A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t2.313

v2.c19.s3.t2.313

Probably the most famous, and, in the entire Buddhist world, the most popular of all these legends, is the last one in the Jātaka collection, the Vessantara-Jātaka (No. 547). This is in reality a regular epic, for the prose in it is nothing but a commentary, and it is easy to see how the commentator has done his best to spoil the story in the most spiritless and insipid manner. The hero of this epic, it is true, is not a warrior and conqueror, but a hero of generosity.