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Panchatantra Book 1 - 022 - How the Jackal Chaturaka Deceived the Lion to Sacrifice Shankukarna

Table of Contents

Recap

Angry when the ocean stole his subject's eggs, Garuda refused to carry Vishnu until the deity intervened and forced the ocean to return them. Damanaka wrapped up the tale with a lesson on resilience and strategy. Exploiting Sanjeevaka's paranoia, Damanaka manipulated the situation by planting false. Despite Karataka's outrage over this betrayal, Damanaka was unapologetic, eager to eliminate the bull and reclaim his lost power. Setting the stage for the next tale, Damanaka started to tell how Chaturaka's selfishness once paid off.

The Story of Shankukarna and Chaturaka

Far away in a forest lived a lion called Vajradanshtra. He was the ruler and had a few animals that followed him everywhere. Among them were a jackal named Chaturaka and a wolf named Kravyamukha. One day when the lion was roaming around in the forest he heard a strange noise. Going to investigate that, he found a female camel lying on the ground. Somehow, she had separated from her caravan. She was also pregnant and her labour pains had started. Lying there, the female gave birth to a male camel but unfortunately, she passed away. The lion and his followers consumed the meat of the dead camel. They then looked at the baby. It was barely standing on the ground and was looking at the lion. As soon as the lion took a step towards it, the baby camel ran towards the lion. The lion felt very affectionate towards it and decided to take it home with him. Reaching home, the lion said, 'My child, roam around in the forest freely. You need a name. Your ears are conical, so I shall call you the conical eared one – Shankukarna.'

Shankukarna began growing up in the forest, along the lion and Chaturaka and Kravyamukha. The lion was everything for the camel and Shankukarna stuck to the lion like his shadow.

One day a rogue elephant entered the forest. To defend his territory, Vajradanshtra fought the elephant. Though he was able to drive the elephant away, the elephant had wounded the lion severely with its tusks. The lion was barely able to move. As he was not able to move, he could not hunt. No hunt meant no food. The lion called his followers and said to them, Unfortunately, I am not in a position to run and hunt any animal. I need your help. See if you can find any animal that I can kill in the state that I am in. I shall kill that and all will get food.' Hearing this, Shankukarna, Chaturaka and Kravyamukha set forth. They looked around but they were unable to find any animal that the lion could kill in the position that he was in. Chaturaka thought, 'While we are hungry, the camel is able to find grass and he is well-fed. If he could be killed, we could all get food for a few days. Then again, I am sure that the lion will refuse to kill him. I will have to use my brains and come up with a plan. There is nothing that is impossible for the clever people.' He then went to the camel and said, 'You can see the situation that we are in now. The lion is hungry as he is not able to hunt. As he cannot hunt, we are also hungry. I am planning to go to the lion. I need you to come with me and say a few words to the lion.' The camel was eager to please and said, 'Sure, please tell me what I have to say to the lion. I will surely say that. If I am able to serve him, I would feel blessed.'

Chaturaka said, 'Then come with me and we will go to the lion. When you are there, you offer yourself as food to the lion with the condition that you will come back as someone big and strong in the next life. Doing so will save the lion's life.'

Shankukarna was willing. He said,' Let us go. I will tell the lion that I willingly sacrifice myself. This will be for the lion's benefit. I just want to ensure that what I am about to do is as per dharma and is lawful.'

Chaturaka agreed and they went to the lion. Kravyamukha also followed. There Chaturaka said, 'Sir, we have searched the entire forest. We could not find any suitable animal. If you are pleased with Shankukarna and promise him that in the next birth, he will get a huge body, then the camel is willing to sacrifice himself for you. He needs to ensure that what is about to do is lawful and is as per his dharma.'

Hearing this, Vajradanshtra somehow managed to say, 'This is excellent. I approve this in accordance with dharma. This will be an honourable self-sacrifice.'

As soon as the lion said this, the jackal and the wolf killed the camel.

Vajradanshtra said, 'It has been many days since I had a bath. I shall go to the river and have a bath and offer my prayers. Guard the camel and ensure no one touches it, till I return.' Saying this, the lion limped his way slowly towards the river.

Chaturaka wanted to eat the camel all by himself and he did not want to share it. As soon as the lion was away from their sight, he called the wolf and said, 'I know you are very hungry, Kravyamukha. Tear open the camel and have a bite. I will stand as a witness if the lion objects. '

The wolf tore open the body of the camel and took a bite when Chaturaka shouted, 'Stop. The lion is returning. Go and hide somewhere so the lion does not suspect you.'

The wolf stepped aside. Soon the lion came there. He saw the camel's body had been cut and the heart was missing. He wanted to know who had done that. The wolf looked at Chaturaka helplessly. Seeing this Chaturaka laughed and said, 'You pushed me aside and ate the heart and now you are looking at me?'

Hearing this, Kravyamukha ran away from that place as fast as he could.

Suddenly a strange loud noise was heard. A large caravan was passing nearby. The camels in the caravan had bells around their necks. The leader of the caravan was a large camel who had a huge bell around his neck. When the camels walked these bells made a huge noise. Vajradanshtra had never heard a noise like this. He asked Chaturaka to investigate. Chaturaka knew what it was. Saying he was going to investigate, he went and hid behind a tree. He then came back and said, 'Sir, run for your life. Limp away from this place as soon as you can.'

Surprised, the lion wanted to know why the jackal was trying to scare him. Chaturaka said, 'Dharma, the god, is angry that the camel has been killed. He has sent the family of Shankukarna to take revenge.'

The lion went to have a look and he saw the camels. Thinking this was true, he left the place and Chaturaka enjoyed the camel's meat, all by himself.

Ending this tale, Damanaka said, 'Sanjeevaka does not serve us any purpose, so it is best we get rid of him and use the meat to fill our bellies.'

Regret

While Sanjeevaka had been thinking about the conversation he had with Damanaka, before the jackal had left. He said, 'I have been a fool. How could I think that a meat eater and a grass eater can become friends. What should I do? Maybe I should go to Pingalaka and ask for mercy. Will he do that? If I go elsewhere, some beast will kill me. It may be better to stay here, fight and die. Even ordinary beings get honoured if they die in the hands of big opponents.'

Saying this, he set forth, walking slowly towards the place where Pingalaka would be, at this time of the day. He thought, 'I am going to enter a king's court, where the king's mind has been corrupted by wicked people. It is as good as going inside a house, knowing it is full of crocodiles.'

The Battle and Karataka's Rebuke

When Sanjeevaka was near Pingalaka, he saw the lion was tense. Not wanting to provoke Pingalaka, he sat down where he was. Pingalaka saw Sanjeevaka sitting down and thought the bullock had come to attack him. He rushed forward and lunged at Sanjeevaka. Sanjeevaka's back was bleeding from Pingalaka's claws. He stood up and using his horns he began attacking Pingalaka.

From a distance, the jackals saw it. Both Sanjeevaka and Pingalaka were hurt and bleeding but none was willing to give up. Karataka said to Damanaka, 'What you have done is terrible. You do not understand statecraft. True ministers try to look for peaceful solutions. Foolish ones look for petty gains and doing that they put the lives of the kings at stake. If something happens to Pingalaka, what will happen to us? You know nothing about peaceful solutions and you want to become a minister? Out of the four Upayas, Danda is the worst one and should be used as the last resort. You just want to become a minister but do not understand anything about the role. The way you need to work is first, Plan. Then assess people and resources. After that, choose the right time and circumstances. Then prepare for failure or crisis and thereby, achieve the objective. A person with ill-intentions will always ruin others, and the kings who follow the advice of such people, bring about their ruin. What is incapable of bending cannot be bent. In the same way, one should not waste time telling people what to do, if they are unwilling or unable to learn. That is what Suchimukha learnt sadly.'

Damanaka had been quiet. He slowly said, 'What is this? Who is Suchimukha? What happened?' Hearing this, Karataka began telling the story.

Analysis

The story of Suchimukha is something I will share in the next Panchatantra post. Let me go through this post and see what it says. This is long already, so I will be brief.

Niti

Chaturaka uses intelligence to exploit:

  • Shankukarna's loyalty,
  • Vajradanshtra's weakness and hunger,
  • Kravyamukha's hunger,
  • and finally, the lion's fear of the unknown.

His strategies work because each victim has a particular weakness.

This is the way Damanaka sees it. Karataka refutes this and talks about responsible statecraft: a minister should first plan, assess people and resources, judge time and circumstances, and prepare for possible failure before acting.

Characters

Character Choices The effects In today's world
Chaturaka Hunger; self-interest Manipulates everyone The opportunist who exploits a crisis
Shankukarna Loyalty and desire to serve Trusts the wrong person and becomes the victim The sincere inexperienced person who mistakes manipulation for good advice
Vajradanshtra Injury, hunger and later, fear His weakened judgement allows others to influence him A leader making decisions while under pressure
Kravyamukha Hunger Takes the bait and is then blamed Someone who acts impulsively and becomes easy to manipulate
Karataka Concern for the consequences Criticises destructive strategy The adviser who looks beyond personal gain
Damanaka Become a minister Uses conflict rather than reconciliation, placing the king at risk A political adviser who creates problems to increase his own importance

Meanings of names

Character Meaning Irony
Vajradanshtra One with fangs like a thunderbolt Name says he is ferocious, yet this lion spends most of the time as wounded, helpless person, who believes a craft follower.
Chaturaka The clever one He says - nothing is impossible for the clever.
Kravyamukha Flesh faced He takes a bite of the flesh and suffers for that.
Shankukarna Conical-eared A purely physical name given by the lion. A name based on features. No irony here.
Suchimukha Needle-mouthed. A sharp-beaked bird in the tale Karataka is about to tell; whose advice meets an unfortunate end.

Karataka's advice

Karataka gives the best advice in this tale. He talks about five ways to work:

  • Plan first
  • Assess people and resources
  • Consider the right time and circumstances
  • Prepare for failure or crisis
  • Then pursue the objective

They form a practical sequence:

Sanskrit Meaning What to ask
कर्मणाम् आरम्भोपायः Means of beginning How do we start?
पुरुष-द्रव्य-सम्पत् People and resources What do we have?
देश-काल-विभागः Place and time Where and when should we act?
विनिपात-प्रतीकारः Remedy for setbacks What if something goes wrong?
कार्य-सिद्धिः Accomplishment Have we achieved the objective?

This tale of Vajradanshtra and Shankukarna is different from the earlier Panchatantra story of Madotkata. That tale appears in book 4 of Hitopadesha, this one does not. When I start with the Hitopadesha tales, I will make it clear then.

Remember, there is a difference between being clever and being wise. Chaturaka succeeds but that is based on deception and the weaknesses of others. Karataka says it clearly: an adviser who creates danger for personal advancement may be clever, but incompetent as a minister.

Does the Panchatantra Advocate Lying and Deception?

No, the Panchatantra does not endorse deceit as a moral good. Instead, it serves as a handbook on risk awareness, critical thinking, and self-preservation.

Aspect Moralistic Interpretation (Incorrect) Realist Purpose in Panchatantra
Depiction of Villains Be like Damanaka to get ahead. Study Damanaka so you recognize him when he enters your life or organization.
Fate of Naive Characters Goodness is foolish. Protect your goodness with awareness.
Use of Strategy Lie and cheat to achieve your goals. Understand how tactics, both clean and dirty, work so you are never caught unprepared.

And this is the end of this post. In the next Panchatantra post, I will share the tale of Suchimukha who tried to advise a monkey and met its end.

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