The book, Kalila wa Dimna is an Arabic translation of the

The correct answer is B, Panchatantra. Kalila wa Dimna is the Arabic version of the Panchatantra, named after two jackals, Karataka and Damanaka, who appear in its first book.

The Panchatantra, a collection of animal fables credited to Vishnu Sharma, was written to teach statecraft and practical wisdom to young princes. It was first translated into Middle Persian (Pahlavi) by the physician Burzoe in the sixth century, and in the eighth century Ibn al-Muqaffa turned that version into Arabic as Kalila wa Dimna. From Arabic it spread into Persian, Greek, Hebrew, Latin and many European languages, making it one of the most travelled books of the ancient world.

A is wrong because the Hitopadesha by Narayana is a later work that retells Panchatantra stories in Sanskrit. C is wrong because the Suryasiddhanta is a treatise on astronomy. D is wrong because the Kathasaritsagar is Somadeva's eleventh-century collection of tales.

Exam tip: Panchatantra (Vishnu Sharma) → Pahlavi (Burzoe) → Arabic Kalila wa Dimna (Ibn al-Muqaffa).