A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t2.169

v2.c19.s3.t2.169

In ancient times it was not yet considered necessary to give the stories the form of "Jātakas." We still find isolated stories related, *e.g.* that of Dīghāvu ("Prince Longlived") in the Vinayapiṭaka,² without the hero being identified with the Bodhisatta. It was only at a later period that a Jātaka was made out of it. Yet there are also a few real Jātakas already to be found in the collections of the Suttas,³ and they prove that the Buddhist monks, like their Christian colleagues in the Middle Ages, related these stories or used them as sermons.