Panchatantra and Hitopadesa Stories

“Age, wealth, family dissension, private council, sexual intercourse, medicinal remedies, penance, almsgiving, and disgrace, (are) nine things to be carefully concealed.”

The object of the present translation is twofold; first to supply an exact and literal rendering of the Hitopadeša for the students learning Sanskrit, and the second to show to the general reader what a tremendous treasure house the Hitopadeša is!

The Hitopadeša being generally the first book taken up by the learners, it is obviously of importance to translate it in such a manner that one completely ignorant of Sanskrit may be guided in his efforts. The present translation is universally acknowledged by authorities to supply this want. The author benefited by the knowledge of the vernaculars has indeed been able to keep the freshness and accuracy of the originals intact, something which is missing in works of even better-known Indologists like, Wilkins, Johnson, and Max Müller.