jataka tales

Jessica Power
Response Essay 3
1/29/09
Page 1

The Jataka Tales each give separate lessons on Dharma and the way life should be lived. In summary: “The Bodhisattva and the Hungry Tigress” story focuses on showing that the body and this life are only temporary and that you should put others’ lives before your own because in the end the reward will be greater. “The Bodhisattva as the Preacher of Patience” shows that life without material possession and distractions leads to a happier existence. It also tells that again the body is just a temporary thing and greater reward comes from becoming detached from your life. “The Past Lives of Gotama Buddha” shows that by following Buddhas’ lessons and taking refuge in them you can overcome suffering. It also emphasizes the idea of giving over to others for their benefit, and in the end the greater benefit is your own. The last story “Passage Denied: The Naga Who Tried to Become a Monk” shows that animals and normal laypersons cannot become monks.
Question 1) Which aspects of Buddhism are emphasized/neglected in these Jatakas in comparison with Buddhism as presented in Smith (The World’s Religions) and the film Footprint of the Buddha? One of the main things the Jataka Tales emphasize is self-sacrifice for the benefit of someone else. In “The Bodhisattva and the Hungry Tigress” the prince Mahasattva sacrifices himself to feed a starving tigress. The prince says his body is doomed to die and in this way it can achieve a greater existence in the next life for doing this good deed. The film Footprint of the Buddha mentioned this

Jessica Power
Response Essay 3
1/29/09
Page 2
concept by saying that it is good to cling to nothing and to let go of the world since it is not permanent and will not last forever. Another aspect of Buddhism that was mentioned in the “Bodhisattva as the Preacher of Patience” story was that we should be mindful of others and not ourselves, which Smith mentioned in his chapter on Buddhism. “Our duty to our fellows is to understand them as extensions, other aspects, of ourselves – fellow facets of the same Reality” (Smith 103). In the story “Bodhisattva as the Preacher of Patience”, when the Bodhisattva is being cut by the angry king, the Bodhisattva feels no physical pain, only sorrow for the fate that will befall the king in the future.
Question 2) What attitude do these Jatakas take toward the physical world, the environment, and human life? The stories seem to treat the physical world as a place of beauty and distraction that is impermanent and must be overcome to reach enlightenment. The tales’ attitude toward environment seems to admire nature for its beauty such as in the “Bodhisattva as the Preacher of Patience” in which it is mentioned that the “great- souled man lived in the middle of the forest, in a place delightful for its solitude, and beautiful and like a lovely garden”. I think also that nature is appreciated for its exclusiveness from the world and the sense of privacy it gives to the Bodhisattva so he can concentrate more. The stories’ attitude towards human life seems to be that it is filled with suffering and is ultimately fated to end, but by focusing on Buddha and his teachings it can be overcome.


Jessica Power
Response Essay 3
1/29/09
Page 3

Question 3) What attitude do these tales suggest with regard to animals and animal-human relations? Some of the tales seem to contradict each other on the aspect of human-animal relations. “The Bodhisattva and the Hungry Tigress” shows the Bodhisattva giving up his life to a “fellow-creature” the tigress. Yet in “The Past Lives of Gotama Buddha” the when the Barber kills some birds to eat them all the disciple does is say no “thank you” when some is offered to him and the Barber is not punished for eating the birds. Then in the story “Passage Denied: The Naga Who Tried to Become a Monk”, after a naga is denied the right to be a monk, it seems that animals are being excluded from the Buddhist community and cannot “advance in the practice of the Dharma”. Ian Harris’ explanation of this in “A Vast Unsupervised Recycling Plant: Animals and the Buddhist Cosmos” seems to clarify this confusion. The Jataka Tales “provide a guide to the proper conduct of humans. However it could be argued that the often highly anthropomorphic character of the essentially pre-Buddhist folk-tradition of these narratives is largely devoid of “naturalistic” content, thus defeating the intention of those who bring them forward as evidence in support of an authentic Buddhist environmentalist ethic. Indeed, the animals are not really animals at all, for at the end of each story the Buddha reveals that the central character was none other than himself in a former life” (Harris 208). A similar situation can be seen in the “Peacock Poem” from Ivette Vargas’ “Snake-Kings, Boars’ Heads, Deer Parks, and Monkey Talk: animals as Transmitters and Transformers in Indian and Tibetan Buddhist Narratives” because the poem does not
Jessica Power
Response Essay 3
1/29/09
Page 4

focus on the peacock itself but uses it as a metaphor for the principles that the Bodhisattva should follow. In the end it seems like the Jataka stories do not focus on teaching about animal-human relations but more on the lessons Gotama Buddha wanted to pass on to his followers.