Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s3.t8: Jatakamala
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s3.t8
- Language
- English
Jatakamala
v2.c10.s3.t8.1
*Jatakamala* is an epic written in classical Sanskrit in the 4ᵗʰ century by the monk Aryasura, whose life is unknown. It consists of 34 *Jataka* stories and portrays a compassionate and merciful image of the Buddha, who is sympathetic with creatures in plight or despair, no matter who it is whether a king, a Brahmin, an ascetic, a monkey or a rabbit, and it also vividly describes the cultural life in ancient India from the life of the royalty to that of civilians or life in the cities or in the villages. It aims to propagate "paramita", which means to encourage
v2.c10.s3.t8.2
Mural depicting the Sibi Jataka, Northern Wei Dynasty, Cave 25, Mogao grottoes, Dunhuang, China
v2.c10.s3.t8.3
'Jatakamala', a Qing Dynasty edition
v2.c10.s3.t8.4
people to acquire Buddhata through giving of alms, observations of commandments, patience, diligence, meditation and wisdom. Most of stories, such as '*Sibi*, *The Hare*', and '*The Tigress*', can be found in previous Buddhist texts. It was composed in classical Sanskrit in a skillful, rhythmical, rhetoric and yet concise manner. The writing is lucid, smooth and has an artistic charm, and it is generally recognised as a classic masterpiece of Buddhist literature.
v2.c10.s3.t8.5
In his '*Account of Buddhism Sent from the South Seas*', Yijing said, "these tales from the '*Jatakamala*' were of rich literary merits and instructive. '*Jatakamala*' can be translated into over ten volumes. It consists of Jataka stories and tends to preach obedience, love and benign governance. At that time, Siladitya was fond of good writings, and decreed, 'Bring them to me tomorrow morning if you have good poems of praise'. The following day, he received 500 with most of them from '*Jatakamala*', which was considered to be the best. On islands in the south sea, there are more than a dozen of states, where people, monks or laymen, all cite from this book. Like the previous book, it is not yet translated". Therefore, when Buddhism was at its height, '*Jatakamala*' was popular in India and the kingdoms in the South Seas, and had even become the name for a category of books. In Ajanta Caves, Aryasura's words are inscribed on some carvings of Jataka stories. In Java of Indonesia, the grand Buddhist building Borobudur has the reproduction of 34 stories of '*Jatakamala*' through relief sculpture.
v2.c10.s3.t8.6
Of existing Chinese sutras, there is a '*Bodhisattva - Jatakamala*' that consists of 16 volumes. According to volume IX of '*Zhiyuan Fabao Kantong Zonglu*' in the Yuan Dynasty, the first four books of the original Sanskrit text were written by Aryasura, and the remaining 12 books were composed by Shantariparvartan and Aryadeva. It was translated into Chinese by Chinese monks Shaode and Huixun in Xi Ning Era (1068-1077) of the Song Dynasty. But it varies greatly from the version written by Aryasura alone, except those ascribed to Aryasura, the rest books are mostly articles expounding Buddhism.
v2.c10.s3.t8.7
(*Liu Jian*)
Linked texts (1)
- Jātakamālā — Āryaśūra, Sanskrit