Nitishastra: An Introduction to the Panchatantra and the Hitopadesha
Table of Contents
- 1. Niti Shastra and use of Storytelling
Niti Shastra and use of Storytelling
Before I get into telling the stories from the texts of Nitishastra, I feel I should share an introduction to Nitishastra first.
The Nitishastra comes from two words: Niti and Shastra. Niti means the clever way to handle situations, and Shastra means a science. So Nitishastra literally means a science of handling things properly. One thing to note here is that Nitishastra does not talk about ethics. It sits between Dharma which asks what is correct and Artha, which asks what works. Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha are totally called the four purusharthas. Nitishastra talks about how a sensible person can act without losing their moral compass, and it teaches this through stories.
Works like Arthashastra, Panchatantra and Hitopadesha belong to the category of Nitishastra.
Panchatantra and Hitopadesha
The Panchatantra was composed by Vishnu Sharma sometime between the 3rd century BCE and 3rd century CE. The Hitopadesha was said to have been composed by Narayana Pandit around 9th–14th century CE. In this series of Nitishastra posts, I shall be concentrating on these two works. Both these books full of stories. Children can enjoy these stories, but the tales also work well for adults, who can learn diplomacy and statecraft from these. Both these works share a very similar structure. Both start with a king, his unruly sons and teacher who teaches the sons by telling stories. The idea of the teacher was: ‘I shall tell you a story. You repeat what you heard and then tell me what you learnt.’
By doing so, the princes were learning Nitishastra, which was needed for future rulers. Formal instruction was not used by the teacher, who preferred to use the mode of storytelling to convey the message.
Tantra in Panchatantra
Many times, we hear the word Tantra and tend to associate the term with spiritual traditions, rituals, yoga, and esoteric practices. In Sanskrit, the word root tan means 'to weave', and the word tra means 'a tool'. When applied to literature and philosophy, Tantra is a method or formal text.
Let me share more on Tantra.
| Aspect | In Panchatantra | Why Niti and not Tantric |
|---|---|---|
| Core Subject | The text deals with psychology, statecraft, betrayal, and friendship. | This is dealing with the real world. |
| The Methodology | Animal tales and reasoning are used to teach a group of princes. | While some Devas appear occasionally, the topic does not deal with divinity. |
| The Goal | The goal was to make the princes street-smart, capable rulers, and wise leaders. | A Tantric, who is a practitioner of Tantra, has a goal that is about spiritual liberation and attaining supernatural powers. |
The words and their meanings
Panchatantra is a Sanskrit compound formed from two words, Pancha meaning five, and Tantra meaning to weave. Just for information, the word Tantra-shala comes from Tantra meaning 'weave' and Shala meaning ‘a workshop', so Tantra-shala literally means a workshop for those who are weaving information.
Hitopadesha is formed from two words, Hita, means beneficial, and Upadesha, meaning counsel or instruction; it literally means beneficial instruction.
Key Differences Between Panchatantra and Hitopadesha
The Hitopadesha can be said to be an adaptation of the Panchatantra. It is said to have been composed somewhere in Bengal, and roughly three-fourths of the Hitopadesha is inspired by stories from the Panchatantra.
| Feature | Panchatantra | Hitopadesha |
|---|---|---|
| Author | Attributed to Vishnu Sharma. | Authored by Narayana Pandit , in which Vishnu Sharma is the teacher who teaches the princes. |
| Structural Division | Divided into 5 Books (Tantras): 1. Mitrabheda (Loss of Friends) 2. Mitralabha (Winning of Friends) 3. Kakolukiyam (Crows and Owls) 4. Labdhapranasam (Loss of Gains) 5. Apariksitakarakam (Rash Action) |
Divided into 4 Books: 1. Mitralabha (Winning of Friends) 2. Suhridbheda (Separation of Friends) 3. Vigraha (War) 4. Sandhi (Peace) |
Why the Story Form Was Used
As stated earlier, the audience for both Panchatantra and Hitopadesha was princes who refused to learn. When Vishnu Sharma met them, he spoke to them, tested them and then decided that stories would capture the imagination of the young men and make them learn, something formal education had failed to do.
Panchatantra and Hitopadesha stories can be uncomfortable. The clever ones win by deception rather than by virtue. The idea was not to teach ethics but statecraft.
Why stories worked
- Psychologist Jerome Bruner said there are two modes of thinking. The first mode is a paradigmatic mode which handles logic, categories, and abstract rules. The other mode is a narrative mode, which handles people, intentions, events, and consequences. A 2021 meta-analysis by Raymond Mar and colleagues found that people understand and remember stories better than expository material.
- The amygdala signals the hippocampus to strengthen memories. This is an established findings in neuroscience, associated with James McGaugh’s work. This theory supports the use of story form. The hippocampus resembles a curved seahorse and sits just behind the amygdala in each hemisphere of the brain and acts as the brain’s memory centre. The amygdala resembles an almond and sits right in front of the hippocampus in both brain hemispheres. It acts as the processing centre for emotional responses.
Where stories will not work
Storytelling does not work everywhere.
Here are a few situations where storytelling will fail.
- A story can drag on that can result in details getting buried. This kind of learning may not fit subjects like mathematics, physics, or any subject where rules apply.
- Marsh, Meade and Roediger (2003) gave students short stories containing a mix of correct and incorrect facts. In the test, students reproduced the wrong facts at a noticeably higher rate than students who had not heard or read the stories. Memory does not link a fact with its source.
A rule of thumb for fields where stories work
Stories work best where the learning involves judgement. This applies to subjects like law, management, ethics and history. When the learning involves procedures, stories will not work. These include fields like mathematics, sciences and programming.
Sama, Dana, Bheda, Danda: The Four Upayas of Niti
The word Upaya in Sanskrit means a method to reach a goal. In Nitishastra, upaya is a tool that a ruler or person uses to handle situations involving people or problems or enemies. There are four upayas in Nitishastra, and they are used time and again. These four are Sama, Dana, Bheda and Danda. I will explain what these four are. These are collectively called Chaturvidha Upaya, meaning the fourfold methodology.
The four terms
Below is a table in which I have explained the four methods. Let us assume one is living in a housing society and has a very noisy neighbour to deal with. I shall use this example to see what to do, in each situation.
| Upaya | What it does | The Idea | The tools to use here | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sama | This deals with conciliation and pacification. | The goal is to win cooperation. To do this, one needs to win the other party over by words, reason and goodwill, without giving anything material and without threatening. | Dialogue, courtesy and reminders of common ties. | Knocking on the door and calmly explaining how the noise affects others. |
| Dana | This method is about giving. The meaning comes from the Sanskrit root word da meaning, to give. | The objective here is to win cooperation by offering something of value. This works best when the other party is greedy, needy, or motivated by gain. | Gifts, compensation etc are used here. One thing to note is that Dana is not bribe though the distinction between the two is blurry. | Raise it in society meetings and suggest ideas about soundproofing. |
| Bheda | This is about splitting or dividing. The meaning comes from the Sanskrit root word bhid, meaning to split. | Here, one needs to tackle the other party and weaken their resistance by separating them from their supporters. | Exploiting and isolating the party. This is best suited when the opponents are strong because of their support. Another place to use this is when the opponent’s camp has internal rifts. | Speaking to the other residents who side with the neighbour and addressing their concerns separately, so the neighbour stands alone in his resistance. |
| Danda | Danda means a staff or rod. Here, the idea is to use penalties or force depending on the situation. | This is to be used those who are arrogant, unreasonable, or who abuse the earlier methods. | Fines, confiscation, imprisonment, sanctions, military action and, in old texts, corporal punishment. In modern terms: legal notice, police complaint, litigation, regulatory penalties. | A legal notice or police complaint, but only after the other three have been tried. |
This post was an introduction to Nitishastra and the two books, Panchatantra and Hitopadesha. The next posts in the series will be from the books. I shall start with Panchatantra and then cover Hitopadesha.
References and further reading:
There are places where I have cited psychologists and their studies. Below is the list, for reference and further reading.
Jerome Bruner (1915–2016, Harvard, later NYU). Jerome Bruner was a cognitive psychologist who proposed the two modes of thought, paradigmatic and narrative. The book that was referred to here was Actual Minds, Possible Worlds (Harvard University Press, 1986).
James McGaugh (UC Irvine). James McGaugh is an American neurobiologist who specialises in memory and emotion. His work showed that the amygdala modulates memory consolidation. The book referred to was Memory and Emotion: The Making of Lasting Memories (2003).
Elizabeth Marsh, Michelle Meade and Henry Roediger (Duke; Montana State; WashU). Elizabeth J. Marsh, Michelle L. Meade, and Henry L. Roediger III are cognitive psychologists known for their collaborative research on human memory, false memories, and how people integrate information from external sources into general knowledge. More information on the work can be found in ‘Learning facts from fiction', in the Journal of Memory and Language.
- Elizabeth J. Marsh is professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. She specialises in memory, autobiographical memory, and how people learn from texts and media.
- Michelle L. Meade is a professor of psychology at Montana State University and focuses on collaborative memory, social influences on memory, and aging.
- Henry L. Roediger III is a professor of psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, and is known for his work on human learning, the testing effect, and false memory phenomena.
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