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A flock of pigeons, lured by scattered rice, is caught in a fowler's net. Their king Chitragriva stops their panic and has them all fly up at once, carrying the net away, then leads them to his friend the mouse Hiranyaka. The episode shows coordinated action escaping a trap no individual could, and a small ally rescuing the strong.
An old tiger by a lake offers a golden bracelet to passing travelers, claiming he has renounced killing and now practices charity. A greedy brahmin, persuaded by the tiger's recitation of scripture, wades in to bathe before accepting the gift, sinks in the mud, and is eaten. The fable warns that a predator's professed reform and a tempting offer should be judged by the offerer's nature and incentives, not by his words.
In the lion Pingalaka's court, the jackal Damanaka loses influence when the lion befriends the bull Sanjivaka. He regains it by privately telling each that the other plans betrayal. A ruler who relies on a single channel of information can be steered into destroying a loyal ally, because the gatekeeper gains from conflict he can then broker.
The sage Vishnusharma teaches idle princes niti in four books: gaining friends, losing friends through slander, waging war, and making peace, with peace treaties classified into many named types. The order treats alliances as the base of power, internal division as the main threat, war as costly and uncertain, and negotiated settlement as the goal. Each lesson is delivered through entertaining fables studded with memorable verses, so that maxims stick with pupils who resist direct instruction.