A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t2.203

v2.c19.s3.t2.203

As regards the contents, we find in the Jātakas: 1. Fables, most of which, like Indian fables in general, aim at teaching Nīti, *i.e.* worldly wisdom. Only a few of them have the moral tendency as evinced in the ascetic poetry, and only a very few are genuinely Buddhist. 2. Fairy tales, including many animal fairy tales, almost entirely in the style of the European popular fairy tales, and without the remotest reference to Buddhism. Only in a few cases have they been furnished with a Buddhist tendency, so to speak “Buddhistised,” and some few may also be purely Buddhist inventions. 3. Short anecdotes, humorous tales and jokes, which have nothing Buddhist about them. 4. Novels and even long romances abounding in adventures, and sometimes with a greater or lesser number of narratives within the story. Here, too, there is nothing Buddhist, except that the hero is the Bodhisatta. 5. Moral narratives. 6. Sayings, and 7. Pious legends, all of which are only partly of Buddhist origin, while many of them belong to the common property of Indian ascetic poetry. Thus we can scarcely be much mistaken in saying that far more than one half of all the Jātakas, if we omit the commentary, is not of Buddhist origin. The explanation of this fact lies near at hand. The Buddhist monks were recruited from all classes; hence, there were many among them who were quite familiar with the popular tales and anecdotes of the workers, artisans and especially merchants; others, who knew well the old ballads and heroic songs of the warriors and yet others, who had often heard the sacred legends and myths of the Brahmans and forest hermits. When they became monks, they endeavoured as far as possible to connect these memories with the monkish and purely religious traditions. Now, it is precisely this which makes these Jātakas of so much greater importance in the history of Indian literature. The Buddhist preaching monks crammed into the Jātaka book everything that pleased them and their audience. As in contents and form, so in extent also, the Jātakas are very varied. By the side of short stories which hardly occupy half a printed page, there are extensive compositions of very many pages, some of which could equally well be called independent books.¹