Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Panchatantra Punches Part 8

36. Rulers may be honored gentlemen, they may be devoted, still servants leave a ruler who does not pay the salary.They are like birds that desert a withered tree.

37. Due to a sudden madness, a king embraces a vice, it is the duty of the servants to check him and make him nice.

38. 5 main dangerous vices:

Deficiency or Non existence: Due to absence of a ruler, adviser, people, friends, border fortification, wealth & power to punish

Corruption: When people become restless

Attachment:  Under love comes Drink, women, hunting, gambling. Under hatred comes anger, greed, cruelty.

Destruction: 8 kinds - An act of god, fire, water, disease, epidemic, panic, famine and floods.

Wrong policies - One makes a wrong use of 6 means - peace, war, base, change of base, alliance and duplicity.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Panchatantra Punches Part 7

Panchatantra or better known as "codes of conduct" is considered one of the oldest and best work of literature in the Indian history. Though the original information was shared to the world in Sanskrit, it has been translated to simple words in English, Hindi , Tamil and many other languages.Packed with words of wisdom, letters of virtue and characters of charm , it is definitely a treasure of knowledge.

Moving on to Part 7 of Panchatantra Punches:

31. Whatever a fellow desires, sees, hears, or does in broad daylight, haunts him in his sleep.

32. Whatever secret a man keeps hidden in his bosom, he gives it away when he is in drunk or talks in his sleep.

33. A woman is true only when she has no chance, no dark corner and no man to entice. The idiot who thinks that his lover truly loves him is like a tame bird, always in the woman's power.

34. Whom does not fortune render proud, and whom does not death lay low - whoever has heard indeed a truthful word from a gambler or a king who keeps a friendship permanently.

35. No matter how foolish low or idiotic a king's servant might be, he will act with a vengeance when his honor has been dented.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Panchatantra Punches Part 6

Below is a gang of characters involved in Panchatantra stories which I have forgotten to mention in my previous blog posts:


  • Birds such as crows, cranes, swans, owls, eagles etc.
  • Reptiles such as crocodiles, snakes etc.
  • Rest of them include frogs, crabs etc.


Let us continue to Part 6:

26. The earth, the seas and the mountains all have their limits, but the deep thoughts of a king have no boundaries.

27. Straight, sturdy, fully tested and polished should the pillars be for a house as well. as the state

28. 4 things are like nectar: Milk sweets, a fire in cold weather, a honor granted by a king and lovers coming together.

29. Whoever is too arrogant to show the king's attendants due honor,
will lose the monarch's good will.

30. Do not waste your time planning angry shameless schemes of revenge,
unless you have the capacity to do it. An angry chick pea, hopping up and down can hardly hurt the frying pan.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Panchatantra Punches Part 5

Animation films like Ice Age series and Ratatouille are under my favorite animation movie list. I would wonder what clicks those movies to be a tremendous reach to the entire audience of the world. It is like every main character from the movie delivers a message to our minds or brains. For example, message from Ratatouille would be that sentence "Any body can cook". 

It keeps us thinking,keeps us busy, keeps us entertaining,keeps us laughing, keeps us sit and watch them till the movie ends and keeps us to watch them over and over again at any time.So the fundamental aspects from the movie are sense of humor and thoughts. It is the same feeling I had while reading Panchatantra or some children fairy tales. Though some may tease like still you are reading kid's stories or watching kid's movies, for them I would say enjoy the humor and thought process from anybody - no matter it comes from a 3 year old kid or 80 year old grandpa.

So today's panchatantra punches continues as below:

21. The good servant at his lord's command fears nothing on hand.He crosses uncharted seas and gladly steps into a fire, if his master wishes so.

22. A servant who has been spurned by a king, though born and brought up by him, will still be eager to destroy him.

23.The trustful strong men are caught easily by their weaker enemies, while the careful strong men stays safe even from their deadliest enemies.

24. Just as the healthy man has no use for medicines to restore him to good health. so also does a king, free from troubles, no use for advisers.

25.Whoever speaks even small untruths to a king, invites certain ruin on his gods and on his teacher too. So always speak the truth to the loyal who in turn expects loyalty from you.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Panchatantra Punches Part 4


Let us sharpen our skills smart as sharp as an eagle's eye.
If you just start reading thought provoking stories try to learn the positive message it delivers to your real life. No matter whether it is from a school kid's English text book or from a science fiction fantasy novel or historical fiction article or spy thriller blogs. 

Now let us roll our sleeves and get back to Punches Part 4:

16. You find relief amidst great disaster in telling things to a powerful master, honest servant, a faithful friend or a wife who loves you till the end.

17. Water breaks the dams, love disappears when bad feelings enter, secrets vanish when people start babbling and simple words melt even cruel hearts.

18. Wisely move one foot, while the other holds firmly, for until assured of some new home, do not desert the old.

19. If you are brave and bold, no matter how fierce the enemy, no defeat or sorrow would touch you. Brave hearts do not fear even threats from heavens.

Let me make the next point as a puzzle from the same panchatantra story book. Let me see how many sharp eagles can give an answer to it.

20. "I thought at first it was full of fat,
        I crept within,
        There I did not find a thing,
        Except some wood and skin". What is it?

Answers are expected within 1 week from today. If not , It will be added as comment by myself.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Panchatantra Punches Part 3

Most of the stories from panchatantra will have some specific characters like Jackals, wolves and foxes coming under the category of cunning and trickier beings, camels, bulls, oxen, cows, donkeys under the honest , dumb or ignorant category and the lions, tigers, leopards or elephants playing the brave, majestic and commanding roles. We can compare those behavioral pattern mapping of these characters in real life too.Let us continue on to Part 3 of the punches:

11. A good servant will give master good or bad news and then help him in the decision making process with a touch of humor. The man who does not want his master's fall will advise him, though uninvited.

12. To clean a tooth or scratch an ear, a straw may serve a king, but a man of speech & action is a higher kind of thing.

13. The usefulness of a horse,book,sword,woman, flute or word depends entirely on the quality of the user.

14. Does not gold come from a stone?
      Does not water lily spring from mud?
      Does not lotus bud sprout from cow dung?
      So men of distinction become so by their attainments, not by birth.

15. The wise who have mastered the universal law, do not care either for money or position. They are like the bull which cannot be restrained by an chain when it is in rage.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Panchatantra Punches Part 2


Whenever we read some stories,novels or articles especially like Panchatantra or Five Principles - it draws our attention to think in the character's pursuit and it gets so interesting to read till the end. Also the moral of the story triggers the awareness and common sense to the readers. So lets move on to the part 2 of the punches from panchatantra tales.

6. From a mere gesture, walk, twitch or word, from the eye and look,
   the wise can read one's thoughts.

7. No burden weakens the strong,
   To the enterprising no road is long,
   To the well informed, nothing is strange,
  To the flatterer, no man is a stranger.

8. A gentleman will never interrupt during a conversation,
    a fight or when the monarch is consulting a psychic,
   is with his barber, flirting with a woman or when he is devouring his favorite food.

9. Students should not meddle with their teachers things. 
    Destruction - fast & sure waits on such meddlers.

10. A loved & beloved one is who never gives a painful reply or laughs loudly teasing others, who pretends not to hear the goings on in the king's household & keeps his mouth shut in women's quarters, who hates gambling, avoids liquor and treats other's wives as if they were statues.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Panchatantra Punches Part 1

During my childhood days, I used to read a lot of Panchatantra stories, Jataka tales, Akbar Birbal tales, Aesop fables etc. Most of them I used to read from my school library itself. While reading those stories, I would quote down the catchy quotes or rather I feel them as punch dialogues or punches in short. Thought of moving those scribbled notes into my blog as many parts. The best part of these punches is it makes you keep thinking and it would imply the actions, happenings and messages to your various stages of life. Though most of them may be contradictory or for and against the normal human thoughts, we always have the right to debate on such topics. So here it goes:

1.Unborn or dead sons will cause a little grief for sometime, no doubt, but foolish sons will cause one much sadness throughout.

2.Of what use is a cow, which neither gives a calf nor yields milk. Similarly why beget a son who is an idiot and disobedient.

3.Re-employ the money you have earned like releasing the surplus water from a reservoir.

4.Wise serve the kings by hurting his foes and helping his friends. Life is indeed life when many lives depend on it.

5. Vice and Virtue are like an effort to carry stones uphill, but they are tumbling down in a jiffy.Honor or disgrace of a man  will decide his inner worth.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

ONE LINERS - 3

Failure - Failure isn't when you fall down, it is only when you don't get up again.

Importance - Direction is more important than speed.

Men vs Woman - A hundred men may make an encampment, but it takes a woman to make sweet home.

Young vs Old - In youth we want to change the world, In old age we want to change the youth.

Plan - Planning is deciding - what to do, where to do, when to do, why to do and most important whether to do.

ONE LINERS - 2

Doing - If you cannot do great things, do great things in a small way.

Unity - There are 2 things that unite people - fear and interest.

Life - Life is not a goblet to be drained,it is a measure to be filled.

Mistakes -The freedom to make mistakes, provides the best environment for creativity.

Nice - Its nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice.