The Jatakas
- The Jatakas translate to ‘the birth story’ or ‘related to a birth’ and is a body of literature from South Asia about tales of Gautama Buddha’s previous births in human and animal forms.
- Some of these Jataka tales are also scattered in the Tripitaka, including a group of 35 compiled later into ‘Cariya Pitaka’ or the Basket of Conduct.
- The earliest parts of The Jatakas might have been from the fifth century BC, and the later parts may have been added during the third century BC.
- The Jataka tales usually follow a similar storyline or theme, where Buddha may appear as royalty, a god, an outcast, or even an animal. Still, he represents a virtue that becomes the moral of the story.
- The characters around Buddha in these tales often are mischievous trouble makers that find themselves in all kinds of troubles but are saved by the character played by Buddha to get a happy ending.
- This Buddha character can recollect memories of his past lives to solve others’ problems and further his teachings of Buddhism.
- He can also identify the characters around him in the introductory story with those of people from his past.
- These tales are often humorous and have a variety, although the central theme is the teaching of virtue by Gautama Buddha in various forms.
Buddhist Literature and Stories Related to The Birth Of Buddha
Buddhism is one of the oldest and more prominent religions in the world. Buddhism was founded in the 6th century BC by Gautama Buddha. Originally named Siddhartha, his royal living didn’t make him content, and he was tortured by observing sickness, suffering from the old, and death around him. He became a wanderer searching for solutions to mankind’s miseries and finally abandoned everything to meditate under a pipal tree and attained ‘Supreme Knowledge‘ on the 49th day of his continuous meditation. He became known as Buddha, and his teachings were described in the ‘Four Noble Truths‘ and ‘Eightfold Path‘.
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