अयंनिजःपरोवेतिगणनालघु-चेतसाम्।
उदार चरितानांतु वसुधैवकुटुम्बकम्॥
ayaṃ nijaḥ paro veti gaṇanā laghu-cetasām |
udāra-caritānāṃ tu vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam || 37 ||
This is mine, and that is yours – such thinking is for lowly minds. Minds that are noble and wise, think of the entire world as one family.
Many of you may have heard of the last two words of this pada – वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् – the world is one family. The above pada is the complete version.
But a few of you would know where this comes from. Everyone I asked guessed wrong – some said the Gita, others the Vedas, and some others said it was from the Ramayana.
But no, this is not from any of the above. It is from the Panchatantra!
The Panchatantra stories make their appearance in over 50 languages, and over 200 versions. Yes, the Panchatantra is the most widely-translated piece of Indian literature, and spread at an earlier time and more extensively that even the Srimad Bhagavad Gita. It demonstrates the richness of katha-parampara – the ancient Indian art of storytelling – that dates back to the Vedic age.
I have compiled all the 5 texts of the Panchatantra – in Sanskrit and English – which you can access for free from the menu of my website. It makes a good read, and detailed as well, so do give it a try. And yes, read this blogpost to know more about the circumstances that brought about the pada that I mentioned above. You will be (hopefully pleasantly) surprised!