or Panchatantra
(Sanskrit; " Five Chapters ")
Collection of Indian beast fables written in Sanskrit that has had extensive circulation throughout the world.
The original work, now lost, may have been written down between 100 BC and AD 500. A textbook for instructing three sons of a king, it contained aphorisms that glorify shrewdness and cleverness over altruism. As early as the 11th century one version reached Europe, where it was known as The Fables of Bidpai (after the narrator, an Indian sage).