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14. THE CONCEPT OF AVATARS
At first the request was indignantly refused, but when Kanha displayed his supernatural powers he gained the princess. D.1.96f.; DA.1.266. 5. Kanha.-A Pacceka Buddha, mentioned in the Isigili Sutta. M.iii.71. 6. Kanha.-A dog. See Mahā-Kanha 7. Kanha. See Kanhadīpāyana It is certain that those names were very common by that time.
Jain tradition also shows that these tales were popular and were worked up into different forms, for the Jains have an elaborate system of ancient patriarchs which includes Vasudevas and Baladevas. Krishna is the ninth of the Black Vasudevas and is connected with Dväravatî or Dvâraka. As the brother of Neminatha, he will become the twelfth tîrthankara of the next world-period and a similar position will be attained by Devakî, Rohini, Baladeva and Javakumâra, all members of his family. This is a striking proof of the popularity of the Krishna legend outside the Brahmanic religion.
This relief from Borobodur illustrates a Jataka tale in which the bodhisatta is a great turtle who first saves a group of shipwrecked sailors by taking them on his back, then offers his body to them as food
to relieve their hunger
Kapi Jataka. The Bodhisattva monkey, a previous birth of Lord Buddha, admonishes the cruel and
selfish man. Cave 17, Ajanta
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