Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c42.s2.t3.3

v2.c42.s2.t3.3

Strangely enough all these Jātakas and Avadānas are non-Buddhist in character. This have nothing to do with the fundamental teachings of Buddhism—there is not a word about soul, component elements of a being, law of causation, ātman, skandhas, paṭiccasamuppada or nirvāṇa. These stories deal in a general way with moral virtue but not with the śilas, as detailed in the Piṭakas. These speak highly of a retired life but do not discountenance the life of a householder. On the contrary, the stories are concerned mainly with the social life of the householders and not with the unsocial life of a recluse. These do not breathe a word about monks or their life in monasteries. If not for the use of the term ‘Bodhisattva’ in every story, the collections could not have been recognised as forming a part of the Buddhist literature. It is really a universal literature dealing with universal moral principles, and a large number of the stories belongs to the common heritage of the Indians of the pre-Aśokan period. These stories teach more altruistic moral principles than negative ethical ideals (veramaṇis) as was the practice with the Buddhists. The stories well-known to the common folk of the then age were found to be a convenient medium for propagating the Bodhisattva conception and along with it the greatness of the Teacher.