The title Jatakamala can be translated literally as “a garland of birth-stories.”8 It is a term that appears to have been treated as a sub-genre within the jataka tradition, since it is also used of later works composed by authors such as Hari·bhatta (fifth century ce) and Gopa·datta (eleventh century ce).9 The Jatakamala is not the only work said to have been composed by Arya·shura. The Tibetan Tanjur lists five other texts: the Bodhisattvajatakadharmagandi, the Subhasitaratnakarandakakatha, the Supathadesanaparikatha, the Pratimoksasutrapaddhati, and the Paramitasamasa (Meadows 1986: 3ff.). Of these, only two, the Subhasita- ratnakarandakakatha and the Paramitasamasa, still exist in Sanskrit, while the others are available in Tibetan translation. It is uncertain, however, whether to take these attributions at face-value. Buddhist traditions commonly seek to invest a text with authority by associating it with a famous figure and there seems to have been considerable confusion over the identity of Shura (Sura), who is linked with names such as Matri·cheta (Matrceta) and Ashva·ghosha (Asvaghosa) (Meadows 1986: 6f.). Carol Meadows (1986: 8ff.) also argues that doctrinal divergences between _______________________
the Jatakamala and the Paramitasamasa suggest different authorship.
If we limit our investigation to the jatakamala, Arya·shura’s doctrinal affiliations are also unclear. On the whole, the text seems to express mainstream Buddhist values without subscribing to the philosophy of any particular school. One sole verse mentions the term “supreme vehicle” (yana/vara), which may tempt the interpretation of a Mahayana affiliation (1.41 [28]). This, however, is debatable. Not only would one expect a more clear expression of Mahayana partisanship than this single indirect allusion, but also the term “supreme vehicle” seems merely to refer to the Bodhi·sattva path to perfect Buddhahood (sometimes described as buddha/yana), which, as explained above, is a spiritual career accepted by all Buddhist traditions, not only by the Mahayana. That yana/vara need not have Mahayana connotations is further illustrated by the Mahavastu (2.46), a non-Mahayana text, which uses the synonymous term yana/srestha to refer to the path to Buddhahood (Senart 1882–97) Indeed, contrary to common impressions, the use of the word yana to refer to a path to awakening is not restricted to the Mahayana but is found in non-Mahayana texts such as the *Mahavibhasa, which on more than one ocassion refers to the notion of three yanas.10
The fact that the first thirty stories of the Jatakamala seem to be structured around the three perfections of giving, virtue, and forbearance also need not imply a Mahayana affiliation. While it is true that these moral qualities correspond to the first three of six perfections listed in some Mahayana texts, the Sarvasti·vadins, an influen- ________
tial non-Mahayana tradition, also posit the same list of perfections.11
The Structure and Style of
the “Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives”
In his “History of Buddhism in India” (1608 ce), Tara·natha states that Arya·shura intended to compose one hundred stories but died before he could complete the task (Khoroche 1989: xi). Although the figure of one hundred seems arbitrary, Tara·natha’s statement (based on unknown Indian sources) that the “Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives” is incomplete can be supported by the fact that the text concludes, in an apparently abrupt manner, with the noticeably minor story of the woodpecker, an ending for which there seems no particular doctrinal or thematic significance.12
It has often been pointed out that the perfections provide a framework for the “Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives.” But here too there appears to be disruption in the text. Although the first thirty stories are formatted on the first three perfections, of giving (dana), virtue (sila), and forbearance (ksanti), the structure breaks down with the last four stories, which cannot be said to reflect the fourth perfection of “vigor” (virya). The Tibetan commentator Yeshe Gyeltsen (ye shes rgyal mtshan) attempts to solve the problem by arguing that story 31 represents the perfection of vigor (virya), story 32 the perfection of meditation (dhyana), and stories 33 and 34 the perfection of wisdom (prajna), thereby conveniently completing the six perfections (Meadows 1986: 18). But this seems to stretch the content of the stories ________
too far. As Meadows has pointed out (1986: 18f.), stories 33 and 34 instead clearly reflect the virtue of for bearance (ksanti), while story 31 focuses largely on giving (dana) and truth (an aspect of virtue), and story 32 on renunciation (also an aspect of virtue). Meadows argues that the last four stories should instead be seen as recapitulations of the first thirty and suggests that it was in fact never Arya·shura’s intention to tackle the last three perfections. On the contrary, since the first three perfections are suited to householders, and particularly kings, whereas the last three perfections are more suited to monks, the absence of the last three perfections is not a flaw but reflects the text’s focus on instructing the laity.
Turning away from the issue of perfections, there are also other ways in which the stories are bound together.13 Numerous themes, images, and metaphors are repeated, echoed, and developed across various narratives, forming a web of allusions and cross-references; for example, the motif that the Bodhi·sattva acts like a relative toward strangers, or the numerous idyllic portrayals of the forest, or the frequent reactions of devotion expressed by witnesses to the Bodhi·sattva’s deeds. Furthermore, while the general format of the work is unstable, the structure of the individual stories is largely predictable and fixed, creating a sense of expectation as the reader embarks on a new tale.
Every tale starts with a maxim. For example, story 30 begins: “If it results in the welfare of others, even pain is esteemed by the virtuous as a gain.” There then follows the phrase tad/yath” anusruyate (“it has been transmitted as follows”). After this a description of the Bodhi·sattva’s back- ________
ground leads to the commencement of the plot. Usually, but not always, the story concludes by restating the opening maxim. Finally, most of the stories have an epilogue that instructs monks as to the proper occasion for reciting the tales. While scholars may be tempted to see these epilogues as interpolations, they are found in all extant manuscripts. Moreover, since they offer an important glimpse of how the stories might have been used pedagogically by monks, I have decided to keep them in the translation.
The “Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives” is composed in an elegant mixture of verse and prose known as campu. Although Arya·shura’s text is not the earliest example we have of this genre (fragments survive of a text from the second century ce called the Kalpanamanditika Drstantapankti by Kumara·lata), it is the first time that campu reaches such a high level of refinement, leading to its praise by Indian aesthetic theorists (Khoroche 1989: xvi). While the Sanskrit is simple and clear, and the ornamentation light compared to later authors, the “Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives” is conspicuous for the variety of its poetic meters, the wealth of its vocabulary, and the sophistication of its literary devices in both verse and prose. It is beyond the scope of this introduction to cover the range of techniques employed by Arya·shura,14 including a deft treatment of metaphor, but as an example of his artistry, one might cite his use of sikha, a particular variety of yamaka (repetition or echo), whereby the second half of each quarter verse repeats the same syllables:
When a woman is weak from intoxication,
she can even tie her parents to a tree
and ignore her husband, though he were Kubera
himself.
Such is the treasure stored in this pot!(17.28 [17])
Although Arya·shura’s individual literary skill cannot be doubted, he was, of course, also working within a tradition, a fact he is keen to emphasize when he states that he contradicts neither sacred tradition nor the Buddha’s words (1.4 [3]). Many of his stories derive material from the jataka tradition that preceded him.
