Jataka tales

The largest known collection is the Jātakatthavaṇṇanā of the Theravada school, as a textual division of the Pāli Canon, included in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka.

[1] They also illustrate the great qualities or perfections of the Buddha (such as generosity) and teach Buddhist moral lessons, particularly within the framework of karma and rebirth.

[8] Jātakas are closely related to (and often overlap with) another genre of Buddhist narrative, the avadāna, which is a story of any karmically significant deed (whether by a bodhisattva or otherwise) and its result.

[11] According to Straube, "the presumably oldest specimens of fully elaborated narratives are dispersed throughout the Vinayapiṭakas and Sūtrapiṭakas of the canonical collections of the different Buddhist schools.

[12] Although many jātaka were written from an early period, which describe previous lives of the Buddha, very little biographical material about Gautama's own life has been recorded.

[2] Unlike Sutra collections, Vinaya sources like the Vinayavastu contain more varied jātakas, including ones in which the Buddha is depicted as an animal.

According to Martin Straube "the division into canonical verses and postcanonical prose points to the old Indian narrative form of ākhyāna, which has a fixed wording of the stanzas only, whereas the actual story is to be shaped anew during each oral performance.

"[2] The plots of the jātaka range from simpler Aesopic style animal tales to longer more complex dramas which resemble epics or novels with intricate dialogue, characters and poetry.

[14] Other recurring characters include important disciples of the Buddha, Devadatta (generally as a villain) and members of Gautama's family, like his wife Yasodharā and son Rāhula.

[14] Another important element of the stories are the various Buddhist virtues, called perfections, that were cultivated by the bodhisattva Gautama throughout his previous lives, and which serve as the lessons taught by the jātakas.

These stories generally focus on acts of devotion to past Buddhas and how this generates much merit which many positive outcomes in the future.

[9] Regarding the intended audience of these texts, Martin Straube notes that even though there is a widespread view that jātakas arose due to monks "catering to the needs and tastes of the illiterate lay practitioners of Buddhism as propagandistic means of preaching or converting" there is no historical evidence for this.

"[2] Naomi Appleton, in her analysis of the second and fourth decade of the Avadānaśataka, notes that both sets of stories "assume a monastic audience.

"[9] Likewise, Kate Crosby writes that "the format of the Jātaka in fact suggests that their original inclusion in the canonical collection was primarily for the benefit of monks.

"[16] Crosby notes that many of these stories are connected with monastic behavior and decorum, some of them are also meant to illustrate specific rules in the Vinaya.

Thus, they were repackaged as artistic entertainment and teaching devices for laypersons, as parittas (protective chants) and as chronicle (vamsa) literature.

[16] Straube also notes that the rock caves of Ajanta and Bagh were inhabited by monks and it was them who ordered and directed the jātaka murals found there.

There is also evidence from inscriptions on old stūpas at various Indian sites (such as Sanchi and Bharhut) with jātaka motifs which indicate that they were built due to the patronage of monks and nuns, some of them of high rank such as bhāṇaka (reciter).

[5] In Theravada Buddhism, the Jātakas are a textual division of the Pāli Canon, included in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka.

[2] The influence of the jātakamālās can be seen in the Ajanta Cave complex, where illustrations of Jātakas are inscribed with quotes from Āryaśūra,[23] with script datable to the sixth century.

They were one of the main sources of teaching and study for the popular Kadam school and later Tibetan authors produced abridged collections such as Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's Hundred Births and Padma Chopel's summary of the Avadānakalpalatā.

[32][33] According to Kate Crosby, "there is also a collection of Jātaka of ten future Buddhas, beginning with Metteyya, which though less well-known today clearly circulated widely in the Theravada world.

"[40] The sponsorship of Jātaka recitations, copyings and art eventually grew to be seen as an act which generated merit for lay Buddhists.

[41] The earliest archeological findings which depict Jātakas are the illustrations found in the on the Bharhut stupa railing as well as at Sanchi (c. late 2nd – 1st century BCE), which also include inscriptions.

According to Naomi Appleton, the "four great stupas" visited by Faxian (337–422 CE) are: the first (in 'So-ho-to') was where the Buddha ransomed the life of a dove with his own flesh; the second (in Gandhāra) was where he gave away his eyes to a blind beggar; and the third and fourth (in Takshaśilā) were where he gave away his head to a man and his whole body to a starving tigress who was about to eat her own cubs, and where 'kings, ministers, and peoples of all the kingdoms around vie with one another in making offerings'.

[46] Jataka illustrations (especially of the last 10 stories of the canonical Pali collection) are widespread in the Theravada Buddhist world, adorning many temples, wats and key sites.

[25] In Theravada countries, several of the longer tales such as "The Twelve Sisters"[48] and the Vessantara Jataka[49] are still performed in dance,[50] theatre, puppetry,[47] and formal (quasi-ritual) recitation.