Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation), This week let me bring to your attention another monumental work, ‘The JĀTAKAS – Birth Stories of the Bodhisatta (the one bound for, or to, enlightenment). A Jātaka is a story about a birth, and this collection of tales is about the repeated births – and – deaths of the Bodhisatta.
According to Sara Shaw only a selection of 26 stories have been included in this current translation out of the 547 stories with at least one story linked in one ancient source to each perfection.
The Ten Perfections (pāramis) are:
Generosity (dāna)
Virtue (síla)
Renunciation (nekkhamma)
Wisdom (paññā)
Effort (viriya)
Forebearance (khanti)
Truth (sacca)
Resolve (adhiţţhāna)
Loving Kindness (mettā)
Equanimity (upekkhā)
The characters in Jātakas inhabit an intricately meshed network of almost familial relationships. They are constantly interacting with each other, discussing their problems and giving advice on how to live. Links between characters extend far back into the past; events tend to recur as old habits are repeated in later lifetimes. Underneath it all is the assumption of the Jātakas that each being lives as an independent locus of consciousness, capable of choice and of finding enlightenment for him or herself.
The Story of Kimsuka Tree
Once upon a time in Vārāņasi, during the reign of Brahmadatta, the king had four sons. They sent for their charioteer and said, ‘We’d like to see a kimsuka, a thingumme tree. Show us a kimsuka tree.’ The charioteer said, ‘Very well, I’ll show you one.’ But he did not show it to them when they were together. He got the elder brother to sit upon the chariot, took him to the forest and showed him one, pointing out, ‘This is kimsuka’. He showed him the tree at a time when there were just buds on the trunk. Another he showed when the leaves were fresh, another at a time when it was flowering and another at a time when it was bearing fruit. In the due course the four brothers were sitting down and one said, ‘What kind of a tree is a kimsuka?’ One put forward the observation, ‘It is just like a charred stump.’ A second, ‘It is like a banyan tree.’ A third it is like a piece of flesh.’ A fourth, ‘It is like an acacia.’ As they were not satisfied with one another’s explanation they went to their father. ‘Sire, what kind of a tree is a kimsuka?’ ‘How have you all explained it?’ he asked. So they told him the way that each had described it. The king said, ‘You four saw the kimsuka tree. The charioteer showed you the whole of the kimsuka, but you did not question him in detail and ask, “What is it like in this season?” or “what is it like in that season?” So doubts arose in you.’
I end the tale here.
You can buy your copy from any of the bookstores near you or via any on-line portal selling books or also by clicking the following link:
I want to draw your attention to these wise words of a Storyteller which I have extracted from yet another monumental work which has been inspired from “The Panćatantra”:
My stories require, at this stage, no extra commentary, imaginings, or guesswork by you, me, or anyone else. The very worst would be that of moralizing. To explain away is to forget. Thus, let the stories which you can remember do their own work by their very diversity. Familiarize yourself with them.
Excerpt from Doctor’s orders:
Kalila Wa Dimna; Vol.1 – Ramsay Wood
Let us remember: Our life experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to. Attention: is important and most of the times we are so indifferent to it. It is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. We feed the hunger blindly. Once the mechanism is brought to our attention and we begin to study it, it is as if a veil has been stripped off ordinary life, and we become freer in our action and choices.
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