The Jatakas

by Sarah Shaw

  5 See DPPN II 1106–11. Stories in which he appears in this collection are 20, 313 and 407.

  6 For the six ascetics whose doctrines are described and criticized by the Buddha, see D I 52–9.

  7 That there is no other world, nor beings born not of parents (the shining gods, or devas) nor is there any result of deeds done well or badly, D II 343–50.

  8 See D I 73.

  9 M. Monier Williams, Sanskrit–English Dictionary (Oxford: OUP, 1899), p. 1119.

  10 Patisambhidamagga I 129.

  11 Opening lines to the Inferno (Milan: Biblioteca universale, 1949), pp. 47–8.

  12 A. Dante, with Introduction and Notes D. Higgins, ‘Inferno’ in The Divine Comedy.

  13 Opening line of The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), J. Bunyan, Introduction and Notes W.R. Jones, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 10.

  14 Apannaka, CPD I 51 ‘certain, true, absolute’ and so DP I 162–3. At first sight, though, the word looks like ‘without leaves or foliage’, which could have been the original meaning. The main source for it is the Apannaka sutta, no. 60, M 506–19, which also deals with the wrong views and opinions which obstruct enlightenment. The sutta was delivered at Sala, which lay, according to the commentary, at the entrance to a forest; the varied views presented in the sutta suggest metaphoric and literal trouble in the road ahead. The sense of certainty or truth in both contexts could then arise from a description of a path ‘without leaves or foliage’ that was much easier to follow.

  15 See, for instance, J V 138. These are being too close or too far, with body bent or crooked, sitting too directly in front or behind.

  16 The Buddha speaks with ‘a voice of eightfold quality—a voice that was fluent, intelligible, sweet and audible, sustained and distinct, deep and resonant . . . he made himself audible to that assembly by his voice, the sound thereof did not penetrate beyond the assembly’ (D II 227).

  17 A Buddha is said to possess ten powers, such as knowing the state of other beings and their future rebirths (M I 68–71). The word pasanna, translated as ‘clear’, means both ‘clear’ and ‘full of faith’.

  18 The lowest hell is reserved for such crimes as patricide or matricide, or causing a schism in the sangha, the order of monks. Rebirth here may be for a very long time, but is, like all rebirths, impermanent.

  19 The realm of the eighth meditation (jhana), the formless heaven of neither perception nor non-perception.

  20 See Buddhaghosa, Path of Purification, pp. 221–2 (Vism VII 47– 8). This and the following two texts are quotes from longer suttas in the Pali canon. This first quote, taken from the Aggappasada sutta (A II 34), is inserted in full, as the abbreviated version in the Fausbøll text does not make sense on its own. The beings listed here are firstly form-sphere gods, who do not have physical bodies and hence no feet, as well as various gods, men and animals who have two, four or many feet. ‘Form’ refers to beings up the form heavens, ‘formless’ to those in the highest, formless heavens. The only beings who do not have perception are those who inhabit one of the form heavens (asanna satta), one of the realms that can be obtained on the basis of the fourth meditation (jhana). The highest heaven, mentioned in the sentence before, is the realm of neither perception nor non-perception. The point being made is that the Buddha is superior to beings in all thirty-one realms of existence, even that of the highest, formless gods. See also S I 139.

  21 This is an extract from the third verse of the Ratana Sutta (Sn 223 ff), extolling the jewel of the Triple Gem as the highest blessing. It is one of the most popular Buddhist texts for chanting, used on such occasions as building a new house, moving into one or welcoming a new member of the family.

  22 This is an extract from A V 21, which lists the highest in a number of categories. Just as the enlightened being, an arahat, is the foremost amongst living beings, so carefulness or diligence, appamada, is the highest mental state. See also the peyyala, or repetitive section, of S V 29. Possibly some sort of ascending sequence of eulogy is being suggested by these three quotes, culminating in the importance of the quality of attentiveness needed for any particular moment.

  23 The Pali is unclear here. I have kept the phrase evam uttamagunehi samannagatam (‘endowed with the highest qualities’) despite its having no obvious object. It seems to be a gloss incorporated into the text at some time in the distant past.

  24 The four bad destinies, or descents, are realms lower than the human: the animal, the peta or ghost realm, the asura realm and the hells.

  25 D II 255.

  26 Dhammapada, 188–92.

  27 These are the four stages of enlightenment and the fruit of each. The one who attains stream-entry never again experiences doubt or rebirth in a descent: he will become enlightened within seven lifetimes; the once-returner will become enlightened within the space of one more lifetime, the never-returner will gain enlightenment within this lifetime. The path is fully revealed at arahatship.

  28 See A I 30 for the series of ten texts on the ‘one things’ that lead to enlightenment. The same wording is used for each of the ten recollections of Theravada Buddhist meditation practice: on each aspect of the Triple Gem, on virtue, generosity, devas, the breath, death, the body and peace. The last three quotes again suggest an ascending sequence of benefits, from freedom from a lower rebirth, to freedom from suffering described in a general sense to, lastly, the four stages of enlightenment. It is not clear if the speaker of these three is the narrator of the story from the present or the Buddha himself.

  29 Himagabbham—epithet for the clouds.

  30 In this first, as in many stories, King Brahmadatta is introduced. Nothing is known of Brahmadatta other than the name, possibly generic, which is applied to one king or a line of kings of Varanasi.

  31 A yakkha is a regular feature of Indian folklore. Pot-bellied, with a terrifying face, he appears in some traditions as a supernatural being, with an earthy physical appearance to which a goblin is the nearest Western equivalent. When depicted in the doorways and lintels of Buddhist, Jain and Hindu temples he is often seen as a protective deity, whose power to terrify is employed to keep away other evil spirits. In Jatakas yakkhas are sometimes benign; more usually though they are malevolent towards humans. As this story shows us, they are capable of disguise and supernatural conjuring yet may be detected by the fact that they leave no shadows.

  32 Perhaps an image conjured up by the yakkha—or just a mirage.

  33 The PTS text says ‘from one yojana’, but the Burmese manuscript give ‘from three yojanas’, which seems more likely for a rain-cloud.

  34 This is the first example of the oldest layer of the text, the verses that form part of the stories from the past. This one is spoken as comment by the Buddha in the present. All the stories in the first nipata, or section, have just one verse, which, perhaps because of its brevity, tends to be a short adage or homily. Stories towards the end of the collection often have passages of consecutive verse that run into hundreds, permitting extensive dramatic interchange, lyrical description of places and events and prolonged doctrinal discussion. Verses are usually in four padas, or lines, of eight syllables each.

  35 The three wholesome attainments are that of a human birth, a heavenly birth or nibbana, freedom from birth. The six sense-sphere heavens are those where beings may be reborn for acts of generosity and keeping the precepts. The Brahma heavens, the form-sphere realms, are where beings who practise meditation (jhana) may be reborn.

  {2}

  The story of Makhadeva

  Makhadeva Jataka (9)

  Vol. I, 137–9

  The story of King Makhadeva’s discovery of a grey hair is the most famous example of the Bodhisatta’s practice of renunciation (nekkhamma), the third perfection. 1 In Gotama’s last life such ‘messengers of the gods’, in the form of the old man, the sick man and the dead man, prompt his departure from his palace and impress upon him the need for a spiritual path. 2 The single grey hair here arouses a sense
of urgency (samvega). The meditation manuals regard urgency as a precursor or even prerequisite for some calm (samatha) practices, such as the meditation on death, and say that if used skilfully it leads to peace. 3

  Although prompted by agitation, Makhadeva’s decision to leave the lay life shows that renunciation was regarded as involving great reward and was not just a simple rejection of sensory pleasures. According to Indian practice there were four stages of life. The disciple (brahmacarin) follows his teacher in learning sacred duties; the householder (grhastha) enjoys domestic happiness and public duty; the forest life (vanaprastha) is for the time when these duties have been fulfilled and, lastly, the stage of the homeless wanderer (sannyasin) is for the stage leading to the completion of life. 4 When he takes on the ascetic life, the renunciate gives up the active pursuit of the pleasures associated with sensory and sexual fulfilment (kama) and wealth, political power and status (artha). 5Just as the pleasures of youth were thought appropriate to the young and the exercise of authority to the prime of life, going out into the world was considered natural to old age. It was felt to pave the way for a real freedom from sensory ties, at an inner as well as an outer level, to give time for meditation. In Buddhism, the attributes of the first meditation (jhana) are initial thought (vitakka), sustained thought (vicara), joy (piti), happiness (sukha) and one-pointedness (ekaggata). These factors are said to arise when the meditator practises inner renunciation and finds release from the senses. Two of them, ‘joy’ and ‘happiness’, are the same words applied to sexual and sensory pleasure in texts such as the Kama Sutra. 6 In meditation they are described as occurring in a more refined and intense form, on the basis of a meditation object, without the dependence on sensory hindrances.

  This story provides a paradigm of a benign and just king who enjoys each stage of life to the full. This is in striking contrast to the depiction of kingship in the Mugapakkha Jataka (538). In that story only the darker aspects of royal office are emphasized and pressing arguments are given against postponing the pursuit of renunciation until late in life. Thousands of years of time, the great by-product and metaphor for heavenly states of mind, do not feature at all. Makhadeva, however, like Mahasudassana (95), lives for thousands of years in an existence that is—apart from the shock of the grey hair—almost divine. His kingship, presumably, fulfils the ideal of a just king dedicated to the welfare of his subjects. 7 In such stories the king, in the last stage of life, often cultivates the divine abidings, the meditations on loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. According to Buddhist theory all of these qualities may be present in daily life, in dealings with other beings. By cultivating them in seclusion, a just king, or anyone with a human rebirth, attains jhana and becomes ‘one bound for a Brahma realm’. In this Jataka the ‘happy ending’ portrays renunciation and its fruit, meditation, as a natural process in the completion of a single life cycle. Despite the Bodhisatta’s rebirth in a Brahma heaven he is committed, however, to renouncing ‘all states of becoming’, a goal for which the human form is most suitable. 8 After many aeons, the story says, Makhadeva is born again to fulfil the perfections as King Nimi, one of the last of that line of kings. 9 The story is depicted on a roundel at Bharhut. 10

  Story from the present

  ‘Appeared on my head’

  While staying in the Jetavana Grove the Teacher told this story concerning great renunciation. It is already told in the introduction to the Jatakas. 11 At that time the monks were sitting, praising the renunciation of the Ten-Powered One. Then the Teacher arrived at the dhamma hall, sat in the Buddha seat and addressed the monks. ‘What, bhikkhus, have you met together to discuss now?’ he asked them. They replied, ‘Bhante, we meet for no other discussion than to praise your renunciation’. He said, ‘Bhikkhus, the Thus-gone has not just practised renunciation now. Even before this he practised renunciation.’ The monks asked the Exalted One for an explanation of this. The Exalted One made clear the action which had been hidden by a previous existence.

  Story from the past

  Once upon a time, at Mithila in the kingdom of Videha, there was a king called Makhadeva who was just and ruled justly. For successive periods of 84,000 years, he enjoyed the play of youth, then acted as viceroy and then was king. A long time passed. One day he called his barber: ‘Good barber, at the time when you see grey hairs on my head, you should inform me.’ A long time passed and one day [138] the barber saw a single grey hair amongst the collyrium-black locks of the king. He informed the king, ‘Sire, a single grey hair has appeared on you.’ ‘Good man, pluck out the grey hair and put it into my hand.’ When he had been asked the barber plucked out the hair with golden tweezers and placed it into the king’s palm. At that time the king had eighty-four thousand years of his life remaining. When he saw the hair he felt a sense of urgency and in his imagination it was as if the king of death had arrived and was standing by him or that he had entered a leaf hut that was on fire. He reflected, ‘Foolish Makhadeva! In the time up to the arising of this hair you have not been able to get rid of defilements!’ As he pondered and pondered at the appearance of the hair an internal fire arose in him. Sweat poured from his body, his outer garments oppressed him and he wanted to pull them right off. ‘I have to renounce and go forth as an ascetic this very day.’ He gave the boon of a town that yielded a hundred thousand coins to the barber and summoned his eldest son. He said, ‘Dear one, a grey hair has come upon my head. I have become old. I have had my fill of human pleasures and now I am going to investigate divine ones. It is time for me to renounce. You take over the kingdom but I will go forth, live in the Makhadeva mango grove and practise the teaching of the one who has gone forth into the world.’ As he wished to become an ascetic the ministers approached him and asked, ‘Sire, what is the reason for your going forth?’, the king held the hair in his hand and spoke this verse to them:

  1.‘These messengers from the gods have appeared and grown on my head,

  Taking away the prime of my life: It is the time for me to go forth.’

  He spoke in this way and that very day abandoned the kingdom and took the going forth, the path of living as an ascetic. Living in that very Makhadeva mango grove he cultivated the four divine abidings for eighty-four thousand years. He died without abandoning his meditation and then took rebirth in a Brahma heaven. When he fell away from this he was again in Mithila, as a king called Nimi. He united his diminishing family line and took the going forth in the same mango grove, cultivated the four divine abidings and went again to a Brahma heaven.

  The Teacher said, ‘So it was not just now that the Thus-gone practised a great renunciation. He did so in the past too.’ Then he gave this talk about the teaching and revealed the four noble truths. Some there become stream-enterers, some once-returners and some never-returners. 12 So the Exalted One related these two tales and made the connections between them both, explaining the birth. ‘At that time Ananda was the barber, Rahula the son and I was king Makhadeva.’

  Notes

  1 The story features in the Makhadeva Sutta, no. 83 (M II 74–83).

  2 The other deva messenger is a man dressed in monk’s robes (J I 59).

  3 Buddhaghosa, Path of Purification, p. 248 (Vism VIII 8).

  4 Basham, The Wonder that was India, pp. 159–60.

  5 Ibid., 166–73.

  6 See W. Doniger and S. Kakar, Vatsayana Mallanaga: Kamasutra: A New, Complete Translation of the Sanskrit Text (Oxford: OUP, 2002), p. lxiv, on range of meanings of joy (Sanskrit priti)/Pali piti) and happiness (sukha) in Indian thought.

  7 See stories 95, 539 and the story of King Nimi (Jataka 541), his later incarnation (J VI 95–129).

  8 J I 21.

  9 Jataka 541 (J VI 95).

  10 Sir A. Cunningham, The Stupas of Bharhut (London: 1879), Plate xlviii. It bears the inscription, in Brahmi script, ‘Magha deviya’.

  11 This refers to the great renunciation of Gotama in his final life (J I 61ff).

  12 The first three
stages of enlightenment.

  {3}

  The cane stalk story

  Nalapana Jataka (20)

  Vol. I, 170–2

  This story, particularly popular in Myanmar (Burma), is of a type that gives a folk ‘explanation’ for a natural occurrence: it could as easily be called ‘How the cane reed got its hole’. 1 Rudyard Kipling, a lover of Jatakas, has his Buddhist lama tell one in chapter 9 of Kim; tales such as this must have provided him with the inspiration to compose his own fictional explanations for some natural quirks in the universe in Just So Stories. 2 A needle is one of the eight requisites described at this period as the basics needed by a monk to sustain life. The list varies historically but at this time the others are usually the three robes, an alms bowl, a razor, waist band and a water strainer. 3 Later items included an umbrella and sandals. Monks were expected to be reasonably self-sufficient and would be expected to do their own darning and mending: in the early days their robes were sewn from rags and pieces of cloth left in charnel grounds. The material was then washed and dyed a saffron yellow or cinnamon brown, or whatever was the cheapest kind of dye. As a reminder of their origins as cast-offs, Buddhist monks’ robes are today sewn with a kind of patchwork effect. The fact that a needle case can be found anywhere as a result of the Bodhisatta’s resolve reinforces a sense of the monks’ freedom from ties and the suitability of the natural environment for their ascetic life.

  The miracles described in the story provide a vindication of the comprehensiveness of a Bodhisatta’s resolve through mastery or transcendence of each of the four elements, though only fire and water are specified. A mountain is squeezed in the first to make the imprint of the hare, involving the element of earth.4 The absence of rain occurs when the Buddha is so moved by the potter Ghatikara’s piety that he sees that no rain ever falls on the spot where his house is located. 5 The element of fire is mastered when the Bodhisatta, as a baby quail, makes a declaration of truth that puts out a forest fire and ensures no fire ravages that place again.6 This one, the fourth, involves the use of air, which assumes in this instance the miraculous power to hollow out a cane. Although mastery of the elements is considered to be one of the powers (iddhis) that can arise after the practice of the fourth meditation (jhana), only a Bodhisatta is thought capable of effecting these four long-lasting changes in the world. Another miracle traditionally ascribed to a Bodhisatta in his final life, as the Buddha, is the Twin Miracle, involving the mixing of fire and water, which can be performed only by Buddhas. The story here is not attributed to a perfection but does involve a statement of truth (saccakiriya), which we also find in Jatakas 75 and 538. It is also one of the few that feature a resolve, or resolution (adhitthana).