(31), in which the idyllic description of a royal park closely resembles that of forests in other stories (31.10–12 [5]). In this story, there is a reversal of the normal contrast between the serene harmony of the forest and the desire-based violence of human society. Here a king’s pleasure trip in his gardens is invaded by the attack of a forest cannibal, thereby conveying a contrast between the civilized pleasures of royal gardens and the unruly wilderness of the forest. The garden-forest motif can therefore vary its significance and function depending on the context. Parks or forests can also take on a divine significance through their association with Nandana, the garden of the gods (28.13 [5]).
19 The invasive nature of the king’s actions is highlighted by the fact that his drums terrify the animals living in the forest as he approaches the tree (27.19).
20 These are: stories 21–27, 32. Story 28 is an exception in that the king who assaults the Bodhi·sattva is swallowed up into hell after refusing to lessen his hostility despite hearing the Bodhi·sattva’s instruction. Here it is karma that provides a resolution to the conflict. However, a different resolution between the Bodhi·sattva and human beings is achieved at the end of the story when the Bodhi·sattva preaches to the king’s ministers, who become his “disciples of virtue” (28.110 [69]). In story 30, the animal realm is again depicted as an idyllic sphere separate from human society, but here the Bodhi·sattva willingly sacrifices himself for a group of starving people and there is no conflict between him and human beings. The stories in which ascetics or animals directly come into contact with kings are: 21–23, 25–28, 32 (while in stories 24 and 30, the Bodhi·sattva as an animal encounters human characters ________
who are not kings). In story 32, the Bodhi·sattva is a prince who persuades his father to allow him to enter the forest as an ascetic.
21 See especially 22.115 [66]–119 [70], 22.151 [94]–156 [99], 23. 118 [63]–128 [73], 24.62 [38]–66 [42], 25.44 [23]–50 [29], 26.76 [38]–83 [44], 27.42 [17]–63 [35] 28.69 [38]–79 [47] 29–71 [49]–80 [58], 30.25 [11]–27 [13], 31.106 [52]–111 [55], 32.33 [21]–64 [48]. Only stories 33 & 34 do not mention kings. While kingship is not a major issue in story 30, the Bodhi·sattva does criticize a king for immoral behavior in 30.25 [11]–27 [13]. In story 24 (24.62 [38]–66 [42]), it is not the Bodhi·sattva who instructs a king, but a man suffering from the bad karma of betraying the Bodhi·sattva’s friendship.
22 Some passages refer to the “three pursuits” of virtue, profit and desire (22.119 [70]). However, virtue is always treated as the primary concern. See, for example, 29.75 [53]:: “Turn your wealth into an instrument for virtue.” The contrast between this ideal form of kingship and conventional kingship is highlighted by the amazed reactions of kings when they witness the Bodhi·sattva’s virtue. See, for example, 27.42 [17]: “Ministers and other men serve their king. But it is not for the king to act for their sake. Why then did you sacrifice yourself for the sake of your dependents?”
23 See also 31.106 [52]–111 [55] for an attack on the pragmatic approach of politics (niti).
Select Bibliography
Collins, S. 1998. Nirvana and other Buddhist felicities: Utopias of the Pali Imaginaire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Edgerton, F. 1953. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary. 2 vols. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Hahn, M. 2001. ‘Text-critical Remarks on Aryasura’s Mahisa- and Satapattrajataka.’ Le Parole e i Marmi: Studi in onore di Raniero Gnoli nel suo 70 compleanno. Ed. Raffaele Torella Roma: ________
Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente. Serie Orientale Roma xcii. 377–397.
Kern, H. (ed.). 1891. The Jataka-mala: Stories of Buddha’s Former Incarnations, Otherwise Entitled Bodhi·sattva-avadana-mala, by Arya-cura. Cambridge: Harvard University Press (repr. 1914, 1943).
Khoroche, P. 1987. Towards a New Edition of Arya-Sura’s Jatakamala. Bonn: Indica et Tibetica Verlag.
______ (trans.). 1989. Once the Buddha Was a Monkey: Arya Sura’s Jatakamala. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
Meiland, Justin. 2009. Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives. Vol 1. New York: JJC Foundation and New York University Press.
Monier-Williams, M. 1899. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Norman, K. R. 1997. A Philological Approach to Buddhism: The Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai Lectures 1994. London: Routledge.
Ohnuma, R. 2007. Head, Eyes, Flesh, and Blood: Giving Away the Body in Indian Buddhist Literature. New York: Columbia University Press.
Senart, E (ed.). 1882–97. Le Mahavastu. 3 vols. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale.
Speyer, J. S. (trans.). 1895. The Jatakamala, or Garland of Birth-Stories of Aryasura. London: Henry Frowde.
Weller, F. (ed.) 1955. Die Fragmente der Jatakamala in der Turfansammlung der Berliner Akademie. Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften, Institut fur Orientforschung, Veroffentlichung Nr. 24, Berlin.
All Pali text citations refer to editions of the Pali Text Society.
GARLAND OF THE BUDDHA’S PAST LIVES VOLUME II
STORY 21 THE SMALLER BIRTH-STORY OF BODHI
21.1 21.3 21.4 21.4 21.6 21.6
21.1
By conquering anger, enemies are quelled. By doing the opposite, enemies are increased.
Tradition has handed down the following story.
The Bodhi·sattva, that Great Being,* is said to have once taken his birth in an eminent brahmin family that was honored by the king and esteemed by the people as if it were a god. The family’s magnificent practice of virtue meant it enjoyed an extremely large fame and secure wealth.
In the course of time the Bodhi·sattva grew up and, after undergoing all the sacred rites, he quickly became renowned among learned assemblies for his dedication to knowledge and virtue.
21.5
The fame of the wise expands
among learned assemblies,
like the fame of gems among jewelers
or the reputation of heroes on battlefields.
The Great One* had become intimate with the ascetic path and had thoroughly developed his moral awareness in his previous lives. This, combined with the fact that his mind was cleansed by wisdom, meant he took no delight in the household life. Desires were full of strife, disagreement, hatred and repugnance. Associated with kings, thieves, floods, fires and hostile kinsmen, they produced discontent and were a source of multiple evils. Desiring spiritual matters instead, he abandoned sensual pleasures as if they were poisoned food. Shaving off his fine hair and beard, he cast aside the illusory graces
