The striking parable of the "Man in the well", which
occurs at the end of Burzuyes autobiography in Kalilah wa
Dimnah, is one of the best known of Indian stories and one
which from an early date has spread widely both in India
and the rest of the world. Within persian and Arabic
Literature it is found, besides in Kalilah wa Dimna, also in
the book of Bilawhar and Budhasaf.
The Greek romance Barlaam cai loasaph, from which
all the later christian versions of the story are derived, and
which was fromerly attributed to st. John of Damascus, is in
fact an expanded translation of the Georgian Balavariani,
itself a christianised rendering of "Bilawhar and Budhasaf ".
The basic framework of the parable is derived from an
Indian story found in the 11th book of the Mahabharata,
chapter 5 to 6 and "Burzuye" being familiar with a certain
number of Sanskrit books, has translated it from some
Indian source and transmitted it to persian literature and
through the Middle Persian texts it has been adapted by the
western authors.