The monkey who pulled out the wedge
अव्यापारेषु व्यापारं यो नरः कर्तुम् इच्छति ।
स एव निधनं याति कीलोत्पाटीव वानरः ॥
कस्मिंश्चिन् नगराभ्याशे केनापि वणिक्पुत्रेण तरुखण्डमध्ये देवतायतनं कर्तुम् आरब्धम् । …
तत्रैकस्य कस्यचिच् छिल्पिनो ऽर्धस्फाटितो ऽञ्जनवृक्षदारुमयः स्तम्भः खदिरकीलकेन मध्यनिहितेन तिष्ठति । …
एकश् च तेषां प्रत्यासन्नमृत्युश् चापल्यात् तस्मिन्न् अर्धस्फोटितस्तम्भे उपविश्य पाणिभ्यां कीलकं संगृह्य यावद् उत्पादयितुम् आरेभे …
avyāpāreṣu vyāpāraṃ yo naraḥ kartum icchati |
sa eva nidhanaṃ yāti kīlotpāṭīva vānaraḥ ||
kasmiṃścin nagarābhyāśe kenāpi vaṇikputreṇa tarukhaṇḍamadhye devatāyatanaṃ kartum ārabdham | …
tatraikasya kasyacic chilpino 'rdhasphāṭito 'ñjanavṛkṣadārumayaḥ stambhaḥ khadirakīlakena madhyanihitena tiṣṭhati | …
ekaś ca teṣāṃ pratyāsannamṛtyuś cāpalyāt tasminn ardhasphoṭitastambhe upaviśya pāṇibhyāṃ kīlakaṃ saṃgṛhya yāvad utpādayitum ārebhe …
Translation
The man who wants to meddle in what is not his business meets his ruin, like the monkey who pulled out the wedge. Near a certain town a merchant's son had begun to build a temple in a grove. ... There a beam of añjana wood, half split by one of the craftsmen, stood with a wedge of acacia wood set in its middle. ... And one of the monkeys, whose death was near, out of sheer mischief sat on that half-split beam, took hold of the wedge with both hands and started to pull it out ...
The story
This is the very first story of the Pañcatantra. Workmen building a temple have gone into town for their midday meal, leaving a log half split, held open by a wooden wedge. A troop of monkeys arrives and plays all over the site. One of them sits on the split log, straddling the gap, and tugs the wedge out with both hands. The two halves of the log snap shut and crush him.
In the frame story the cautious jackal Karaṭaka tells this to his ambitious friend Damanaka: why should two jackals meddle in the affairs of the lion king? Damanaka ignores the advice, and his meddling drives the rest of book 1.
Meaning
A short, slightly grim fable with a moral that needs no explaining: do not interfere in what you do not understand. Its verse (Panc 1.21) is a proverb in its own right, and kīlotpāṭī vānaraḥ, "the wedge-pulling monkey", became a byword for a meddler.
It is typical of the Pañcatantra that the first story is told to argue a point, and that the listener then does the opposite.
Word by word · 14 words
| Devanagari | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| अव्यापारेषु | avyāpāreṣu | in things that are not one's business (loc. pl.) |
| व्यापारम् | vyāpāram | business, meddling (acc. sg. m.) |
| निधनम् | nidhanam | death, ruin (acc. sg. n.) |
| कीलोत्पाटी | kīlotpāṭī | the wedge-puller (nom. sg. m.; kīla "wedge" + utpāṭin "pulling out") |
| इव | iva | like |
| वणिक्पुत्रेण | vaṇikputreṇa | by a merchant's son (instr. sg.) |
| देवतायतनम् | devatāyatanam | a temple (acc. sg. n.) |
| शिल्पिनः | śilpinaḥ | of a craftsman (gen. sg.) |
| अर्धस्फाटितः | ardhasphāṭitaḥ | half split (nom. sg. m.) |
| स्तम्भः | stambhaḥ | a beam, a post (nom. sg. m.) |
| खदिरकीलकेन | khadirakīlakena | with a wedge of acacia wood (instr. sg.) |
| प्रत्यासन्नमृत्युः | pratyāsannamṛtyuḥ | whose death was near (nom. sg. m.) |
| चापल्यात् | cāpalyāt | out of restlessness, mischief (abl. sg.) |
| उत्पादयितुम् | utpādayitum | to pull out (infinitive) |
Pronunciation
avyāpāreṣu vyāpāraṃ yo naraḥ kartumicchati |
sa eva nidhanaṃ yāti kīlotpāṭīva vānaraḥ ||
Syllables are given for the opening verse (Panc 1.21).
- kīlotpāṭīva = kīlotpāṭī + iva: kī-lot-pā-ṭī-va.
- vyāpāraṃ: vyā-pā-raṃ; v and y glide together.
- ṛ is a vowel, a short syllabic r (like the "ri" in "rhythm" said quickly): mṛ-tyu, not mar-tyu.
- A final visarga ḥ is a soft "h" breath that echoes the vowel before it: namaḥ sounds like "nama-ha" (lightly).