Once there lived a learned brahman named Vishnu Sharma. Upon the king's request to make his sons masters of the art of practical life, he sought to enrich their minds through narrating animal fables. Thus Panchatantra— a collection of stories filled with incomparable beauty and wisdom— came to be. This is a book rife with entertaining stories laced with timeless teachings and moral values, stories that are read not only in their country of origin but far and wide in the world today.