An Analytical Review of the Removal and Substitution of Mythological Figures from the Panchatantra into Kalila and Dimna

Introduction

The cultural approach in Translation Studies highlights how translation not only transfers language but also mediates cultural values and worldviews across different civilizations. Translators, as representatives of the receiving culture and first interpreters of the source text, filter narratives through the expectations, interpretive habits, and ideologies of the target literary system. Translation thus becomes an interactive process in which meanings are reshaped and selectively reproduced to align with the cultural and aesthetic norms of the audience. Within this framework, Translation Studies examines how texts are transformed, reinterpreted, and culturally reinscribed during cross-civilizational migration. This study investigates the removal and substitution of mythological characters in the multistage transmission of the Panchatantra into Kalila and Dimna, focusing on the deletion, modification, and substitution of Hindu mythic characters to reveal the cultural and ideological motivations behind this rewriting.
 

Methodology

This study employs a qualitative analytical approach grounded in the cultural approach of Translation Studies, drawing on the descriptive insights of scholars such as André Lefevere and Susan Bassnett. From this perspective, translation is understood as an act shaped by the expectations of its audiences and the discourses of the receiving cultural system. Accordingly, cultural turns in translation, whether deletions, substitutions, or ideological reframings, are purposeful strategies that align the source text with the discursive, ethical, and ritual norms of the receiving culture. These theoretical principles inform the study’s examination of how Kalila and Dimna reconfigure the mythological elements of Hinduism in the Panchatantra.
Methodologically, the research is based on library sources and a comparative reading of the Panchatantra, translated into English from Sanskrit by Arthur W. Ryder, and of Kalila and Dimna in the versions of Ibn Muqaffaʿ and Nasrollah Monshi. Ryder’s version, as frequently cited direct translation of the Panchatantra, retaining Hindu mythological names and functions, making it a suitable baseline for identifying cultural transformations in the Arabic and Persian translations. By contrasting Ryder’s preservation of mythic structures with the systematic removal or alteration of figures in Kalila and Dimna, the study traces the mechanisms through which translators, acting as cultural agents, ingested and recreated the narrative in accordance with the Persian horizon of expectations. This two-level framework, cultural translation theory combined with textual comparison, enables a precise analysis of how the Panchatantra underwent a process of ideological filtering and cultural domestication in its journey from Indian culture to Persian.
 

Discussion

The comparative study of shared narratives in the Panchatantra and Kalila and Dimna demonstrates that the multistage process of translation and cultural rewriting led to the systematic removal of several Hindu mythological figures from the narratives. This conscious purification and myth-reduction, achieved through culturally and ideologically motivated strategies, significantly reshaped both the narrative structure and the conceptual framework of the original text. The omission of figures such as Shiva’s bull, the Wood Goddess, and Yajnavalkya reflects a broader intellectual shift from myth-based worldviews to more rationalistic and monotheistic interpretive models. These transformations can be interpreted as manifestations of a historical transition from magical and mythic thought toward discursive, ethical, and theological consciousness. However, the process of cultural turn also reveals points of narrative fragmentation, resulting in a weakened coherence of the plot. Similarly, the omission of figures like Yama and Baharunda not only alters the rhetorical dynamics of the stories but also contributes to an ideological reorientation that transforms Kalila and Dimna into a predominantly didactic work characterized by moral, political, and rational themes. Moreover, the erasure of Gauri’s mythological role and the suppression of her gendered symbolic functions reshape the power relations between male and female characters, reflecting the sociocultural norms and gendered expectations of the receiving culture. Taken together, these shifts demonstrate how translation functions as a space where cultural values, ideological priorities, and social discourses are reinscribed into the narrative.
 

Conclusion

The study concludes that Kalila and Dimna stand as a paradigmatic example of cultural rewriting within the history of translated literature. Its departure from Hindu mythological frameworks and its adaptation to Persian ethical and ritual norms demonstrate how translation functions as a culturally embedded act of reinterpretation. The replacement of mythological logic with rationalistic thought further indicates an intellectual transition marking the evolution of human interpretive modes. The findings of this study show that the transformation of the Panchatantra into Kalila and Dimna cannot be understood through linguistic comparison alone; rather, it demands a cross-cultural interpretive approach. The Persian translation reconfigures the explicitly mythological system of Hinduism into a rationalized and pedagogical narrative aligned with the ethical, theological, and political expectations of its new cultural environment. However, the process of mythological erasure also introduces certain narrative and rhetorical challenges. The removal of key Hindu figures disrupts the causal coherence of some storylines and alters the rhetorical dynamics of the text, leading in some instances to fragmentation or gaps in the narrative plot. Examining the mechanisms of this turn in translations not only deepens our understanding of the evolution of the text but also sheds light on broader dynamics of cross-civilizational circulation in the act of translation. The study thus underscores the importance of analyzing translated works as culturally reauthored texts whose form and meaning emerge at the intersection of differing worldviews, ideologies, and literary traditions.