20 Panchatantra Stories For Kids
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History of Panchatantra Stories
The Panchatantra collection of short stories are an ancient collection of animal fables and the entire scripture is divided into Five (Panch) core Teachings (Tantras) with each part having a frame story with other stories interwoven within it. These five parts are:
- Loss of Friend (Mitra bhed)
- Winning of Friends (Mitra Labh)
- On Crows and Owls (Kākolūkīyam)
- Loss of Gains (Labdhapraṇāśam), and
- Ill Considered Actions (Aparīkṣitakārakaṃ)
These Panchatantra stories for kids teach human virtues and vices and have been adapted into every major Indian language for the young listeners.
Who wrote Panchatantra Stories?
Legend has it that these short Panchatantra stories for kids were originally written in the Sanskrit language around 200-300 BC. These tales are attributed to Pandit Vishnu Sharma who was tasked by King Amarasakti of Mahilaropyam in the south of India to impart knowledge and wisdom to his three princes.
Hence, Pandit Vishnu Sharma used these moral stories to enlighten the princes within a period of six months and subsequently these stories have been passed on from one generation to another. Every Panchatantra story has something to teach us.
Best Panchatantra Stories For Kids
Short Panchatantra Stories are the classic old stories from India and are also popularly known as “Panchtantra ki Kahaniyan”. These have been part of the Indian culture and folklore since the 2nd century.
Panchatantra stories use animals as protagonists and are very popular animal fables. The purpose is not just to entertain the audience but also to help them understand the basics of life and teach them important life lessons on morality and empathy.
In other words, these Panchatantra Stories in English comes with a great mix of entertainment and learning, making each story a great hit with the readers and listeners.
20 Most Popular Panchatantra Stories For Kids
Listed below are some popular Panchatantra stories for kids
1. Merchant, King and Servant
A long time ago, there lived a very intelligent merchant Dantil. The merchant’s daughter was getting married. In this happiness, he organized a huge meal. In the banquet, he invited everyone from the royal family to the subjects.
He saw one of the servants sitting on a chair which was kept for the royal family. The merchant got very angry and pushed him out. The servant felt very bad and thought to teach him a lesson. A few days later the same servant was sweeping the king’s palace. Seeing the half-sleeping king, he said that the merchant misbehaved with the queen.
When the king heard it, he was very angry. The king did not say anything to him, but he started thinking in his mind that what he said was not true. From that day onwards, the king prohibited the merchant from entering the palace. Then he understood that the servant did something.
Dantila apologized to the servant and request him to put good words to the king again. The servant accepted the apology and decided in his mind to get back all the lost honor of Dantil.
Moral: Every story of Panchatantra teaches us a lesson to live life properly and we get to learn 2 things from this story. The first is that we should treat everyone in harmony and with equal respect, whether the person is big or small. Always remember, treat others the way you would like to be with yourself.
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2. Bird and the Proud Elephant
A bird lived with her husband on a tree. Once One day the bird was sitting near her eggs and her husband had gone in search of food. Just then a drunken elephant came there and stopped under the same tree to rest. In his fun, he broke the same branch on which the bird’s nest was and all the eggs fell and broke.
Seeing his eggs broken, they were very sad and both of them decided to take revenge on the elephant and teach him a lesson. Both of them reached their friend Woodpecker and told him the whole thing. They with the help of two other friends- a bee a frog planned to take revenge on the elephant.
The bee first started singing sweetly in the ear of the elephant, due to which the elephant started walking with its eyes closed. Then the woodpecker broke both the eyes of the elephant. After that the frog went near a big pit and started barking.
The elephant thought that there was a pond nearby. He walked in the direction of that voice and fell into the pit, from which it was not possible for him to get out.
Moral: Every story of Panchatantra teaches us a lesson to live life properly. From this story also we get a lesson that even the weakest of the weak, if they work together, they can accomplish the biggest task and defeat the mighty enemy.
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3. The Blue Jackal
There lived a jackal named Chandroo in a forest. Due to old age, he could no longer hunt like before. He was followed by few dogs. The jackal had to run to save his life and entered the street of the clothes dyers. There he saw a big pot and he jumped into the vessel to save his life. Blue color solution was kept in the vessel to dye the clothes.
When he came out of it, he saw that the whole color of his body had turned blue. Any animal who saw its blue color would be frightened and run away from it.
Taking the advantage of the situation, he declared himself the ruler of the animal world. The lions, tigers and cheetahs were surprised to hear his words. No one dared to cut him off.
For a few days his kingdom went on very smoothly, but then one day when he was resting in his cave, he heard the sound of other jackals outside. Without thinking, he also started whining like jackals in his original voice.The lion and the tiger realized that the jackal has outsmarted them and he they killed him.
Moral: Every story of Panchatantra teaches us the right lesson in life. This story teaches us that no pretense can last long, one day the truth will come out. So it is better to stay in your true form and try to improve it even more.
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4. The Bird and The Monkeys
A group of monkeys lived in a part of a mountain. When the winter season came, it was very cold. The monkeys were in worse condition than the cold. They saw a firefly flying and thought to catch it and light a fire.
Everyone gathered dry grass leaves, placed them on the firefly and started blowing loudly. A bird sitting nearby informed them that it was just a fly and won’t light any fire. But the monkeys ignored it and continued blowing. The bird kept on instructing them about their wrong procedure until a monkey angrily hit the trunk of the tree and the bird fluttered and fell down.
Moral: Every story of Panchatantra story teaches how to live life properly. We learnt two important lessons from this story. First- one should not give advice to anyone without asking because such advice is of no value. Second- it is of no use to give advice to fools. On the contrary, it is only the one who gives the advice that suffers in the end.
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5. Little Rabbit and The Lion
There lived a very powerful lion in a forest that used to hunt many animals. All the animals started fearing that if the lion continues to hunt like this, then soon all the animals will be wiped out.
All the animals made a strategy of sending one animal each everyday to feed the lion. The lion felt that the animals were also right and agreed upon it. Every day one animal was sent for the lion’s food until one day a small clever rabbit was chosen.
He went to the lion and said that on the way the rabbit and his friends met another lion who stopped them. He felt challenged and went with the rabbit in search of the second lion. They went near a well, the lion peeped inside and saw his own reflection.
Seeing the shadow, the lion roared loudly. Hearing the echo of his own roar coming from inside the well, he understood that another lion was also roaring. With the intention of fighting the enemy immediately, he jumped into the well and drowned.
Moral: This Panchatantra story teaches us that even in extreme crisis; we should act with intelligence and cleverness. Just as the hare, in spite of being in danger, he tactfully defeated a dangerous and even more powerful enemy like a lion, in the same way, we can also get out of the biggest crisis by acting cleverly.
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6. Foolish Talkative Tortoise
Once upon a time, there lived a tortoise and two swans in a pond. The three became close friends and they used to talk a lot. Once there was a severe drought and the water of the pond started drying up. They decided to change their location. To help the tortoise the swans came up with a plan.
They gathered a bamboo wood, asked the tortoise to hold it with its mouth and warned him not to talk at all or else he may fall on the ground. The swans started to flying. All the villagers were shocked to see a tortoise fly and thus there was huge chaos.
Seeing the villagers so excited below, tortoise decided to let his friends know and opened his mouth to talk. As soon as his mouth was opened, the wood came out of it and he fell straight down to the ground.
Moral: Every Panchatantra story teaches us a lesson to live life properly. Before speaking anything, it is wise to understand the urgency of the situation and the occasion and only then should we open our mouth.
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7. The Sparrow and The Monkey
On the branches of a tree of a dense forest lived a pair of birds. One night a monkey, shivering from the cold and rain, came to take shelter on the branch of that tree. His teeth were cracking due to the cold and he was rubbing his hands vigorously to take the heat.
The birds started questioning the monkey and advised him to get an own house to live in. The monkeys asked them to keep quite but the bird did not stop. They kept saying something or the other, due to which the monkey got completely irritated. In anger, the monkey destroyed the bird’s nest in which the bird lived happily with its family.
Moral: Every Panchatantra story teaches how to live life properly. This story also teaches us that we should not preach to everyone. An education given to a fool can at times turn out to be the opposite.
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8. Result of Treason
Once there was two friends named Dharmabuddhi and Papabuddhi. Dharmabuddhi was very wise and Papabuddhi was completely useless. Once Papabuddhi suggested his friend that both of them should go to another country to earn money together. By working hard they collected a lot of money and started back towards their village.
On reaching near the village, Papabuddhi suggested not to carry so much money to the village. So, they buried all their earned money and left for home. After a few days, Papabuddhi secretly took out all the money buried and the next day he accused Dharmabuddhi of stealing money. Fighting and fighting, both reached a judge.
The judge was unable to find out the truth. Papabuddhi said that only the trees near the pit can tell the truth. In the night, Papabuddhi made his father sit in the hollow of the tree and said instructed him to call Dharmabuddhi- a thief.
When the judge went there and asked, the voice came that Dharmabuddhi had committed theft. Then Dharmabuddhi lit a fire under the tree. In a short time, Papabuddhi’s father came out from the root of that tree scorched by fire and everyone came to know the truth.
Moral: From this story, we get the lesson that we should wish for money only through the true path and should not be greedy. Keeping an eye on the part of others is one’s own loss.
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9. Foolish Heron and The Weasel
There was a big tree in a forest in which some herons lived. A snake also lived in the root of the same tree. He used to eat the small children of the neighbors.
The herons were deeply saddened by the snakes and told its misery to a crab. The crab thought in his mind to destroy the heron and snake at the same time.
He advised him to take some pieces of meat and put them in front of the mongoose bill till the snake’s bill. The mongoose ate the snake as well as the herons living on that tree. The heron thought about the crab’s remedy, but did not think about its other side effects and got the result of his foolishness.
Moral: Every Panchatantra story teaches a lesson to live life properly. From this story we learn that we should not blindly trust any advice given. Before doing any work, we should think carefully about its right or wrong results.
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10. Tit for Tat
There lived a merchant named Jirnadhan in a town. He suffered a lot in business and everything was robbed. He thought of going to another city and working again. There was only a pair of iron scales, which he kept as heritage with a Seth. After his return from abroad, he asked Seth for his scales back but he got greedy in his mind and said that rats ate the scales.
The merchant understood everything, and asked for his son Dhandev. The merchant locked Seth’s boy in a cave and returned to Seth. When the Seth asked about his boy, the merchant said that an eagle took his boy away. Both reached the court to get justice.
Seth accused the merchant of kidnapping his son and the merchant accused Seth of stealing his scales. The judge got the merchant his scales back and finally the merchant also return Seth’s boy back to him.
Moral: Every story of Panchatantra teaches a lesson to live life properly. From this story, we get a lesson that due to greed, the right of others is always lowered.
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11. A Foolish Friend
A king had kept a monkey in his palace as a servant. He was a great believer and devotee of the monkey king. One day when the king was sleeping, the monkey was sitting. Suddenly the monkey saw that a fly sitting on the king’s chest. The monkey got very angry. He thought his master’s sleep should not be disturbed.
He took a sword in his hand to kill the fly. And this time as soon as the fly sat on the king’s chest, he left the hand of the sword on the fly with all his might. The fly flew away, but the sword hit the king’s chest in two pieces and the king gave up his life there.
Moral: Every story of Panchatantra teaches us a lesson to live life properly. This story teaches us that a foolish friend is more dangerous than a learned enemy.
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12. Crows and The Wicked Snake
There was a very big tree in a forest, in which there lived a pair of crows. An evil snake had also made its bill near him. The snake used to eat crow’s eggs before hatching them. Due to this both of them became very sad and told about its misery to a jackal. The crow sought advice from the jackal that how to get rid of this trouble.
The jackal gave him an idea to pick up the queen’s necklace from the palace and drop it near the snake’s bill. When the crow entered the queen’s periphery and picked up the necklace. When the queen saw it, she asked the soldiers to follow the crow. The crow brought the necklace and threw it near the snake’s bill. When the snake saw the necklace, he sat down on it.
As soon as the soldiers reached there, they beat the snake with sticks and left with the necklace. From that day onwards, no snake has eaten crows and their eggs again.
Moral: Every story of Panchatantra teaches us a lesson to live life properly. From this story also we learn that intellect proves to be more powerful than Buck to conquer the enemy.
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13. The Hermit and The Mouse
A monk lived in a temple who used to hang food in a peg. There lived a group of rats. The head mouse would steal food from the pot of the monk and distribute it among all the rats.
When the monk realized that a mouse was stealing his food, he brought a bamboo and started knocking the food vessel from it all night. The mouse did not go near for fear of being thrashed by the bamboo.
One day a sannyasi came to that temple. The monk gave them a lot of hospitality and the talked throughout the day. The sannyasi heard the story of the mouse and gave the monk an idea to take away all the treasure of the mouse.
The mouse overheard them. So when he went to steal food the next time, he went on a new path. A cat was found on that new road and seeing so many rats, it jumped on them. Many rats got injured and ran away. The monk and the sannyasi followed the footprints of the rats and reached the bill. They dug the bill and took out all the treasures stored there.
When the mouse tried to reach the pot again, he fell straight down on the ground. At the same time the monk attacked him. Somehow the mouse saved his life and managed to escape. All the other rats accused him of going the cat’s way and threw him out of the team.
Moral: From this story we learn that resources are the source of all the wonderful powers and self-confidence and when it is taken away from us, then your ability also becomes useful.
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14. The Unlucky Weaver
Once upon a time, there lived a weaver named Somilik in a town. He was expert in his work, but he could hardly make a living by making the most colorful clothes in the city. He went to Vardhamanpur for three years, and earned a lot. He was walking towards home with 300 gold seals. On his way, he spent the night climbing on top of a thick tree.
When Somlik woke up, he saw that the vessel of seals was empty. Somlik was very sad. This time he worked hard day and night and collected 500 seals in a year. He again headed towards the house but the bundles of seals were gone again.
He thought that death is better than this moneyless life. So he tied a rope to a branch of a nearby tree and agreed to hang. But he then heard a voice that gave him a boon to fulfill his one wish. He asked for a lot of money. The weaver asked the deity to offer him as much money to enjoy to the fullest like the second merchant.
After listening to Somlik, the deity advised him to go back to Vardhamanpur. Somlik again reached Vardhamanpur as per his order. The merchant was a very rich man but he didn’t like guests. The weaver was treated him in a bad manner.
Next morning, he visited another merchant’s house and observed that the second merchant was not so rich but welcomed the weaver with open arms. He even served the best food he ever had.
Moral: This story teaches us that it is better to consume money than secret money, which can be useful in some proven work.
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15. Elephants and The Clever Rabbit
In a forest there lived a giant elephant named ‘Chaturdanta’ who was also the head of his elephant team. Due to drought for many years, all the lakes and ponds there dried up and the trees also withered.
After a long journey of many days, all the elephants reached a different pond. There was a lot of water in the pond. All the elephants quenched their thirst for plenty of water and started walking back.
There were also countless burrows of rabbits around the pond. Many rabbits were also crushed by the feet of elephants. All the rabbits together had to come up with an idea to avoid the repetition of the same incident.
A rabbit named Lambakarna was sent to the elephants as a messenger. He said that the pong is moon’s own pond and the moon has asked the elephants not to visit.
Lambakarna took an elephant towards the pond, and showed him the shadow of the moon falling in the pond. After that day, the group of elephants never came to the bank of the pond.
Moral: Every story of Panchatantra teaches us a lesson to live life properly. We also learn two very important things from this story. First of all, with cleverness and understanding, we can find a solution to any difficulty. And secondly, we should always choose our leader wisely.
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16. The Pigeon and The Mouse
There lived a crow on a huge tree. Once when he started going in search of his food, he saw a hunter coming towards the same tree. He understood that the hunter has come to catch the birds today.
He quickly told the rest of his companions about the hunter and warned them not to fall in the trap. All the other crows obeyed him and when the hunter planted the seeds, not a single crow went to eat them.
Then a group of pigeons appeared in the sky. Seeing the seed, he thought of quenching his hunger. The crow immediately warned the chieftain of the pigeons that a but the pigeons ignored thinking that the crow wanted to save all this food for his friends.
But as soon as the pigeons came down, they got caught in the hunter’s net. Then the chief of the pigeons asked the rest of the pigeons to fall lifeless, so that the hunter felt that there was no danger from the pigeons anymore. As soon as the pigeon fell, the hunter wrapped his net and started walking back.
Seeing the hunter loosen his grip on the net, the chief of the pigeons signaled and all the pigeons, beating their wings together, flew away with a net. The chief of pigeons was a friend of the chief of a group of rats. They all reached the perfect rats. Hearing this, the chief of the rats with his team immediately cut the net and all the pigeons were freed.
Moral: Every story of Panchatantra teaches us a lesson to live life properly. From this story also we teach that one’s advice should not be rejected without hesitation and only the right friend of another comes in handy in your difficult times.
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17. Goat, Priest and Three Thieves
A bramhin lived in a town. Once in the month of Magha he went to his neighboring village and informed him about a yagna and that he needed an animal for it. The host was very kind and gave a strong goat. On his way forward, he was spotted by three thugs. Seeing the goat on the shoulder of the Brahmin, all three planned to grab it.
Turn by turn they came to take away the goat until the third thug came in front of him disguised and made him feel guilty for carrying a donkey. On hearing it for the third time, the brahmin was convinced that something was wrong and he freed the animal there and left from there. Here the three thugs took that goat and made a lot of feast.
Moral: Every story of Panchatantra teaches us a lesson to live life properly. We learn from this story that telling a lie over and over again makes it seem like the truth. So it is very important to work with your mind and have complete faith in yourself.
Enjoy other great moral Panchatantra Stories to read or to listen.
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18. The Brahmin and The Snake
There lived a Brahmin named Haridatta in a town. One day he saw a snake sitting on top of a nearby bill. Seeing him, the Brahmin thought that this snake must be and decided to worship that snake.
After that he quickly got up and ran and brought milk from the village. He put the milk in an earthen pot and kept it near the bill. The next day when he came to his farm he saw that the vessel contained a gold coin. After that day this cycle started. He would find a golden coin in a pot of milk.
Once Haridatta had to go out of town. So he ordered his son to find it, and according to the father’s instructions, the son went looking for the vessel.
The son became greedy and thought to himself that surely there is a stock of gold coins inside this bill which he should grab at once. Thinking this, he started waiting for the snake to come out. As soon as the snake came out to drink milk, it hit the snake with a stick.
This did not kill the snake, but being furious with the attack on him, he bit the Brahmin-son’s feet with his poisonous teeth, due to which he died there.
Moral: Every story of Panchatantra teaches us a lesson to live life properly. We also learn from this story that the fruit of greed is never sweet.
Enjoy other great moral Panchatantra Stories to read or to listen.
Continue reading all Panchatantra Stories in English for kids below >>
19. The Rat's Wedding
There was an ashram on the banks of the river Ganges where Yogi Muni lived. Once, while he was taking a bath in the river, a mouse fell from above in his hands. The eagle was taking that mouse to the sky and she fell down after getting free from the claws of the eagle.
The sage took pity on that mouse. Thinking that others would laugh at him, he gave that mouse the form of a girl and brought him to his ashram as his daughter. His wife also felicitated Chuhiya, who became a girl.
Since he did not have any children of his own, the sage wife brought him up with great love. For 18 years she lived in his ashram and acquired knowledge. They took care of her, educated her, and with years she grew older. Saint’s wife talked to the saint about their daughter’s marriage and the saint agreed to find an appropriate groom for her.
Saint presented a number of great options like Sun, Clouds, Air, Mountain as groom to her but she rejects all of them and finally settles down on rat as her groom.
Moral: Every story of Panchatantra teaches us a lesson to live life properly. This story also gives us the same lesson that no matter how much we change, our basic nature always remains the same.
Enjoy other great moral Panchatantra Stories to read or to listen.
20. The Speaking Cave
One day a lion was searching for food. He was very old and weak and unable to catch his preys by chasing them. Suddenly the lion saw a cave on his way and upon inspecting inside he found it to be empty. That gave the lion an idea and he thought to himself, “ If I stay here, the owner of the cave is bound to return and that’s when I’ll jump upon it and make it my meal.”
He waited patiently till the night fell and the jackal who actually lived in the cave came back. Jackal saw the footprints of the lion and he got suspicious. Jackal decided to trick the lion and started asking cave why the cave was not speaking to him today.
Lion thought that may be cave actually does speak to Jackal every night and decided to call him in himself today. On hearing lion’s voice, Jackal got certain that lion is hiding inside and he ran away from the place to save his life.
Moral: Every story of Panchatantra teaches us a lesson to live life properly. We get the same lesson from this story, we should always be alert and take care of the things around us. The jackal also understood with his cleverness that there was a lion in the cave and was successful in saving his life.
Enjoy other great moral Panchatantra Stories to read or to listen.
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FAQ's on Panchatantra Stories for Kids
How many Panchatantra stories for kids are there?
The Panchatantra was written in Sanskrit language and it constitutes five books. There are 84 stories in total.
What is the moral of Panchatantra stories?
Every Panchatantra story has different morals teaching everyone, especially kids, on how to be honest and wise.
What is special about Panchatantra stories for kids?
Panchatantra stories are narrated with animals and birds being the central characters. Thus these stories provide valuable life lessons in fun way that listener of any age can relate to.
