Monotheism, Mythology, and More: Jataka tales - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Jataka tales - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bhutanese painted thangka of the Jatakas, 18th-19th Century, Phajoding Gonpa, Thimphu, Bhutan

History

The Jatakas were originally amongst the earliest Buddhist literature, with metrical analysis methods dating their average contents to around the 4th century BCE.^[2] The Mahāsāṃghika Caitika sects from the Āndhra region took the Jatakas as canonical literature, and are known to have rejected some of the Theravada Jatakas which dated past the time of King Ashoka.^[3] The Caitikas claimed that their own Jatakas represented the original collection before the Buddhist tradition split into various lineages.^[4]
According to A.K. Warder, the Jatakas are the precursors to the various legendary biographies of the Buddha, which were composed at later dates.^[5] Although many Jatakas were written from an early period, which describe previous lives of the Buddha, very little biographical material about Gautama's own life has been recorded.^[6]

This list includes stories based on the Jatakas:

Grannie's Blackie
How the Turtle Saved His Own Life
Prince Sattva
Sibi Jataka
The Ass and the Pig
The Ass in the Lion's Skin
The Banyan Deer
The Crab and the Crane
The Elephant Girly-Face
The Foolish, Timid Rabbit
The Great Ape
The King's White Elephant
The Lion, the Bear and the Fox
The Measure of Rice
The Merchant of Seri
The Monkey and the Crocodile
The Ox Who Envied the Pig
The Ox Who Won the Forfeit
The Princes and the Water-Sprite
The Quarrel of the Quails
The Sandy Road
The Tiger, the Brahmin and the Jackal
The Tortoise and the Birds
The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking
The Twelve Sisters
The Wise and the Foolish Merchant
Vessantara Jataka
Why the Owl Is Not King of the Birds

References

^ "Jataka" (in english). Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 2011-12-04.
^ Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. pp. 286-287
^ Sujato, Bhikkhu. Sects & Sectarianism: The Origins of Buddhist Schools. 2006. p. 51
^ Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. pp. 286-287
^ Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. pp. 332-333
^ Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. pp. 332-333
^ Handbook of Pali Literature, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 1996
^ Source: sacred-texts.com (accessed: Saturday January 23, 2010)
^ Jacobs 1888, Introduction, page lviii "What, the reader will exclaim, "the first literary link [1570] between India and England, between Buddhism and Christendom, written in racy Elizabethan with vivacious dialogue, and something distinctly resembling a plot. . . ."
^ "Indian Stories",The History of World Literature, Grant L. Voth, Chantilly, VA, 2007
^ The tale of Prince Samuttakote: a Buddhist epic from Thailand
^ Nang Sip Song Prarath Meri
^ Dance Troupe Prepares for Smithsonian Perfomance
^ สุธนชาดก (Suthan Jataka - Dance form)
^ Rev. Sengpan Pannyawamsa, Recital of the Tham Vessantara Jātaka: a social-cultural phenomenon in Kengtung, Eastern Shan State, Myanmar, Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies, (University of Kelaniya), Sri Lanka
^ Pali Text Society Home Page