The Jatakas: Birth Stories of the Bodhisatta

337 Pages·2007·1.52 MB·English

by  Sara Janet Shaw

‘When my concentrated mind was purified, I directed it to the
knowledge of the recollection of past lives’—The Buddha on the
night of his enlightenment
Associated with the living traditions of folk tale, drama and epic, the
Jatakas recount the development of the Bodhisatta–the being destined
to become the present Buddha in his final life–not just through the
events of one lifetime but of hundreds. Written in Pali, the language of
the Theravada Buddhist canon, the Jatakas comprise one of the largest
and oldest collections of stories in the world dating from the fifth
century to the third century . Generations in South and South-east
BCE CE
Asia have grown up with these tales.

This volume contains twenty-six stories drawn from various ancient
sources, and each story reflects one of the ten perfections–giving,
restraint, renunciation, wisdom, strength, acceptance, truthfulness,
resolve, loving kindness and equanimity. A detailed introduction
elaborates on the ten perfections, explains the forms of enlightenment
as well as the structure, and the historical and geographical contexts of
the stories. Sarah shaw brings to life the teachings of Buddhism for
the scholar and lay reader alike.
Translated, with an introduction, by SARAH SHAW

Cover: Illustration of Rescue at Sea (Ms. Pali a.27R)
© Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
PENGUIN CLASSICS

THE JATAKAS
was educated at Manchester University, where she read Greek and
SARAH SHAW
English. She did her doctorate in English Literature there and went on to the
study of Pali and Sanskrit in Oxford. She has written a book about meditation in
the Pali canon, which is being published as part of a series in connection with the
Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies. She is a teacher and writer and is married
with three children. A Buddhist for some years, she practises with the Samatha
Association in Britain.
THE JATAKAS

Birth Stories of
the Bodhisatta

Translated from the Pali by
SARAH SHAW
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First published by Penguin Books India 2006

This translation copyright © Sarah Shaw 2006
Cover image courtesy Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
All rights reserved

ISBN 978-01-4400-147-7

This Digital Edition published 2010. e-ISBN: 978-81-8475-034-8
Digital conversion prepared by DK Digital Media, India.

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This book is dedicated to
the memory of my parents,
Hamish and Kathleen Bremner
Contents
Copyright
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
A note on the texts
Author’s note
Introduction
The Far Past: The Bodhisatta Vow and the Ten Perfections
1. A true story Apannaka Jataka (1)
2. The story of Makhadeva Makhadeva Jataka (9)
3. The cane stalk story Nalapana Jataka (20)
4. The story of the partridge Tittira Jataka (37)
5. The Vedabbha mantra storyVedabbha Jataka (48)
6. The story of five weaponsPancavudha Jataka (55)
7. The story of the fishMaccha Jataka (75)
8. The hair-standing-on-end story Lomahamsa Jataka 94
9. The story of the great king of glory Mahasudassana Jataka (95)
10. The story of more than a thousand Parosahassa Jataka (99)
11. The story of the draining bucket 1 Udancani Jataka (106)
12. A rustic story Bahiya Jataka (108)
13. The kusa grass story Kusanali Jataka (121)
14. The cat story Bialara Jataka (128)
15. The story of the kimsuka tree Kimsukopama Jataka (248)
16. The story of the tortoise Kacchapa Jataka (273)
17. The story of the one who taught forbearance Khantivadi Jataka
(313)
18. The story of the hare Sasa Jataka (316)
19. The story of Nandiya the deer Nandiya Jataka (385)
20. The story of the barleymeal sack Satthubhasta Jataka (402)
21. The story of the monkey king Mahakapi Jataka (407)
22. The story of the swift goose Javanaham taka (476)
23. The story of Campeyya Campeyya Jataka (506)
24. The story of Temiya, the dumb cripple Mugapakkha Jataka (538)
25. The story of Mahajanaka Mahajanaka Jataka (539 )
26. The story of Sama Sama Jataka (540)
Further reading and bibliography
Appendix A: The disciples of the Buddha
Appendix B: Cosmology
Appendix C: Indian sites that portray Jatakas
Glossary and index of proper names
Acknowledgements
If Jatakas were being written now there would have to be one about generosity in
the giving of time. I have often had the benefit of this kind while working on
these translations. So I would like to thank L.S. Cousins, past president of the
Samatha Trust and the Pali Text Society, for teaching me for many years and for
helping me out. I would also like to thank Professor Richard Gombrich for his
teaching over the last few years. Both have influenced and taught me so much
that the debt cannot be covered fully by footnotes. Dr Justin Meiland has also
often given a great deal of useful comment, both on points of translation and
about Jatakas in general. Other people I would like to thank for reading sections
or giving comments are Ven. Dhammasami, Dr John Elsner, Dr Susan Francia,
Sarah Norman, Dr Valerie Roebuck, Professor Grevel Lindop and Dr Peter
Skilling. My editor, Sumitra Srinivasan, has been very helpful and alert to
inconsistencies. The staff and librarians at the Oriental Institute and the Indian
Institute libraries have also always been helpful. My greatest thanks are to my
family, my husband, Charles, and children, Jeremy, Roland and Lucy. My dog,
Bramble, who died while I was completing the script, was a reminder to me that
animals can help to keep us human.