Library Lecture Series: Walter Benesch

See more about the lecture series and upcoming speakers here.

Walter Benesch on the Panchatantra

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

About the speaker:

Walter Benesch is an emeritus professor of philosophy and Eastern religions, and the author of several books, including Adam Cox Meets the Cracklecrunch for Lunch, An Introduction to Comparative Philosophy: A Travel Guide to Philosophical Space, and The Ecumenical Cruise and Other Three-Legged Chicken Philosophy Tales.

THE  PANCHATANTRA

One of the world’s oldest and most satirical/practical guides to politics and political science—applied to the politics of our time!

Lecture/discussion by Walter Benesch (part-time Guru)

The Panchatantra was probably composed between 400 and 200 BCE. The author(s) are not clearly known, but the whole is attributed to a Brahman, Vishnusharman, who had been asked by a king in Kashmir to teach the king’s three blockheaded sons the art of statecraft so that when the king died, his kingdom would continue to flourish. In the introduction to the text, two short verses explain the king’s concern:

Of sons unborn or dead, or fools,
Unborn or dead will do;
They cause a little grief no doubt;
But fools, a long life through.

To what good purpose can a cow
That brings no calf nor milk, be bent?
Or why beget a son who proves
A dunce and disobedient?

Vishnusharman assures the king that he can indeed teach the three blockheads the science of state craft. The overjoyed king offers this amazing teacher a hundred ‘land-grants’ if he fulfills his promise. Vishlnusharman tells the king that he is not interested in money and he doesn’t teach for cash. However, in order to assure the king that his promise is sincere, he offers the king a wager: If he doesn’t succeed within six months “then His Majesty is at liberty to show me His Majestic bare bottom.”

The Panchatantra is supposed to be the collection of the animal stories and fables that Vishnusharman used to teach the king’s sons. Many of these tales have found their way from the Indian/Sanskrit into other literary  traditions around the world—including Aesop’s Fables. What I propose to do in my presentation is to offer a selection and interpretation of some of these stories which would be particularly appropriate to our time and place.

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