analysical study of orgin and development of jataka.pdf

7/23/2019 Analysical Study of orgin and development of Jataka.pdf

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AN NLYTICL SUDY OF HE RGNS

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Acknowegements

ntouction

Abbeiations

CONTENS

istoca con n te aim of te Jtaas

Tee s oems egaing the Jtakas

The date of the ]takas

- Authorship of e ]takhath

Actual number of ]tka stories

Te ogn of Jtak Books an e stoes

m The meaning of e wor ]tk

- The originl natre of e Jtakas

- The plae of the ]tas in e Pli Canon

-4 The aaeologial evience

-5 The ]ta Gths and Ahaths

-6 Liter onstion nd nlysis

ate eeomet of e t taes

an the Ans

N-1 The tehnil term A vadna

N Siilarit and deerence between the P Jtaas

d e Sanskrit A vadnas A surve of e A vadnas

4 he Avanata

N5 The Divvadna

N6 Te ]takaml

N-7. he Mhvs

N8 The Avadnaklalat

I

V

1

8

8

19

6

1

1

3

4

49

7

87

89

91

94

99

1

16


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e soes s ec n nn

V1 The Bharhut, Sanchi and Bodgaya sculpres

V -. The Bharhut Stpa

V b The Snchi Spa

V--c Te Bodgaya tmple

V2 The Stpa of Amrva NgjuoQa ad

V 2 Te Amrt Stpa

V2b NgunakoQa

V2c

V3 The Matura scool o V4 Te Gda scool of

V-5 Te Ajata and te Bg aves

V-5-a e Ajata caves

V 5 Te Bag caves

anayt sty ssta

e Jta sts

I Philosopil d etca ougs

VI2 Karma ad rebirth motfs

VI 3 The Boisattva idel

4 Te P concepts

e Jtaa aes ots na

V Literry tradion

V2 Ar traition

Concusn

Bogay

Aenx

st of ustatons

ates

108

108

108

17

125

131

13

137

14

144

150

154

154

166

169

16918

190

207

226

226

23

245

256

I

IV

I-XLV


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ACKODGMS

My interest in ta stories began when cae to see the

boos of a stores of of E. Cowell's version t the se

e happen to s e ta scenes which ae depctd o e

harhut stone rilgs and ehibted in the ndian Museu Ccutta

o of these sources geatly appeled to e not oly for their

aesec nd cultal evidence but also for e richness of the

literay aterial extt Fuerore y rst interest ge later into

e present enqury regadg e ogs and developet of the

taas the vaous aspcts and conbuons udhst culture

rough the age

wish to express a vey special ns to all the teachers in the

Depent of A.IHC. & Achaolog nas Hdu Uversity for

ei indisnable ad d ecouageent o te to e Spccention ay be ade of Prof P Singh Prof C Srvastava of

P C Pat and of Mhesha asad Also y thas e due to

ll the st ebers of e Depatent d its libry; Bn

u Siha the photographer is to be speially ad for his

help in photo prepatons

gratfl to the ocials of e Aecn stute of ndian

Studies Ranaga nasi sciclly for deiving uch help o

er librry and Photo Achives so to the authorities of the haat

Kala haan nd the Central ibry

el creit for the copltion of is wor ust be aributed to

y ost respected and leed superisor D P K Agraala a son

of the great ndologist S Agrawla e has been really

enouh to t as y uie an suisor in this wor t verystae o his reserh proet it was his unresee help d led


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gune i very sha an suggesve ritiis an

ough-ovoing secifi rections at I have been able o

aolish his wor otherise ipossible for e In fact he gave

e a ruentry aning in the acaeic ursuits of higher

reserh an ae e uners he resen researh oi

alyially n inuely I have lso o eress y inebteness o

his ersonal nness an affection which susaine e throughout

y eneavour urng oens of rsps an os I ca never

ay he eb owe o hm

I


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RODUCION

In the sacred tradtion of India the motif of recoecon of

previous lives is a common feature with respect to the histories of

e snts nd eroes From e later Vedic peod, Sasra or the

doctrne of nsmigraton ppears to have played an imrtant prt

in e consciosness and religios chracter of e eople so much so

at even in erly Buddhism and its canonical literaure one finds the

beef in the ages of the past as inherited wel to atribute nautenc legenary backgrond to e historicl life o it onder

As the Budhist texts inform, it wa not easy or e Lord

himself to become a Budda n one lfe, or atg sc a osition

he ad indeed pass throug a long series of exstences ever

dedicad to imibe e most eroic virtes an ideals From sch a

probation even kyamuni was not e exemp Ts, e havee seres o is prevous lives given in the o o is Br Stries

or te jtkas enumerang some incations the Great Soul is

said t ave ten tug is successive birs as a i a eas a

humn being or a divinity

The imporance o e jkas can hrdly underestimated

From a general viewpint they re, no dobt, simple stoes

fktales, orignating as they do amidst the vast and variedaditions of te people, reect eir common life and ideals They

re of inestimale value as pieces of fok literature ad provide at

the same time uch interesng information with regrds to the

evoluon of human culture and ought hrough all these centures

pst the Buddhist Jtakas have likewise, enriched, directy or

indirectly, the literature of India nd her neighboung peoples nd

re therefre of sngul mortce fr e hsy o wod

eratre mlrly the of I d so of the other n


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contres was enriched by the ]tka iustraons. They belong to

e odest goup of subects at ere portrayed in the Buddhist

of nda whe they are st ere as fong the favourit emes for

nsprng scupture and pantng in a the contemporary Buddhst

countres een today as n the past Phenomen ndngs of the

]aka materal in nda, Sri Lanka, and the countries on the Sk

Rout, n Burma, Thaland China nd ] ava, et. have us, sparked

unpaaeed intrest in the mode orld. They have peeated deep

n the nds of the peope ho hae hed em rough past

mny centres Even today e populty of the ]tka naatives

among Buddhist ople is unrivlle

The present study as en up i the intnon of

nvestgatng closey d liclly e Oigins and Development of

e kas. In te irst insce e min empasis of tis or has

been t analyse e historic oii nd susquent gt o the

]tkas rerds to thei litr compsion d sle as ell

as ethc and pilosophicl vlue ony, it s lso te i to

ro some ligt on their represetion in ncient nd ied

cural phenomena dung successve riods d les.

Furthermore, a rief surve as tought to e atmptd ith a

vie to see the tka diio the Buddhist couies ouide of

Inian oners ere it came e popua long i oer mor

aits of Buddhist reigion nd culre

Accordngly, the present thesis has een dividd in ght

chapters. Te rst chapter dels ith the historcl backgund ande prmary im of e ta. It is show at the preachers of

ierse regous sects n Inia ever tk nterest in her ageold fok

aton o story-tln and stor-hearing and thus an extensve

se was made by them o such stries to ncucate their tenets o

e ope at lge. Ths istorical fact fary answers the queson

why and how autama the Buddha acepted and utised for hs own

puose e same hoary aton of didactc and mora stores.


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The second chapter deals with, from a histoical viewpo ree

speciic problems regarding e Jtaas. It is divie in pars.

the irst pat ere is a brie discussion on te date of the Jtkasand their relaionsip wi the two great epics. Te secon part

eals wi the auorsip of te Jtaaaa wic was based on

an ealier Singlese commenty on the Jakas Te ird pat

reers itsef to a dscussion on e acual number o e ]aa taes

and connected ltrry radons.

Te thir capter maes a detled stuy o e subjec

regarding the orgns of the a Book and the stores conaned in

it It is worked out under six pars Our discussions e primaiybase on he arcaeologicl istorcal nd lierry eidences; te

sections ere reer to e meng of e word Jka e orgial

nare o he Jas e place of e Jtkas te Canon

archaeological edence an te lery consrucon d nlysis o

e Jaas lung Ja Gs n Aaas.

Te four caper conces anly to he later development o

te Ja ales te Aaas I consists o eigt ps. e

Jtakas an the Aadas e o smlr ypes o er acies

wc more or less co-relae i eac oer. Bot were moelle

to sow the llervadg power of Karma Here we ave

examined closely te eores lreay curent more or less

establised wi regards o e naure and interrelaonsip of ese

two types o lierry syles and atempted o supplemen te acl

sition wit peiic detais

The ith capter treats one of the essential ascts of is

subject Te depiction o Jtaka stories in Inian art maes a eme

o wie interes an is o great astylistic ad rcaeologicl ae

or te aious erios during whic i occus and recurs. It is

naysed under five sections. Tere are ome eampes of fascinatng

tka tae hown n sometimes aso inscbe with abels ey

antings tey e o otnng gne both


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historicly nd aestheticaly, and incude suc major monuments as

re extnt at Bhahut Sanci Bodhgaa, Amva Ngunk0a

Go Mathura Gadhaa anta and so on.

The xth chapter is an anatica sd on the essentia theme

nd subste of the Jta stoies It onssts of fou s with

enqur into e phiosopc ad etca significance of the Ja

egends as utised b te auors o omes to bng n fus

e m uist tenets nd mo aings e mai subjet

headngs of ths hapter ae e Kma and ebi moifs e

Bodisattva idea d e P conts in te kas

I the seven ate s made a bef suve of te Jaka tes

and ther adton as found n sevea ounes outsde Inda t is

vded nto two portons e ka es beme equ oua

we outsde e bodes of na o as we nd tem deep

ingined bo n e nd atons of ma As

cuntes rough the centes

e onuson added at te end gves a esume of te ene

wok ndaing bie e mott ot of dsussion made wit

seifc emaks about some of te mn esus ve at

VI


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AN

S

HU

CR

DN

DP

DPPN

E

ERE

a

H

V

!C

IQ

JA

J

JAC

JAF

JAOS

JJC

S

BBREVIIONS

Agua-Nika

uddhis Inia, W Rhs Davids

udhis ir Sor, W Rhs Davids

anasras Hindu Universi

Cacua Review

DghaNika

Dhaaada

Diconr o Pi oer Nmes

Enccoaeda of udism,

Enccoaeia of Reigion and Ehics

Hisr of Indian Lierare, M'Wineiz

Inn Aniquar

Indian A S Agrawa

Ineaion udhis Conference

ndian Hisorica Quare

Jo Asiaique

Jka

Jaka Sories, ed E Cowe

he Jaka, ed V. Fauso

Joa of he Americn Oiena Socie

"Jka ahas and Jka Commenar, M Winez

Joua of he P ex Soce

VII


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]RAS

MN

NGGW

S

SA

SBB

SBESB]

SED

SI]

SN

SPS

WZKM

DMG

z

]oua o Roya Asac Socy o Gra Bran

and Irand

KuddakaNkya

MaiaNkya

Nacricn von r ! Gsllsc r Wssnscan

a x Socy

Sus n Aana Panngs by D. Scngo

Sacrd Books o Budss

Sacrd Books o EasSus n Bus ]as by M. L Fr

SanskriEnlis Dcony

Sgniicc an poranc o kas by G D

Sayuakya

Saaaka Sra

nayapka

nr Zscri un s orgnlds

Zscr r Duscn Morgnldscn Gslsca

Zscri r nolog un ansik rausg on dr

Duscn Morgnlnscn Gssca

VII


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haer

I.

HISTRICL BCKGRND ND THE

F THE TKS

While discussing e backround of the Buddhist Jtka store,

it is necessary have a geneal idea about the date of the Jtakas

for some of their verses nd prose narratives appea reach back to

a great antiquity even to Vedc times ) It lso does not seem

ssible to assign a definite date the stories emselves In this

context we will have occasion to discuss more details ID e

following capte Roughly speaking, these liter acvities

pesumably coveed a long period, stating om the 5th centuy BC

ad ening wth e 5th century AD2) As Prof Rhys David

emaked, "it is so of nfoation on e daily habits and

customs and beliefs of e ople of India and on every variety of

e numeros questions at ise as to ei econoic nd social

conditions, tat it is of e tmost importance to be able determine the period whic e evidence found in this book is

applicable"3)

H BUhe wit, "the descriptions of the licl eligious and

soci conditions of the people cleal refe to the ancint me before

e rise of e geat Easte dynasties of e Ndas and the

Mauyas when Palipua had become te capital of India The

Jtakas mention neither the one no the other, and they know

nong of geat empires which comrised the whole or large pats of

Inia The number of the kngdoms, whose rules play a prt n the

Stories is very consideable The majori of e names, as Mara

1 I ha n d cud y many ch ar R N Mha Pr-Bdt dap 3 H Odnrg Bda L H cr Ordr p04 T hy Daid Bd da p.07 c.

2 On h da f h Jaka hapr

T hy Davd p c i p. 1 f G cac ad mrtacf k p 0.


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e to Pacas Kosala Videha Ksi and Viabha aee i

ose mentioned in the Vedic litatu; he a e oers lke

Kia nd Assaa occu in Bahminical liteatur ist he

Epics and in Pini's as Th chacteristic names o the

Anhras the PQyas and the Kealas a not entiond4)

Wi spect to th social conditions in oth-Ina at the m

o the Jaas w ay not at though mntion o a pincipal

lical cn is wantin in thm qunt statements egading the

nsction o ctn young Bahmns and nobles show at e

as en a leading intellctu cen in Tasil the capial o

distant Gandh And it is vy cedibl at Gandha e nativ

county o P, was a stonghold o Bahanical leg cnly

in the ouh and th cntis BC and pehaps vn li Th

inoation egng th contp ligious condition o India in

Jtas also poin o an y y od st as Th

Vedas ae e basis o high inscon so pvaln

eigion is that o th pa o wos wi its conies nd

saciices among which sval i aya d Rasya

specially and padly ntiond ide by sid wi thes

appe popul estivals cbatd whn the shata had been

poclaimed with gnal meyngs and copious libaons o su

as wll as th woship o dons and all o which go bac to

e eariest times)

Howeve it is also uit sang that th a aably a

e taces o Buddhism in Jta soies nd that they do notdescribe th condition o India in th id o outh cntuy BC

but an olde on Why do th not contain contmpoy accounts i

ey ere supposedy compiled about he thid ceny BC ? This

matte ill be the iscussed in e id chapte

It is a siniicnt act that al e akas as pesed today

H Ida td p 294 Vie 895 f. Dvid p i p 205 b 295

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begin wi ome poe nd continue tat tyle lnng te vee

ogete a upplying ei naative content wic are ut into te

mou of e Budda. ow it ad come to be u induced and

accepted? Fo a long time te tictly Buddit ea of ancient

time may ave peap evolted againt appving ti type of

toyteling of te monk. n many place of te P canon6) te

monk ae even fobidden om n ating toie of king robbe

minite m war women god and got mine advene

etc But oon tey appe o ave yielded o ti geneic le of

compoition. Fo even in one of te Buddit Sani text te

SaddamapuQa7) we ead tat te Buda knowing te

dieence in facultie and enegy of i numeou are peacen mny diffeent way tell mny ale amuing agrable bo

intructve and pleaant tale by men of wic being not only

become leaed wi e law n i een life bu alo e deat

will eac appy ate.8) n te ame book it i tad tat "te

Budda tace bot by tua an tanza and by legend and

Jtaka"9) t i indeed likely a Gauama Budda melf made

ue of popul ale eaing i aing o e le a large

t i oweve eumable a cer Budit monk nd eace

did o in i foottep10)

i oncluion alo aive a by Pof. Wini wen e

6. , PS by H eberg I , Maa 3: S I , 17 et7 It s mrtat text f g terary aue amg te Yastrs. I t

as tras ate t re as ear y as 185 by Buruf a 1884 a Eg stras at by er aeare te Sare Bs f te East Seres eSsr t ext as e te at St Petersburg 190 te Bb tea Budh aSer es uer te jt e trs f t Dut s ar e a te Jaaeserfess Buy Naj ras ate t Cese A D 55 a ater eear est art (as may be g t te f rst etu B C e tesuemetta aters ( ate frm te tr etu A Cf N. Dtt SadaamauaraStra ater 11 Verse N 45 ad Her Th Lt th T Law SBE V 1 109 N Dtt b 4410 I te urus es t f te Bu st gr te Harsaa ta

Ba met s s reate te Bsattas Jtaas aggae mat by ta y earg tem e te Cf JAC V I

Pea


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thus bserves on the pint in a general manner "Now e Buddhist

monks wuld not have been te Indins, if they had not taken in

accunt the need, s deeply rted in the soul of the Indin peple

f hering and relating stries, and if they had nt tlised this need

t gain llwers fr their religin Not nly the Buddhst monks, but

e preachers f l sects ndia, have always done what e

Christian mnks of e West did centries laer."!) Ths device f

stry-tellng as to have been rohot readd n ely Inda

as the most effetive and successfl mens of nculcatn Dha or

relgin amonst the commn masses. fact the hets of every

relgion in e ast tok recourse to ths meod for nstcng ther

following into the norms and tenets of e resctve relon Mostprobably, l the edn dets of anent myths d eends ar

to have sometn to do wth ths relos tehniqe of cfyn

ei ntions nd creeds nto dvine as wel as h natves of

cmmn appeal

n fact we know that the reachers of a reious sects n

Inda lways too advantae of her fol tradton of soy-hen

and srytelln made extensive se of soes n eacn to

e eple, mch e sme way as the hstan reachers in the

Mddle ages noduced examles' no e sermons to attract the

attentin of ther hearers Tey somemes nvent os leends,

but mre freqently ey too fabes fary tes nd amsin

anecdotes om e rich storehose of ol ales or om secula

literature, alering and adapting them for the puroses of relgs

prpaganda13) The Bdhsattva doma n cnneion with hedoctrines of ebih and a, was an excellent exedient for

ing any pl r tery ale nto a Buddhst legend In his

numerus exinces, before he came t be b as kyaunidestined to be the Buddha, e Bodhsattva had been bo, accrdin

1 M Wtet Jta Gths a Jtaka mmetary 1712 Sch rks as the ta Roor see te 1 be

13 I the Jtaka hakath every Jtaka s t t the th f the Bha ahammaesa e rel g s strct r serm C J S Seyer TJ taam tct V.

-


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to hs Karma sometmes as a god sometmes as a kng, or a

mercht or a nobleman, or n out-case or a monkey, n elephant

or as some oer person or creature It was thus ony necessay to

dentfy the hero or any caracter of a sory wth the Bodhsata,

order o any tale, however seculr or een volous, into a

aka

he Indan sages and auors had also invened a good number

of de es which are found n te Makvyas Puras, Epcs

e. For example, n te bata "e Sn and Anusana

sectons are replete wit suc stores or episodes whc ave come

out om the lips o dierent personalities on erent occasons totu up e hgh values o e ranic relgion n e nd o the

ople" In a le anner e Jesus and the great savants o

Cristanty are known to ave propagatd the essence of ther

relgon y nrain soetmes stores and prables5) ven the

uslms were used te fo aes le Arabian Nts or te

se purpose Gaua e Budda was peraps not an excepon to

s o populse te essence o s aa te Budda and is

able dscples had naae a nuer o nsprng and nstcng

ales hese older tales were, no doubt, e source of e vast Jtaka

and Aadna terate uddis Te ormer type is preserved in

and te lattr n Sanst or wdely known as e uddst

Sanskrt xts e Jas d te Avadnas re need ost

caring and colourl lossos in te erle valley of ndian culture

and wsdom

he om of most of these taes s that of a common Indan one

as kyna It s presumable tat some o the tales, wen the were

rst adope or adapted no te uddhst adton (at is cerainly

14 S C Saa tdy on th Jta a ad th ada Itdut .Cf Paatata st s usd t th sam us at d. " I fat th s a gu a aa th s th Gsta Rmaum hh as m d by a ta auh th 4h tuy ad tasay

200fab s ad sts d usa vaus vus ad ves, may

f thm dg u th a g us a at. " E B. C JAC V I Pfa V


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not lat tan t bginning o t tird ntury BC wr alady

old6) O ous t Pli jtaa vrss onstitut most

autnti porions o ig antiqui as bing arady inludd in t

ly Buddist Canon "Most o t jtakas wr based on popular

storis unt among ommon popl tn; it is natural tat btwn

jtaka stois and Epi stois r ar many simiaris"17) Po

Cowll tus prssd is opinion in pra t jtaka stos

anslat rom t Pi original "Som o birt sris a

vidntly Buisti and ntily dpn o tir point on som

ustom or ida pular to Buddism but many ar pis o

olklo wi av oatd about world or ags stray was

o litetur and ar liabl vrywr to b appropatd by anyasual lamant"1) It may b a bast abl a story o ommon

li or a ol t told n pros wi lima or ssnal par o

alou bn in vrs Su s sted bor uddism.

Howvr no dibrate or was mad to adopt ts tals as a

dvi to nstt y moral in prudda priod

Undr irumstans it may prsumed tat jtakas

ad som oon sour and ompsrs and omplrs o t

jtaka tals ad somims t an t atr or m o tir

subt-mattr t suit tir spii puos tat is o praing

primarily t Buddist ory o mma and Vipka Somms

alld noons su as P and osava idals9) ad rpt

int it but ut sntly and ovrtly How ar ty undrwnt

angs and ow mu t ainitis y am to av wi t

aims and obtvs o t rligious nds o t Budist ait and

Severa re are hn by he bareef n he Bharhu Sa havebeen a reay i n exene in en enury B C An rue n ny fhe vere bu a f he re fr evera bareef refer he rern f he ae Cf Barua an Sna, ru nsriions: H erru Inriios n E Hu zh "Bharhu nr i n ndin Ani ury,21 892.17 H Nakaura, Indin ism A ey Biblioil Noes . 81 E B Ce . i 9 "The rne i ha he Bhiava bere he reahe hi ga h ra e he Prai ( Perei nary rue hrugh a r nge uein fbirh B M Bru t Bum . 27.

6


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phosophy ae the m aspects whch we have attempted to

nvestate closely d lusate aanst a pope settn n the

ollown chaptes

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haer

.

THREE SPECIC PROBLEMS

REGRDG THE TS

. THE DATE OF THE ]TAAS

The firs appeance of he Jaka soes in ei presen fo

IS a moo poin which can hardly be xed o ny pariculr dae. I

IS aso no denely known o he radon as o when he presen

collecton was ly formed nd ncorporatd n e Budds CnonThe reason is ha he cler-c daes of early Indan leraure re

mosy obscured n he nqu. Moreover he Jkas mus be

sd o have been copled om vrous sources as wel as heir

corpus passed rough severl sges of evoluon. No sgle dae

may be presenly assgned e wole coleon of ese sres as

e problem of er lterry chronology as been vrously ndld

nd debaed by e mode ahores n her severl enques ade

so fr

In mos pr e daa avalable a hand rem vague and

feaured by paucy o scenc bass. As D B. C. Sen as

observed "The das of such compsons of mos of he works

whch represen ncien radon, re eer nnown or re sbecs

of keen sulaon Ina raon s quckly form bu

nfortunaely i s rely peserved n s ogn shape I goes onreceving accreons om age o age so a limaely e glf s

wdened beween fac d s legendy represenaon ween e

oigna sor nd he mass of accumulated wisdom n which

gradully loses self soe mes beyond econiion" Our Jkas

aso ae p of e sme ulural nd liry adion Ther pesen

fo which we have is a sort of commeny hch s supposedly a

ork of one scol of he 5h cenury AD o compied in oaiy

B C udies in e Budis J s, pp 2

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even a thgh beng base n a nces whch s sa to be very

T ascetn e ognal nature an sce the Jtk Bk

we re st te nto accont ew Jtkas whch e eben the P Sttnta an Vnaya texts Fr the exsence ese

Vnaya Jas we can evently ner at se tes were knwn

as Jtkas even beore the coplaon o the Jtak-Ahkth2)

Sch sres re srely er thn e pesent "centy"

coecn There re any Jtaka-ke stes whch e ee

srces e nceble yet an they re nt n ncorted even

e extt Jtk Book. It y b sse at the Jtka Bk

whch we hve t present s not copete n tse n has nt

cntne l the Jtk stores cuent. The est o o the

Jas was lke very spe bles prbes r legens n h

presably no ente ework essena verses sste

w the. ts connectn ys Dvs hs obseved tht the

stres ten Jkas whch e trced n e erent ky n

Vny lrre were not scly Bhhst n chcter.3 hese

oler tles or epsoes were oe an clre to sut the

Bst teachngs n ethcs.

However, y Jka stores or pables wthot the essena

ter rwork o e Jtka Book style y be trce bck to the

eler P ltertue lke e Vny n Sttn texts. Pro. Rhys

Dvs E W Brlnge gve two lsts o these Jtks. Both

e lsts re shed bew n tbe r betercprehenson:

Rhy avs' s Tabe4

1 Ja N 1 Apka s base n gha 2

S C Sarkar Sudis in CO J nd Adn Tls, 9 3 r i nane he Mahaana J aka i nhin re han a u ar eenf he Sun rhi Cf hy Davi i 884 hy Davi Buis Indi 9

- 9 -


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2 a o. 9 Mhdeva is based o Mahima I1 75

3 a o 10 ukha-vihr is based o Vinaya, , 183

4 a o 37 ittira is based o Vinaya 161

5 a. o 91 Lita is based o Dgha ,

6 a o. 95 Mahsudassana is based on Dgha , 169

7 a o. 168 akuagghi is based o yutta V, 16

8 a. o. 20 Kandhavatta is based o Vinaya r 10

9 a. o. 2 Mai-kaa is based on Vinaya r 145

10 a o 405 Baka-baha is based on yuta, I 142

Maa I 328

Jat k

1

4

9 (541)

37

1

5

168

18

Burling me's Table)

Origin

Cicre-Siren oti D. , 32

ntaasMoseMerchant A c, 12-135

Meva M. , 5

Paride, oney and Elephant Vin , 161

To icers D.

MSuassa D. 16

Hak an . V 16

Na(Story o esent A c, 1-1

203 Sne c Vin , 10

Vin r 152. Draon Jewel-neck

05 Ba-br

541(9) Nii

idnakath Sut

M. I 28; S. I 12

M. 75

A cm, 239-21

hese stories e probably older than the present collection of

the akahavan The oldest or o the akas as siy

at of folk tales and parables hich had perhaps no copulsion of

an outer eork or o any vese portion. he auagghi tak

E W Bur ngae P rgna e Jaka re n JAOS

191 2 Hre h xre he nn ha y r h Jaka Bk

mut rac ack h ar r P raur

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a,6 aced n the Sayuta Nkya, s a stock example o ths ty

Here e Sutta s marked by clear absence o verse Thugh M L

Feer has prnted a set two nes, as t rmed a verse an

examnaton by ys avds these lines ndcaed that there s no

real verse here But n e Saku:aggh a the older sry has

become a real Jtaa wth l ts constent pts Otherse we

have ths Su:aggh Jtka as ncrated n the Jtaa-bok qute

dentcal wth e Sayuttastry and even every wrd tales wth

that o the other But n s takahakah verson t verses e

added, ne ccung n the able, d e oher n the ramework

The ntquty s sry s us assumed to go back t e Canon,

as the ntrducty pt the Jaa quotes the ame chaper e very passage e Syutta Nya Thus, s Sau:aggh

aka may cam a greater antquty than the other Jtaas e

lar perod) Lese, the er Jtkas, whch are shwn both

the tables, may be cam t have great anquty or er

incrpratn n te cannc teratue

Accrngy L Meta, has made a sgncant apt

recnstrctng Pre-uhst str o Inda as base mny n e

Jka stres, cogenty rems n hs bok, "Sme o e poems

prose nrves must reac bac t a great antquty, even t

e Vec tmes Sme te saygs, legends an blas may

belng t pre-Bus as9)

It s mrnt pt w respect the source the Jas

at many the Jtaa-ales bea drect relectons o the t greatIndan epcs, e RmYa n the Mhbhata10) Lt us no

Saku Jaka Ja N 18 JA 80 a ur nSN PTS 141487 " ana e ' a ar ak e k vay i yaa naaakaakara

eu nan SN 148 y Dav 0 Mea eBuds Ind, 2 Cf Ti ea wa areay ven byany ar10 Se f e araer e yaa Daaraa an a are uenne n e e eraure Te yaa ue evera wr u a

Tagaa Aara wi are ue in Bui " K B Triai Te yaa

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take u e asaatha jtaka.U) This unique jtaka has reaed str

in e word of Buddhist sholshi as to e omarave antiquity

of ths aka and of the RmYaa The oriinal mkya

RmYaa--whih bean wit the 5th anto of the Bla Ka

Book I) and ended with the uddha Ka --Book wi

Ra's re from ak and insaon as e kng of

Ayodhy---s onsidered to be eBudhisti in origin at is to

say it beons to a date ior to B.C.2)

Here we sha ontent ourselves with an enumration of the

various aralelisms whih may be notie regrding some of the

aditons reserved in the jtas nd those onned in te greaes relatin to the anient n rnes wiout ommenng

however on seifi laims as to teir ror or the veed ueson

of their orign or soure Here noted some maor nts of e

Dasraa jta and e Rmaa. e Dasraa a gves a

version of the ma legend but oring o it Ra tas

mother was dead when is faer took another wife wose son was

hraakumr ma ad one une ber nmed Laa and a

siste alled S Tere is no referene o his ont Lk or

Rvaa. As a mater of fat aorng o e Dasraa ta the

eled rines a d a (sma together wi eir

siser St had neer gone o e Sout but to e maas were

ey lived in the forest. Dasaraa as been mentione as a kng of

Ksi(Banaras nd not of Ao wih is robabl due o e fat

at the ]takas as a rule as we have shown elsewere re inlined

o show sial favour to this ountry. At e eiration of e fterm ie. 1 years (nstead of 1 ers of his ee Rma red to

his ngdo married his sister and assumed the rown.13

My sholrs ade rti sdies14) on te inter-relation

an Buhi Ja, 219 1 1 JA Ja N 461 1233012 Cf Gbr Te eanara Jaka, The yaa a Te Daaraha

J aka JAO 0 427

13 B C e . 20. O Fake Jaka Mahbhraa araeen W v X 317 A

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tn th jtakas and c. hr rst vnt that th

Dasratha ta is th ldr as l as surc th Rma

sd sms t Accrding t Wr, s tka s an

ldr vrsn th RmYaa and nt th nl surc. Thus h

rt at Dasatha jta s ld Buddhstc Saga us

rnc Rma hch glrd hm as an idal Buddhstc quanmt

atrards cast b th sklul hand nt a rm" c5)

Fllng him rs viz D C Sn16 and G A Grirsn17 h

sh als in that it is ust an ldr vrsn and nt a suc

th RmYaa ith rgd t is inin Pr inttz has

srvd at "th authrs th ancit Buddhist txts in urh

and thrd cns C had as t n knldg RYaa,but th kn ballads utlisd b r his Rma ic d....n

r hand RmYaa as inluncd at last inrtl

Buddhism.18

Accrdng t Kith " taka is an attmt t Ra

str t us rpss it cnt b hl an ldr vrsn

r surc th 1 g a vrs that has bn

und in ta ageing ith tr RmYaa Jacbi

has cnclud that "th ic is th src th P vrs hl

Weber, ber a RY&a ran by C By ndin Aniqur V Bbay, 1 87 A B e h Te ae f RY&a JRAS, 11 C Bli R Ca 10, 3 n ng h

r a n f he aaha Jaa, 1 : A rern, Ree f C

Sen ' rk, JRAS, nn, 1 : N B U gkar Te ry f he araha

Jaka an he RY&a, JRAS, nn, 18 H er, On he re an

beeen he Jaka a e an he Mahbhraa ee SBA, 1 B C Senudis in is Js Caa, 1 4: B Trah The RYa

an Buh Jaka n dis nd Jinis Ora 176 R Gbrh, e

eanara J aka e RY&a an The araha Jka JAOS 184 e 1 A Weber, ber a RY&a , ran by C By, A V . , 1 In

h are Weber refer ' A an Be h he ena e h

h6 I , 740 He ur Weber an eek f n u eran efn e

far her hn Bh ha by nrbue he kng f

Vmk myaa

17 G A Grern, h e reeng C Sen ' rk JRAS nn 1922 .18 M. Wnez His ory o ndin Li rue V . 019 . Keith The ae f myaa 2

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26/337

e oppote eory a been maintned by oter20) der rgue

or a Prakrt origina for te old vere in uc cae) According

ti group o colr te Daarata taa i neter an older

verion nor a ource o e Rmyaa and te proe verion o e

taka o e Rmatory repreent a later and more coned form

o te legend tan e Rmaa

On te oer and, Prof Ry avid ed e at te

Rmaepc it preent om dd not take it ape at me o

te complaon o e Tipiaa, ie, in te t o d ceny BC

Ti eem muc more ound a te Rma-ballad ould ave been

loating even before te compilation o e VRm)

Some oter Jtaa con infomation about Ra and te

Rmya e mntiond e We ave alluion to Rma, onc in a

Gt of te J ayadia Jta) and e oter in a G of te

Veantaa Jt) T for cbe at Rma/ o on

alvaon or e on o a abent in t aa Te oer

vee i uter by a, t fe of Ven n cb St

and Rma a bn n if ven ey ted fo t fot f

Paticuy, te Veanaa Jta a moe ilty n tory

i e Rmyaa25)- bo re conce a c,

eir-appent, o in banid om i ingdom, e o le

in te ungle accomanie by om o i faily mmbe, nd ee

20. H Jabi, Ds R esi e und n l , nruin 421 H er, On e re ain beeen e Jaka a e an e braa

eie 4022. h Davi, Bis ndi, 062 "a Dakragaaa a ' ak na uga JA

, ( Ja N 1 , ere N 1 724 " a ha aiaai a S v 'anubba" , JA, ( Ja N

47 , ere N 41 7 Cf i k (a Jabi , i , 14 aving

are e i fferen veri n a n a he J ak ue rbab an

earier veri n h ha f he P i Jaka Cf M Winerni z ib i 1 2 On hi in, Prf Winerniz rie "he eriin f eara'

earue rea v ivi ha f erure ene f a f a ",

i . 1 5 1

1


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e as adentures, sg from te wcked desgns of a strnger on

some of those fly members, whch st e heros vrues to the

utmost and om hch he rets trumphant to assume hs royal

rthrght he adventures undergone n ele and the vres

dsplayed are completely dfferent Vessnra brngs to the hghestptch the Buddhst vrtue of generosty when e gfts away hs

young son d daughter to a heress old Brahn who wants em

for servnts n e one hnd, Ra dsplays rfecton n l the

roles n whch fate has cast hm as kng nd arror, as son,

roer and husband

ther chracters of the RYa could aso e aced oertaa stores The story of sage yga, a rc

rsonage (BlQa, cantos 9 d 10), s seen e N

a(a No 526) nd the Alambus Ja( No 523) sutably

modfed fos The st of Sma the Sa Jtaa ha for

ts prototype the stry of ravama the RYa theMhanka Jta30 there appears ng Jana of Mthl31

26 f R mbr e Veaara J aka e RmYa ad e aarahaJak p 42 ere e epree p de ha db weer

e er e a bee y me ed e er wever a a m

h fdee a Veaara Jaka e ad me eee k

a pae Bdd re mparabe a ed by e RmYa amg

d 2 R Mea ha raed e abraey e k f d ffere ra e ke

kg pr e m er w e f e J a ae ; p aper

33228 . der havg mpared ad aayed e agaa e w d ffere

ver appearg d a erare arved a e a he

Jaka preerve a mre ae frm f e beae e Bdd

sry a e pre wh br ver he age frm he fre h

p f eda a der hk e rga ra f he ry; p

p 29 J V V Ja N 4 pp 689 O deberg ha made a arave

sdy w h he ae ad a ha e Jakary mre mpe d

e b e ha ha f he Rmyaa a egard y e p p 46 ee

M. Wer p p 4833 J V V Ja 39 ) p 368 f ev V V p 9 K B rpah me hs ha d be reaab e

od ha o oy f h asaraha Jaka ad f he Jaka pefed abve

he hero as modeed he ba maera frm he mYa p

5


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attempt is made rther to indicate such other Jaka-tales

which have prtial affinity with some of e episodes occurring in

e Mbhrat The also suppl some striking parlels beteen

the to texts. The KUla-Jtka32) gives a version of thePavastory though unsatisfactorily Here the P8avas are

mentioned as the sons of PQu. juna is depicted as the eldest son

Draupad of the epic stor becomes here , the posos

daughter of the king of Kosala. She was obtained b the ve

Pava broters at a Saambra-Sabh ge b the king of

Ks. KaQh is depicted here as a most passionate woman hose

wickedness comed jua d his or broers to tke abbjie reunciaon. The dsloait of e we made them distressed

ad e ulmal renoce the ord n utter isgust. Bt t s to

be oted here ht ts stor does ot refer to the great eent of the

great w of the Mbhrat, the me of Lord a nd the

death of Jarsna33

The stor o t d nt, a sub-plot o e

Mbhrata, is aced n the ahh tk3 But thecompctness of the stor o e Mabhr is ot e ere

and the tka tkes good to Budhsm deag o the

hbhrata-epsode.35 he tk sor s smse lo: Oce

e king Brmadt s ing bout d looking or nd

owers in a pk. o a sdden h caght sght o a oan

engaged in pickig up owers n the grove. The king el in love at

rst sight d in course of time became intimate with her nd anoffsprig was coceved. he king gae her the siet rig om his

finger and told her at if a so were bo she was to bring e

p 21832 JAF V V Ja N 36 , pp 4124 see a s vyvada sry N 2

d by P L Vadya33 Cf N B U g kar e sry f e asaraa Jka ad f e RmYaa,

JA, Ld 1 928 p 128 : Lder O e re a bewee e Jaka aesd Mbraa epsdes, p 269

34 JAF V I , Ja N pp 133133 Mabraa dparva pp 269 ra ed Pa, 193339


29/337

ng ad the cld to him Thus passed a few years The herit girl

we to the cort of te kg with er so. But kig resed to

recogize he cd coceived at a cace ecouter Te mother

trows the cld i te air as a Act of Tut sayig e was

ot the faer te cid may be illed The so stayed i md-air. 36)

The Devaa jtka3) reds us oe of e famous

cidets of te Mrat38) Tis story relates te ecuter of

the PQavas it te Dar wo assued e sgise of

'Vka Te kg rmadatta ad tree sos, viz Mimsasa,

Price Moo, d ice Su They retired to e frest csequet

to a political ie I cuse of teir oey they ated at a

place were te edest rter took is seat at the foot f a ad

asked e Price S t fe water om a eigbourig oo Te

price as cat te atersirit we e filed to ser is

questio k at is ul golike" ? Tis as reatd

to e lt of te ce M At ast te eldest rce Mmsas

cme i quest f s missg roers He relied satisfacy d

got s rters reeas is great itelce d ler

However, te tka materials c e sfey traced t te o

the 2d cet C ic is mre mort tha te mre tr

tecdts It c t e deed tat ma stories te cllo

preseve eve lder mat evidece comes om te rios

momets, viz e Sc S d te Bt Sa of e

secod cetu C Te reefs orayed o e stoe rligs

roud ese Sas re istoricay ver imporat as tey rovide

the fist ud evidece f te jka stories Tere e fd

well depicted scees as el as iscribe prose labels from e

aka stories Sometime te titles of the jta as iscrbed at

Bharut e e sme as occurrig i e jaka Book toug i

several other cases ey are ifferet yet easily ecogisale wit the

cotets as portrayed ad descrbed i the text39)

36 s sy s very smlar t te stry f akutal37 J Ja N. 6 ) pp. 163338 ahhrata rayakaparva, l I l l pp 295299

7


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These reliefs prove a pror currec of a umber of stories

hich are to be foud i the preset jtaka collectio It meas that

the must have been kow i Ida popularl uder the ver

techical ord of jtaka before roughl 2 BC ad regarded as

the Bohisattva Birth-stories We ma also assume at ma jtaka

stories might have graduall evolved ad pularised at ths ucre

of tme O s poit e would have a occaso to commet

rer the chapter conceg the jtaka stores as depcted n

In

Regrdg the date of jtakas t ca be thus cocluded from the

above evidece that the prose stores of the jtakaAhakath

compled about the later part of e 5th cer A are to be

looked upo as expsos or vthras of the older jtaka verses

m of which were dee as old as e te of e Budha

hmself Some of em were eve sll oler gog back to

pre-Buddhist ages Thus he jtaAakath represets a

compedum of fables ragg da om e tme of e elier

orig up to that of eir fal redacto e om re-dhst mesdo to the 5 cetur A We eve vere to mat that

except a few rare cases e t re-Nka atq of the

verses costig the real keel of the jtas shold be geerl

accepted

The questo of e reatoshp betwee the Buddhst tradtio

on oe hd ad e Puric ad epc hstor o the oer has also

bee tackled b some eet scholars both Euoa ad Ia t

is ifficult to ascertai wheer e jtaka tles were boowed om

the eics r Pric stories or ot Keepg this roblem aside fr

the preset stud it ould suffce here to beleve that both these

iterar traitios might have flueced each other Ana it s

also most robable at some of e curet historcal arratves or

39 ts espet te Jtks f Bart reder a d elp fr r sbjetHee we eet ay t t es te Jtka str es f B Bar Bhut J s G t h et

8


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folksories hd lso come o be successivel icorpored i he

ler jk comlo ow kow o us s Budhghoss or

some oher scholrs jkhkh versio ol.

2 THORS OF THE JTKHKTH

The ex of e jkBook s ow received mog he

Souhe Budhiss s e jkhh which cosiss o ol of

he sor verses u lso elore comer beig

exosio of he verses whch he sories re mde cve for

e morl he co log wih roduco o ech of hem

givig he icide o he occso of which i is sid o hve ee

origill red d cocluso exlig he coexio

bewee e ersoges e 'coemrr roducor sor d

he chrcers i he 's B sor

From he geme of e Book self is lso es o ferh i ws eo ler hd of he erlier sores d s

ue sese i mus e clled e llfledged comme o he

jks s s efgl clled s uor viz jh

There IS re queso s o he uhorsh of s book

lso. I IS o be oe h le he de of he jkhkh o

defiie view s regrd s uhorshi be eslished Oiios

vriel differ mog e scholrs o he suec of he uhorsh of

he ook Uforuel ol he me of he ls eor s well s

he de of his ook c ow be scred beod doub

Accordig he Gdhvs40) ook of cosderl ler

0 Te s A sory o l L erure d. J Mnay, JPS, 188n s by mal , 192. l at Pl tn n uma t l ats,n b sy t P ann nd vs uns pstannal

bs n n uma ad yln lpn stas at t as

9


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age (17th entury A. it was ompied by Buddhaghosa.4) V

asboll who is e first mode editor of its original li does not

suppor e statement of e Gndhavas In his words "to be sue

we are told by e writer of the Gandhvsa tht Buddhghosa is

e author but on is you an sarely rely".42) It is erin atBudhaghosa hs witten Visuddhimgga, Sumgavilsin,

apaasdan, Sratthppaksin, Manorapr and

Smntpasdik, for is lery appers fom e odutory

verses to these ommentries but tht he beside these voluminous

works, should hve written six oers eualy lrg whose author he

is supposed to be, is very inredible, especially if he only styed for

ee years in Ceyon, and was not brely a trnslator, but aindependent writer.3)

rof. M. Wieitz thinks bout its uthor t "it is e work

of an unknown Sghalese monk who took his mteris o an

erlier oen on the ]tks, e ]khk But he

hs not ltogether rejected e opiion of Frnke d his remrks

as follows: When onsidered s hoe, the rson proution

of a single uhor' ho not ony put em together, but ver often

omposed them himsef, adped, ered d pached the up, nd in

ft endowed e ompete ork i e stmp of his own

individuty. If e hge the ord uthor to ompier or editor,

ere is some th i these words of Frke for te ompiers of

Ini literry ollections hve never scruped to er e verses of

other poets and o add verses of their on omsition to them."45)

Therefore he is not eminting the possibiity tht the ]tka Book isnot e ork of singe, individu uthor, but is e pdut of the

mpsed by a foest-el ing Elde named Nandapa. At the en of each chaptethe k i s efeed t as Cu agdhavasa haps hat e have no is anabidged edi ti n of a lage k. . "takassa a hakathgandho atthadass Buddhami ttabuddhapiyasakhtehi thitheeni yciten Buddhaoscaiyena kato . . . . . ibi d p. .42 . Adesn Index o e J AF . II Pstsciptum p.8.

43 bid44 M. Wineitz op cit. pp 2 45 bi p 7 ftnote N 2.

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abours of severa compiers

W eiger aso expressed is doubt on e autorsip of e

aakat He terefore writes "takacommenty is n my

opinion te work of a priest of Ceyon be e Budagosa or some

oter scoar not far from im in time"

Thus Prof Rhys Davids wie discussing e auoship of e

book obsered "We do not ow eite te name of the autor or

te date wen it was composed The meagre account given at te

commencement of te work itsef contains l our present ifomation

on tese points Childers who is te anslator of this passage aselsewere ascrbed e work to Budhagosa but I ventue to tink

at is is to say e least very uncei"47 He efes to e

isevent chapte of e Mahvasa possibly a

contepoeous account of Budhaghosas litey wok whee it is

cely recoded that "ate wing in Idia e Atthasli a

commenty on e Dhaasagai he went to Ceylon (aut 430

AD wi the itent of taslting the inghlese coentaies nto

Pli There he sied unde the Thea aghapli and having

proved hs eiciency by his geat wok The Path of Puity o

Visuddhiagga he was aowed by e monks in Ceylon to carry

out his wish and trnslate e coenties The Chonicle then

goes on to say tat he did ende "e whoe inghalese Commerty

nto Pli"9

4 Geiger l L tat Lg p147 Rhys Davids Bt Bth to, Introduction pLIII48 The Great Chroni cl e of Ceyl on The fi rst part of the or-- i e to the timef ki ng senais attr ibuted t Mahnma Thera The cont inuati on o theChrni cl e i s cal led the Clavas There i s a commentary on the Mahvasa calledhe aatthappaksi n Early in 1908 the Government of Ceyl on erecntemplating a ne and revised edition of Turnours translation of theMahvasa pb ished in 187 and reprint L C i jes inha s Mahvasa edi ti npbl ished in 1889 I t has been edi ted i th 2 vols by Geiger 108reprinted 1958 and again translated ith vols by he editor

S 191

rprntd wh ddendum by G C Mndis 198049 W r Mah va a l p 1l

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ut it y no means follows, as has been too geneally supposed,

that he is the autho of al the Pl Commenes we now possess.

He tanslated, it may e ganted, e Comentaies on e Vinaya

Piaka and on the fou geat divisions of e Sutta Piaka but these

woks togethe with those mentioned above, would amply justi thevey geneal expession of e chonicle. The Sighalese

Commentay being now lost, it is impossible to say what books wee

and what wee not incuded unde e expession as used i the

Mahvsa; and to assign any Pli commentay, oe thn ose

just mentioned, to Buddhaghosa, some futhe evidence moe clea

an the biguous wods of e Ceylon Chonicle should be

equie 0)

Buddhaghsa could scacel have commenced his labous on the

]ka Commen leaving the oks we have mentioneso much

moe impotant om his point of vieundone. ee eldes of e

Buddhist Ode e thee mentione ith esct but neithe the

name of Revata Bddhaghosa ' s ache in India no the name of

Saghapli his teache i Celon is even efeed to ad ee is

not the slightest lusion eithe to Buddhghosa's convesion hisjoey fom Ina the high hos he had entened o e wok

he had alead ccomplshed This sience seems to us amost as

convicing as such negative evidence c possibl be5!

not howeve by Buddhaghosa, the wok must have been

composed afte his name; but pobably not long afte. It is uite

cea fom te account given in e Mahvasa, that befoe he cameto Ceylon, the Singhalese centies had not been ed into

Pl; and on the othe hnd, the example he had set so well wil

amost cetainl have been quickl folloed. We know one instnce

at least at of e Mahvasa itself which would confim this

suppostion; an had the pesent wok een much late than his time

it would not have been ascibed to ddhaghosa at al 2

ys vids

Bp. X

5 bid p LX-LX52 bid p LX

22


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Hweve fm a cmasn f the style f the er wrks f

Budhaghsa Prf Rhys Davids had eached e cnclusin that

Budhaghsa is nt the auth f e ]taahaka Burlingame in

cnsnance with e aguments f Rhys Davids bserves "The

]ta Cmmentary and e Dhamaada Cmmentary die s

widely n language and sle m the genuine wrks f

Budhahsa as t mae it in the highest degree imrbable that he

is the au f either f em Budhaghsa is t the au f

e ]taka Cmmenary r f e Dhaaada Cmmentary. Thei

authrs ae uwn

On the ther hand Prf Mesh Tiwari es at the

authrshi f Budhaghsa cannt e denid n e grun f e

dierences f style and language n the ]akahaath m e

ther wrks f Budhaghs Accrdng t h this erence in

style was due the difference f sbect matter his wrds Ya

bhrtiya ara hai yn e visisha lkhaa ane lekhana

vsishya-vls e ra vishaya e ansra vibhinna rra k

bhsh evam shal rayga karate han.

Fr scic rf he refers t the tw wrs f Sr First

ne e a ya beng a hshic eatise ffers reatly

in style and lanage m the secnd ne VZ Naadhact

erefre he cncludes that it is natral that the angage f

Visuddhmagga ust differ m that f e ]taahaa. e thus

E Bulngame dt legend, Pat I p. avad Oental Sees! N. 29) 4 " I t s Indan tad t n that sme d ffeent knds f l anage d style aebeng used by the tcula tes due to the n tcula tngntentn accdng t the subject " M. T a Ndnakath p Ndnaaths the ntduty chape f the taka Cmmentay. I t gves the sty f theBuddha thee sectns the Dendna fm the t me f h s bth as Sumedhaup t the bth n the Tus ta ld the Avdendna fm hs death n theTusta and hs bth as Sddhattha sn f Sddhda up t hs Enlghtenmentd the Sntkendna hh ntas hs sty up t the dedcatn f theetava by thapka.


36/337

mintins that Buddhahosa is the compiler o e jtkaha

n its present or

That e jtakahavan is the atest eveopent f the

jtaka or Criy-stries may aso be assumed frm the Nidna

porion of e Ahavan In the Nidna the verses thus

"Ti Sbn ekah onehi saaa

jt nma st dasaaeh y

Buddhavsassa eas s cchtna ciahiti

ycito hiantvna erena Atthdssin

Asashavihena sad saddivihrin

tth' eva Buddamtena stacettena viunMaissavsa shtna nayaun

Buddhdevena ca ta biun Suddabudin

Muscyn hv cnty

tass vtyntass tss' Ahvn

Mvivsa vcisst

bhsiss hst e sd n sv)

The nae f e uth es enn hee ut the

author in rde to me e histy of Buddhs ent

ent t the The Aadass d ise Budditta e Bu

Buddadev e t e s schoo d itd

ad dvse y dees f e v cope e s s

e Cysttns d y othe et ded the

Geat-Ben t s so evident tht the Jtakas ee edy utted

and cope y the ha-s Thes' de t

iustrate the Cay o e reat sae (tka nm sata

M T ii ibi d pp. 225 JAF ol I poeed to eite a Commentay un this Jtai l lusttin s i t does the infin i te effi y of he ti ons of et men- Commentay based un the method of exsi ti on uent n the i nmtes of theGeat Monstey nd I do so t the snl equest of the elde tthdssinho l ives apat fom he old nd eve de l ls ith his fteni ty and hodesi es the petuati on of thi s honi le of Buddh and l iei se ofBuddhmitt the tnquil nd ise pung fom the e of Mhiss si l led

in the nons of intepettion d moeove of the monk Buddhadeva of leantellet May ll good men lend me thei favouabe attention hile s ! "

4


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hmsghehi Y

These hasaghas were nt trced even n e st, nd

r in the rd counci. That the whole of the Tipiaa was rehearsed

is held by H Ke om the uthenticity f e Ssanavsa.7 Inhis b H Ke wites, the reign of Abhaya Vaagani, the

reputed funder of e Abhayagiri mnasery, the cnnic tets

were reduced to writing. This event, falling smewhere the lst

century BC is thus described in e ldest chronicle: Befre is

time, the wise mons had orally hded dwn the tet of e

Tipia and aso the Ahath. At is time e mns perceving

e decay f begs assemled nd in order that e Law mght

endure for a long time they caused the Law t be writen down in

bs." Thus om the accounts of the Ssanavsa we re

infrmed that in e eign of Vaagmini, e m the last century

B.C. e Tips the Ahaths were witen y he

Ceylonese mons.

The unnown atho of the Ahath efers definitely is

cni and e eief at evey Jtaa of e Ahath was not

eated as he isto of the Budda. The authr, howeve wi

e consultaons of e geat sages newly shaped the Aha

consisng of 5 pt accuppanna vahu, Ata vau Gh,

Veyyaraa an Saodhna.

From e evidence discussed above it is apparent that the authr

f e ]tahaath can not definitely e asceained. The avlabledata help us to suse that the ]taaha its reset d finl

fom, was witen o compied by an unnown Singhalese mn

C. The Ssnavasa ostensibly a hi stoy o Buddhist el igion as i tten in181 A D by Paasmi a Bumese monk ho as a pol i ic i te i t deal s i ththe goth and ensi on o Buddhi sm in Buma. I t as edited by D Mabel Bode as ealy as in 189 base on to palmlea manuscipts peseved in theBi tish Museum nd publ ished in Roman scipt by PTS D B C La hastanslated i t in Engl ish publ ishe in 19 Again it has been edited inni scipt by S C Upask i n Naa Nalanda Mhihaa sei es in 191 8. Ken aal of Ida Bdm p 10

2


38/337

dng the time ome yer before or after of e geat

commentator Bddhaghoa

here are sti ome diiclt qetion which remain: How fr

then did or nnown athor vary rom e tradition handed down

to him ? How fr had that tradition with rect at leat to the

historical nferences ggested by it preserved the tone n character

o that mch more ancient dte to which e verses emselves cn

be assigne ? It can ony be inally solved when by a cref ad

detile stdy o the whole o these volmes we shll have been

able to discover evey case of probble ge n to weigh the

general ret to be derived om them ll

ACTAL BR F JTAA STRS

As regs e tol nuber o te stores the is ga

a controversy the aitio isel. hese stoes as ete by

Fousboll number 7 Bt uer some o ese nubers severa

stores re inclue whie oers only con refereces to later

Jts nd somees e se ses recur eret versions

e iure 7 oes ot agree excly with e cl numr o the

stories reconte in the Boo

One of e Pli cnoncl boos namey the C-Niddea9

9 Niddesa A cmmentatial included in the Cn as pat f the KhuddakaNikya t i s geneal ly div ided int t bks the Cul laNiddesa and eMah- Niddesa The Cul la-Ni ddesa cntains cmments n the Khaisna Sutta andthe sixteen suttas f the Pa/a a f the Sutta Nipta hile teMah-Niddesa deals ith the sixteen suttas f th A aa. It issii fi cant that the Cul la-Ni ddesa cntains n cmments the fi fty-s ixatthugth intducty staas hich peface the Pa/a aa as fund atpesent in the Sutta Nipta Tis lens supt t the sestin that at te

time the Culla-Niddesa as itten the PayaQa aa as a seate anthlnd that the Kaavisna Sutt did nt elng t any paticula up Simi

6


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efes to a colection of 500 jtaa stoies caakasatn6

he eference is appeny e canonical jaka book incuded In

the Sutta-ia The stories pesupposed by e carings ie In

details fom ose in the SuttaPiaka coection d appoach those

the jtaka commentry, compiled in the 5th cenry AD, if notate61 An od commentry (probably of te st o nd centu

C) on the ParYaa Vagga of the Sutta ipta sks of 500

jtakas too6

When the great Chnese pilgri Fa-Hien had visited Ceylon in

ery pt of the 5th cenry AD he had seen epesentations of 500

irthstoies ound e Abayagiri onaste in eylon He haswrittn n his iter "wen tis proclmation is over, the ing

exhibits, so as to ne bo sie of the oad e ve undred

ierent boily fos n wic the Bodisata has the course of

his history aped: ere as udana, there as a; now as the

king of elephants d te as a sag or a horse Thus e

numbe of 50 represeos ales wi the totl given n the

ulla-Niddes

hen the jakaa was copild the adition tl

number of te Birstores was number udagosa, who

is supsed to be e coper of te aha, hsel new

is t be e t nuber is ation of the jakas may be

well supposd, was evidey base pn the Mahvira rcesion

of the earlier Singalese tahaat

is the ase with the MahNiesa an the Aha a The ments i n theNiesa see t have been elle n exegetial explanatins suh as areattributed here and there in the Pias t Mah Kaa a t Sriputta Thereis a traditin whih asribes the authrship f the Nidda t Sriputta6 Ibi l 1 1 p 80 Cul l a Niesa ed y Stede 191 & reprinted 1 988and the Niesa Centa e by A P Budhaatta wi h 3 vls l I 1931

l 1939 l I 1940 in S

61 Cf B M Barua Mult ipl iati n f taka IVo 6

62 Ibd63 a en R Bt Km Tra b ee p l06

7


40/337

Hwever R L Meha des n aree wih he number as r

0 He hinks ha he clein is bviusy incmpee his

wrds "I des n and cud n nclude l he sries cuen a

he ime f is na redacn r ompilaion prbably in he

cenury AD neiher des i include l e inscribed episdes si seen n he remns f e Bharhu railin, nr des i include al

akaike sres o be fund n oer cannic wrs"4) As

nfrmed by B Hdsn e Ss Jam of Nepal is

cmpsed five hundred and sxy five exs) Thus he men

number eneraly accepd seems be abou ve hundred d f

y

There are several ye dffen Jahkh mnuscrps

exan viz Grimbl's MSS llecd m eyln; Binde's MSS

ced m Bua, b oies on only he x h is

say e verses of he Js hyrs oy of he bove menined

MSS which siss f fieen olues h on os l he

ales: i is inmparably fuller ber rserved e er

wo7) Fm n exainion of e SS of hs oio e re

noe sme s dierenes o e aual nuer f hesories ien by each of hem O is mr, M L Feer

bserves As for myself, on ex he Bique Nonale

e MS in he Shalese lue s hh hd eloned o

Buf(preserd in Snhlese hrr, I fund i omrsed ny

ve hundred and enyseven)

I is very ineresin as wel s a queer fa hw did enumbe m increase up 5 or rof B M Bara

6 R. N Mehta p ci t p XIX dgsn a on th o Ltatu and lgon o Nl andTbt p 1 66 Keppen D lgon d uda d tt p19. ee alng discussin is ade n the vaitins f the nube f the Ja. M. L ee Stud o th 4 taa 2 Being the Eng ts by G. Mulkes f the ench aticle Les Ja , al atqu 175) 68 Ibid s he efes Westegad culd nly nube ive hunded ad

hitynine texts in the pehagen cpy Upha fund nly five hunded anwntyin in his cpy

8


41/337

dscussed cicaly and elaboaely his poble e has shown e

following seven ways o have been opeaive n an inceamen of

e nubes:

(A) Retion of the sae soy unde he se o ieen

les, e.g. Kapoa jaka (ja. No. 42), Lola (274), Kapota (375) and

a (395) Inasmnagoa (161) nd Mita (197) Bhoanya

(23) and aa (24); rmadska (46) and masa (268)

Losa (41), ittavia (82), Mitvina (104), ittvinda (369) and

Caudva (439); Phaa (5) n pka ; Nni-Visa (28)

nd Sabha ; Paosahassa (99), Paosaa (101), Jnasodhna

(134) and Canha (135); Skea (68) n Skea (237) Mhpanda

(268) an Sui (489); Eka (303) nd MaikUQaa (351); kai(327) an Susson (360); Akatau (90) H (363); Mkkaa

(173) and Kapi jtka (250).

(B). Repeion o th s stoy onvying slighy ffeen

mols, e.g. hya (1) Tipalattha (16) Vnina (57) an

Kumbhla ja ().

(C) epeion o h sam story wih hanges in te esonal,

e.g. ua (275) apota (4) Ghata an Ekara (303)

Vluka (43) Iasmnago (161; Migapoka (372) nd

Somaaa tka (410).

(D) Maipuaon o nt sres to mpess e same moal,

eg. Sua (3), atoa (317), Ananusonya (328) an

aQli ja( 49).

(E) Deveont o ent stos with e same pot, e.g.

Kuuha (276) a Vssanra jka(547).

F Multilation of e sos wih he sae heo, e.gAlabus (53) alik (526); Vihra-PaQta (545), Dhmk

(413) an Dasabhma jka(495).

(G) Sepration of pars om a whole, eg. Kka (170),

Siklakai (452), Devapaha (360), haopka (364),

Bhipaha (452), MeQaka (471), SiiQa (500) n PcapaQa

(58) fo Mhummagga (546) KaQai (351) Cullaa (464)

o KUla (536) Caposathika (1) fo Puka o

ihaaa jtaka (545)


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We ay conclde o thi that the actal nmber of the

]taa a expreed by a fgre which a not le than five

hndred d ved at time a high a conting a five hnred

nd ixtyfive he mean nmbe of five hndred nd fif i very

cloe with Faboll' one n the preent tate of thing, the ofcial

gre of five undredandfortyeven a fond nged in the

prnted edition i to be accepted for all workng puoe nd tat

ay not be far om the real nber a evolved in the mainem

adition

9 B. M Barua p c t p. 24 . e nues efeed to ae Fausbol l s tn

0


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haptr

T RIG F TK BKS

TH STRS

. T G OF THE WORD JTK

By e te ]ta we definitely mean e collection of tales

which e Budhsts regrd as accounts of e revious rths of the

Buddh It has een nterreted nd escried at differen times nd

n vaous ways y many scholrs This is a very mrtnt int

wi regrs to e question of er nature It is al the more

significant for th word ]tka' is consicuously asen ely

Nkyas refe to aove connecon with the tories hch recur

as ]kas in the ]tka Book The word ]tka' occs n e

guttra Nkya ol in connection wit th nfo visios ofe docne of the Master As a matter o fa even e stores of

e Suttantas which are associate ith e ast livs o Goaa the

Budha re not called ]tkas though they reta all the

characeristi o a ]tka' in e generay accete sns of e

term.

However e etymology of e term ]ta as foun n the

Santi a lat text on P grr is very terestng

According to this text the ]tka woul mean any incident connected

wi any life or r the usul meaning eing derived om the root

1 idhvuso Siputta bhikkhu dhamma paiyputi sutta geyya veyykaagtha i tivuttk j tak abbhutadhm vedal la A PTS o!. I l l ChapLI p.31 Cf PTS ol I p 133 S ol I l l , p8 etc2. imtnt gaati cal wok by Aggavasa of Pg A fe yeas afte i tsompletio i 1154 Uttajva visited the Mhviha i Ceylo d took ithhm as a gift a copy of the Saddti whih was eeived ith ethusiastiadmiatio Cf Malalasekea ctn f Pl P Nnm ol p. 015

-


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an 3 I his Sansrit ictiony onierWilims interprets the

erm Ja' in general connoaon as 'bo' or 'brought ino

exisence by someing' an e wor o aa a speciic

Buhist context as 'the story o a oer birh o Gautama

Buha' 4 He rher eplains e term 'Jta' as the ' Stories o

ormer bhs ' or ' Bohisattva stories' . He obseres that "this is the

usual an probab correct explanaon o the wor 'Ja' which is

erive om Jta, brh"

Pro. H Ke anslates the term Jtaa' b 'Lite-stor' 6

Following Pro. Ke, . S. Speer writes, I traslag Jtaa b

'Birhstor', I cop with e geneal use ocia iretaono e e b the Buhst church. The origl eg ust

have been spe 'tae, sto' as Pro. Ke has eostrat his

Histor o Bus i I I the wors o Cers, e

Jtas e tes o e orer b o Buh The recir o ese

tles is Bua hse ll ese stores cot a ol, a

wing, or an exple, an each the Boisatva pas e best

proinent p.

Here is ow a pet uestion as to whch o the brts e

phrase Ja is pl cocee. There is a coo

bele og e Busts at to acieve 'Bo' or owge oe

is to pass rough a cha o estences in each exsce b

rorig oble ees one ats to peectio. Gaut e

Buha also ha to tae uerous birs n whch he ac eier as

e hero or as some other chater or somemes o as an

onlooer o a series o incients. I each o such o estece orbir he is cale a Bohsatva. The Jtaa-tae re thus to

represet such umerous Bohisattva-stores whch e though

ierent in their setng et lwas relae to cer coloul

inspirng an exempliying events o his ehl eistences beore his

S C Sarkar op c it. p 4 M. MoirWiis Sr tl tr pp 4148.5 M. Witri t HI Vo II p

6 Ibid Footo . J S Spr Jtam Itroductio p.XII R C ir A ctnr Pl L pp 666.


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last existence as Siddhttha ohisattva, reaching nlly the

udhhood

In short, the ne Jtka n its generally accepted explnation

denotes a birh -stoy as well as e rson in at existence. he

word is deed f Sast Jta n the sense of br or the

one who is bo Thus it cae also to be suitably use as e title

of the coeon of e Jtas or "forer bir-stores" of the

uddha, ncluded n the Tipia, nd subsequently elaborad n the

Jahath coenties

2 OG A F JAAS

As to e origia nare of he tkas it ay be s that a

Jtka originy consisted of a erse or seer rses ebodying in

a concise fom a pas episoe Ts episoe was to resed

its fer details by a nator ofen rough a prose nraon whichwas naly undergo changes according t the ron ie nd

ircustances of suh a nation A rs i was perhaps thought

not neessary ie o suh stres he for of a a as we

hae the now "A onsiderable nuber of the aes ha e

icluded in e Jta Bk are so fon ore or ess silr

fors in oer prts of e Pikas Seera such br sores hae

been aready noced. For instance eM

Kha tka(Ja No253) is en o a sry which is n bo e Pli an e Chnese

versions of e Vinaya ia"); he Tittira Jta (Ja No 37)

occurs alost word for word in the Cua Vagga the hahaatta

Ja(Ja No 23) is a sghty enge ersion o the Culla

Vagga; and the Skuagghi Jta(J No 168) o a prable in the

Satipahna Vagga of the Syutta Niky" Ony ater ey

9 Thr ar mor Jtaka, viz , D ghit ihoaa Jtaka(Ja No 1 ) adoamb aaJa No. 428) i Mahvaa 2 20 h David, SBE Vo7 9


46/337

were made in regul tkas But not al the takas were

included in the Canon beore the process began to cobine the into

a book Aer this colection o e ]takas as a seprate bk it was

incorporaed in e Khuddka Nkaya of the P Canon Hoever it

is diicult o eterne how much portion of the ]tka Book we

have belonged oginally to the Cnon, or we do not possess the

oder composion o the canonical ]akas, but merely a later

comentry on e oginl Gths hich is at present our pmary

source for knoing e b-stoes only in their evolved versions

Prof. G De has dran our atenon to a significant fact that

"wi the introucon of Bodhisattaism every tae of e erly

Nya or Vinaya heer preiosly connece or unconneced ith

a past ie of Gtma, came o e recoise as a past existence o

e Buddha in the coniions of Bdho nder the special

designation of a 'Jtaka' ich therefore emat o the

Sutta lierae arks th ei of e Ja coecon i e

whole field of Buis he notion therefore tat a Jka is a

previous bith sy of only Ga Bua ie pass as a

Boddhisatta, is nevtaly un up i is asseion"1 1)

Accorn e Buist ation the ener opion in favour

o assinng the Jkas a pely Buhisic oriin sees be

based on e assuption at they oiinae soe te aer the

complaon of the frst for Nikyas (except a Niya in

which soe of the e ou oy as oral stoies ithout any

reerence to the Bodhisata While iscussing their ogin in theEnoia o Reliion E Prof inteitz ies, "it was

thus only necessry to ienti the heo o ny chracter of a story

wi the Bodhisatta in order to tu any tle hoever secul or

even volous nto a ]taka"12) Also e tkas which were

connected wi the s predecesorBuddhas om Vipassi to Kassapa

10 s Davids BBS p.xviii footot, 1 E W Buiggam Piogia s o som Jaka stois JAOS Vo. 8 p 2671 1 G D SI pp. 4748.1 J as gs d EE Vo VII pp 49149


47/337

were bereft of te Bodisattaidea and fo tese stories te

Bodisata taas ad developed aer on Even e as wic

re aced on te Brut and Snci Stpas igt ave been devoid

of te Bodisatta -idea nd ey are ony iustrations of te oras

ag by te Budda.

It ay rer be sated tat e a stories of e

Daapadaa, ie, te coenta on e Daapada,

wic is regarded aost coneporry wit e aa coen

ave been eployed to teac te oras wic re contained in te

Dapada verses, especiy ose tat ber on te teory of

Kaa. Tey ave noing to do wi e Bodisattva-teory s itas been reared, is interesing note tat e stoes of te

taaa ere exlusively anipuated for iustrating te

previous birts f Gotaa Buda as a Boisatva but on te oter

nd te Daapaa entry as use in ifferent purpse.

Tis pe of stries ay e ten as e origina nure of e

as. explaining e original nare of e taa te

sd of te Dapadaa is essenti as ny f te

jaa-aes ave een inorate in e Daapadaat

aso. Te fferent constient prts, eg., Pacupnnavattu,

Veyyaa, Sna, et. ere not deeed to e insepale in

te original for f e tas as en even te Boisattidea of

e aa d not deveop 13

Regrding te prle of te riginal fo of e tas Prof.

Wineiz gives soe cues base ainy upon is cose anaysis ofe aaa text itself. He res tat not one, ut sever

erry types re represented in e aa coection

(1 Tere are soe tas wic were prose sories wit ony

one or two or a few verses conining eier e or or e gist of

te ae

oter ty of taas is tat of e p in wic te

sry itse is reated leatey i rose ad verse wic case

G D c i pp 58


48/337

e commentry i often an expnin f e origin pre text.

(3) But ere re other jtk which originly cnited of

Gth ony: me f em bld in dogue vere nd nve

tz er gin epic or gment, nd ome even mere tring

of mora mim of ome topic. In ee ce the entire prse

eong to the commentry

Prof. G De h to er mre int m hi cmprtive tudy

of the tkte f e Dhpdh They cnid f

vere or more vere tht embde hint o the ptepide, the

nrrve portin being ubect vrition ccring to

circumtnce. "The eory P w quite unknwn iype of oginl k nd thi w, rhp, bw m the

Mhyn dine. Therer e jtkcecn m new

h" He h rher ud the tre e

Dhpdhk t hw e erent tge evelpment f

e bok ccring t e follwng cheme6

(I) The re wi mr nly, e.g., e L


49/337

(IV) The taes on the pelOUS caees of the eache n which

he payed the oe of te eo, e.g, Caseh Jtaka he nave

on of this a itsef constites an independent stoy and the

amodhna pat in which the heo is identified seems to be the

sut of afte-thought

(V) e stoes eging e exed e o the Bisatta

hese ae the ea Bodsatta-]tkas with a shot noe on the moa

contned in each of te g, Devadhaa jtka i wich the

Bodhisatta as Mahisskakma saved the ives of his two

younge bots o te tes of a powe Y a by

nstcing hi i te Devadaa o the eigion of gods21

We have scsse h t sbet as eaboay as ssbe t

may be concud by adg a so ote te e jtka stoies

e commony togt to b of pBddisic oig an wee

pobaby ken o t e cent fok-oe A few of te taes,

w te s ky vss bt wi v achic pose ae fond in

e Vinaya; tese ap be svivas of t jakas as tey

exsed befoe t esbsh of e pa of Bt d

ceny B Each sto of tse scps is spposd to tac

oa ideas pvent og asss og soe of the stoes

depict ony te f of t Mast to state the pogss ad

atainment of hs f whc s rate te Nidnka ve

inoction to th ka coto

t appeas tat oiginay e vese-jtkas existg in e fo

of an anhoogy ike te veses of te Dhaapada, ha no isnctites to stngs th fo ac ote Cetain nivida atos

when utiising te in tei woks, gave sch tites to te n

the opinion, site est to ei native pats wic wee eaie

Virocaa avasakua, Kahausabha, Nadivisa, kakasidavataka Jtakas,c It sos mor xamps Kappaa ukkadvat, Babu, AkarvikukkuaNigroda Varaaka habaja, Sakha, uadhaugga, Godarj Vtamiga, Suva

Kuapita, Ksava, Somadatta Jtakas tc. t sows otr xamps Hattiga Mapama uggatagaapati Kurumma Kairagra Jtakas, tc

- -


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motly imcit rather han exlcit

3 THE PLCE OF THE JTS

THE pL CO

The Canon conit of three iaka or baket (Tiika)

Vinaya le of the order), Sua (gopel) and Abhdamma

(theology) While the Vnaya ia nclude Mahagga, coning

ome of he olde par of he udha legend, he frt wo ermon

a Vra and Gaya, and he Cullaagga, e tore of

Anthapika Deadta, ec, de manly wit he rle nd

regulation for he gudance of e uddh Saga d precep for

e dl ife of he hikkhu and hkkun. The Suta Pka

by far he mot mpoant of e hree aa The Sua Pika i

ided into fie econ or Nka e Dga, Majjma, Stta,

Aguta and uddka Nkya e uddh dcrne and riahiooicl thought are proerly elaborated in e Dgha and

Agutra Nka. The Mjhma Nya ha 152 ermon and

dialoge on relgou and ocal eme uch a on cate, etc. The

hudhaka Niya ha my lerary gem(15) uch a e

Dhaada, eragth, eh d takaha and o on

Accoing to the traon, e at e tka book

grew up gradul, haing no ngle auhor, but thi wa becaue the

Canon were r recorded om memoy nd were orally rnmtted

om eneraion generaon n hei erion coerng ery on

riod of time he gt of the ka toe a ere were ued

to be ket al in he memory rough repeated recitation held in

e el f e congreation

Fr of l e hold concee ha ther were in eitenceeera cection of the ]taka beide eeral olated ]aka n


51/337

e pesel available collection some stoies fom pat of te ote

books i te non wile otes do not One ma us reIew I

te folowing various brances o tem anonical ollection,

2 oaoica llectio, solated Jtkas 4 olections of te

Jtakas uddist Saskit

Te canoica collecon o te Jtka foms e 0 book

og ften of t Kudda-na(ollectio of te sall tets)

o e Sutta Pika n te P non Also it is oe o te nine

pars (Aga) o te Buddas eacng ged in conot wi

te subuct matter "Accordg to te Sigales conicle

Dpavasa tr was scool o onks, nael e Msagtikas,wo reeced so rions (w r uorunatel not told wic) o

te Jtaka Book as non-conca Te Daguptas ad also a

Jaka Book in teir canon")

Te canonca a Book consists o Gts or stanzas onl

an is divided nto 22 scons (Nipas), wic e nged

accordng to e nuber o szas beongng or fong a Jta

"Tis sste o cassicaion nuber is a ver ppr on

ndia Fo insce, e Trts r also classified accordng

e nuber o vrss T rs sction is supposed to conn 50

Jas, eac vrs blogg to a spaat stor 00 Jtas, wit

wo vrses ac trd, as, wi tree verss ac, and

so on, eac successive nipa avng a lrger nuber o szas and

a smalr number o Jakas. Now, t numbe of Gts ds not

22 I th Tipiaka its th is mtio o a divisio o th Cao ito 9Agas o lmbs ( 1 ) tta os ss 2 Gyya mos a mits opos ad vs Vyyaa plaati os o Cotai s ( 4 ) Gth tazas (5 Uda Pi thy sayigs ( 6 ) t ivttaka hot spchs bgiig i thth wods Ths sk th od Bddh ( ) J taka tois o om i th oBddha (8 Abbhtadhaa pots o miacs 9 Vdaa Tachig i thom o qstios ad asws

This diviso dos ot ald to Cao compt i its o to diitbooks bt t i s oly mat to classi y th vaios yps o Bddhist txts

accodg o thi om a otts Aso a simiar divisio i 2Dharmapravacnas is od i skit Bddhist txts23 M s Th F Bt m n hn p 8

- 39


52/337

by any mens always taly wih he le of he secions in quesion

I has some confusion wi secon and nuer of sanzas"2) Bu,

why hs disorder ? On his sujec we wil have er comens

mae n he 5h chaper

should e however surms a m e original

verse-Jaa he numer of verses us have allied exacly wih he

le of he secion (Eka-Nipa Duka-Np ec. oewise why

and how he Pkiaka-Nipa or Grea Secion which conans only

0 sories each consising of a ver arge nuer of Gs had

coe o be placed a e end as Secon Te onl explanaion

of his is ha he cassificaon as asd on he verse-ka andno on he aka coena ad ha e verse-aka of canon

conined a fa saer nuer of Ghs.)

many cases ese Gs e poeic es llads or ep

es; u ve ofn ore esia n he s son he re

quie uneigie heseves nd us e undersood as

elonging o soe prose es. W hese prose soes d no aain

conica ni we do no kow. roa e were supposed

e well own herefore lef e povisaon of he preachers

is onl in a ore or ess inad for a e prose ps of

e akas have een preseed he coena a was

coposed or copied a soe ar iod wou dou aer he

nal redacion of he Caon

erel has ined ou a here are eran achaanraand Hiopadea cong onl he verse and he coecin of a

Ghs he Tipiaka is nong u an exac o a oder MS

which conaned oh he verses d he prose p of he aa

u he relaion eween prose d verse in works e e

achaanra is quie ifferen fo a beween he Jaka Ghs

d he prose of he Jaka commena eside he Ghs y

24 M Witit op cit p 4 25 Ibid


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jatks do not need ny prose t "26)

A huge prse commenty in which the Gaas e embedded,

or the jaktthvna s it is cled, is recst of n older

jatkhtha. The lter hd been nsted into Singhlese ony

with he verses bei left in the oriinl Pi This Sinhese

version ws ferrds rernslted, or rther recst, into Pli

However soe f he soes which were ferds ted

into jatks re tld he Ss s simpe tles, without ny

reference to he Bstv On e oer hnd, there re some rel

jatks include i e Sts; for exmpe, e Kdnt-st d

Msudssst e Dh Nk nd the Mhdev-sut

he Mhim N Th e ks formed essentil pt f

e Buddhist Cn s e 7 is shown by he fc t they

re nclded e s f e Ne s n whch he scred

bs f e Bdss ere vide ccr the sbec mer

There re er rps, whic e lbeled jats in the

noncic l re d s The occr nmerous

psses o eren exeecl wrs cmse i Celon I seems

cien ies i s h neess ive l e

sres he f f Js sh cnxs we s fnd vd

sres for exple f 'Dhv (pce Lon life ne i

e Vin -pi e her bein idened wi he

Bodhis. nl r s i de in t Yet we lso nd

dvdu re s he cein f he I he tbok of Milidp r hre ks re mentined whh c

n be trce he clecion; such is so e cse the

Dhpd comen I is probbe, ouh not yet prov,

h book f js s cnned i he Pli cnon ws not the

exclusive possession of is prticulr schoo bt beloned o ncient

udhism in enerl

26. . J Hatig, EE p 49 27 It i ai i th Niath that othr otari hkath) wr or th Jtkatthvaa bi th takahkath.

1


54/337

is anoth goup o t as in Buddist anst

a Many tkas occur in Mavastu both n pos and in

vs in md anskrit. om o thm a vants o t P

as atough tr ar oths not ound in th P coction

Aso mny tas ar cosy atd o t AvadnasApadna

wc bong party to th itrar o th astivdins party

Mayna traur Avanas dyng s o gorous

dds o sants istatng th aw o Karma i.. sowing tat back

dds ba back uits an whi dds whit uits Th irnc

btwn Avadnas nd jtkas consists in act that n a jtaka

Bodisatta is aways ithr th hro or on o t charatsoccung n story, whi any saint may pay is pt n an

Avadna.29) But r mny vadnas in which th Bodhisatta is

ho. Ths ar cae Bhisatvaas, and may as w b

cd jtakas ny jkas know om P cotion r aso

ound in t vana cocons sc as th vadnaaks an

Divyvadna

Bodsattvvanam, or Grand o Bodsatva as is

anotr tit o work er known as jak,3) a Sans

m o hgh poica mrit, compose by p ara or SU.r hav bn svr jkams bu ara's work is thst known. It is a ogim of takas, mos soris occing

aso in jka Book n v Cariypiak arapobaby oursh th th cnury Stanzas of takam

inscbd on h scos ound in cavs o anta, and Cns pigrim I sing mnions jtak among woks

tat in is tim wr vry popa in Ina

28 f Wtrt, HIL, Vol I I , footot, p .29 S O dburg, O th Bddhst Jtaka E tras by H Wl , JAS892, p 50 Th taka has b dtd by H (Harard Orta rs, Vo I ,abr dg, ass , 89 ) ad trasatd by J S Syr , SBB, Vol I , Lodo,895 ryara has orkd o th sa (or a sar) colcto of Gths as

a h Tp aka S Spyrs syoptcal tab hs bk, hch atod abo pp 4-7

42


55/337

The jatk nd Avan trie re o fon in Asvgho$'

Sutralar (ce Akar)31, n in Kemen' Ava

Klpta; 50 j tk e menione in e Mhayanutr

Ra9rpPcch; etc. A regr to the Avan, we wil wrte

more in he foowing chper, ce Ler eveopment of jtk

tle n Avan

THE ARCHAEOLOGCAL ENC

Ancient In peeve conierbe m o tex b

reic nm o cpe Ti men o or knowege

r it y cvon w poe mny moe ten ocment

n ce monmn I pn conex, h e rve

e moe non o i obe tqiy iing

te ncient jak e contmpoy be

I ipor o noice h e c o Bk o Birh Srie

hving xie t ve ey i conrmed, no ony by c

oie being o o p o he i-pik, bt o rom

h me e bk o h 2n ceny BC wich i moe

imporn n o g o e po i ic ey

e writen I cn, hov, be no enie mo pt of

he toe in e cocion peer oe me. Even oWnei mit t c o cheoogic evienc o

compelling chce, h in e proe, oo, mch i o my

hve been preeve Now t e e reo " evienty to

e een between t ]k Book n he ey Bht Sp

repreenttion o c tore

Ts Stra was transad nto Frnc b E Hubr from ns oKumrava rs 9082 Wntnt, HI Vo p 20


56/337

e taka natives ad attractd no dout te admiration o

a suc casses of te people as monks, kings, merchants, nobes,

oter laydevotes and so on It is well presumale that during the

fe time of th Buddha his grat personality attractd diffrnt ypes

o ope o mraced Buddhism Many peop had patronisd it

i suc a zl that te reigion got a widesprad footing

roughout the wole of nore Inda Even ater the passing away

of the Lord Budda is achngs and his mages d nt ut in

e memory f the ple Th ssence of his tachngs for the

masses was nins about Pamt, Krma and Sasra,

etc hese ughts had bn wl lluated in jas, wich

seved as a vhic for cnving n th most simp wa h highly

innsic natur of h rligin to h commn masss Numus

opl includig ngs and r nb asss o gra advtage

om th widr rahgs f Budhsm hugh suc a s

Not nl fr dan Budhs as fr n-d

Buddists i b s wa f rahg

religin hrough an ad hibitin f th a ss

For tis bvius rason, whn h Sas, Cavs and ther

Budist monunts came t stc, th ja ss fund

eir logica rrsn m T cngs d nngs,

whic apd h Sa, rags gawas sid h

Chaacavs Vas wr ndd rsus f anag

givn b t ngs, mrhs d r classs f pl in

franc and ragain f Buddhis) hs aals cued

te jtka taes and had acll stted even in t ag when erepresenation f Lrd uddha was sll nonicni and based

ony n syms Such is the case in th of th Bhut Spa f

te Sga perd buil during th 2nd cntur BC and succssively

also at Sanchi, arly Amva and h Bogaya mnuments as

we as the Wst Inian Caves wit bth sculpre ad panting

33 Thr is a arg mbr of votiv iscriptios gravd o th ralig which

srv as to th r ifs carvd o i t ad rcord t ams of th doorswh rovidd fds for th costrctio of th diffrt parts


57/337

suh as a ana (Caves and X) Wh he udha beng shon

rough hs mage nd symbo om the 1st2nd en

analysical study of orgin and development of jataka.pdf

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