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Panchatantra Book 1 - 024 - Why Did Papabuddhi Scheme to Travel and Earn Wealth with Dharmabuddhi

Table of Contents

Recap

During a freezing rainstorm, a female sparrow repeatedly taunted and advised the monkey to use his hands to build a home, ignoring his warning to stay quiet. Annoyed by her unwanted preaching, the monkey climbed the tree and destroyed her nest. Recounting this, Karataka scolded Damanaka for being a fool who ignores sound advice. To prove how misplaced cleverness can lead to tragedy, Karataka began the story of Dharmabuddhi and Kubuddhi (also called Papabuddhi).

Dharmabuddhi and Papabuddhi

In a land far-away lived two friends, Dharmabuddhi and Papabuddhi. Dharmabuddhi, as the name goes did things properly. He was also intelligent. Papabuddhi was full of malice. He wanted to earn money but through cheating and duping people. If he needed to fulfil his selfish needs, he was willing to sacrifice anyone. One day he thought, ‘I need to become rich. My friend is intelligent and I am not. I feel the only way I can become rich is if I use his abilities. I will take him with me, go somewhere and have him do some work. When he does that and makes money, I shall cheat him and take the money for myself. Then I will not have to earn anymore and I can live the rest of my life in peace.’

Thinking thus, one day he went to Dharmabuddhi and said, ‘Dear friend, we should set out and travel. One should not spend their whole life in one place. See the world. Gain experience. Otherwise, when we grow old, what stories and experiences will we have? What will you tell your children? If you go through life without trying to understand the different people, cultures, languages and ways of living in the world, you are missing one of life's great opportunities to learn new things. People cannot fully gain knowledge or wealth till they travel from country to country across the earth. So, come my dear friend, let us set forth. Let us travel around the world.’

Dharmabuddhi loved the idea. He spoke with the elders in the family who also thought this was a good idea. They gave him permission to travel with his friend. Choosing an auspicious day, he set forth along with his friend.

They travelled around, and due to Dharmabuddhi’s efforts, they were able to make a lot of money. They figured out that the amount they had would last them a lifetime. They set off for their homes, having spent a long time away from their dear ones.

When they reached their village, it was dusk. Papabuddhi stopped Dharmabuddhi and said, ‘My friend, we are carrying a lot of wealth with us. If we take it home with us, relatives will come and ask for share. Let us take a small amount with us. As for the rest, let us bury it somewhere. Whenever we have a need for money, we can come and take how much we need. The minds of people get corrupt when they see wealth, and greedy relatives will take what they can, from us. This is what I suggest.’

Dharmabuddhi agreed. They chose a spot in a forest near a old tree and dug a large hole. They took the amount they wanted and the rest they put in the hole, covered it and returned home. In the middle of the night, when everyone was asleep, Papabuddhi came out, took all the money, filled the hole with dirt and went home.

A few days later, Papabuddhi went to Dharmabuddhi and said he needed some money. Dharmabuddhi accompanied Papabuddhi to the spot. Papabuddhi dug the ground and could not find anything. He then accused Dharmabuddhi for stealing the money and demanded half his share. Dharmabuddhi said he always followed righteous conduct and would never do anything wrong. The matter was taken to court. The judge said the matter would be investigated. To that, Papabuddhi said there was no need for investigation as there were witnesses. The trees in the spot where the money had been buried were witnesses and they would come and vouch for him.

It sounded strange but the judge agreed and said they would assemble at the spot at dawn where they would expect the trees to testify. After the hearing, Papabuddhi went home. He called his father aside and told him, ‘I need your help. I stole the money, and if found out, I will be executed. Help me escape the gallows.’ The father asked, ‘What do you want me to do?’ Papabuddhi asked his father to follow him and took him to the spot where the money had been buried. Near the spot was a stump of an old hollow tree. Papabuddhi showed that to his father and said, ‘Before it is dawn, climb into the hollow. Preferably tonight. In the morning I will take oath and ask the tree to testify. At that moment, you will speak from the hollow as my witness and say Dharmabuddhi is a thief.’

His father agreed. In the middle of the night, he went and got inside the hollow tree. At dawn, the judges assembled. There, Papabuddhi shouted asking all the elements of nature and all devas to bear witness for him. Addressing the tree, he asked who was the thief. His father spoke from inside the tree and said Dharmabuddhi was the thief. The judges were surprised. They began to look through their books to see what the punishment for this should be. While they were deliberating, Dharmabuddhi understood what was happening. He gathered hay, cow dung cakes, and dry leaves and put them in and around the hollow and set them to fire. Unable to bear it any longer and half-burnt, Papabuddhi’s father came out of the hollow. Surprised, the judges wanted to know what was happening. The father confessed and told them what had happened. Being badly burnt, he fell down dead. The judges praised Dharmabuddhi’s intelligence and said Papabuddhi should have thought through consequences and dangers. A heron wanted to destroy a snake using a mongoose and ended up destroying its own babies.

Dharmabuddhi wanted to know about this tale, and the judges began telling him that.

Analysis

This is where I end this tale. Before I jump into the next Panchatantra tale, a look at what this tale is about.

Even though Dharmabuddhi was innocent, he would have faced execution if he had not been clever and figured out what was happening. Papabuddhi dragged his father into this scheme and the poor man lost his life.

Characters

Character Their choices Effect of their choices Represents In today’s world
Dharmabuddhi Trust his friend, honest labour His competence generates the wealth; his thinking saves his life The capable, principled partner who does the real work The business partner or employee whose skill is exploited by a scheming associate
Papabuddhi Envy, greed, dishonesty His cunning gets him money briefly, but his same cunning destroys his father and exposes him The opportunist who uses another's ability as a ladder A partner who contributes little but manipulates credit, shares or outcomes in his favour
Papabuddhi's father Paternal obligation, blind loyalty to his son Agrees without questioning consequence; is burnt and dies Complicity that follows from family loyalty Anyone drawn into another's fraud "for family or friendship" without looking at the risk factors
The judges Duty to deliver justice, but also willingness to accept the extraordinary claim; a tree will be witness Almost act on a false testimony before Dharmabuddhi intervenes Institutional authority - fair, but not infallible; can be misled if not tested Regulators, Decision-makers who can be swayed by seemingly credible "evidence" without verification

This is where I end this post. In the next Panchatantra post, I will share the story of the heron, the snake and the mongoose.

When they came close to their village, Papabuddhi told Dharmabuddhi: "My friend, it is unwise to bring all this wealth home. Family and relatives will demand shares. Let us bury most of it here in this dense forest and carry only a small sum with us. Whenever a need arises, we can both come back together and retrieve whatever amount is required."

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