Kalula Wa Dimna Analysis

The Portrayal of Moral Behavior in Kalīla wa Dimna In the Panchatantra, the earliest collection of stories from which Kalīla wa Dimna, was translated, the work was framed as having been collected for the benefit of three unruly princes. According to the story, the king, who fathered these princes, feared they would be unfit to rule without better instruction in the practice of wise and prudent leadership. Thus, these animal fables were collected as a means for exemplifying such governance for the three young princes. In an article published by Blaydes et al. it is posited that the Panchatantra belongs to a genre of writing referred to as “mirrors for princes” because these writings serve as a guide that reflects the manner in which rulers

Dimna, for example, in trying to convince the lion that the bull is his enemy, states that a wise man swallows bitter medicine when it will help him and should not limit himself to the delicious food that suits his palate (Knatchbull 1819 124). This is legitimate advice concerning how a wise leader must accept unpleasant truths, even when it is disagreeable. The legitimacy of Dimna’s metaphor, however, is completely undermined by his evil intent to frame the bull. A similar undermining occurs in a fable in which a cat gives sagely and virtuous advice: the cat implores a quarrelling hare and a nightingale to remember that “the greatest treasure which the man of the world can possess, is a productive store of right conduct, which is more profitable than mines of wealth” (Knatchbull 1819 228). The only reason the cat relates this aphorism to the two creatures, however, is so that he can get close enough to eat them. When aphorisms speaking in favor of morality are only used for treachery, the author gives the impression that words of goodness and justice are only valuable for their ability to betray the