396. DSC 253: The Jataka

The Jataka is part of the canon of sacred Buddhist literature, a collection of some 550 anecdotes and fables which depicts earlier incarnations -- sometimes as an animal, sometimes as a human -- of the being who would become Siddhartha Gautama, the future Buddha. Traditional birth and death dates of Gautama are 563-483 BC. The Jataka tales are dated between 300 BC and 400 AD. And Jataka may mean births.

Jataka, any of the extremely popular stories of former lives of the Buddha, which are preserved in all branches of Buddhism. Some Jataka tales are scattered in various sections of the Pali canon of Buddhist writings, including a group of 35 that were collected for didactic purposes. These 35 constitute the last book, the Cariya Pitaka (“Basket of Conduct”), of the Khuddaka Nikaya (“Short Collection”). Beyond this, a Sinhalese commentary of the 5th century that is questionably attributed to a Buddhist scholar named Buddhagosa and called the Jatakatthavannana, or Jatakatthakatha, gathers together about 550 Jataka stories, some of which are quite brief while others are as long as novelettes.

Each tale begins by noting the occasion that prompted its telling and ends with the Buddha identifying the lives of the people in the introductory story with those of people from the past. There is humour in these stories and considerable variety. The future Buddha may appear in them as a king, an outcast, a god, an elephant.

Many of the tales are set in or near Benares, now called Varanasi, a city in north central India on the Ganges River. One of the world's oldest cities, Varanasi is the most sacred place for Hindus. Buddhists and Muslims also have important religious sites nearby. According to tradition, Buddha began his teaching at Sarnath a short distance from this city.

Many Jatakas have parallels in the Mahabharata (“Great Epic of the Bharata Dynasty”), the Panca-tantra (animal fables), the Puranas (collections of legends), and elsewhere in non-Buddhist Indian literature. Some turn up again in such places as Aesop’s fables. The Jataka stories have also been illustrated frequently in sculpture and painting throughout the Buddhist world.

ebullience). The other negative
emotions are considered to be caused by the six main Kleshas. In the Jataka tales, the conflict in the story is caused as a result of one of the six Kleshas. The Klesha may be showcased as affecting an individual or society as a whole. The Bodhisattva resolves the conflict caused by the Klesha and imparts wisdom. The individual or animal, overwhelmed by a Klesha is often the antagonist of the tale. The Bodhisattva in the story imparts a lesson on how Kleshas can be overcome on the path to Nirvana. Jatakas can also be seen as a reflection of the society of the times, references to social evils like caste system can be seen in many Jataka tales. The Jatakas are dated between 300
BC and 400 AD, a time when caste based discrimination was rampant in Hinduism. Even Jatakas were Buddhist texts , the society of the time was predominantly Hindu and social practices in the society can be seen in the Jatakas .For instance, The Prince’s Revenge is the story of the prince of Kosala‟s thirst for revenge. The role of women characters is very
limited in the Jatakas, this may also reflect the societal norms of the time. Women are shown as being extremely submissive and do not have an opinion or voice in many of the stories.

The Jatakas recount the development of the Bodhisatta—the being destined to become the present Buddha in his final life—not just through the events of one lifetime but of hundreds. Written in Pali; the language of the Theravada Buddhist canon; the Jatakas comprise one of the largest and oldest collections of stories in the world dating from the fifth century BCE to the third century CE. Generations in South and South-East Asia have grown up with these tales. 

The key to understanding the Buddhist cosmological scheme lies in the principle of the equivalence of cosmology and psychology. In the traditional understanding the various realms of existence relate rather closely to certain commonly (and not so commonly) experienced states of mind.

This powerful Jataka tale, the Buddha — in a past life — reveals how wisdom and clear thinking can save lives, even when lies sound sweet and tempting.

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