The lion and the clever hare
कस्मिंश्चिद् वने भासुरको नाम सिंहः प्रतिवसति स्म । अथासौ वीर्यातिरेकान् नित्यम् एवानेकान् मृगशशकादीन् व्यापादयन् नोपरराम । …
अथ कदाचिज् जातिक्रमाच् छशकस्यावसरः समायातः । … कूपमध्य आत्मनः प्रतिबिम्बं ददर्श । दृष्ट्वा च तेन हृदये चिन्तितम् — यद् भाव्य उपायो ऽस्ति । अहं भासुरकं प्रकोप्य स्वबुद्ध्यास्मिन् कूपे पातयिष्यामि । …
ततः सो ऽपि मूर्खः सिंहः कूपमध्य आत्मप्रतिबिम्बं जलमध्यगतं दृष्ट्वा सिंहनादं मुमोच । ततः प्रतिशब्देन कूपमध्याद् द्विगुणतरो नादः समुत्थितः ।
अथ तेन तं शत्रुं मत्वात्मानं तस्योपरि प्रक्षिप्य प्राणाः परित्यक्ताः ।
यस्य बुद्धिर् बलं तस्य निर्बुद्धेस् तु कुतो बलम् ।
वने सिंहो मदोन्मत्तः शशकेन निपातितः ॥
kasmiṃścid vane bhāsurako nāma siṃhaḥ prativasati sma | athāsau vīryātirekān nityam evānekān mṛgaśaśakādīn vyāpādayan nopararāma | …
atha kadācij jātikramāc chaśakasyāvasaraḥ samāyātaḥ | … kūpamadhya ātmanaḥ pratibimbaṃ dadarśa | dṛṣṭvā ca tena hṛdaye cintitam — yad bhāvya upāyo 'sti | ahaṃ bhāsurakaṃ prakopya svabuddhyāsmin kūpe pātayiṣyāmi | …
tataḥ so 'pi mūrkhaḥ siṃhaḥ kūpamadhya ātmapratibimbaṃ jalamadhyagataṃ dṛṣṭvā siṃhanādaṃ mumoca | tataḥ pratiśabdena kūpamadhyād dviguṇataro nādaḥ samutthitaḥ |
atha tena taṃ śatruṃ matvātmānaṃ tasyopari prakṣipya prāṇāḥ parityaktāḥ |
yasya buddhir balaṃ tasya nirbuddhes tu kuto balam |
vane siṃho madonmattaḥ śaśakena nipātitaḥ ||
Translation
In a certain forest lived a lion named Bhāsuraka. From an excess of strength he never stopped killing deer, hares and other animals every day. ... Then one day, by the turn of the species, it was the hare's turn. ... In the middle of a well he saw his own reflection, and seeing it he thought: "There is a way. I will make Bhāsuraka angry and, by my own wits, make him fall into this well." ... Then that foolish lion saw his own reflection in the water inside the well and let out a roar; and from the well, by the echo, a roar twice as loud rose up. Taking it for his enemy he threw himself upon it and gave up his life. Whoever has intelligence has strength; how can the witless have strength? In the forest a lion drunk with pride was brought down by a hare.
The story
Pañcatantra, book 1. A lion, Bhāsuraka, kills far more animals than he can eat. The animals make a pact with him: if he stays in his den, one animal will come to him every day as his meal, in turn by species. The lion agrees, but warns that if anyone fails to come he will eat them all.
When the hare's turn comes, he walks slowly, thinking of a way out, and sees his reflection in a well. He arrives very late. To the furious lion he explains that he set out with five other hares, but another lion came out of his den, stopped them and claimed the forest as his own, calling Bhāsuraka a thief; now he sits in his fortress. The enraged lion demands to see this rival. The hare leads him to the well: "He has gone into his fortress." The lion looks down, sees a lion, roars, hears a louder roar come back, leaps in and drowns. The hare returns to the other animals, who praise him, and they all live happily in the forest.
In the frame story the jackal Damanaka tells this to his fellow jackal Karaṭaka to prove that a small, clever creature can overthrow a mighty one; he then sets out to break the friendship between the lion king Piṅgalaka and the bull Sañjīvaka.
Meaning
One of the most loved Pañcatantra fables, told across Asia. The verse that introduces it (Panc 1.237) gives its moral in four words: yasya buddhir balaṃ tasya, "whoever has intelligence has strength".
Look at the Sanskrit of the decisive moment: pratiśabdena kūpamadhyād dviguṇataro nādaḥ samutthitaḥ, "by the echo, from the middle of the well, a roar twice as loud rose up". The lion is defeated by his own voice and his own image.
Word by word · 15 words
| Devanagari | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| भासुरकः | bhāsurakaḥ | Bhāsuraka, "the Shining One", the lion's name (nom. sg. m.) |
| सिंहः | siṃhaḥ | lion (nom. sg. m.) |
| वीर्यातिरेकात् | vīryātirekāt | from an excess of strength (abl. sg.) |
| शशकः | śaśakaḥ | hare (nom. sg. m.) |
| जातिक्रमात् | jātikramāt | by the turn of each species (abl. sg.) |
| कूपः | kūpaḥ | a well (nom. sg. m.) |
| प्रतिबिम्बम् | pratibimbam | reflection (acc. sg. n.) |
| स्वबुद्ध्या | svabuddhyā | by my own wits (instr. sg. f.) |
| सिंहनादम् | siṃhanādam | a lion's roar (acc. sg. m.) |
| प्रतिशब्देन | pratiśabdena | by the echo (instr. sg. m.) |
| द्विगुणतरः | dviguṇataraḥ | twice as loud (nom. sg. m.) |
| बुद्धिः | buddhiḥ | intelligence (nom. sg. f.) |
| बलम् | balam | strength (nom. sg. n.) |
| मदोन्मत्तः | madonmattaḥ | drunk with pride (nom. sg. m.) |
| निपातितः | nipātitaḥ | was brought down (past participle, causative of ni + √pat) |
Pronunciation
yasya buddhirbalaṃ tasya nirbuddhestu kuto balam |
vane siṃho madonmattaḥ śaśakena nipātitaḥ ||
Syllables are given for the closing verse (Panc 1.237), written here with ordinary sandhi.
- buddhir: double dh, bud-dhir; nirbuddhes: nir-bud-dhes.
- siṃho: the anusvāra before h is a nasalised i, "sĩ-ho".
- 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).