Two Jataka Tales: A Comparison Across Schools of Buddhism

Abigail Elisabeth Bush

Advisor: Dr. Christopher Bell

Senior Research

11/30/15

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Introduction

While the Jataka tales, stories of the Buddha’s past lives, found in the various schools of

Buddhism have their differences, their overall importance is unchanging. Depending on the

school, values in the narrative may shift, highlighting different morals or philosophical positions.

Some may frown on such changes to the canonical narrative, but there is a certain beauty in such

deviations—a poetic change that mirrors the teaching of the religious tradition in which it is

retold. Aesthetic appreciation aside, the alterations of the Jatakas are valuable because they show

how the importance of Siddhartha Buddha changes between schools and cultures. While he is the

main figure in Theravada Buddhism, the historical Buddha’s popularity begins to diminish in

Mahayana Buddhism with philosophical innovations and the rise of the Bodhisattva ideal.

Vajrayana Buddhism will place some of its importance on gurus.

The Jatakas are various stories of the Buddha’s past lives. Brimming with emotion and

rife with conflict, these stories engage readers regardless of age or beliefs. They are as dramatic

as any novel, as intriguing as any mystery, as fun as any adventure, and it is easy to see their

appeal. Yet, at their core they represent the Buddha’s path to becoming an enlightened being.

John Strong writes that during these past lives “the bodhisattva is not so much striving for

enlightenment, understood as a realization of the truth of the dharma, as he is building a Buddha

body.”1 These narratives then illustrate how the Buddha stayed in the cycle of samsara in order

to become a Buddha and teach others. As a whole the Jatakas act as a roadmap for the

practitioner to follow, but different schools and regions approach these Jatakas in various ways.

Theravada Buddhism brings the practitioner closer to the Buddha. Mahayana Buddhism will use

the Jatakas to assimilate into foreign cultures—supporting filial piety in China and the cult of

Kannon in Japan. Vajrayana Buddhism embellishes on the Jatakas, stressing the relationship

1 Strong, John. Relics of the Buddha. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2004, p. 51.

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between Avalokiteśvara and his followers. These key differences are what this paper will

examine and appreciate in the Jataka tales.2

Background on the Jatakas

Birth stories are important. They tell us how someone was raised, what defines them, and,

for the religious figure, what makes their story valuable enough to pass down from practitioner to

practitioner. Sometimes these stories become inflated with the supernatural, the extraordinary,

making them more legend than history, making the figure in question larger than life. Yet these

exaggerations, whether taken literally or understood simply as part of the story’s rhetoric, form

the backbone of the religious figure’s hagiography. This figure is a role model for the people

from the very beginning. We can see what is valued about the figure through what remains the

same after generations of the narrative’s retellings. What acts, what beliefs, and what stories are

kept or discarded tell us what is important to different communities of practitioners.

When we look at these religious figures, be they historical or legendary, it bodes well to

start from birth, from the beginning. That is, of course, unless your figure has multiple births,

multiple lives, and multiple beginnings. Such is the case with the historical Buddha, Siddhartha

Gautama. The life that most know of Siddhartha is the one in which he achieved enlightenment.

We know of his early years spent being pampered and protected as an Indian prince, when he

became a renunciant after witnessing the Four Sights, and, finally, his realization that there is a

middle way to obtain enlightenment. Out of all of the historical Buddha’s lives, this one is the

most popular since it too marks the beginning of Siddhartha’s Dharma that is spoken about and

taught to the world. However, that one life says nothing about the multiple lives Siddhartha lived

before reaching enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. His past lives are just as important as the

2 While a single school of Buddhism can cover many regions and milieus, I am focusing on a few in this paper in

order to produce a study that has substantial range without trying to cover all regions.

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one he lived as Siddhartha Gautama, perhaps even more so because they are the ones that

influenced Siddhartha’s karma and shaped his life to become a Buddha.

In scholarly studies of these birth stories, they have been examined as a collection of

folklore and dissected as fairy tales. More importantly to the study of religion, these stories have

been recognized as presenting an individual through a specifically Buddhist frame.3 The earliest

form of the Jataka tales comes from the Theravada Pali canon dated as early as the fifth century

BCE. They were originally passed down orally, allowing for discrepancies in the narrative or for

new Jatakas to be added to the collection. This continued until around the third century CE when

the stories were written down and standardized, forming the roughly 547 Jataka tales now

available in the Pali canon.4 However, agreeing upon a solid date for the origins of the Jatakas is

difficult. Likewise the authorship behind the Jatakas is muddled, unclear even with the

information we know about these stories. And while the narrator of the Jatakas is the Buddha,

there are still arguments about whether these accounts were actually spoken by the Buddha or

someone else, perhaps after his death. There have been claims that many of the narratives were

composed by Buddhaghosa in the fifth century CE but those too are uncertain. 5 Regardless of

the authorship of the Jatakas, we can still examine how culture affects the narrative, especially in

those tales adopted outside of the Pali canon.

In order to know when the Jatakas were written and by whom, we need to examine why

they were created. One obvious reason is clear to anyone who has been exposed to narratives

similar to the Jatakas, such as Aesop’s fables or Christian parables, and that is for didactic

purposes. While alternative reasons and uses of the Jataka tales will be discussed later in this

3 Rhys Davids, Caroline A. F. Stories of the Buddha: Being Selections from the Jataka. New York: Dover

Publications, 1989, p. xvi. 4 Ibid, p. xvi. 5 Shaw, Sarah. The Jatakas: Birth Stories of the Bodhisatta. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2006, p.l-lii.

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paper, for now we will focus on this didactic use to understand how they can be used as teaching

tools.

Sarah Shaw reveals how the Jatakas emerged from a vow that Siddhartha—referred to as

the Bodhisattva in his past lives—made while prostrating at the feet of the previous Buddha,

Dipankara. Siddhartha vowed to “postpone his own enlightenment and freedom from the endless

round of existences until he is ready to become a Buddha and teach others.”6 In this narrative,

called the Sumedha Jataka, the Bodhisattva begins his journey, leading him to his final life born

as Siddhartha Gautama. The Jatakas then, being stories of that endless round of existences, show

how the Buddha developed the abilities that made Siddhartha ready for Buddhahood. One such

way was in perfecting the ten perfections. These perfections, present in all three schools though

understood in various ways, are generosity, virtue, renunciation, wisdom, effort, forbearance,

truth, resolve, loving-kindness, and equanimity. Sometimes a Jataka will focus on one specific

perfection and the story will illustrate how the Bodhisattva mastered or demonstrated that

perfection. In these cases the Jatakas are quite like a guide for monks and practitioners to follow

and that is useful for teaching. Along with the ten perfections, we can see other central teachings

of Buddhism in Jataka tales, like the four noble truths, the importance of compassion, or filial

piety. However, to know what exact teachings are represented by the story, they need to be

individually analyzed. That is what I wish to accomplish with an intense look at the Sama and

White Horse Jatakas.

The structure of the Jatakas depends on both the translator and regional context of the

story. The original Pali Jatakas’ structure is, as put by C. A. F. Rhys Davis, in “full Jataka garb”

without any sections left out.7 This garb includes the actual Jataka story framed by an

6 Ibid, p.xix-xx. 7 Rhys Davids 1989, p. xvii-xviii.

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introduction from the Buddha explaining what has lead him to narrate this particular past life.

This introduction is often called the “story of the present” (Paccuppanna-vatthu) and the Jataka

is “the story of the past” (Atīta-vatthu).8 Usually it is an action, a problem, or a question from the

Sangha community (“story of the present”) that prompts the Buddha into telling his Jataka

(“story of the past”). This introduction that frames the Jataka is brought back after the story is

told, thus allowing the Buddha to say, ‘…and Person X in the Jataka is me.’ This is called the

“ahaṃ eva” or “Indeed that was I.”9 The full Jataka garb then is (1) something prompting the

Buddha to begin telling a Jataka, (2) the telling of the Jataka story itself, and (3) returning back

to the Buddha as he explains who he was in the past life. In this latter segment the Buddha

sometimes elucidates what the lesson found in the Jataka has to do with the present situation.

Occasionally, however, this garb is condensed or altered depending on the translation and

transmission of the narrative. Normally the framing “story of the present” is left out, vaulting the

reader right into the past life. While the structure is heavily altered in these other tellings

compared to the Pali canon Jatakas, they still offer the moral lessons learned from the birth story.

Although readers may not know the circumstance behind why the Buddha is teaching this Jataka,

they can still learn from it. The structure is further disrupted when a Jataka is taken out of its

written narrative form and transplanted into other media, such as murals or relief carvings.

Similar to the Theravada Sama Jataka and the Vajrayana White Horse Jataka we will see later

on, these representations of Jatakas often eliminate the “story of the present” and sometimes

portions of the “story of the past” as well. Mostly this is due to space limitations rather than not

wanting to tell all of the Jataka, as there is only so much canvas on a stone relief or mural

8 Fausböll, V. Buddhist Birth Stories or Jataka Tales. Translated by T. W. Rhys Davids. New York: Arno Press,

1977, p. i-ii, lxxxii. 9 Shaw 2006, p. xxiii.

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compared to a written text. Yet, as we will learn, sometimes the removal of “the story of the

present” is done on purpose for specific reasons tied to that school of Buddhism.

Viggo Fausböll credits the creation of the collective Jataka tales in book form to the

popularity of Indian Buddhists around the third or fourth century BCE. The Jatakas draw from

other ancient Indian narratives at the time but it is the religious sacredness of these stories that

distinguishes them from the rest. This holds especially true for Theravada Buddhism since any

connection to the Buddha brings practitioners closer to him and his virtues. The transfer from

oral story to written collection, at its earliest, is conflicted by two different sources that Fausböll

discusses. The first is at the Second Buddhist Council in Vesāli and the second in the nine-fold

division of scriptures found in the Anguttara Nikaya and the Saddharma Puṇḍarīka.10 The

importance of these starting locations of the written Jatakas is found in the events themselves. It

is beneficial to know the background and origins of the Jatakas, as best we can, in order to set up

a foundation for the rest of this research. That being said, we will move on to the close readings

and analysis of two Jatakas (Sama and White Horse) within the three major schools of Buddhism

across different cultural contexts.

Sama Jataka

The first Jataka that we will examine is the Sama Jataka, also known as “Sama the

Devoted Son” and “The Suvanṇasama Jataka.” It is listed as the 540th Jataka out of the 547

available in the Pali canon. This is particularly important because it makes the Sama Jataka part

of the Dasajati (lit. ‘ten lives’), the last ten lives of the Buddha before his life as Siddhartha. The

closer the Bodhisattva is towards his life as Siddhartha, the better his previous lives become at

perfecting the virtues needed in order to obtain enlightenment. The Dasajati stories illustrate

10 Fausböll 1977, p. lxxxii-lxxxiii.

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those completed perfections.11 The Sama Jataka itself is often related to loving-kindness, the

ninth perfection. What is truly impressive about the Sama Jataka is how it also warns against too

much loving-kindness, illustrated in Sama’s very actions. This is quite interesting when we

remember that this Jataka is part of the Dasajati and thus a “perfected perfection” story.

The Sama Jataka Summary12

We begin with the “story of the present” that frames the Sama Jataka. In this story we

have a young son living with his merchant family in Sāvatthi, the capital of Kosala, an ancient

North Indian kingdom. During this time the Buddha visits the nearby Jetavana Grove to teach

and news travels quickly around Sāvatthi. One day, the son decides that he would like to pay his

respects to the Buddha and listen to the teachings. After traveling and hearing the Buddha’s

Dharma, the son asks to be ordained. The Buddha then says that one who is “Thus-gone” is not

able to be ordained without permission from his parents. Not discouraged, the son fasts for seven

days and returns to the Buddha with his parents’ approval and is ordained.

For five years the son lives with Buddhist monks and learns the teachings. However, he is

dissatisfied with his progress so he travels to a hermitage on the outskirts of a forest. He practices

there for another twelve years. In these seventeen years the son does not visit his parents and is

unaware of the fate that has befallen them. With no son to assure their finances, the parents end

up poor and homeless, surviving only by begging on the streets. Still unaware of his family’s

collapse, the son meets with another monk hailing from Sāvatthi. The other monk grows

uncomfortable when the son inquires about his old merchant family but eventually tells the son

what has happened. The son laments that he is not good enough to be part of the monastic realm

11 Wray, Elizabeth, Clare Rosenfield, and Dorothy Bailey. Ten Lives of the Buddha: Siamese Temple Paintings and

Jataka Tales. New York: Weatherhill, 1972, p. 15-16. 12 I will be taking this summary of the Sama Jataka from Shaw’s The Jatakas, p. 280-310. As stated in her “A note

on the texts,” she takes her translation from the Pali Text Society, using a base translation from Fausböll, the

grandfather of the original Pali canon translations, p. xiii-xv.

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since, after all this time, he has not made any progress. He resigns to becoming a layman in order

to take care of his parents.

As he walks home to Sāvatthi, the son comes across two paths, one that will lead to the

city and another that will lead to Jetavana Grove. Knowing he will see his parents often and will

not get the same chance to see the Buddha, the son travels to Jetavana. When he meets the

Buddha, the Buddha sees that the son is ready “to experience a change of state or insight, but

needs the right circumstances” (Upanissamyaṃ).13 The Buddha gives a speech and the son

realizes that an ascetic can support his parents. With a renewed sense of devotion, the son stays a

monk and goes out to collect gruel to give to his parents. When the son reunites with his parents

he grieves because they do not recognize him. He cries with his parents when they finally do

recognize him.

The son goes out every day to collect alms for his parents and then for himself. At times,

the son forgoes his rations in order to feed his parents and soon becomes pale and thin. The son’s

companions notice how ill the son looks and scold him by saying it is not right for him to give

alms to his parents when they were given by the faithful for him. Embarrassed, the son and

monks go to the Buddha to seek his insight. The Buddha listens to the son’s dilemma and is

pleased with the son’s actions. The Buddha then begins a story of how he too once took care of

his parents as an ascetic. This is the “story of the present.”

The “story of the past” begins with two villages not far from Vārāṇasi. The chiefs of each

village agree that their son, Dukūlaka, and daughter, Pārikā, will marry. The children decline

marriage since both have been reborn from the Brahma world and have no wish to partake in

impure things, like sexual intercourse. The two are forced into marrying yet are allowed to leave

the villages and live ascetic lives. The god Sakka notices the ascetics, and knowing that

13 See Shaw 2006, p. 307, note 13.

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something great (the birth of Sama) will come from them, he tells Vissakamma/another god to

construct a home for them. The couple is pleased with their new home and they focus on

expanding their loving-kindness to all the beings around them. Even the animals enter a mental

state of loving-kindness by not attacking each other because of the ascetics’ nature.

One morning Sakka clairvoyantly sees that the pair will lose their sight. Knowing that

they have no child to take care of them, Sakka calls Dukūlaka over to convince him to have a

child with Pārikā. Dukūlaka is shocked that Sakka would suggest such a thing, especially since

the couple live an aesthetic life. Sakka then says that no coupling will have to take place,

Dukūlaka simply has to touch his wife’s navel and she will conceive. They agree and bear a son,

Suvanṇasama, which means ‘Sama with golden skin.’ When Sama is sixteen, he watches his

parents leave to gather their food and drink. He knows the path they will take but stays behind

with the deer and kinnari.14 A great storm soon billows across the forest and the parents take

shelter under a palm, standing on top of a termite hill. Terrible rains sweep all around the couple,

causing them to shake with fear. Sweat falls from their faces and onto the termite hill and then

onto a sleeping snake. Angered, the snake wakes up and attacks Dukūlaka and Pārikā, spitting

venom in their eyes to blind them. The ascetics despair, realizing they can no longer see and will

not be able to find their way back home. Pārikā wonders what ill act they had committed in the

past to have this fate befall them. Her husband then remembers that in a past life they were

married and he was a doctor. To spite a rich customer who refused to pay them, the couple gave

the patient medicine that made him blind and this is why they lose their eyesight to the snake.

Meanwhile, Sama realizes how late it has gotten and searches for his beloved parents.

When he finds them he begins to cry and laugh and his parents question why he would laugh at

their situation. Sama explains that he laughs because he is happy that he will have to take care of

14 Kinnari spirits and the importance they have, especially in the Thai Sama Jataka, is explained further below.

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them because of their blindness. After leading them home, Sama constructs bridges and ropes so

his parents can find their way around the house. He does everything he can to take care of them.

One day, early in the morning, Sama leaves to collect water at a nearby lake for his

parents. The king of Vārāṇasi, Piliyakkha, enters the same clearing and notices that none of the

deer around Sama are afraid of him. Sama must be a god or naga, the king concludes, readying a

poisoned arrow to shoot Sama. The deer scatter at the shot but Sama, keeping his composure,

rests the water jug on the ground and creates a pillow out of dirt to rest his head. As Sama bleeds

out on the ground, he wonders who would shoot him since he has no enemies here and knows his

body has no value as food for him to be hunted.15 He calls out for the shooter to step forward.

Because Sama does not blame him for what he has done, the king eventually shows himself. The

king lies to Sama and says that he was trying to shoot the deer but Sama’s presence spooked the

animal and caused him to miss. Sama catches the king in his lie and explains that no deer would

ever run from him. Abashed, the king tells the truth and watches as Sama bleeds from his wound.

Yet Sama does not think of his injuries but of his parents. They will die from

dehydration, cries the devoted son, wailing that this fact is a “second arrow” that pains him more

than Piliyakkha’s poisoned one. Realizing that he has harmed this excellent man, the king

promises he will take care of Sama’s parents and watches as Sama faints and is rendered

unconscious by the poison.16 Seeing this, Piliyakkha laments aloud that he will go to hell because

of this evil he has committed. Before the king leaves to find Sama’s parents, a goddess17 sees

what has happened and hears the king’s wailing. The goddess, Bahusodarī, knows that if she

does not intervene then the Bodhisattva will die, his parents will perish, and the king will waste

15 Interestingly enough, Shaw’s translation shifts the story into verse at this point. See Shaw 2006, p. 290-306 for

exact verse and prose lines. 16 Note, this version of the tale has Sama faint while others below will state he is dead. 17 She was the Bodhisattva’s mother lifetimes ago and is always watching him.

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away until he too is dead. So she descends before the king, invisible to others, and tells him that

he will inform Sama’s parents of his death and take care of them until the end of their days. In

this outcome, she alludes, they may all find happiness.

Believing Sama to be dead, the king honors Sama’s body and goes to find the ascetics’

home. Dukūlaka and Pārikā hear the king’s footsteps and ask who is approaching. The king,

believing that Sama’s parents will become angry at him for killing their son, says he is king of

the Kāsis to use his royal status as a way to avoid such bitterness. As the ascetics welcome him

warmly, the king is ashamed because he has not told them about Sama. The king confesses and

Pārikā cries out, asking how she cannot be angry at the man who killed her son? Her husband

then says that “wise men teach lack of anger,/ even towards the murderer of an only son.”18

Piliyakkha tells them he will now take care of them but the parents say that is not his place, he is

king and they pay tribute to him. Seeing that, just like Sama, the parents do not have a hateful

word to say against him, Piliyakkha praises them for speaking the Dharma and states that they

are now his mother and father.

The parents ask to visit Sama’s body and the king reluctantly takes them to the lake. As

Pārikā weeps, she makes a declaration of truth19 and Sama shifts to one side. Hearing that his son

is not dead, Dukūlaka then makes a declaration of truth and Sama turns to the other side. Finally,

watching all of this, Bahusodarī makes her own declaration of truth and Sama wakes and rises to

his feet. With the Bodhisattva’s recovery, his parents’ sight is also restored and the goddess

reveals to them all that has happened. The ascetics cheer and Sama praises the king for what he

has done. The king admits that he is confused, saying that he saw Sama was dead and now is

alive. “Great king,” the Bodhisattva explains, “even a living man, who has a strong pain/ they

18 Ibid, p. 298. 19 A declaration of truth is a statement made that, ‘if this X is true then Y will happen.’ So if Sama has been a

dutiable son then let the poison be removed. Shaw 2006, p. 302.

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think him dead while living, when mental activity has stopped.”20 Sama offers a penultimate

teaching to the king and, amazed by this, the king declares he will turn to Sama for refuge. Sama

then gives the king five precepts to rule by and Piliyakkha leaves for his kingdom, doing

venerable things while the Bodhisattva continues to live with his parents. Upon his death Sama is

reborn in a Brahma god realm.

Returning to the “story of the present,” the Buddha explains to all listening that caring

after one’s parents is proper. Finishing with the ahaṃ eva the Buddha says that he was indeed

Sama.

The Sama Jataka in Theravada Buddhism

The importance of Siddhartha Gautama in Theravada Buddhism is central to the school

and his previous lives in the Jatakas are no exception. The Pali canon Jatakas are some of the

most translated Jatakas, allowing scholars to analyze the narratives in a Theravada context. From

there we can determine what values and emotions Theravada Buddhists wanted the Jataka tales

to invoke in those who listened to or read the narratives and those who viewed the stories

engraved on plaques, stupas, and paintings. We can find Theravada themes and doctrines in these

tales, like the importance of the Buddha’s teaching, the four noble truths, etc., no matter the

medium used to portray them. Besides the medium used or what school of Buddhism the Jatakas

are in, they also differ depending on the region. Theravada Buddhism in Thailand, for example,

will have different ways of portraying its narratives than Theravada Buddhism found in ancient

India, Myanmar, or even medieval Sri Lanka when Jataka tales were quite popular.21 For this

particular study of the Sama Jataka we will focus on the temple murals of Wat No Phutthangkun

20 Ibid, p. 304. Shaw’s notes explain that it is unclear if Sama was unconscious or under great mental meditation, but

he was certainly not dead. 21 We see this in Wray 1972, Brown 1997, Win 1996, and Berkwitz 2003.

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Suphanburi in Suphan Buri,Thailand22 and the Ananda Temple carvings found in Bagan,

Myanmar in order to understand how their portrayal of the Sama Jataka narrative reflects

practitioners’ values.

Elizabeth Wray studies Thai murals found in temples across the region, with a particular

focus on the last ten Jataka tales painted in these temples. She explains how the Thai murals have

a unique way of representing scenes from the Jatakas. Like early Buddhist paintings in India, the

Thai murals are a continuous narrative that encapsulates multiple scenes into one panel with little

to no chronological sequence. However, she says the scenes are arranged by location rather than

time.23 So if two events take place in a forest, like we have in the Sama Jataka, yet are separated

by a period of time, then the two scenes will be near each other in the mural (Fig. 1). The Wat

No Suphanburi mural depicting the Sama Jataka is, as Wray describes, arranged by location and

not by chronological order. Plate 8 of the temple combines the following scenes together: Sama’s

death with the king watching him from afar; Piliyakkha explaining what has happened to the

ascetics next to it; and finally, the parents, the goddess, and kinnaris24 mourning over Sama next

to that (Fig. 1). All of these scenes, though separated by time in the narrative, share the same

plate. Wray says nothing as to why Thai murals are arranged by location instead of chronological

order. As it is now, someone without specific knowledge of the Sama Jataka would be burdened

with interpreting everything that is happening in the painting. This suggests that the murals are

meant for devotees already familiar with the story. The Sama Jataka as a narrative makes for a

good representation of Theravada values by connecting the devotee to the Buddha, but the Thai

mural does not easily portray that.

22 Wray lists these murals as Wat No, Suphanburi. 23 Wray 1972, p. 135. 24 While the kinnaris are not present for Sama’s death in Shaw’s translations of the Sama Jataka, they are clearly

present in the Wat No Suphanburi murals.

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Fig. 1. Sama Jataka at the Wat No Suphanburi temple, Thailand. Wray 1972, p. 40.

Here the Sama Jataka is ostensibly influenced by Thai culture since the story references

mythical beings like gods and kinnaris. Kinnaris, while found in other Asian milieus, have

obtained specific importance in Thai literature. They are part-woman, part-bird creatures that are

able to transcend both the human and spiritual worlds. More importantly, the addition of the Thai

kinnaris reflects how important kinnaris are to that region, especially since, in another Thai

Jataka, Siddhartha Buddha is married to a kinnaris named Manora.25

25 Sudhana Jataka. Ibid, p. 39-44.

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These details are lost when looking at the mural as a standalone telling,26 since it is

difficult to interpret the narrative when the scenes are mixed as they are. Perhaps, given that the

temple was visited by practitioners who likely knew the Sama Jataka, this narrative confusion

would not have occurred. Yet this still evades the question as to why the Thai mural is arranged

the way it is. What is the purpose behind communicating the narrative through a medium that

does not give the full Jataka nor, for what it does showcase, even give the story in chronological

order?

Carved all around Buddhist temples throughout India and Southeast Asia, the Jatakas

have sparked conversation about their use. If, like the Thai murals of the Sama Jataka, the Jataka

reliefs of India are hard to read then what purpose do they serve? The assumption that the art of

the Jataka stories are used for teaching purposes is possible but not buttressed by the fact that

they cannot teach anything if the reader does not already know the story. For instance two stupas

in Bharhut and Sanchi, India are covered with Jataka tales; however, they are difficult to view.

This is similar to the Thai murals, though rather than the difficulty coming from mixed narrative

scenes, like we see with the Sama Jataka, it is the physical placement of these reliefs that makes

them hard to understand. Circumambulating the stupa, viewers are able to read the Jatakas in

narrative order, however, the reliefs at Sanchi become challenging because they stretch to the top

of the stupa over five meters off the ground.27 If the observer wished to view the Jataka

chronologically and in its entirety, they must abandon their circumambulation and find a way to

read these scenes that are out of reach.

26 We can assume that there are no descriptions paired with the paintings as Wray does not include this in her

research. 27 Brown, Robert L. "Narrative as Icon: The Jātaka Stories in Ancient Indian and Southeast Asian Architecture."

Sacred Biography in the Buddhist Traditions of South and Southeast Asia, 1997, p. 68.

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Robert Brown argues that there is a purpose to these kinds of visual Jatakas that are

difficult to read and are found in regions where Theravada Buddhism is prominent. The “lack of

narrative intent,”28 Brown explains, is evidence to support that these Jatakas are not used for

didactic purposes. The Jatakas are not narrative illustrations representing the “Buddha’s sacred

biography” 29 but rather they act as icons. Icons are inherently important to early Buddhism as

the Buddha was first represented through these figures. Brown further expresses this by showing

Jataka reliefs that are monoscenic in nature and would only make sense narratively to someone

who has been exposed to the full story before they saw the single frame. These images,

especially those of the Jataka tales that are connected to Siddhartha Buddha in the Theravada

context, begin to “manifest and make real the Buddha and his history for the worshiper.”30 If the

historical Buddha is the central figure of Theravada Buddhism then this could explain why the

narrative aspects of the Jatakas are not always important. What is important is having

practitioners connected to him and his teachings, the Dharma. Brown asserts that in these kinds

of murals and reliefs, because they are difficult to read, their teaching value is diminished. Yet

their value in connecting the viewer to the Buddha, his history, and his lives is raised, and that is

what is important in Theravada Jatakas.

Having this alternative use of the Jatakas in a Theravada milieu makes sense considering

the factors that define Theravada from other Buddhisms. Donald S. Lopez Jr. writes that what is

distinct about the Theravada bodhisattva is the path he takes in order to achieve nirvāṇa. “[T]he

bodhisattva must rely only on himself, for there is no Buddha to teach him,” Lopez clarifies,

adding that the bodhisattva reaches nirvāṇa through perfecting himself and his virtues, not by

28 Ibid, p. 75. 29 Ibid, p. 75. 30 Ibid, p. 84.

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any teachings since those have faded away.31 Thus, having a relief or mural of the Jataka story

can be more than a way to teach that story or to teach important values, it is a way to connect the

practitioner to the Buddha and his past perfected actions.

Along with this viewpoint, Brown gives us another purpose that these Jatakas serve in

Asian monuments. For this we travel to the Ananda Temple in Myanmar during the rule of a

Pagan king, Kyanzittha (r. 1084-1113). Brown introduces another scholar, Henry Luce, who

claims that the Ananda Temple and its carvings of the 547 Jatakas were for “teaching and

proselytizing.”32 Brown disagrees, saying that while Kyanzittha did support Theravada

Buddhism, why would he do it through Jataka paintings and carvings that cannot be clearly read?

Brown’s alternative viewpoint is that Kyanzittha was in fact aiming for purity and completeness

in Theravada Buddhism—an alternative to Luce’s didactic theory. Brown writes that “the power

of Theravadin Buddhism lies in its accuracy and authenticity judged in its approximation to the

Buddha, his teachings, and his monks.”33 Here he connects the use of the Jataka tales, not

through their narrative use, to the values of Theravada Buddhism. The Jatakas are used to instill

completeness and correctness, their iconography painstakingly labeled, arranged, and detailed

with precision.34 They are icons to bring the viewer closer to the Buddha. Similarly, we can use

the same observations in the Thai mural to see how the viewer is brought closer to the Buddha

through his past life as Sama. In the Jataka, Sama portrays the epitome of loving-kindness, a

perfection that must be achieved for one working toward enlightenment. The Sama Jataka is a

way for practitioners to act out their loving-kindness as the bodhisattva did and become closer to

the Buddha.

31 Lopez, Donald S. The Story of Buddhism: A Concise Guide to Its History and Teachings. First ed. San Francisco:

HarperSanFrancisco, 2001, p. 64-67. 32 Brown 1997, p. 89. 33 Ibid, p, 89. 34 Ibid, p, 91.

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Furthermore, it has been offered that Kyanzittha had these Jataka sculptures created for

other reasons. One is that they show the on-looking practitioners or pilgrims that the king’s

success comes from his closeness to the Buddha and that he is repeating his actions when he was

a bodhisattva. It is said that Kyanzittha and his queen were perhaps “relating their own life-

stories allegorically, if not actually” to the Jatakas they patronized.35 These sacred stories then

become a message to those in Kyanzittha’s kingdom that not only shows how Theravada is

greater than other forms of Buddhism or local religions because of its “completeness” and

closeness to the Buddha’s original teachings, 36 but it also shows that, in order to achieve the

same prosperity as the king, people should follow the actions of the Buddha.

We can now see how Brown’s two explanations about Indian and Southeast Asian

architecture portray the Jatakas as they do. Instead of teaching, the Jataka reliefs are used to

connect the viewer to the Buddha, which is an important quality in Theravada Buddhism. It also

establishes a sense of completeness and correctness, making these Theravada temples, like

Ananda, a form of political and religious rhetoric that legitimizes the king. So while these Jataka

tales may not communicate much in a narrative sense when the reader has not been previously

exposed to the story, they are still productive conduits of Theravada values. This is not to

completely discredit the idea that the Jataka reliefs are used didactically as Brown claims. Even

the illiterate who might not have read the Jatakas were still involved with them orally, listening

to the tales. There is no way to know that practitioners circumambulating the temples or stupas

did not know the Jataka tales well enough to understand a monoscenic relief—they very well

may have. And many art styles throughout India and Southeast Asia combine multiple scenes of

the narrative into one plate, which does not make them inherently incomprehensible to read. In

35 Win, U Lu Pe. "The Jatakas in Burma." Artibus Asiae. Supplementum, 1996, p.103. 36 Ibid, p. 103.

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fact, claiming that the Jatakas serve as both teaching and devotional connection would be more

accurate than one over the other. This is certainly something we will come back to later.

There is yet another alternative use for the Jatakas besides didactic that we have not

covered. Stephen Berkwitz focuses on Theravada Buddhism in medieval Sri Lanka, where he

examines the use of the written Jataka narratives. According to him, the historical narratives of

Siddhartha Buddha are both “devotional and ethical,”37 allowing for connectedness and teaching

but also adding another element—emotional. There is a deliberate link between narrative and

emotions, Berkwitz explains, and when it comes to Theravada, gratitude is the most prominent of

all the emotions elicited. The ethical teachings that the Jatakas contain are ostensible in nature,

Berkwitz states, claiming that gratitude is a state that is instilled by the Jatakas and then

embodied by the practitioner’s actions.38 This idea, that emotions are evoked in the reader/viewer

when they interact with the Jataka tales is a new but valid addition. Berkwitz does warn that

Theravada texts work to “curb emotional excess” and manages to balance positive emotions, like

gratitude, with reason in order to make a “virtuous devotee.”39 The important part of the

emotional gratitude felt when reading the Jataka tales is not to get attached to them but to bring

about “a self-awareness of having benefited from what the Buddha…did in the past.”40 Overall,

much like Brown’s statement that the Jatakas bring a connectedness between devotee and the

Buddha, so too does engaging with the Jataka tales inspire emotional gratitude that reminds the

practitioner about the Buddha’s enlightenment and brings them closer to his teachings and to

him. Practitioners are reminded of the hardships the Buddha underwent in his previous lives in

order to obtain enlightenment and lead others to enlightenment as well. Often in the narratives,

37 Berkwitz 2003, p. 581. 38 Ibid, p. 582. 39 Ibid, p. 548. 40 Ibid, p. 587.

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the historical Buddha feels joy or compassion for those around him even when he sacrifices his

own comfort or life, but he does not let these emotions overtake him.

While the Sama Jataka is often categorized as representing loving-kindness as its

principal emotion and virtue, we can undoubtedly see how it brings in the Theravada feelings of

gratitude. First we can examine the actual characters. When his parents are first blinded, Sama is

grateful for the opportunity to take care of them, even saying, “I laughed because now I will care

for you. So do not worry, I will look after you.”41 This gives a purpose to Sama’s life and he is

doing the right thing by honoring and looking after his parents. Likewise, we read that the king,

Piliyakkha, is relieved and awed that Sama holds no animus toward him over the shooting, but

these feelings also come across as grateful to Sama. Equally so, Sama’s parents are not

outwardly angry at Piliyakkha, something that he praises them for. Reading into the text we can

assume that the parents, Dukūlaka and Pārikā, are grateful that their sight and son are returned to

them at the end of the narrative. Even the mural highlights the importance of gratitude. Out of all

the actions in the narrative that the artists could have selected to paint on the temple, they chose

these scenes.

Available to the onlooker of the Thai mural are mixed scenes, such as the case with Plate

8 (see Fig. 1), which has the king explaining to Dukūlaka and Pārikā that he has killed Sama; the

parents, the king, kinnaris, and the goddess mourning over Sama’s body; and a scene that is from

another Jataka entirely.42 Excluding the latter scene, we see that the main scenes of the narrative

that are showcased are ones ripe with emotion. Piliyakkha kneels before the parents explaining

the wrongdoing he has committed. Then we have the poignant scene where mother, father, and

goddess swear their declarations of truth as Sama lies seemingly dead on the ground. In Wray’s

41 Shaw 2006, p. 288. 42 This scene is from the Mahajanaka Jataka and is combined with images from the Sama Jataka on the mural. Wray

1972, p. 40.

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commentary on this particular scene, she notes that the king is sitting farther away from Sama’s

body and the mourners: “The difference between the lamenting postures of the parents and the

seated king shows that the king is an intruder and does not belong…”43 This observation is

reflected in the mural itself as Piliyakkha’s physical body is located outside of the frame where

all the other characters are located, with the tree acting as a natural barrier. What is important

about this scene is that it shows the moment Piliyakkha realizes the parents hold no ill will

toward him and he is grateful for that. The second scene comes moments before Sama is

seemingly returned to life and his parents’ eyesight is restored. Out of all the scenes to

immortalize on the Thai temple, the ones that show emotion, as well as gratitude, are the ones

painted. Perhaps, like any dramatic work of art, these scenes were selected because they are just

that—dramatic—or, when using the theories of Berkwitz and Brown, we can see how

practitioners relate to specific parts of the narrative that show Theravada values. Those charged

moments will be the moments when viewers feel most connected to the Buddha.

Outside of the story’s characters, we can also see how viewers of this mural would be

grateful for Sama as the Bodhisattva. The lack of anger that Sama displays towards the king, and

even the king’s own good words as he promises to take care of the blind ascetics, instills a sense

of gratitude in the audience. Sama devotes himself to his parents’ health, creating a world for

them once theirs is uprooted by their sudden blindness. This sense of devotion to his parents, the

happiness and contentedness that Sama feels, is appreciated by the viewer. So while this is, in its

basic sense, a way to teach an ethical practice, it also brings the audience closer to the Buddha.

They share in the same feelings that Sama has during certain points in the narrative where he too

is grateful for what has happened. Readers are also grateful for Sama’s actions when he laments

that his death will not just be his but the death of his blind parents, since no one will care for

43 Wray 1972, p. 41.

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them. The loving-kindness that Sama expresses towards his parents speaks to the audience,

connecting them to the Buddha and making them thankful for what he has done in all of his

lives.

As part of the Dasajati, the Sama Jataka is often praised for its portrayal of loving-

kindness. So while we can look at the importance of Theravada gratitude in the Sama story and

in the Thai murals, it is also crucial to look at how the ninth perfection develops as both virtue

and emotion. On the surface readers can easily see how Sama is praised for his acts of loving-

kindness through his devotion to his parents. Though, just as Berkwitz warns that too much

gratitude is dangerous, Shaw, in her introduction to the Sama Jataka, explains that too much

loving-kindness is equally dangerous. When readers look deeper into the narrative they see that

the Bodhisattva puts himself at risk because of the idyllic world he has created for his parents.

Sama “lives in a familiar, inner world that does not prepare him for life outside his protected

space,”44 Shaw writes, adding that Sama has tamed the animals of the woods out of “kindness

alone.” He is so pure that it never crosses his mind that someone or something would hurt him,

and it is this notion that gets Sama into trouble. Sama “loses the quality of alertness to the

outside world which is the hallmark of Buddhist practice: he is ‘careless’ (pamattaṃ), despite his

remarkable ascetic bearing.”45 In the Sama Jataka there is a warning against excess, even an

excess of a perfection. Sama becomes so lost in his loving-kindness that he becomes careless and

places himself, and thus his dependent parents, in danger. Of course, the story heals this blunder

by the end of the tale and we are left forgiving Sama and knowing that the Bodhisattva has

experienced and learned more, bringing him one life closer to his time as Gautama.

44 Shaw 2006, p. 276 45 Ibid, p. 276.

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Another Theravada flavor that permeates this rendition of the Sama Jataka is also

something that Shaw brings up in her introduction.46 While in any other interpretation, especially

a literary one, the scene of Sama falling unconscious from the poison arrow or dying may be

seen as a crux, Shaw strives to make her translation clear: Sama is not completely dead. “To the

king it looks like death, because Sama has no in or out breath or outward signs of consciousness.

These are also, however, features of some higher meditative states.”47 Here Shaw suggests that

Sama enters the fourth jhana, or some other form of higher meditation that places him in a death-

like state to those unknowing of Sama’s capabilities. If we look to Buddhaghosa, the fifth-

century Theravadin scholar and commentator, we can see that there is merit to Shaw’s claim. In

Buddhaghosa’s Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga, he sets up a situation in which a monk

contemplates where in-breaths and out-breaths exist: “Then, as he [the monk] considered thus, he

finds that they do not exist in one inside the mother’s womb, or in those drowned in water, or

likewise in unconscious beings, or in the dead, or in those attained to the fourth jhana, or in those

born into a fine-material or immaterial existence, or in those attained to cessation [of perception

and feeling].”48 Likewise, Gethin describes attainment of the fourth jhana as the essentially

complete process of stilling or calming the mind. He also explains the theory behind this state

and says that “the fourth jhana forms the basis for the development of various meditation

powers: the iddhi or ‘higher knowledges’… knowledge of distant sounds, knowledge of the state

of others’ minds, knowledge of his own and others’ past lives.”49

With this information in mind, Shaw’s interpretation and translation of the Sama Jataka

places Sama in this higher meditative state that no one but he knows he is in. The miracle behind

46 See footnote 20. 47 Ibid, p. 277. 48 Buddhaghosa 1975, p. 279 (VIII, 209). 49 Gethin 1998, p. 185-186.

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Sama’s return to life is answered in a practical way—to say that he was never dead to begin with.

As Shaw puts it, “This Jataka gives a happy ending—but still provides a thoroughly Buddhist

explanation for it all.”50 So even if we have supernatural occurrences such as the appearance of

kinnaris, gods, and goddesses, the Sama Jataka does what it can to stick to Buddhist doctrine and

cosmology in order to explain the ending. Still, even if Sama places himself in an advanced

meditative state in order to survive, he still needs the declarations of truths from his parents and

the goddess in order to be revived.

The Sama Jataka in Mahayana Buddhism

For the Mahayana version of the Sama Jataka we turn to one of the three Chinese

versions available. The one used in this paper is taken from Kenneth K.S. Ch’en’s larger work,

The Chinese Transformation of Buddhism. While this text does not contain all of the Jataka,

Ch’en gives us an appropriate English translation to work with for the purposes of this project. In

the Chinese translation of the Sama Jataka, Sama is known as Shan-tzu. The Jataka is found in

the P’u-sa Shan-tzu-ching, the translation of which Ch’en credits to an “unknown monk” roughly

during the Western Chin dynasty (265-316 CE).51

The Chinese translation of the Sama Jataka excludes the framing “story of the present”

completely, at least in Ch’en’s translation. This means that the ending ahaṃ eva is nonexistent,

so the importance of having the historical Buddha as part of the Jataka is not a part of this

translation. We can acknowledge this difference between the Theravada version of the Sama

Jataka and the Mahayana retelling, since the Theravada version is all about connecting

practitioners to the Buddha and bringing them closer to his teachings. This is not the case for

Mahayana Buddhism.

50 Shaw 2006, p. 277. 51 Ch’en 1973, p. 20.

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If we look at Mahayana Buddhism, we know that its growth was gradual, like a series of

innovations, and it allowed the monastic community more time for self-reflection and criticism.

“Discovered texts” also became important to Mahayan, and revealed scriptures like the

Prajñaparamita (The Perfection of Wisdom Sutra) were viewed as the true words of the Buddha

that were hidden and only later revealed when humanity was ready to learn their teachings. Of

course, Theravada does not acknowledge these texts as words of the Buddha, thus making these

sutras and other Mahayana innovations irrelevant to them. Two other fundamental motifs to

Mahayana Buddhism are the centrality of compassion and the existence of infinite buddhas—

both help answer why Gautama seems to be missing from the Chinese translation.

Compassion becomes important to achieving liberation in Mahayana and it is the

bodhisattva’s path that helps attain this goal. We learn that “bodhisattvas, embodiments of

compassion, vow to postpone their own final emancipation until all other sentient beings have

been emancipated.”52 Compassion toward all sentient beings is vital, but so too is the concept of

staying and helping/teaching others. The infinite buddhas and bodhisattvas that are emphasized

in Mahayana Buddhism are also connected to compassion. These enlightened beings are less

human and more cosmic. They fill space and time and are a part of every existence. Some of

these other buddhas even surpassed Gautama Buddha in popularity depending on the region.

Buddhas like Amitabha, Aksobhya, and Bhaishajyaguru are just some examples of these infinite,

cosmic buddhas. Kevin Trainor comments that Mahayana thought allows “the concept of

buddha… [to be] brought closer to the devotee, with the promise that everyone can attain this

goal… [But] buddhas are described in such expansively cosmic terms—beyond the experience

and imagination of most people—that the concept of buddha is almost impossible to grasp, thus

52 Trainor, Kevin. Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 132.

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magnifying the divide between buddha and humankind.”53 Perhaps the Jataka tales can clarify

this muddled thought. After all, they give practitioners an easy tale to absorb the Buddha as a

bodhisattva. Cosmic buddhas they may be, but at least they began as humans, making them

relatable.

Mahayana also condenses the ten perfections found in Theravada to six.54 While some of

the perfections are the same, others are left out and replaced with perfections unique to

Mahayana. More important to this study, the ninth perfection, Sama’s perfection, is elided.

Loving-kindness is not part of the six perfections in Mahayana. So what does this mean for a

Jataka that is prized for being the perfection of loving-kindness? What does this mean for Sama

who is critiqued in the Theravada context for his overuse of loving-kindness? For the Mahayana

rendition this means that other values will be highlighted and interpreted from the Jataka. The

lack of the ‘story of the present” allows for this Mahayana translation to focus on Mahayana

doctrine and for regional concepts to become more prominent.

As stated before, the Mahayana Sama Jataka only consists of the “story of the past” and

begins with an unnamed bodhisattva watching over the world. The bodhisattva notices a blind

couple wishing to retire as recluses in the forest, but who have no children to take care of them

and so cannot. In order to help them the bodhisattva is born as their child. This is Shan-tzu.

Shan-tzu devotes his life to serving his parents and does such a good job of it that his parents

forget to move to the forest to live an ascetic life. It is Shan-tzu who reminds them of the vow

they made before his birth and who promises to serve them as well as is he now even when they

retreat to the forest. With this knowledge the parents sell their belongings and find a new home

in the woods. There are some similarities to the Theravada Jataka, since Shan-tzu creates rope

53 Ibid, p. 134. 54 Trainor 2001, p. 137.

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bridges around their new dwelling and he continues to gather food and water for his parents.

However, in the Mahayana version it is not Shan-tzu’s quality of loving-kindness that calms the

woodland animals but simply his constant and peaceful presence. Shan-tzu “would don a

covering of deerskin so as not to disturb the deer at the watering place,”55 whereas in the Pali

version Sama’s very being attracted and settled the deer.

This text takes that deerskin covering and uses it as the reason why the king shoots Shan-

tzu with an arrow. There is no ulterior motive for the shooting of Shan-tzu in Ch’en’s translation

besides the misrecognition of a man for a deer. Once shot, Shan-tzu falls56 and says that by

killing him, the king has killed three people. Shan-tzu explains to the king his parents’

circumstances, telling him of the twenty years he has served his parents and that no wild animal

has ever hurt him but now a human has.

Suddenly, a wild storm billows into the tale. The king becomes frightened by the storm

and swears he did not mean to shoot Shan-tzu on purpose. Shan-tzu calms the king, assuring the

other man that he believes him and that it was his own karma that was responsible for this

situation,57 but there is still the matter of his parents. This is where the Chinese rendition really

shines on its own. Here the king applauds and praises Shan-tzu for his filial piety and is

specifically noted as being moved by this devotion alone.58 So moved is the king that he offers to

take care of the parents if Shan-tzu should die—which Shan-tzu does. “Shan-tzu gave the

necessary directions [to the parents’ home], and died.”59 There is no unconsciousness or deep

55 Ch’en 1973, p. 21. 56 With not the grace or precision of Sama—though this could be due to how short the Mahayana translation is. 57 Shan-tzu says the shooting is due to his karma while the Theravada Jataka blames it on Sama’s carelessness and

his parents’ karma. 58 Ibid, p. 21. 59 Ibid, p. 21.

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meditative state mentioned in this version and perhaps no question as to the fate of Shan-tzu, at

least not so far.

The story quickly wraps up as the king takes the parents to Shan-tzu’s body. Shan-tzu’s

mother tries to suck the poison out, wishing that she would die rather than her son. And, like the

Theravada story, the parents utter a ‘declaration of truth,’ which claims that “if it were true that

Shan-tzu was the paragon of sincerity and filial piety, then let this arrow be plucked out, the

poison eradicated, and Shan-tzu restored to life.”60 There is no goddess looking out for Shan-tzu

in this version, so it is Sakka who hears this declaration and descends to the world in order to

give Shan-tzu medicine. This medicine, once placed into Shan-tzu’s mouth, forces the arrow out

and restores him to life. The tale ends by saying that the Buddha teaches “that people with

parents must be filial to them,”61 which acts as its own brief “story of the present.”

While even Ch’en notes some of the more obvious differences between the Pali version

and the Chinese versions—the parents being blind from the start, the storm, the lack of a

goddess—the most important observation is that the parents’ sight is not restored by the end of

the narrative. We can conclude that filial piety is the reigning emotion in the Chinese translation

of the Sama Jataka, not loving-kindness or gratitude. Because of this, we can also interpret that

the narrative keeps Shan-tzu’s parents blind in order for him to continue serving them. With their

sight restored, they would not need Shan-tzu’s assistance and, while he could still serve as a

devoted son when the parents have their sight, this small change in the narrative forces Shan-tzu

to stay, thus proving his powerful dedication.

Ch’en notes that the story of Shan-tzu became a popular example of filial piety in

Buddhist literature due to Confucian influences, but also states that the story was adopted out of

60 Ibid, p. 22-23. 61 Ibid, p. 20-23.

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Buddhist literature and into popular literature.62 There are other changes to this story, but it is

amazing to note that the Sama Jataka captivated audiences so much that it became “one of the

twenty-four standard models of piety in China.”63 Ch’en is not the only one who has noticed the

combination of the Sama Jataka tale and filial piety in a Mahayana context. Guang Xing speaks

of the Sama Jataka in the Chinese context as well. However, Xing’s summary of the Jataka ends

the tale differently than Ch’en’s translation, with the restoration of Shan-tzu’s parents’ sight.64

While this restoration disproves our interpretation that Shan-tzu must stay in order to help his

blind parents, thus illustrating his filial piety, it does demonstrate how malleable these tales are.

Narratives are living, breathing things that change depending on the region and translation—

without that, we would have no basis for literary and cultural comparison. Regardless of this

detail, Xing’s article still examines filial piety in Mahayana Buddhism.

Xing writes that “the bodhisattva ideal is a major doctrine in Mahayana teaching, and

filial piety also comes under this ideal. This means that bodhisattvas consider all sentient beings

as their parents because from numerous past lives in eons of time all sentient beings have been

their parents and so they support and respect all beings and work for their salvation.”65 A sense

of compassion and staying to help others achieve enlightenment are two concepts that we have

mentioned briefly before and it is something that Xing expands on. In the Mahayana sense all

beings have been a person’s mother or father, just as that person has been those being’s mother

or father. This understanding helps us see why Mahayana Buddhism would take the Sama Jataka

and make the Bodhisattva’s filial devotion the ultimate lesson. Xing gives other examples of

where we find filial piety throughout Mahayana philosophical thought, with texts like the

62 Ibid, p. 23. 63 Ibid, p. 23. 64 Xing 2005, p. 90. 65 Ibid, p. 94.

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Dafangbianfo-baoen-jing (Sutra of the Great Skillful Means [mahopaya] by which the Buddha

Requites the Debt to his Parents) and in the Saṃyuttanikaya.66 Through this, Xing proves one of

the claims he makes in his thesis that Chinese Mahayana Buddhism is not the only school to

capitalize on filial piety.67 Nevertheless, he also makes it clear that Chinese Mahayana Buddhism

shares a special claim to filial piety, like we see in this interpretation of our Sama Jataka. For

instance, Chinese Buddhists paid special attention to teaching filial piety from one generation to

the next. Even more significant was the influence that Confucianism had on Chinese Buddhism.

Xing writes that Confucianism emphasized filial piety as a supreme virtue.68 Given

Confucianism’s focus on social propriety, moral conduct, and right action, the behavior of an

individual to their parents is important. Those who treated their parents the right way would no

doubt treat the state correctly.

With Buddhism and Confucianism interacting as closely as they did in China, it is easy to

understand how ideals from one religion bleed into its neighbor. Sometimes this was due to

location, a mixing of popular religions and practices, and other times it resulted in the

commentary of one onto the next. Indeed, the retelling of the Sama Jataka, with importance

placed on filial piety, works as a way to “show that Buddhism teaches filial piety in order to

respond to the Confucian accusation of Buddhist monks being not filial.”69 Here we have the

Jataka acting as commentary and as a response to other contending religions and ideals of the

region. Previously we have had the Jataka as didactic, as a devotional connection, and as a way

66 Ibid, p. 95. 67 In fact, Xing takes the time to list when filial piety is mentioned in Theravada (p. 95). He says that Buddhaghosa

also speaks of how loving-kindness is applied via filial piety (p. 95)—which proves how the Sama Jataka really does

capture it all. 68 Ibid, p. 96. 69 Ibid, p. 96.

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to express and hone emotions; in some ways we have that in the Mahayana version as well, but

truly we can also see it as part of a larger discussion and social interaction between two religions.

Xing’s further examination of the tension and interaction between Buddhism and

Confucianism helps buttress why the translation of the Sama Jataka is so important to Chinese

Mahayana practitioners. In another article, Xing addresses the critiques that Confucian scholars

had towards Chinese Buddhists and the defense that Buddhists created in order to not only refute

those attacks but, in some cases, retaliate. Part of this defense was the use of popular stories and

parables in a public realm in order to prove that Buddhism is just as adequate, if not better, at

expressing filial piety than Confucianism. In fact, one of the stronger attacks that Confucianism

leveled against its new religious neighbor was over filial piety. In a series of Confucian

criticisms and Buddhist rebuttals, Xing mentions the critiquing text, Sanpo Lun, and how two

Buddhists, Liu Xie and Sengshun, responded to these critiques.70 While this paper will not look

at all of the criticisms, it will look at those connected to the issue of filial piety and how

literature, like the Jatakas, help ease those anxieties attendant to it.

One of the attacks that the Sanpo Lun makes against Buddhism is that it “was destructive

to the family, because monks left their family and parents, hence it was unfilial.”71 Liu Xie’s

response to this argued that filial piety was in its “ultimate form” in both the Buddhist lay and

monastic community. The laity practiced filial piety in a general Confucian sense while the

monastic community showed their filial piety in cultivating virtue and, more importantly, by

“saving their departed relatives.”72 This means that the laity, by taking care of their parents, acts

under proper social beliefs according to Confucian doctrine. Yet, it is the Buddhist monastic

community who takes this base idea of filial piety and expands it to all living beings, not just the

70 Xing 2013, p. 256-257. 71 Ibid, p. 256. 72 Ibid, p. 256.

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ones in their current family. The Buddhist argument is that monks, by leaving their families, are

promoting good merit for everyone, not just themselves or their single family units. The Sanpo

Lun also critiques Buddhism by stating it is “destructive to the person because monks cut their

hair and were without posterity.”73 This is troubling to Confucian values because without an heir

or future the family line cannot continue. If the family cannot continue then who will take care of

the older generations and deceased ancestors when they cannot take care of themselves?

Questions like these led to anxiety and an attack on Buddhism. Liu Xie’s refutation to this attack,

however, is both humorous and connected to his last defense. Firstly, Liu Xie says that filial

piety is “not found in the hairs but in the mind” and, secondly, that by abandoning “minor filial

acts,” such as staying in the laity and serving their parents, monks achieve “greater filial acts”

because they can then focus their energy on saving all ancestors forever.74 This is also tied to a

notion that we have addressed before: that everyone has been or will be each other’s mother or

father. Instead of focusing on this lifetime’s parents, the compassionate monk working to bring

all to enlightenment is helping all his mothers and fathers, all of his ancestors.

Finally, the last critique and defense we will look at is from Han Yu, a mid-Tang period

Confucian scholar. Han Yu criticized the Buddhist teachings, calling them the “teachings of

barbarians” and claiming that they were harmful to Chinese people practicing Confucian

values.75 Xing writes that there are two different responses to this particularly slamming critique:

popular and intellectual. It is the popular response that we will focus our attention on since it is

the popular realm that includes the story of the Jatakas. In particular, the narrative of Shan-tzu is

a way to convey the importance of filial piety through a Buddhist medium. Set in a Buddhist

world with other Buddhist teachings and ideals, the Mahayana Sama Jataka proves to critics that

73 Ibid, p. 256. 74 Ibid, p. 256. 75 Ibid, p. 257.

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filial piety is just as important to Buddhism as it is to Confucianism. In it we see a cosmic

Mahayana bodhisattva concerned about the welfare of two individuals. Out of compassion, he

chooses to be reborn as their son in order to serve them. Not only do we see a core Confucian

idea like filial piety in the Sama Jataka as Shan-tzu continues to stay with his parents and take

care of them no matter where they live or the condition of their sight, we see a Mahayana

Buddhist idea as well. As the bodhisattva looks down on the world and notices the blind couple,

he sees their struggles and the troubles they will suffer in the future and feels compelled by

compassion to help them. They are not the bodhisattva’s current parents, but since all beings are

worth showing love and compassion, the bodhisattva decides to help them. With the arrival of

their son, the parents’ concern for renunciation vanishes and we are given a tale where

renunciation in the Mahayana context is not as important as in Theravada Buddhism.

Xing describes the Buddhist idea of filial piety as one that serves not only a person’s

current parents, but all sentient beings,76 which is what Shan-tzu’s tale illustrates. In this fashion

the Mahayana Sama Jataka and other responses to Confucian critique show that Chinese

Buddhism encourages a form of filial piety, one that is arguably better than that of

Confucianism. It is in the Mahayana Sama Jataka that we see the Jatakas’ rhetorical ability to

defend themselves and one-up other surrounding religious positions. While we can assume the

Sama Jataka in Chinese Mahayana works as a teaching tool as well, it is also appreciated as a

weapon to defend from doctrinal attacks and even provide a more valid form of filial piety than

Confucianism.

Overall, the Sama Jataka in the Mahayana context stays true to the Pali canon by

essentially providing the same story. Yet differences like the exclusion of the “story of the

76 Ibid, p. 258-259.

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present” and minor plot changes allow us to see the Mahayana, specifically Chinese Mahayana,

values when reading this Jataka through a different cultural lens.

The Sama Jataka in Vajrayana Buddhism

It is telling that the Sama Jataka cannot be found in the Tibetan Vajrayana context.

While there are Jatakas that have been translated into Tibetan, such as a collection by

Aryasura—which has even been visually represented in nineteenth-century Mongolian

paintings77—the Sama Jataka is not one of them. This is curious given how important and

popular Sama is in Theravada and Mahayana regions. The significance given to the final ten

Jatakas in the Pali canon does not seem to translate over to Tibet or, at the very least, to the Sama

Jataka in Tibet. So while we cannot comment on a translation that is not there, we can still

discuss what the absence of the Sama Jataka means. Just as what is directly shared in a narrative

is important, so too is what is omitted, what is not widely transmitted. We must ask and discuss

why the Sama Jataka did not make it into the Vajrayana context and perhaps assume some

reasons as to why this happened. These reasons may not be comprehensive but they will allow us

to further the discussion and contrast Vajrayana Buddhism with the Theravada and Mahayana

contexts we have explored. After all, the White Horse Jataka made it into Tibetan translations, so

why not Sama?

Perhaps one of the reasons the Sama Jataka finds little to no attention in the Vajrayana

context is that the story focuses heavily on loving-kindness and filial piety, depending on which

school you look at it through, and those are not reigning concepts in Tibetan Buddhism.

Vajrayana Buddhism is esoteric and concentrated on extreme experiences and visually powerful

iconography. For a story like the White Horse Jataka, which concerns demons who attack and eat

77 "Jatakamala: Previous Life Stories of the Buddha." Jatakamala: Previous Life Stories of the Buddha.

http://www.himalayanart.org/pages/jataka.cfm.

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merchants, there are plenty of opportunities to visually embellish those moments. But the very

nature of the Sama Jataka seems quieter than other Jatakas. Vajrayana also focuses on the

powerful relationship between guru and practitioner, which is also seen in the White Horse

Jataka, while the Sama Jataka is more of a familial or dutiful story. The Sama Jataka is an

expression of emotions and a didactic lesson that may not have caught Vajrayana interest.

There are arguments to be made that a different Jataka should have been picked for this

selection seeing as it is missing from the Vajrayana context, but I think the questions that a

missing or untranslated Jataka pose are too beneficial to omit. A void in scholarship may also be

a reason for the omitted Jataka. Some have been translated and adapted to fit into the region and

culture, but the popularity of certain Jatakas is just not there compared to other Buddhist regions.

It is a compelling question to consider.

The White Horse Jataka

The White Horse Jataka, or Valāhassa Jataka, is categorized as number 196 out of the

547 Jatakas in the Pali canon. Unlike the Sama Jataka, which is special for being part of the

Dasajati, the Valāhassa Jataka is situated somewhat in the early middle of the collection. While

on the surface there is little importance to this particular story—it is not in the Dasajati, it is not

openly praised for perfecting the perfections—there is something about the White Horse Jataka

that draws many to it. Compared to the Sama Jataka, the Valāhassa Jataka is more translated and

adapted by different cultures. Perhaps the Sama Jataka has been given more academic attention,

generating multiple translations and scholarship, but it is the White Horse Jataka that has been

transmitted the most. The characters of the Valāhassa Jataka illustrate the most significant

changes over its translation from school to school and culture to culture. In the Pali canon the

White Horse is Gautama Buddha while in the Mahayana and Vajrayana translation he is the

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bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. The White Horse Jataka is also not as long as the Sama Jataka. It is

unknown whether this is due to the narrative’s actual length or because the translations are not as

in depth. Regardless, the Valāhassa is as equally enrapturing as the Sama Jataka.

The White Horse Jataka Summary78

The Valāhassa Jataka’s “story of the present” vaults us into the narrative as the Buddha is

told of a monk who has started to stray from his path. The Buddha asks this monk if he truly is a

backslider, one who has slipped and forgotten or abused his vows. The monk confirms this

accusation, saying that he has been aroused by a beautiful woman. The Buddha warns the monk

that women will tempt men through “their figure and voice, scents, perfumes, and touch, and by

their wiles and dalliance…”79 The Buddha continues, in an arguably vehement way, that women

will ruin a man through all their evil ways and deserve the name of yakshini.80 He tells the monk

that in days long ago a group of yakshinis tempted passing traders, ruled over them, and, once

bored, killed and ate the men as “blood ran down over both cheeks.”81 Thus begins the “story of

the past.”

We arrive at the island of Sri Lanka in a town named Sirīsavatthu, populated by evil and

monstrous women called yakshinis82. It is said that whenever a ship crashes on the shore, the

women dress and primp, gathering rice and water to bring to the battered sailors. These women

will have illusory slaves follow them or carry “children on their hip”83 so that when they do meet

the merchants they are believable and safe. Adding to this false display, the women make their

city appear as if there are men working the fields and that there are animals kept in pens so that

78 For this summary I draw from E.B. Cowell’s The Jataka or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births, 1895, p. 89-91. 79 Cowell 1895, p. 89. 80 Ibid, p. 89. 81 Ibid, p. 89. 82 Yakshinis are fierce and cannibalistic spirits who take on the form of beautiful women in this tale. 83 Ibid, p. 89.

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everything appears normal. The women invite these merchants back to the city and offer them

food and water. The merchants eat, unaware of the women’s identities, and rest with the women

for some time.

The yakshinis say that they have lost their own husbands three years ago when the men

went to sea and never returned. Because the lost husbands and these survivors are both

merchants, the women continue, it seems right for them to marry the stranded men. The

yakshinis continue to lead the men astray until they lead the merchants all the way back to

Sirīsavatthu. If the yakshinis already have men captured from a previous wreck, they take these

men and silence them with magic charms, locking them away in “the house of torment.”84

One day, five hundred merchants shipwreck on the coast near this perilous city. The

yakshinis come down in their disguises, toting gruel and water for the stranded men. After

enticing them, the yakshini lead the merchants to their city where they then lock up the old

captured men in the house of torment. The demonic women and merchants pair off, all five

hundred of them, with the chief yakshini and the chief merchant bedding together until all

become husband and wife. After consummating this new marriage, the men fall asleep and the

yakshinis wait. The chief yakshini leaves her husband and travels to the house of torment where

she kills some of the captured men and eats them. The other yakshinis follow after her and do the

same. Once they have their fill they return back to their merchant husbands.

When the chief yakshini embraces her husband he remarks that she feels cold and he

realizes what she truly is. Knowing that the rest of the wives must be yakshinis as well, the chief

merchant knows he must escape with his men. The next morning he tells the other merchants that

the wives are not human but yakshinis. “As soon as other shipwrecked men can be found,” he

84 The narrative also makes a note that if no ship wrecks on their island, the yakshini will travel far away in order to

steal men; see Cowell, p. 90. They are quite tenacious.

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explains, “they will make them their husbands, and will eat us; come—let us escape!”85 Half of

the five hundred merchants follow the captain while the others refuse to go, adamant that they

cannot leave their new wives. Those willing to leave with the chief merchant flee the city.

During this event the Bodhisattva is living his life as a flying horse. Even as a horse he

possesses powerful supernatural abilities. Flying from the Himalayas, he reaches Sri Lanka and

eats from the rice paddies growing near the city. As he flies he cries out three times, his voice

filled with mercy, “Who wants to go home?”86 The merchants hear this and cry back, “We are

going home, master!” and they join their hands together, raising them to their foreheads in a

respectful gesture. The Bodhisattva tells them to climb onto his back and some of the merchants

do so while the others take hold of his tail. The Bodhisattva takes the two hundred and fifty men

back to their own country, setting each one down gently at his home. The other two hundred and

fifty merchants who stayed behind are later killed by the yakshinis after a new ship crashes on

the island.

We now return back to “the story of the present” as the Buddha explains his narrative. He

warns against being like the merchants who refused to leave the yakshinis, and to be more like

the merchants who obeyed the calls of the horse. Those who neglect the advice of the Buddhas

suffer, while those who follow such advice will achieve great things. He then speaks these

verses:

“They who will neglect the Buddha when he tells them what to do,/ As the

goblins [yakshinis] ate the merchants, likewise they shall perish too.

They who hearken to the Buddha when he tells them what to do,/ As the bird-

horse saved the merchants, they shall win salvation too.”87

85 Ibid, p.90. 86 Ibid, p.90. 87 Ibid, p.90.

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For the ahaṃ eva the Buddha says that his followers were the two hundred and fifty

merchants who followed the flying horse, while he, the Buddha, was the white flying horse.

The White Horse Jataka in Theravada Buddhism

Although the Valāhassa Jataka is important throughout different Buddhisms and regions,

there seems to be a lack of scholarship on the White Horse Jataka in Theravada regions. This is a

curious reflection on how certain narratives are not only emphasized in different regions but in

academic studies as well. Regardless, some comparisons can still be made with the Theravada

White Horse Jataka. Naomi Appleton focuses on an expanded version of the Valāhassa Jataka

found in the Pali canon. She identifies a key component of what constitutes a Theravada Jataka:

“that one of the characters [the white horse] must be identified as the Bodhisattva.”88 True to this

we have the historical Buddha connected to the Theravada Valāhassa Jataka; however, that

importance is taken away and given to other figures in Mahayana and Vajrayana renditions.

Appleton expresses that the “Buddha-to-be” shows compassion in this story and acts as a teacher

by warning the merchants that they must not be too attached to their demonic wives.89 We will

see how compassion and teachings are highlighted in Mahayana and Vajrayana versions of the

White Horse Jataka, but the Theravada version connects those features directly to the Buddha.

As we find in the Sama Jataka, Theravada Buddhism brings the practitioner and the Buddha

closer together.

Appleton also mentions a metaphor in the Valāhassa Jataka that “is obvious to any

Buddhist or scholar of Buddhism.”90 The dangers of the frothing waves around the island, the

ocean’s vastness and unpredictability, its allure, is all a metaphor for the endless cycle of rebirth.

88 Appleton, Naomi. "The Story of the Horse-King and the Merchant Siṃhala, in Buddhist Texts." Buddhist Studies

Review, 2006, p. 191. 89 Ibid, p. 191-192. 90 Ibid, p. 192.

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Such is the case, then, that the island is a metaphor for this world, the safety of the other shores is

nirvana, and to get to that point you must pass through the ocean of samsara. The only way to

get to that other shore is with the help of the flying horse, a vehicle for the Buddha.91 Therefore,

the White Horse Jataka reflects the importance and necessity of the Buddha—which is an

explicitly Theravadin concept.

Appleton continues to expand on the significance of the Valāhassa Jataka by noting how

it mirrors the story of Gautama Buddha in the life in which he achieves enlightenment.92 When

the Buddha lived his life as a prince and was given everything he could ever want, his father

made sure that this illusion was never broken. This rings familiar to the merchants who are

pulled in by the yakshinis and given a whole illusory city. The Buddha escaped from these

entrapments when he discovered the truth outside of the illusion, which is similar to the

merchants finding out what is real and what is unreal, and having to decide what to do with this

new truth. After this moment of revelation, the Buddha, as Appleton puts it, “chooses to quit the

world, to cross the ocean of samsara;”93 we can see the same resolve when the merchants decide

to leave the island with the white horse. Again, the importance of the life of the Buddha is

illustrated in this Theravada reading of the White Horse Jataka. Like the Sama Jataka it also

connects the reader to the Buddha and his teachings. This Jataka is also more of a roadmap for

Theravada Buddhism, especially using Appleton’s metaphor. Practitioners come closer to the

Buddha by acting as he did as a bodhisattva.

The White Horse Jataka in Mahayana Buddhism

There are many versions of the White Horse Jataka present in Mahayana regions, such as

a Japanese rendition discussed by Julia Meech-Pekarik. She notes that “with the emergence of

91 Ibid, p. 192. 92 Ibid, p. 192. 93 Ibid, p. 192.

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the cult of the great Mahayana bodhisattvas, many older legends were grafted onto the literature

of supernatural exploits surrounding these powerful new beings.”94 Such is the case for the

Valāhassa Jataka, since the white horse is no longer a previous life of the Buddha Siddhartha but

a form of the bodhisattva Kannon (Avalokiteśvara). Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of

compassion, is often transformed throughout different regions; in Japan he becomes Kannon, the

goddess of mercy.95 Kannon completely takes over the Jataka, and understandably so since the

merchants in this story are in great need of someone to show them compassion and mercy, and to

save them from the mistakes made on the island. Meech-Pekarik explains that the Japanese

version of the White Horse Jataka must stem from the Chinese Hsi-yü chi (Journey to the West),

as the latter half of the narrative—when the chief merchant makes it back to his home—follows

the same story.96 In this Mahayana rendition the merchants utter a prayer directly to Kannon for

help from the cursed island and, springing out from the sea, “a great white horse…came

swimming over… Realizing that this was the answer to their prayers, the whole party [of

merchants] climbed on to the horse’s back and clung on.”97 Unlike the Theravada version (and

the Vajrayana version discussed below) Kannon, as the white horse, does not routinely visit the

island but actively responds to prayers. Given that Kannon is often associated with saving sailors

from drowning and the like, it makes sense that she would save these shipwrecked merchants

who call out to her.

The action in this version of the Japanese Valāhassa Jataka98 is quite short when

compared to other regional adaptations. While there is always the possibility that this is due to

94 Meech-Pekarik, Julia. "The Flying White Horse: Transmission of the Valahassa Jataka Imagery from India to

Japan." Artibus Asiae 43, no. 1/2 1981, p. 111-112. 95 Trainor 2001, p. 138-139. 96 Meech-Pekarik 1981, p. 113. 97 Ibid, p. 113-114. 98 A fuller version is found in Mills, D. E. A Collection of Tales from Uji; a Study and Translation of Uji Shui

Monogatari. Cambridge: University Press, 1970.

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personal preference and available space given to the translator, there is also the notion that this is

intentional. In this version, as soon as the merchants mount the horse and fly off, the

demonesses99chase after them, transform into “ten-foot-tall demons,”100 and start to stack up, one

on top of the other, in order to reach the merchants. One merchant turns back to see this and

ultimately falls to his death, his body devoured by the women. Comparing all three renditions of

this narrative gives us three different outcomes with the merchants, the horse, and the female

flesh-eaters. Theravada has half of the five hundred merchants make it out alive; this Mahayana

version has all but one, while, as we will see later in the Vajrayana edition, only the captain will

make it out alive. This is a vivid example of how narratives change over time and space. The

Jataka is still, at its core, the White Horse Jataka, but the embellishments of the narrative change

between oral texts, written works, and paintings and scrolls.

The influence that the Valāhassa Jataka has on Japanese Mahayana culture is evident in

the scrolls that Meech-Pekarik takes great care to share with her readers. The first scroll is a

twelfth-century visual representation of the Lotus Sutra entitled Heike Nōgyō (fig. 2). The

landscape, Meech-Pekarik describes, is simplified when compared to the striking paintings of the

white horse galloping across the sea. Men cling to the horse’s mane, bridle, and back. Two other

merchants are depicted in the sea, one trying to grab the horse again, the other looking back at

the pursuing women. Described as demon-like and hideous, the attackers are only wearing loin

cloths and stretch their arms wide to grab the fallen men.101 Likewise, the second painting that

pairs with a Kamakura era (1192 1333) Kannon Sutra also reflects scenes from the Valāhassa

Jataka (fig. 3). In this scene we have “a tiny golden Kannon supported on a magical silver

99 The demonic women are called rāḳsasīs in this rendition instead of yakshinis, but for continututiy’s sake I will

continue to refer to them as yakshinis. 100 Ibid, p. 114. 101 Ibid, p. 114.

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cloud,”102 which hovers above the following scenes. There is a ship located in the right hand

corner of the sea; there are a handful of lovely women walking to the shores by the lower left;

and, reflecting the climax of the story,103 there is a red demon plunging towards a white horse

and the men situated on that horse. Meech-Pekarik compares the two versions, remarking that the

latter “reflects the growing realism of… [the] times, but…loses some of the naïve expressive

power of the earlier painting.”104 She states that the terrifying visage of the first attackers pales

when compared to the demon of the second.

Fig 2. Heike Nōgyō scroll. Meech-Pekarik 1981, p. 121.

102 Ibid, p. 114. 103 The layout and scenes depicted in this one painting remind us of the multiple scenes painted in the Thai Sama

Jatakas. An entire paper on analyzing the art and narrative of Jatakas could be dedicated to such similarities. 104 Ibid, p. 114.

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Fig 3. Kannon Sutra image. Meech-Pekarik 1981, p. 119.

We too can relate the different scroll renditions to the overall collection of the White

Horse Jatakas we will examine. Some, like the upcoming Vajrayana adaptation, add great and

terrifying details to the story, while others, as we have noticed earlier with the Japanese

Valāhassa, skims over certain details in order to get straight to the point of the story. Actually,

from this research and Meech-Pekarik’s essay, it seems that this Jataka has more influence in art

and inspiring other stories in Japan than it does serving as a Jataka. This is not to discredit the

use of it as a Jataka in Japanese Mahayana but to emphasize how versatile these stories are and

how a region and people use them in different ways. It also adds a facet of visualization to these

Jatakas that we may not otherwise experience with just reading the stories and imaging them as

we go. For the Valāhassa Jataka in Japanese Mahayana the story acts as a way to praise Kannon,

her acts of compassion, and her mercy.

The Valāhassa Jataka in Vajrayana Buddhism

Unlike the Sama Jataka, the White Horse Jataka is found in Tibetan literature, more

precisely in the Tibetan history entitled ‘Mirror Illuminating the Royal Genealogies’. In this

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paper we look at two translations of the Tibetan Jataka, the first in the above text and the second

in an article by H. Wenzel that gives a bit more background onto the Valāhassa and another

translation of it.

To begin with we will look at the translation found in the Mirror Illuminating the Royal

Genealogies.105 Much like the Mahayana rendition of the Sama Jataka, the Vajrayana Valāhassa

also leaves out the “story of the present.” There is no Gautama Buddha dealing with a present

situation that prompts him to share a past life story. The Mahayana Sama Jataka does loop back

to the Buddha and his teachings, albeit very briefly, but the Vajrayana Valāhassa does no such

thing. What makes this version one of the more transformative pieces out of the Jatakas we are

studying is that Gautama Buddha is again replaced by Avalokiteśvara, similar to the Mahayana

version. It is Avalokiteśvara who turns into the horse, Balaha, in order to work for the sake of all

sentient beings. The text says that Avalokiteśvara does this by “give[ing] a[n edifying] parable of

[how] the wholesome [should] be accepted and [how] the unwholesome [should] be rejected.”106

The wholesome in this story would be those who are rescued by Balaha and the unwholesome

those who are trapped by their attachment to the island and the demonesses. This switch to

Avalokiteśvara from the historical Buddha is not difficult to understand. Avalokiteśvara is one of

the most popular bodhisattvas in Buddhism and there are numerous stories that focus on him

saving others. Being the embodiment of compassion, Avalokiteśvara will save those who call out

to him and he will take on any form necessary to save his devotees. In the White Horse Jataka it

is the horse king, Balaha, that Avalokiteśvara becomes.

Other major differences in the Vajrayana translation is the amount of embellishment

found in this story compared to the Pali narrative. The graphic details found in the Tibetan Jataka

105 Sorensen, Per K. Tibetan Buddhist Historiography: The Mirror Illuminating the Royal Genealogies. Wiesbaden:

Harrassowitz, 1994, p. 117-124. 106 Ibid, p. 119. Brackets in translation.

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are noted by scholars as being one of the defining features of this version. Examples of this can

be found in the motives of the merchants who, in this tale, have low-merit and are searching for

beautiful jewels. The storm scene is an excellent example: the low-merit merchants are

surrounded by a storm that knocks their boat towards the island—much like in the Pali version.

In the Tibetan translation, however, the storm is described in verse as such: “[At] noon black

clouds gathered like thick mist,/ Obscuring the rays of the sun, [causing] darkness to prevail,/ A

terrifying gale [raged] as if the earth trembled,/ The forest and all the trees fell about;/ The waves

of the ocean resembled a leaping lion;/ Whirlpool of waves almost made earth and heaven

meet.”107 The language of the verse is beautiful and awe-inspiring, terrifying in what it portrays

and it is positively brimming with details often found in Tibetan literature. This is fitting given

the attention Vajrayana Buddhism gives to visual imagery, whether in narratives, paintings,

murals, etc. Likewise, other Tibetan narratives, no matter the genre, also take great pains in

providing vivid details, as we see in Tibetan ghost stories where demons are often grossly

described. In the Jataka, the demonesses, once they cast away their beautiful illusions, are

described in equally grotesque fashion; their faces are rugged and “their breasts were placed

upon their shoulders,… their teeth protruded…”108 Such details are terrifying to imagine and are

perhaps even more terrifying for those listening to the tale. No other translation provides as many

memorable descriptions as the Tibetan version of the Valāhassa Jataka.

Great imagery and language, however, are not the only things that set the Vajrayana

White Horse Jataka apart from its Theravada and Mahayana cousins. There are other crucial

differences that we can examine as well. Some are only worth mentioning briefly, such as the

lack of the illusionary town and children that the demonic women create in the Pali version; the

107 Ibid, p. 119. 108 Ibid, p. 123.

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disguised demonesses being described as goddesses; and the merchants drugging their demon

wives before escaping to meet Balaha. These disparities are not worth expanding on, but are

certainly worth reading to compare with other versions.

A more notable scene is the pairing off of the merchants and demonesses upon their first

meeting and consummation of the marriage. After that a voice breaks the narrative. In the

English translation, Sorensen writes this as a voice from above who says to the audience: "[the]

merchants suffering from ill-fated karma,/ When they were carried along by an adverse and

unwelcome storm,/ Like [an animal] when going astray is caught in a hunting-net,/ [They] fell

into the hands of the Lord of Death (Yama) with no means of escape.”109 While this narrative

break in the story is worth studying from a literary point of view, we should focus on what the

disembodied voice says. In the Pali version the Buddha does not break his storytelling to explain

to the listeners why the merchants suffer the fate that they do, yet that is exactly what the

Vajrayana version does. It accentuates the fact that it is the merchants’ bad karma that brings

them to the island. So while the Vajrayana version lacks the framing “story of the past,” it still

manages to clarify why the merchants suffer the way they do. It does this without bringing up the

Buddha, allowing Avalokiteśvara to take center stage.

Another difference between Theravada and Vajrayana is what Balaha says to the

merchants as they escape from the island. Balaha enters the scene on “a moon-beam

accompanied by a light of rainbow”110 and, after eating from the paddies as we see in other

versions of this Jataka, he calls out into the night: “All [ye] merchants who have been caught up

on the Island of the Ogresses, ride on my back! Keep your eyes [completely] shut and remain

completely unattached to the youthful appearance of the rākṣasī-ogresses, your offspring and

109 Ibid, p. 120. 110 Ibid, p. 122.

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[all] enjoyable pleasures! I shall bring you to your native country!”111 Once mounted the captain

repeats this warning to his fellow merchants as the demonic women wake up and chase after

Balaha and their husbands. The demonesses beg and reprimand the merchants for leaving them

and their children and, disregarding Balaha’s instructions, all the merchants but the captain opens

their eyes and fall off the flying to horse. They are soon devoured by the women, suffering one

final moment of terror as they see the demonesses for what they really are instead of the

beautiful glamour they wear. Note too, that unlike the Theravada rendition where only half of the

merchants ultimately go with the captain and the flying horse, the Tibetan translation has all the

merchants ride Balaha. However, the Tibetan Jataka does not make a point to list how many

merchants are on the island or how many ride Balaha, whereas the Pali canon specifically states

only two hundred and fifty of the five hundred merchants join the flying horse. This may connect

back to the excluded “story of the present” and the different teachings that are stressed in the

Vajrayana version. The Buddha’s ahaṃ eva connects the two hundred and fifty merchants who

followed the white horse to his current followers while the Vajrayana version knocks those

unnumbered merchants off and focuses just on the chief and Balaha. Instead of connecting the

Buddha to all, there seems to be greater focus on Balaha as the guru and the one “pupil” who

follows his instructions.

When Balaha finally lands and tells the captain he can dismount and open his eyes, both

captain and horse mourn over the lost merchants. The captain cries and Balaha throws his hooves

to the ground, bitterly weeping. When asked what happened to the other merchants, Balaha

explains that these men lacked in merits as they think not of their native home, or their family,

but thought too much of the demonesses and the children they bore with them. A combination of

ill karma and being too attached to the women dooms the merchants to their fate. Balaha then

111 Ibid, p. 122.

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speaks what could be argued as the most Vajrayana sounding lines out of the whole Jataka:

“Alas! Alas! Indeed the sentient beings are to be pitied! The disciple who has killed [his] Tantric

teacher (vajrācārya)/ When he [becomes] imprisoned in the hellish place of Avīci,/ Even though

the guru's compassion is great [then] what can he do [to help]?”112

One of the main tantric features found in Vajrayana Buddhism is the connection between

teacher and student—between guru and initiate. The relationship between guru and practitioner

allows for the transmission of rituals and yogic practices in an esoteric fashion. There is an

emphasis on the guru that is found in Vajrayana, especially as the school shifted away from the

vinaya113 and to the samaya, a personal contract with the guru. Understandably, the relationship

between guru and pupil is an important one, but just as Balaha explains, there is only so much a

guru can do no matter how great the guru’s compassion is. With Balaha being a form of

Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, there is no one more compassionate than he is as

he tries to save these merchants from the island. But the other merchants are too far gone for his

help and he likens them to being trapped in the Avīci Hell.

Avīci is a terrible place to be reborn as it is considered one of the worst of the eight hells.

This hell is the destination for those who commit the worst crimes—killing one’s father or

mother, killing or wounding an arhat or a buddha, causing a schism in the sangha, or for those

whose wholesome faculties have been eradicated.114 And it can certainly be believed that the

merchants who are too attached to demonesses and pleasures fall into this category. There is

nothing that Balaha can do more than rescue the merchants from the island and warn them to

keep their eyes closed. If they open them, which they did, then that is their fault and beyond

112 Ibid, p. 123. 113 The monastic code that makes up one of the three baskets found in Buddhism. 114 Buswell, Robert E., and Donald S. Lopez. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton

University Press, 2014, p. 86.

Bush 51

Balaha’s powers as a guru and savior. Yet, despite the mourning and tears Balaha and the chief

merchant shed for the deceased, the King of Horses speaks once more: “Therefore do never get

attached to the [fleeting] happiness [offered] by the [ephemeral] cycle of transmigration!”115

After saying this, Balaha gives a discourse on the Four Noble Truths and the merchant chief

stops crying and returns home. The Four Noble Truths and a reminder not to become too

attached are certainly not notions confined to just Vajrayana Buddhism. Yet, they are specifically

brought up in this translation of the Valāhassa in contrast to the Pali canon where the Buddha

warns about backsliding. This makes Balaha’s speech an explanation and guide for the merchant

chief as it is for those reading it—this is what happens when you follow the path, your guru, and

this is what happens when you do not.

H. Wenzel’s Valāhassa translation is similar to Sorensen’s. Most of these discrepancies

between them seem to involve differences in the translation of the Tibetan into English, since

Wenzel’s translation expands on moments that we see in Sorensen’s. For example, when the

merchants are waiting for Balaha to arrive, they implore him by saying, “Now there is for us no

other means of escape, we implore the help of the merciful horse-lord.”116 This line show

reliance on Balaha and his mercy to save the merchants who cannot save themselves from their

“low-merit” that has placed them in this situation. And with Balaha offering this servicel we see

how compassionate Avalokiteśvara is to take up the form of the greatest horse alive to rescue

men from the island.

Another deviation comes at the very end of the Jataka when the merchant chief returns to

his village after Balaha leaves.117 Since only the captain lives in this version, he is the only one to

115 Sorensen 1994, p. 124. 116 Wenzel, H. "A Jataka-Tale from the Tibetan." The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and

Ireland, 1888, p. 507. 117 Balaha leaves “like a vanishing rainbow.” A wonderful embellishment present in both Tibetan translations.

Bush 52

tell the rest of the village what has happened. He tells everyone, in explicit detail, what has

occurred and ends the account with a teaching. In Wenzel’s version this comes as a speech,

whereas Sorensen has the lesson come from the narrator rather than one of the characters.

Despite how the medium of this teaching differs between the translations, the actual teaching is

the same: Clinging to life is harmful, and to err, just like we see with the merchants who look

back at the demonesses and “commit sin.”118 Those who do not cling to life and have received

the true Dharma and obtain salvation, like the captain, will become a buddha.119 So while the

Vajrayana White Horse Jataka does not have an ahaṃ eva, it does have this message, which

takes the place of the ahaṃ eva. There is no flash back to the framing “story of the present” to

hear what the Buddha makes of his Jataka, so we have characters like (Balaha and the captain)

speak the teachings to others and the readers instead. Moveover, credit to these teachings goes to

Balaha/Avalokiteśvara in this version rather than to the historical Buddha.

Concluding Remarks

The Sama Jataka and Valāhassa Jataka are both stories of the Buddha’s past lives. They

illustrate how the bodhisattva mastered the perfections, build his Buddha body, and transform

himself into a being that would be able to help others escape from samsara. Regional influences

and the school of Buddhism in which these stories are read change what is important about the

Jatakas. Sometimes the focus is taken off of the Buddha directly in order to emphasize another

bodhisattva or practice. Despite these changes, however, the Jatakas are indelible expressions of

Buddhist principles.

It was important to discuss two different Jatakas in this paper instead of focusing on one

close reading. The two stories are completely different in setting and function, allowing for

118 This phrasing is taken directly from Wenzel and, personally, I found it a bit etic in nature. However, even

Sorensen’s translation pens it down as “sin” as well. 119 Ibid, p. 509.

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different morals, values, and doctrinal concerns to be brought to the foreground. Examining two

Jatakas also allows for a comparison within different schools of Buddhism. By limiting ourselves

to just one Jataka we would not be able to explore how two Theravada or two Mahayana stories

compare to one another. We would not be able to see that different Jatakas tend to portray

different values even within in the same school. Through these cross-narrative and cross-cultural

comparisons we can appreciate how much these life stories have to offer everyone, not just the

practitioner, the monastic, or the secular academic. Moreover, the scholarship on the individual

Jatakas varies—what research is abundantly available on one story, like the Valāhassa Jataka in

the Vajrayana context, is limited in another, such as the Sama Vajrayana version. Focusing on a

single tale would not allow for as robust a contrast, nor would it reveal the lacunae that still exist

in the scholarship.

Through this project I hope that readers have gained new insight into the Buddhist

Jatakas and what they encompass. While the media of these narratives may change and the

numerous versions may diverge from the canon structure, every alteration contributes something.

Different tales are popular in different communities and across different schools because, the

Jatakas, despite the variations they have faced over time and travel, are still Buddhist at heart.

Bush 54

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