பஞ்சதந்திரம் pañca-tantiram , n. pañcan +. The Tamil version of Pañca-tantra consisting of five books, viz., mittira-pētam, cukirl- lāpam, canti-vikkirakam, artta-nācam, acampirēṭciya-kārittuvam; மித்திரபேதம், சுகிர்ல்லாபம், சந்திவிக்கிரகம், அர்த்தநாசம், அசம்பிரேட்சியகாரித்து வம் என ஐம்பகுதியுடையதாய்த் தமிழில் மொழிபெயர்க் கப்பட்ட நூல்.
1. மித்திரபேதம் = mittira-pētam = Sowing discord among friends.
2. சுகிர்ல்லாபம் = cukir-l-lāpam = the acquisition of friends.
3. சந்திவிக்கிரகம் canti-vikkirakam = Associating with a foe with a view to ruin him.
4. அர்த்தநாசம் artta-nācam = Loss of wealth.
5. அசம்பிரேட்சியகாரித்துவம் a-campirēṭciya-kārittuvam , n. a-sam-prēkṣya-kāri-tva. Action without forethought.
Inspiration: N.Natchiyappan
2. The country suffered famine which forced him to go to a fertile country. The warrior king of that country was constantly at war with his neighbors. The potter asked the king for a job, and the king, seeing the crescent-shaped scar on his forehead, assumed the man must have sustained an injury in war, appointed him as the Chief of the army. The erstwhile potter won many battles and earned the respect of the king by winning many wars.
3. One day, the king asked the Chief of the army, "Dear General! In which war you sustained the scar on the forehead? You have not told me about it so far."
4. The Chief: Dear king! I did not sustain injury from a spear during the war. I suffered this wound and scar from a flying shard of a broken pot. I was a potter before I became the Chief of the army." He told the truth, and yet it was a stupid admission.
5. The king: "Disgrace. Are you a potter? I keep a lowly you by my side and speak to you. If other kings come to know of it, they will point out the potter's appointment as the Chief of army and talk ill of me. Before they discover who you are, leave this place at once." The king, seized by caste and class discrimination, thus denounced the potter,
6. The present Chief of the army: "Dear king! Though I was a potter before, that does not diminish me from vindicating myself as an excellent and winning soldier. Your dismissal is not just.
7. The king: "Proletariat! Do not babble. It is like the fox in the company of the lion, thinking it is a lion and jumping for joy. You delight yourself as a warrior, though you are a lowly potter. Before others find out about you, run for your life.
8. The potter, having no way out of the predicament, shed his ornate clothes of the Chief of army's insignia and left for another country, having been deracinated and divested of his title.