Proceedings of the Seminar on Prakrit Studies 1973

Author(s): K R Chandra, Dalsukh Malvania, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 71

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the social conditions at the time of the Buddha, but at the most, for the period of 3rd century B.C., and for the greater part, especially in their prose, only for the fifth or sixth century A.D.; yet so much has remained uochanged in India throughout the centuries, that the picture of civilization in the Jatakos may nevertheless be regarded as very "ancient.” In any case, the narratives of Jataka book afford us a glimpse into the life of all classes of the Indian people, of which other books of Indian literature rarely give us information.?
Jatakas (to which 'avadānas' can also be added) are the basic scriptures of Bodhisattva ideal because instead of merely arousing our interest with a dissertation on Bodhisattva doctrine they inspire us, by showing, with shattering simplicity and truth, how the Bodhisattva actually lives, how, not in one life only but through hundreds of lives, he sweats and suffers for the ultimate good of sentient beings.8
“Jātakas are the divine songs of the Bodhisattva ideal” as Lama Anagarika Govinda put it, and it is a song in form which speaks directly to the human heart and which, therefore, is not only understandable to the wise but even to the simplest mind.” And we find, upto the present day, Jätakas have not lost their human appeal and continue to exert a deep influence upon the religious life in all Buddhist countries. In Ceylon, Burma, Siam and Cambodia crowds of people listen with rapt attention for hours when Bhikkhus during the full moon nights recite the stories of the Buddha's former lives and even in Tibet as the Lama reports tears come to the eyes of sturdy caravan men, when sitting around the camp fire, the Bodhisattva's suffering and sacrifice are told. For these people. Jātakas are not literature or 'folklore' but something that happens in their very presence and profoundly affects their life 10
Bhikshu Sangharakshita remarks: “One must read Jalakas, if one wants to be moved, as one reads poetry, that is to say with a willing suspension of disbelief' on whatever one, on mere intellectual grounds, is unable to accept. The beauty of Milton's “Paradise” moves us regardless of whether we accept or do not accep: the Biblical account of creation. 11
In the Vessantara-Jataka, one of the best known and most widely appreciated of all stories of Buddha's former births, Prince Vessantara in fulfilment of his vow to give whatever he is asked to give, not only surrenders his ancestral kingdom but even his own wite and children. Here the question may be asked whether Vessantara had the right to dispose his wife and childeren in this manner. The question is irrelavant. The purpose of this Jataka is not to assert that a man's family is a species of movable property, to be given or sold at will, its purpose is to show that absolute non-atiachment to worldly things is an integral part of Bodhisattva ideal.12