Vishnu Sharma is recognized as the Indian scholar and author credited with composing the Panchatantra, a collection of animal fables. Though the exact period of its creation is uncertain, this work has become one of history's most translated non-religious texts, with influence stretching from Java to Iceland. Sharma opted to impart the wisdom of politics and leadership to princes through engaging, interconnected animal tales, thereby enriching world literature with timeless lessons on diplomacy, relationships, and governance.
Once there lived a learned brahman named Vishnu Sharma. Upon the king's request to make his sons ' masters of the art of practical life', he sought to enrich their minds through narrating animal fables. Thus Panchatantra-- a collection of stories filled with incomparable beauty and wisdom-- came to be. This is a book rife with entertaining stories laced with timeless teachings and moral values, stories that are read not only in their country of origin but far and wide in the world today.