The king had three sons
who were not interested in studies in any way. The king was always
worried regarding their studies and their future as his successors. One
day he asked advice from his ministers regarding this issue. The prime
minister suggested him a man called Pandit Vishnusharma. Vishnushar-
ma was a well versed Brahmin1. Brahmin was a class of society in ancient
India which used to take care of learning and teaching of the society.
Amarshakti listened to his minister’s suggestion and call upon
Vishnusharma. He asked whether Vishnusharma accepts his sons as his
own disciples for educating them. Vishnusharma accepted the challenge
and took an oath of teaching the princes and making them well learned
within six months. He off course kept the promise.
This was the birth story of Panchatantra. Panchatantra is a collection of
stories which were narrated for purpose explained in the above story. Before
we look into the details of Panchatantra, it is vital to know the role of
narratives in the process of teaching and learning.
Human beings have always told stories. It is one of the most important
things which makes us who we are and distinguishes us from other creatures
on this planet. Before the invention of any modern electronic equipment
like television or computer, listening and telling stories was the most
favorite time pass. Stories were used to pass on real events, history, family
connections and also as an entertainment. They were used to teach children
and to hand down values and customs from generation to generation. Long
before writing, the only culture was oral, spoken culture. (Fox & Jennifer
2005, 11.) That is why it is interesting to view education from the narrative
perspective.
This narrative about Panchatantra given above takes us into the deep
education history of India. When we speak about narrative learning in
schools for identity construction then we cannot overlook the Vedic
1
Ancient Indian society was divided in four classes for the division of labour-Brah-
mins, Kshatriya, Vishya and Shudra. Out of these four classes, Brahmins were re-
sponsible for the function of education. Kshatriyas were worriers. Vaishyas were
traders, farmers and Shudras were the performers (arts, crafts, sculptures).
200 Eero Ropo & Maiju Huttunen (toim.)
◆ Panchatantra – using narratives in teaching in ancient Indian education ◆
education system2 of India. In India, since the Vedic age there has been
a tradition of oral education. Oral education means transferring the
knowledge from one person to other through narration. Most of the ancient
Indian scriptures were preserved like this, generations after generations.
It has been always a powerful tool to preserve the knowledge if we
consider the attacker’s history of India. Most of the ancient literature was
written in sutras. Sūtra (Sanskrit: sutra, “a rope or thread that holds things
together”) metaphorically refers to an aphorism (or line, rule, formula), or
a large collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual – is a distinct
type of literary composition, based on short aphoristic statements, generally
using various technical terms. The literary form of the sutra was designed for
concision, as the texts were intended to be memorized by students in some of
the formal methods of self-study (scriptural and scientific study). Since each
line is highly condensed, another literary form arose in which commentaries
on the sūtras were added, to clarify and explain them.
In Panchatantra also, the sutra form is used. To explain this we should
look into an example. There is a sutra or saying in the first tantra, Mitrabheda,
‘A King wishing long life should never keep foolish servants’. There is a story
following the sutra to explain it. As the Princes were not so enthusiastic
about learning the principles and reminding them; Vishnusharma has
narrated the story to make it entertaining.
2
Vedic education system was an education system based on Vedas. Vedas are the old-
est scripts of Hindu Dharma (Hinduism). Though the exact date when Vedas came
into existence is debatable, Indologists place the Vedic age between 1300 BC and
500 BC. (Kulke & Rothermund 2004.)
Puheenvuoroja narratiivisuudesta opetuksessa ja oppimisessa 201
◆ Shirin Kulkarni ◆
Panchatantra – Its journey across the globe
Fig 1. Map of Sassanian Empire and Jundishapur3
Panchatantra has its own story of moving from places to places and from
one language to other language. During the last 1500 years there are at
least 200 translations of Panchatantra in about 60 languages of the World.
Aesop fables, Arabian Nights, Sindbad and more than 30 to 50% of Western
nursery rhymes and Ballads have their origin in Panchatantra and Jataka
stories (Dudes 1995). Traditionally in India it is believed that Panchatantra
was composed around 300 BC (Jacobs 1888).4
3
Courtesy: Dr. V.V. Bedekar (2008), History of migration of Panchatantra and what
it can teach us. Retrieved on June 27, 2012. Reprinted by the permission of Dr. V.V.
Bedekar.
4
Introduction, pp. xv: “The latest date at which the stories were thus connected is
fi xed by the fact that some of them have been sculpted round the sacred Buddhist
shrines of Sachi, Amaravati, and the Bharhut, in the last case with the titles of the
Jatakas inscribed above them. These have been dated by Indian archaeologist as
before 200BCE, and Mr. Rhys-Davis produces evidence which would place the
stories as early as 400 BCE and 200 BCE, many of our tales were put together in a
frame formed of the life and experience of the Buddha.”
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◆ Panchatantra – using narratives in teaching in ancient Indian education ◆
Modern scholars depending on references to earlier Sanskrit works in
Panchatantra assign the period of 300 to 500 BC, for it’s composition in
today’s form (Olivelle 1997).
Panchatantra migrated to Iran in the 600 BC, to be translated for the
first time in any foreign language (Pehlavi) with a title Kalilah wa Dimnah
(De Blois 1990). Bud then translated it into Old Syrian language in 570CE
(Yuka 1999). This Syrian version went into Germany and get dressed in
German in 1876 CE by Bickell and then again by Schulthess in 1911CE.
The third important translation of Panchatantra was done after two
centuries in Baghdad in 750 CE in Arabic. This Panchatantra translation
enjoyed great popularity and is considered as masterpiece of Arabic narrative
literature. Almost all pre-modern translations of Panchatantra in Europe
have their roots in this Arabic translation. (Irwin 2006.) The journey of
Panchatantra throughout Asia and Europe has drawn on the map in Fig. 1.
With the help of which one can see how it was transferred and got a place in
world literature. The popularity of Panchatantra lies in its simple yet elegant
style and rich content.
Panchatantra – its content
Panchatantra is a collection of moral tales and animal fables with one
specific teaching in each of them. The stories of Panchatantra are considered
as stories of wise conduct of life. As Vishnusharma had only six months to
teach the ‘dud’ sons, he wanted to make them aware of the basic principles
of wise conduct as how to understand people, how to get good friends, how
to choose ministers and servants, how to handle conflicts with tact and
wisdom and how to live with peace and harmony.
The word Panchatantra means a group of five most useful strategies.
These five strategies are called:
• Mitra-bheda: The Separation of Friends (The Lion and the Bull)
• Mitra-lābha or Mitra-samprāpti: The Gaining of Friends (The Dove,
Crow, Mouse, Tortoise and Deer)
• Kākolūkīyam: Of Crows and Owls (War and Peace)
• Labdhapraṇāśam: Loss Of Gains (The Monkey and the Crocodile)
• Aparīkṣitakārakaṃ: Ill-Considered Action / Rash deeds (The
Brahman and the Mongoose)
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◆ Shirin Kulkarni ◆
Panchatantra which was originally constructed or narrated by Pandit
Vishnusharma, is a group of seventy two short stories divided in the above
mentioned five chapters. Each chapter has a basic frame story5 containing
other short stories within. All these short stories in a basic frame story have
a purpose. That purpose can be understood with respect to the purpose of
the basic frame story. We can compare it to the rings we see after dropping
a stone into a still lake. They arise from a common center yet different from
each other. So these stories can be told as individual different stories but still
if looked into the context they have some other meaning to tell.
The stories are mostly in the form of dialogues. Two main characters in
the basic frame story start talking to each other about certain incident and
in the flow of the discourse they tell some principles of practical wisdom to
each other. The other character asks to explain that principle in detail so the
first character starts telling a story which explains the principle told earlier.
At some places even the characters from the other story starts a dialogue and
tell stories to explain some principle. The most noticeable thing is, that each
story has a moral or a principle of practical wisdom.
As we read about the birth story of Panchatantra in the beginning of
this article, to make the princes wise and well learned mainly in the field
of Politics, Public administration and Nitishastra, Vishnusharma narrated
these stories of Panchatantra, which were interesting as well as thought
provoking. He taught them five main strategies. It will be fascinating to know
them one by one with little bit of explanation and an example. The story
which is given below is the frame story for fourth strategy Labdhapraṇāśam:
Loss Of Gains.
Vishnu Sarma begins his fourth Tantra with the following stanza:
He overcomes all problems
Who does not lose his cool
Even in the face of adversity
Like the monkey in the water.
5
A frame story (also frame tale, frame narrative, etc.) is a technique used in litera-
ture that sometimes accompanies the story within story, whereby an introductory
or main narrative is presented, at least in part, for the purpose of setting the stage
either for a more emphasized second narrative or for a set of shorter stories. (Witzel
1987.)
204 Eero Ropo & Maiju Huttunen (toim.)
◆ Panchatantra – using narratives in teaching in ancient Indian education ◆
Raktamukha was a monkey living on a blackberry tree near the coast.
That tree was always full of fruits. One day a crocodile named Karal-
amukha came out of the waters and loitering on the sands came to the
tree.
Seeing the croc, the monkey said, “O croc, you are my guest. I will feed
you with these delicious blackberries. Enjoy the fare. The learned have
said,
That man is blessed who hosts
A lover or an enemy or a fool.
Angels will desert the home
That fails to host a guest.
The monkey then gave the crock a lot of berries. After he had his fi ll,
Karalamukha went home. Thereafter, it became a habit with the croc to
daily visit Raktamukha, enjoy the fruit he offered, spend time with him
discussing the world and then go home.
One day, the croc’s wife asked her husband, “Where do you get this
fruit, they are so sweet. I have never tasted such mouth-watering fruit.”
“I have a close friend, a monkey, who gives me the fruit every day,” said
the husband.
“If the fruit are so sweet, the heart of your friend who eats them every
day must be as delicious as the fruit. Please get his heart for me, if you
have love left for me. I will always be young and immortal if I eat that
fruit,” said the wife.
“My dear, it is improper for you to speak like that. I have accepted him
as my brother. It is not possible for me to kill such a host. Please be
reasonable. The elders have said,
Puheenvuoroja narraiivisuudesa opeuksessa ja oppimisessa 205
◆ Shirin Kulkarni ◆
From mother we get our first relative,
A good word brings the second relative
Who is more precious than a brother.
Angry, the wife said, “You have never defied my word. It must be a
female monkey who is your friend. That’s why you are spending so much
time with him every day. I have now understood you thoroughly. Your
heart is full of that monkey. You are a cheat.”
Karalamukha, wanting to pacify his wife, said, ““My dear, why are you
angry? I am your most obedient servant and ready to carry out your
order at any time.”
“No, she is dear to you. If you really love me, why don’t you kill her and
get me her heart. If you don’t get it, I will fast and die,” threatened the
wife.
Worried, the croc went to the monkey. Seeing that the croc was late for
his daily meeting, Raktamukha said, “You are late and do not seem to be
cheerful. What’s the matter?”
“Oh my friend, how can I tell you what happened at home. My wife is
very angry. She told me that I am an ungrateful friend and that every
day I eat the fruit you offer but never had the courtesy of inviting you
home. You have no redemption; she told me and warned me that if I
did not bring you home, I would see her only in the other world. These
arguments with her have delayed me. Please come with me. My wife has
decorated the house fit to receive you. She has hung welcome buntings at
the entrance. She is eagerly waiting for me to bring you home.”
The monkey said, “Your wife has said the proper thing. You should leave
a man who loves you for your wealth like the spider attracts his prey. She
might as well have quoted the elders saying,
Where there is no give and take
Where there is no exchange of secrets
And of hospitality either
There is no true friendship.
“There is a problem, however. We are all land animals. You live in water.
It may not be possible for me to accept your kind invitation. I advise you
to bring her here,” said the monkey.
“It’s really no problem,” said the croc. “Our house is on a sandbank. It’s
a beautiful place. Sit on my back. I will carry you.”
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◆ Panchatantra – using narratives in teaching in ancient Indian education ◆
The monkey happily sat on the back of the croc and the journey began.
As the croc was entering deep waters, the monkey got scared and told
the croc to go slowly.
Thinking that the monkey was his prisoner now, Karalamukha told
Raktamukha, “It is now safe to tell you our plan. My wife wanted me
to create trust in you first and persuade you to accept our invitation and
then kill you so that we may have the good fortune of feasting on your
heart.”
With great presence of mind, the monkey said, “My friend, if this is
what you and your wife wanted, why didn’t you tell me in the beginning
itself? My heart is safely stored in the burrow of the tree. What is the
use of your taking me home without my heart? Let us go back. There is
nothing happier for me than giving my heart to your wife.” Happy, the
croc turned back and brought the monkey to the shore.
The monkey at once leapt to the top of the blackberry tree and thought,
“We should not trust an untrustworthy person, even if we did, it should
not be total. Such trust will destroy us completely. This is a rebirth for
me.”
The croc was in a hurry and asked
the monkey, “What is the delay?
Get you heart. My wife will be
very happy.”
The monkey angrily told him,
“You idiot, have you seen anyone
who has two hearts? You are
ungrateful. Get out of my sight
and never come this way again.
People who are hungry stoop
to any level like Priyadarsana.” The croc asked him to tell the story of
Priyadarsana. Raktamukha told him the following story …
Thus in the above example we can see how the end of the first story is the
beginning of successive story. This type of structure involves the reader, in
this case listener and arouses his/her curiosity of what will happen next.
Moreover we should also look into the content and explanation of other
strategies one by one.
Puheenvuoroja narraiivisuudesa opeuksessa ja oppimisessa 207
◆ Shirin Kulkarni ◆
Panchatantra
Mitra-bheda: Mitra-lābha or Kākolūkīyam: Labdhapraṇāśam: Aparīkṣitakārakaṃ:
The Separation Mitra-samprāpti: Of Crows and Loss Of Gains Ill-Considered
of Friends The Gaining of Owls Action
Friends
The basic The basic theme The basic theme The basic theme The basic theme
theme story is story is of the story is about story is of a monkey story is of a merchant
of a lion and friendship among crows and owls. and crocodile. It and his silly guest.
a bull. Most of a dove, a crow, It explains the explains how one It explains that the
the stories from a mouse, a war and peace can lose previously hasty deeds can lead
Panchatantra tortoise and a situation and earned things us to permanent loss
falls into this deer and explains the strategy because of one’s of things or people
section of the importance of handling own foolishness.
Tantra. of gaining and enemies.
retaining good
friends.
Fig. 2. Panchatantra – Its structure
First strategy is Mitrabheda, that is, separation of friends. It is a story of a
lion king and a bull. It tells us how they become friends with each other
and later how they are separated by a jackal. There are two jackals in this
story, Damanaka and Karataka as the ministers of Lion King. The basic
underlined principle in this story is how the ministers play an important
role in deciding what is good for their king at a certain point of time. They
can bring somebody to the king for friendship, if they find it hard to fight
with that person as his strengths and weaknesses are unknown. When they
understand that friendship with this person is not so useful for the King and
for the kingdom, they can bow the seeds of misunderstanding between the
King and his friend to separate them skillfully.
The second strategy is Mitralabha. This strategy is narrated to tell the
importance of gaining good friends. It underlines the principle that one, who
has good friends will never taste defeat in one’s life in any kind of situation.
This is a story of four friends; a crow, a rat, a deer and a turtle, and how they
help each other in the time of calamity.
The third strategy is Kokolukiya (Of crows and owls). The main story
is about the enmity of crows and owls. It tells about how to deal with the
enemies with tact and wisdom. It also strengthens the moral that never
208 Eero Ropo & Maiju Huttunen (toim.)
◆ Panchatantra – using narratives in teaching in ancient Indian education ◆
believe a person who is your enemy and never believe a friend who was your
enemy at some point of time.
The fourth strategy is Labdhapranash means loss of gains. It says that one
can lose the things which are earned earlier because of one’s foolishness. The
main story starts with an incident between a monkey and a crocodile.
The fifth strategy is Aparikshitkarakaram means ill-considered actions
or hasty deeds. The stories starts with a moral that one should never do
anything before examining it properly, otherwise this ill-considered action
will lead to permanent loss. The basic story is of a merchant and a fool guest
at his house and how the hasty deeds of the guest later on leads to death of
some monks.
After narrating the stories based on the above mentioned strategies,
Vishnusharma brought the princes back to the King as well learned men.
Since then Panchatantra has played a pivotal role in the life of Indian
children. Panchatantra still has the same educational importance in
childhood education and narrated as bedtime stories in many Indian
families within and outside India. As per the time change, the stories are
also converted into animation form and attracting viewers even outside
India. What are the reasons of its immense popularity? What is so unique
about Panchatantra? What we can learn from Panchatantra to improve
current education and to overcome the problem of boredom in schools?
Panchatantra as a historical educating narrative method
It remains something of a mystery why narrative text is so easy to compre-
hend and remember. Perhaps it is because the content of narrative text
has such a close correspondence with everyday experiences. Perhaps it
is because the language of oral conversation has a closer similarity to
narrative text than other discourse genres. Perhaps it is because there
are more vivid mental images, or a more elegant composition of the
conceptual structures. Narratives are more interesting, so perhaps they
are more motivating to read. (Graesser et al. 2002, 240.)
This interesting element of storytelling was used in Panchatantra to educate
the students as story telling is nothing but participation, participation by
the narrator and participation by the listener. It has also been part of formal
Puheenvuoroja narratiivisuudesta opetuksessa ja oppimisessa 209
◆ Shirin Kulkarni ◆
education for many years. In the nineteenth century, student teachers were
trained to tell stories (Fox & Jennifer 2005).
Storytelling is not only important for literacy but can be applicable in
other curriculum areas. Storytelling is enjoyable, creative, responsive, active,
inclusive and flexible. Stories being enjoyable is an important factor in
imparting happiness in students. Martin Seligman (2003), a psychologist
has shown through his study, that positive enjoyment improves learning. It
also teaches the children to be creative by creating their own stories.
To teach his students in a short period of time, Vishnusharma creatively
used the stories of different animals and human beings. As his students
were not so eager to study through the routine method he found an exciting
and entertaining method, that is, teaching through narration or with the
help of stories. Interestingly, the characters in the fables are often animals,
perhaps because children find animals interesting, and have a strange way of
connecting with them. Panchatantra is not just a compilation of tales with
morals. It is a collection of stories within a story, a manner of story-telling
that engages a reader very effectively. The end result is the communication of
morals and deep philosophy without preaching (Meler 2011).
With the help of the characters of the story he tried to explain simple
but useful and important concepts. As people remember stories that are well
told and are centered on ideas the listeners either know well or want to know
well (Schank & Berman 2006).
The unique feature of Panchatantra is the structure of frame story. This
structure keeps the reader or the listener involved in the story. Draper (2006)
says that “stories use words to create imaginings in hearers. That could be a
description of education”.
For learning anything new one needs concentration. Concentration is
an active involvement in a task with undivided attention. As Vishnusharma
also wanted them to learn, remember and use their knowledge afterwards,
he explained the principles of political science and practical wisdom with
the examples illustrated in the form of stories. In support of using narratives
for teaching, Williams (2000) says that narrative text (fiction) is easier to
comprehend and remember than expository text (factual and informational
material).
In modern education, narration is already in use but to limited extent.
For example Finnish education system is so much information based that
there is no room for educational storytelling. We have to think outside the
210 Eero Ropo & Maiju Huttunen (toim.)
◆ Panchatantra – using narratives in teaching in ancient Indian education ◆
limits. Narration need not be always related to morals but it can be related
to a story of invention in science. There can be an example of inventing
penicillin. Dr. Alexander Fleming invented penicillin drug and there is
an interesting story behind this invention. Similarly, the anecdote for
Archmedes’ principle for buoyancy is also well known. These stories behind
the inventions of theorems, principle and drugs will add an element of
interest to the “boring“ classes of Mathematics and Natural sciences.
Fox and Jennifer (2005) stated that children who are starting out as
scientists need to be inspired and encouraged by stories of the first scientists
like Archemedes and Flaming. They also suggested the use of narratives for
teaching mathematics. According to them, the basic principle of teaching
good mathematics is to be as creative as possible and to let the children do
the same. They suggest two ways of using stories in teaching mathematics.
One way is to use traditional tales which has number of characters and other
way is to create a story.
While describing the importance of stories in science education, Ogborn
et al. (1996) stated that at deeper level stories are knowledge carrier. Gough
(1993) suggested that the significance of stories for science and environmental
education is associated with both, content and form. Negrete (2003) carried
out a study within the context of science education. This study explored the
question of how efficient are narrative texts compared with factual ones in
communicating science and by which of these two written expressions does
the information obtained stay longer in the memory of the students. Total
40 undergraduate students participated in this study; they were divided in
two subgroups: one reading short stories with scientific themes written by
famous writers (Primo Levi and Anatoly Dnieprov), and the other group
reading lists of scientific facts coming from the stories. Quantitative and
qualitative data analysis showed that narrative information was retained for
longer periods than factual information in long-term memory.
Conle (2003) explored various narrative practices in the classroom to
highlight the effects of different forms of engagement. According to her, such
narrative practices can produce five outcomes: advances in understanding;
increased interpretive competence; richer practice repertoires; changes in
life and visions gained.
In Panchatantra, the stories are in the form of dialogues making them
very interesting as the characters are arguing about something. Gillon (2011)
says that the natural human tendency is to listen to logical arguments. In
Puheenvuoroja narratiivisuudesta opetuksessa ja oppimisessa 211
◆ Shirin Kulkarni ◆
India, there has been an old tradition of logical arguments in the form
of public debate. Though the origins in India of public debate (pariṣad),
one form of rational inquiry, are not definitely known, we are aware that
public debates were common in pre-classical India (Gillon 2011). With this
information we understand the structure of the Panchatantra, it was one
of the earlier books which generate and popularize the structure of frame
story and linking them with each other with the help of arguments. The
motive behind using this structure could be that Vishnusharma wanted
his students to learn the logical and analytical thinking. For debate, it is
necessary to develop the ability to think rationally and pose questions if you
find the other person is speaking irrationally.
The names which he used for the animal characters and human beings
are also interesting. Most of the times they either describe the physical
appearance of the character or the other psychological attribute. For
example, in the fourth strategy name of the monkey is ‘Raktamukh’, rakta
literally means blood (here it means red), mukh means face, so the meaning
becomes ‘one with red face or mouth’. In India there are red-faced monkeys.
We can take another example for the psychological attributes. In the first
strategy, Mitrabheda, there is a story of three fishes. The names of the fishes
are Anagatvidhata (one who’s destiny is undecided), Pratyuttpannamati
(one who works using his intellect according to the situation) and third is
Yadbhavishya (one who leaves everything on the destiny and do not work).
So he used appropriate names of the characters and used them in his
teaching. We can understand as he was telling these 72 stories to the princes
for six months, he must have explained them every single detail. Furthermore
it suggests that he must have told them the meaning of every word.
As the lessons were given through stories they were entertaining and at
the same time brainstorming. So it was an important strategy which is useful
in the current scenario also. A story tends to have more depth than a simple
example. A story tells about some event – some particular individuals, and
something that happens to them. Stories engage our thinking, our emotions,
and can even lead to the creation of mental imagery (Green & Brock
2000). Individuals listening to stories react to them almost automatically,
participating, in a sense, in the action of the narrative (e.g., Polichak &
Gerrig 2002). Bringing all of these systems to bear on the material in your
course helps student learning. Students are awake, following along, wanting
to find out what happens next and how the story ends.
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◆ Panchatantra – using narratives in teaching in ancient Indian education ◆
Bruner (1986) has contrasted the paradigmatic (logical, scientific) and
narrative modes of thinking, but these modes need not be mutually exclusive
in the classroom. As it is a very simple method it can be generalized. It can be
used all over the world without any restriction. It can be very entertaining
while teaching subjects like mathematics or science. If a teacher finds that
the students are not following what he is teaching then he can make a story
using the same concepts. At the same time it can also be used if the students
are getting bored. Another benefit of this method is it can be used without
any educational aids. This does not require a video projector or an audio
visual system. So it can also be efficiently used in economically developing
countries. This method will enhance the creativity of the teacher and the
students also as they can together construct a story related to the subject.
Other perspective is about the development of moral and social identity.
‘Story’ is the most important piece of narration to induce moral values in
the students at an early age. Through the stories the personal and social
responsibility can be imparted into the students. They can understand the
society and their role in the society. So in all it can be said that this method
can really prove helpful if used widely.
Conclusion
In summary, it can be said that Panchatantra has vital importance in the
world literature for its contribution in the field of practical wisdom. In
India, it was narrated to teach the students who were not much interested
in studies. The disinterest of students about learning is a major problem of
modern education where Panchatantra can come to help as a technique in
bringing these students again towards schools and education.
Panchatantra has an element of entertainment, wisdom, creativity and
logical thinking. Use of all these elements can be useful to the teachers,
students and parents. It might help the teachers to understand how to
involve students in the process of learning and how to weave the threads
of knowledge with the threads of entertainment. It also reflects about
psychology, philosophy and general human tendencies.
Panchatantra is a piece of ancient Indian literature which can be useful
in the modern education because of its specialties (for example, frame story)
and can still contribute a lot with a directed and dedicated research.
Puheenvuoroja narratiivisuudesta opetuksessa ja oppimisessa 213
◆ Shirin Kulkarni ◆
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