On the eve of International Translation Day, a look at how the Panchatantra became the ‘magic herb’ for readers across the world

On May 24, 2017, the United Nations General Assembly declared September 30 as International Translation Day. It’s the day of the feast of St. Jerome, who, having translated the Bible into Latin, is celebrated as the patron saint of Biblical scholars, librarians and translators. In the resolution passed on this day, the UN General Assembly acknowledged “the role of language professionals in connecting nations and fostering peace, understanding and development”. Translators brought about globalisation long before that word came into being. Translation has been an effective tool of exchange among different cultures since antiquity, as the story of the Panchantantra’s travels around the globe demonstrates.

Persian poet Firdausi’s epic poem, Shahnama (written between 977 CE and 1010 CE), contains a curious tale which goes like this. The sixth century Persian emperor, Khusro, hears about a magical herb called sanjeevani, which can reportedly bring the dead back to life. His trusted ministers tell him that the herb and its potion can be found only in the remote land of India.

Driven by the desire to become immortal, the emperor sends his physician, Burzoe, to India. After having searched the length and breadth of India for the herb, Burzoe is on the verge of returning empty-handed when he comes across a wise sage, who tells him that the elixir is neither a potion nor a plant. It is a book called Panchatantra, which is a rich repository of knowledge and hence a source of immortality.

Lessons in statecraft

Burzoe takes a copy of the Panchatantra to Iran, where it is translated into the Pahlavi language as Kalileh wa Dimneh. The names Kalileh and Dimneh are the Persian versions of Damanaka and Karataka, the two jackals in the famous Panchatantra story about conniving friends. In the Shahnama, Firdausi celebrates this story in a chapter titled ‘Burzoe brings the book of Kalileh and Dimneh from India’. This translation of the Panchatantra turned out to be immensely popular in Persia. Subsequently, princes in ancient Persia were taught the Panchatantra for its ability to convey complex lessons of statecraft and good governance through stories.

The Pahlavi edition was subsequently translated into Arabic and from Arabic into Hebrew. Thereafter, from Hebrew into Latin, from Latin into Italian, and from Italian into English. Sir Thomas North, a British judge and translator, introduced the stories of the Panchatantra to the English speaking-world in 1570. This came much before Orientalists like William Jones or Charles Wilkins started translating seminal Sanskrit texts into English in the 18th century.

Incidentally, during his maiden visit to Iran in 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a manuscript copy of Kalileh wa Dimneh to commemorate the ancient cultural ties between the two countries.

Since its first translation, the Panchatantra has mesmerised writers across the world. Boccaccio, the Italian storyteller of Decameron fame, was in all likelihood familiar with both the Latin and Italian versions of the Panchatantra since there are structural and thematic similarities between Decameron and the Indian text. The Panchatantra and the Jataka tales are some of the earliest texts to use the literary device of the frame narrative, in which several stories emanate from one central story. The technique was used not only by Boccaccio but also by Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales.

Bridge between cultures

Written around 200 B.C., the Panchatantra belongs to the tradition of Nitishastra — a book advising us on wise conduct. It teaches us how to win trustworthy friends, how to overcome difficulties, how to deal with foes, and above all, how to live in peace and harmony. Perhaps it is the ability of the Panchatantrato explain complex notions through simple stories that has fascinated readers down the ages and inspired its many translations.

In these fractured times, we need translators more than ever before. Gone are the days when a translator was seen as the poor cousin of the author. There are thousands of texts in Sanskrit and modern Indian languages which are waiting to be translated into English for readers worldwide. At the same time, there are important English books that are still not available for non-English readers. Translation can not only play a pivotal role in facilitating cultural exchange, but can also help save the humanities from losing relevance.

The Draft National Education Policy 2019 proposes an Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI) to “carry out high quality translations of materials of importance between various Indian languages as well between foreign languages and Indian languages”. The Institute will have the task of strengthening and continuing the commendable job being done by the Sahitya Akademi and the National Translation Mission over the years.

In contemporary times, translation is the sanjeevani booti which can revive our shared sense of humanity and rejuvenate us. We will always need a Premchand to translate Tolstoy into Hindi, and a Gandhi to translate Tukaram into English.

The writer teaches English at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, University of Delhi.