It is time to put the punch back into the Pancatantra. For too long this text has been underestimated as an anthology of animal fables to impart simple moral lessons to children in a fun and engaging way.

Quite the contrary, the Pancatantra claims itself to be a nitisastra and presses upon the reader deep political issues for which there are no easy solutions. The tales are well-known but there has been hardly any reflection on the dilemmas lurking underneath and the frustrations of worldly life they conceal from unwary eyes.

A jackal brokers a friendship between a lion and a bull out of self-interest but was there another way for him to succeed in a world that undervalued his worth due to his inferior status? And if the lion gave up violence due to the influence of the bull and the kingdom tottered to its doom, was it...