Jataka Tales

Stories of the previous life of Buddha

What stories do you know?

What did you learn from them?

What about the storiesThat kept the imagination

Our ancestors active?

Don’t they deserve the sameAttention we give to the stories

We love today?

Definitions

Jatakafrom the root word

jāta meaning born (or as ‘born under’)

janati meaning ‘he begets’ — which is more at ‘kin’

Jataka Tales are of some 550 birth stories or narratives of former incarnations of Gautama Buddha collected in Buddhist sacred writingsThe word is Sanskrit.

The Jātakas refer to a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of the Bodhisattva

Uses of the Jataka Tales

In Sanskrit, the Panchatantra (Indian fables of 3rd century BCE) used them to teach Law and Economics

In Katha Sarit Sagara (11th-century collection of Indian legends, fairy tales,folk tales) used them for the development of knowledge, as well as just for enjoyment.

In Modern Times:

develop their knowledge develop human values and good qualities

develop the moral and ethical values

*Comparing it to today’s stories and its content.

Buddha’s insightsKarma and the 4 Noble Truths

At the heart of these stories lies the law of Karma which states,

according to Buddhist philosophy, that every being becomes what he

makes himself.

Karma, here, does not stand just a synonym for action. It includes all the causal connections between actions and their consequences.

The Buddha revealed the inner

complexities of karma’s workings,

and pointed out that one can, change the course of one’s life,

by understanding the nature of karma.

He also taught that karma does not

unfold in a simple manner with a single

cause giving rise directly to a specific

effect.

Another key to Buddhism are the four noble truths. 1. there is suffering2. that it has a cause

3. that it can be suppressed 4. that there is a way to accomplish this. These truths find their place in

various Jatakas.

Jataka Tales in PracticeAnd Literature

Through the centuries these

stories have been much more than fairy

tales.

They were, and are, taken very seriously for their moral and spiritual teachings.

"Shakespeare said that art is a mirror held up to nature. And that's what it is. The nature is your nature, and all of these wonderful poetic images of mythology are referring to something in you.”

--- Joseph Campbell

"The Ajanta Cave paintings of Maharashtra, India (ca. 6th century CE) portray Jataka Tales in narrative order, so that people walking through the caves would learn the stories.

Sample story

In your hand-out there are three stories,

1. The wicked lady and the buttermilk wise man

2. King Nimi

3. Learn though from him

We will use Story no. 1

The wicked Lady and the buttermilk Wise Man

The Wicked Lady

Holy man living near the river

Holy man saves the woman

END