Panchatantra Stories - Captivating Tales For Kids

Panchatantra is a huge collection of fables originally written in the Sanskrit language. Each of the Panchatantra stories for kids has an associated moral. These morals are taught to kids through the plot and characters of the stories. Probably that’s why parents and school curriculum make sure that kids are introduced to at least some of these stories. Panchatantra short stories make for an interesting read.

Resources: Panchatantra Short Stories in English for Kids

You can get the best of Panchatantra stories with pictures here. These stories amaze, educate and entertain kids of all classes. You can download the Panchatantra stories in English PDFs here and read out these amazing Panchatantra moral stories to impart moral values and virtues to your little one.

Here is the list of Panchatantra short stories, which we are providing you with:

Click on the images below to download Panchatantra Stories with pictures:

Panchatantra Short Stories Summary:

The Monkey and The Crocodile: This Panchatantra story is about an intelligent Monkey and a foolish Crocodile. Take a dive into an engaging story about betrayal in friendship.

The Loyal Mongoose: Here is one of the touching Panchatantra stories for kids about a Loyal Mongoose. Enjoy this amazing story about how acting without thinking can be dangerous.

Panchatantra – the Etymology

The word Panchatantra comprises 2 words- Pancha and Tantra. “Pancha” means five and “Tantra” implies principles or practices.

So, Panchatantra means the 5 principles or practices. The collection thus has 5 volumes. Before revealing the names of these volumes, let’s get a little history about Panchatantra.

The History of Panchatantra

As per the legend, the origin of Panchatantra dates back to the times when there lived a King called Amarasakti, who wished to teach good morals and governing skills to his 3 sons. His sons were a little dull to govern the kingdom. Thus, Amarasakti appointed a scholar Vishnu Sharma in order to make them understand the aspects of ruling a kingdom. 

Vishnu gathered that the conventional tips and ways wouldn’t work well with these new students. To teach them good values and governing skills, he decided to write a collection of stories in 5 volumes – thus, naming it as Panchatantra.

These are the names of the 5 volumes in which Panchatantra is divided:

1. Mitra-laabha (Gaining Friends)
   It has a collection of stories that are related to winning friends.
2. Mitra-bheda (Losing Friends)
   It has a collection of stories that are related to losing friends.
3. Aparīkṣitakārakaṃ (Acting without Thinking)
   It has a collection of stories that are related to hasty actions or taking actions without thinking of the consequences.
4. Labdhapraṇāśam (Loss of Gains)
   It has a collection of stories that are related to losing what you have gained.
5. Kākolūkīyam (Crows and Owls)
   It has a collection of stories that are related to war and peace.

Panchatantra stories for kids have been translated into many languages including Hindi, English, Persian and Arabic. Many authors and translators have worked on the Panchatantra moral stories to make them accessible and understood by a layman in simple vernacular languages.

Children’s education is a continuous concern for parents. It is crucial to provide the kids with resources, which educate as well as keep them engaged and entertained at the same time. Panchatantra short stories in English can prove to be one of the most helpful resources to engage and entice your kid into enhancing his/her linguistic skills.

Stories for kids are loved by people of all age groups. Reciting these Panchatantra stories with pictures can be a great way to connect and spend quality time with your kid. Panchatantra stories in English is a major part of the stories, which are taught or read out to kids in their formative years. 

Given below is a list of other types of stories for kids offered by BYJU’S:

We have a huge collection of learning resources to help your kid in learning – interesting worksheets, essays on the most frequently asked topics, brain-tickling general knowledge questions, poems for children, easy trivia questions on various subjects, etc. Refer to our Kids Learning section and let your kid explore new opportunities in his/her studies.