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Panchatantra Book 1 - 010 - How a Weaver Disguised Himself as Vishnu to Win a Princess

Table of Contents

Recap

Devsharma witnessed the weaver’s wife use a false claim to conceal her infidelity, while the barber’s wife cleverly turned her misfortune into a false accusation against her innocent husband. The barber was sentenced to death because the judges mistook his silence for guilt, but Devsharma revealed what actually happened and saves him from execution. Disgusted by the deception and injustice he had witnessed, Devsharma returned to his monastery, accepting the loss of his wealth. Damanaka compared his own situation to the jackal crushed between the fighting rams and said that a well-planned scheme could be more effective than a direct attack. He told Karataka that even observant people can be deceived, and began telling the story of a weaver who disguised himself as Vishnu to win over a princess.

The Weaver and the Princess

The Inseparable Friends

In a city lived two friends. One was a weaver, the other a carpenter. They had been friends since childhood and even though they were grown-up men now, they were still inseparable. One day, they got to hear about a festival celebration in a temple nearby. It had been said that on this day, visiting the temple was very auspicious. Not wanting to miss the chance of a blessing, the two friends decided to visit the temple. A fair had been setup near the temple. The two friends went to the temple and after that decided to roam around in the fair. There were many performers performing there; plays were being performed, dancers were dancing and singers were singing. All were there in a corner of the fair performing and people were paying to see them perform. The two friends were wondering where they should go when they heard the palace guards shout, asking to give way. Looking up they saw the beautiful princess of the land, arrive there, riding on an elephant. She had come to visit the temple and would later visit the fair. The elephant was halted and the guards and attendants helped the princess alight. At that moment the weaver saw the princess. She was so beautiful. He was injured; Kama had wounded him with his arrows. He stumbled, lost his balance and fell on the ground. The carpenter helped his friend up. While this was going on, the princess unaware, had visited the temple and left the place. The carpenter brought his friend home and had him rest. When his friend seemed relaxed, the carpenter wanted to know the reason for the sudden collapse. The weaver told his friend about his plight, ‘I am dying my friend. Get me some firewood and light a pyre so I can burn myself.’ The carpenter, confused, said if there was something that medicine, money, devotion or intelligence could cure, they could try that. The weaver told his friend that he was in love with the princess and described her beauty in detail. Hearing this, the carpenter began laughing. He said, "Friend, if that is all, consider it done. I will arrange your meeting with the princess today.’ The weaver said, ‘My friend, I hope you know where she stays. She stays in a corner of the palace which is always guarded. It is impossible for us to go there. Are you saying this to make me feel happy?’ The carpenter said, ‘My friend, trust my skill and my brains. I need to leave now to make arrangements for you to meet the princess.’ Saying this the carpenter went to his workshop. There he built a mechanical Garuda. This looked like the divine bird and could fly. It had been made with very light wood and using gears, the wooden bird could rise in the air and fly. There were gears to control the movements, change directions and to land. Once he had constructed the bird, he constructed two artificial hands and a crown. He then painted them the colour of the weaver’s skin. From a distance, one would think they were human hands. The crown was painted in such a way that it looked like it was golden. It was adorned with many gems and diamonds and only the carpenter knew that everything was fake. When everything was ready, the carpenter called his friend. He showed the bird and instructed him on the mode of operation. He then fitted the hands and the crown on him. After ensuring all was well, he asked his friend to go to the princess, riding the wooden Garuda. The weaver was to pretend he was Vishnu and that way he would be able to win over the princess.

The weaver took the mechanical bird and landed on the terrace of the princess’s palace. The princess was standing there, when she saw this bird land there. She stood there wondering what to do when the weaver said, ‘Dear princess, I have come to you. For your sake, I have left Lakshmi. Come to me.’

The Princess is fooled

The princess, thinking this was Vishnu, bowed down and said, ‘How is this possible? I am not anyone you would think of. You rule the three worlds and I am nothing. How can I even dream to be with you?’ Hearing this, the weaver said, ‘My dear. You are none other than Radha, reborn. That is why I have come to you.’

Hearing this, the princess said, ‘If that is the case, you need to approach my father. I am sure he will not object to this match.’ Hearing this, the weaver said, ‘I will not reveal myself to all now. Marry me and come with me. If you do not, I will curse your city.’ The princess was not sure what to say. The weaver got down from the bird and taking the princess by her hand, he led her inside. He spent the night with her and as soon it was dawn, he flew back. This became a regular affair and he would fly to the princess, spend the night with her, and fly back home. A few days later, an attendant noticed hickeys on the princess’s neck. She understood something was going on. How was the question. She had never left the palace. Not sure what to do, she called the guards and informed them. The guards too were puzzled. They went and informed the king and asked him to get the matter investigated.

The king was worried. He had a daughter of marriageable age. It was his wish to keep his daughter happy and find a good husband for her. He was afraid his daughter had done something that would ruin the family’s dignity. He went to his wife, the queen, and told her what the guards had said. The queen decided to find out for herself. She went to her daughter’s room and had a closer look and was shocked. There were hickeys and other such marks on the girl’s body. Seeing this, the queen lost her temper and started screaming at the girl. In reply, the girl said, ‘It is no one other than Narayana himself. He comes to me, riding on Garuda. If you doubt me, hide yourself in my room. You can see him with your own eyes.’ Hearing this, the queen went to the king and told him what she had heard. She then said, ‘You should be pleased. The great Vishnu has secretly married our daughter. He visits her every night and leaves at dawn. Let us both hide ourselves and see for ourselves.’ The king was excited. Vishnu as his son-in-law. He could not wait for the day to pass. When it was night, he along with the queen went to a terrace, from where they could see for themselves without being noticed. When it was nearly midnight, they saw Garuda fly down to their daughter’s terrace and a four handed Vishnu get down from the giant bird. The king said to his wife, ‘See, Narayana himself is our son-in-law. There is no one luckier than me. I shall conquer the world with his blessings.’

Thinking he had the blessings of Vishnu, the king began troubling the neighbouring kingdoms. Not able to take it, the neighbouring kingdoms all got together and attacked this kingdom. He then sent a message to his daughter, ‘I am being attacked. Tell your husband to crush my enemies.’ That night the princess conveyed the message to the weaver. The weaver also boastfully said he would take care of the armies.

One day the king found himself trapped. He was completely surrounded by the neighbouring armies. Not aware that his daughter’s husband was an impostor, the king kept asking for help. The weaver realized he was trapped. He decided to take the bird and fly over the enemies. Fear of the divine would make them retreat. The king was given the message and with renewed energy, the king set out for battle.

Vishnu Resolves the Crisis

In heaven, Vishnu called Garuda. When Garuda came, he said, ‘Are you aware that a weaver is using our names and meeting a princess? Today he is planning to go into the battlefield. If that happens, people will say Narayana and Garuda were defeated by mere armies. We need to do something. Garuda, you enter the wooden bird and I shall enter the weaver. Then let us defeat these armies and return.’

With the power of Vishnu and Garuda, the enemies were defeated. After the war was over, the weaver went to the king and everyone realized that this was the weaver dressed as Vishnu. When they asked him, he confessed and told them all that had happened. Impressed with his courage, the weaver was married to the princess formally and was given part of the kingdom to rule.

Damanaka's Strategy

After ending this tale, Damanaka said, ‘This is why I said that a well-managed deception, if executed properly, can bring great results.’

Karataka said, ‘I understand what you are trying to say but have you considered that fact that Sanjeevaka is very smart and Pingalaka is fierce.’

Damanaka said, ‘It is all about strategy. Using strategy, even the weak can become strong. How else did a female crow kill a black cobra?’

Karataka wanted to know about this and Damanaka started telling the story.

I had thought of sharing this into 2 parts but then decided to share it in totality.

Deconstructive Analysis

Before I take up the next story, some point about this tale.

Power of Visual Pretence

One thing that this tale talks about is appearances. The princess does not verify whether the being before her is truly Vishnu; she interprets the visual signs (a Garuda, gilded ornaments, confident speech). The king does not investigate; he believes his daughter has been chosen by a god. Damanaka sums it up - Cleverly deployed pretence is a form of power available even to those without strength, wealth, or status. With the help of the carpenter, the smart weaver was able to pull off a very smart deception.

Character Mapping

Character Representation
The Weaver

The ordinary person who uses borrowed skills, favourable circumstances, a fabricated identity, or another person's expertise to gain access to something otherwise beyond his reach.

An ordinary individual who gains position far beyond his qualifications through borrowed branding.
The Carpenter

A specialist who builds tools for someone else.

A Technical genius or operational strategist behind the scenes. In modern organisations, he is the chief technology officer or chief engineer who converts an unrealistic executive vision into a working prototype.
The Princess

A trusting individual exploited by design due to isolation or lack of worldly exposure.

An uninformed consumer or stakeholder who trusts authority figures implicitly.
The King

A leader or decision-maker who acts on unchecked confidence after receiving what appears to be a high-level endorsement.

An executive who falls for confirmation bias, mistaking an unverified strategic advantage for absolute market dominance and recklessly escalating competition.
Vishnu and Garuda

An institution that prioritises protecting its public standing over correcting a falsehood.

Competency Matrix

Competency In the story Modern Application
Organisational Competencies Advanced R&D and rapid prototyping by the carpenter. Ability to turn an abstract concept into a functional product quickly.
Management Competencies Brand leverage and reputation management by Narayana. Protecting corporate brand equity from third-party misuse.

Satire and Self-Preservation

The Panchatantra rarely misses a chance for humour. Vishnu and Garuda holding what is essentially an emergency reputation-management meeting in heaven, before quietly agreeing to fraudulently reinforce a mortal's lie, is gentle satire on institutional self-preservation.

Comparison with Hitopadesha

This specific tale of the weaver posing as Narayana does not appear in the Hitopadesha. While the Hitopadesha relies heavily on the Panchatantra, it omits this story.

Self-Evaluation

Before I end this, one question:

When something aligns with what you hope is true, how often do you pause to verify it, versus how often do you simply want to believe it and act accordingly?

Thanks for following this so far. The next post on Panchatantra will be about the crow and how she defeated a cobra. Stay tuned for that.

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