Бұдданың бұрынғы өмірлерінің әңгімелері

Collection of traditional narratives of the previous lives of Buddha

The Jātaka (meaning "Birth Story," "related to a birth") are a voluminous body of literature native to the Indian subcontinent which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. Jataka stories were depicted on the railings and torans of the stupas. Some of these texts are also considered great works of literature in their own right. In these stories, the future Buddha may appear as a king, an outcast, a deva, an animal—but, in whatever form, he exhibits some virtue that the tale thereby inculcates. Often, Jātaka tales include an extensive cast of characters who interact and get into various kinds of trouble whereupon the Buddha character intervenes to resolve all the problems and bring about a happy ending. The Jātaka genre is based on the idea that the Buddha was able to recollect all his past lives and thus could use these memories to tell a story and illustrate his teachings. For the Buddhist traditions, the jātakas illustrate the many lives, acts and spiritual practices which are required on the long path to Buddhahood. Jātaka stories have also been illustrated in Buddhist architecture throughout the Buddhist world and they continue to be an important element in popular Buddhist art. Jātakas are closely related to (and often overlap with) another genre of Buddhist narrative, the avadāna, which is a story of any karmically significant deed (whether by a bodhisattva or otherwise) and its result. According to Naomi Appleton, some tales (such as those found in the second and fourth decade of the Avadānaśataka) can be classified as both a jātaka and an avadāna. They are also widely represented in ancient Indian inscriptions. According to Straube, "the presumably oldest specimens of fully elaborated narratives are dispersed throughout the Vinayapiṭakas and Sūtrapiṭakas of the canonical collections of the different Buddhist schools. These texts are transmitted in various Indian dialects and stem from a prior oral tradition." Although many jātaka were written from an early period, which describe previous lives of the Buddha, very little biographical material about Gautama's own life has been recorded. What is jātaka? That which relates the austere practices and bodhisattva practices of the Blessed One in various past births: this is called jātaka. The idea that jātaka are taught in order to illustrate the bodhisattva path is an ancient one and is contained in sources like the Mahavastu, which states: "the supreme ones [Buddhas], who are skilled in jātakas and other doctrines, teach the course of practice of a bodhisattva." Other recurring characters include important disciples of the Buddha, Devadatta (generally as an villain) and members of Gautama's family, like his wife Yasodharā and son Rāhula. Other jātakas, such as those found in the Buddhavaṃsa (Chronicle of Buddhas), focus on Gautama's meeting, serving and venerating past Buddhas and serve to place his bodhisattva path in a chronology of past Buddhas. These stories generally focus on acts of devotion to past Buddhas and how this generates much merit which many positive outcomes in the future. Crosby notes that many of these stories are connected with monastic behavior and decorum, some of them are also meant to illustrate specific rules in the Vinaya. In spite of this main intended audience, their simple format also made them easily adaptable for other uses. Thus, they were repackaged as artistic entertainment and teaching devices for laypersons, as parittas (protective chants) and as chronicle (vamsa) literature. Various jātaka stories and source texts were also translated into Chinese and Tibetan for the Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist canons. The Mahāsāṃghika Caitika sects from the Āndhra region also had Jātakas as part of their canon and they are known to have rejected some of the Theravāda Jātakas which dated past the time of King Ashoka. The Caitikas claimed that their own Jātakas represented the original collection before the Buddhist tradition split into various lineages. In the Northern Buddhist tradition, Jātakas eventually came to be composed in classical Sanskrit. Perhaps the most influential and important Sanskrit Jātaka text is the Jātakamālā (Garland of Jātakas) of Āryaśūra which includes 34 Jātaka stories. This work differs from earlier sources in that it is a highly sophisticated poem which makes use of various Sanskrit literary devices. The Jātakamālā was quite influential and was imitated by later authors who wrote their own jātakamālās, mainly Haribhaṭṭa and Gopadatta. These works are all written in a classical Sanskrit genre known as campū, which is a blend of prose and verse in various meters. The jātakamālās all also use the six perfections (pāramitā) as their main framework. with script datable to the sixth century. The Jātakamālā was also translated into Chinese in 434 CE. Borobudur, a massive 9th century Buddhist site in Java, contains depictions of all 34 Jatakas from the Jātakamālā. Two other Sanskrit authors associated with the jātaka genre are Kumāralāta (2nd century CE), author of the Kalpanāmaṇḍitikā Dṛṣṭāntapaṅkti (Collection of Examples, Adorned with an Artistic Arrangement) and Saṅghasena's (date unknown) Pusa benyuan jing (菩薩本縁經; Sūtra of the Bodhisattva’s Avadānas). Both works exist only in Chinese translation (but there are Sanskrit fragments). These texts are a kind of predecessor to the Jātakamālā and are less poetically sophisticated. The Karmaśataka
The Divyāvadāna (Heavenly Avadānas)
The commentary on the Udānavarga by Prajñāvarman (8th century), which survives in Tibetan, contains numerous Jātakas
Lalitavistara (The Play in Full), a biography of the Buddha containing various Jātakas. The Liu du ji jing (六度集經, Scripture of the Collection of the Six Perfections, Taisho 152), translated by Kang Senghui (?–280) in the third century CE. Jātaka Sūtra (Sheng jing, 生經, Taisho Tripitaka 154), a Chinese collection of 55 Jātakas translated into Chinese by Dharmaraksa (3rd century). Likewise, Jātakas are an important element in the Large Prajñāpāramitā sutra, the Suvarṇaprabhāsa sūtra and the Bhadrakalpikasūtra. The Dà zhìdù lùn (大智度論) a massive Mahāyāna Buddhist treatise and commentary which survives in Chinese translation by Kumarajiva, contains numerous Jātakas which are used to illustrate the six perfections as well as other topics. Kṣemendra's (c. 1036–1065) Bodhisattvāvadānakalpalatā (Wish Fulfilling Creeper Consisting in Avadānas of the Bodhisattva)

Jātakas have been important as a way to spread Buddhist teachings and they were widely used as part of sermons, rituals, festivals, and various forms of art. Kate Crosby writes that they have been depicted in such varied forms as "apocryphal literature, vernacular retellings, performance, temple art, temporary street and festival art, films, comics, and cartoons." The sponsorship of Jātaka recitations, copyings and art eventually grew to be seen as an act which generated merit for lay Buddhists. These acts are more common around important festivals like Vesak. The earliest archeological findings which depict Jātakas are the illustrations found in the on the Bharhut stupa railing as well as at Sanchi (c. late 2nd 1st century BCE), which also include inscriptions. This tradition of associating Jātaka tales with regions outside of India played an important part in the promotion and legitimisation of Buddhism in these regions. According to Naomi Appleton, the "four great stupas" visited by Faxian (337–422 CE) are: <blockquote>the first (in ‘So ho to’) was where the Buddha ransomed the life of a dove with his own flesh; the second (in Gandhāra) was where he gave away his eyes to a blind beggar; and the third and fourth (in Takshaśilā) were where he gave away his head to a man and his whole body to a starving tigress who was about to eat her own cubs, and where ‘kings, ministers, and peoples of all the kingdoms around vie with one another in making offerings’. A century later, Songyun writes of the same four sites and also mentions a whole area associated with the Vessantara jātaka. Jataka illustrations (especially of the last 10 stories of the canonical Pali collection) are widespread in the Theravada Buddhist world, adorning many temples, wats and key sites.

According to the Chinese pilgrim Yijing, who visited India in the 7th century, jātaka plays were performed ‘throughout the five countries of India’. This culture of performance spread to other regions as well. In Tibet, the Viśvāntara jātaka was transformed into a popular play called the Dri med kun ldan. Other popular jataka plays include Nor bzaṅ or Sudhana and the story of Prince Maṇicūḍa (Lokānanda). and the Vessantara Jataka are still performed in dance, theatre, puppetry, Such celebrations are associated with particular holidays on the lunar calendar used by Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Laos. The recitation of the Vessantara Jataka remains an important ceremony remains an important ceremony in Theravada countries today.

Stories which are similar to the jātakas are also found in Jainism, which has stories focused on Mahavira's path to enlightenment in previous lives. The Jain stories include Mahavira's numerous forms of rebirth, such as animals as well as encounters with past liberated beings (jinas) which predict Mahavira's future enlightenment. Some Buddhist jātakas were also adopted and retold by Islamic (and later Christian) authors, such as the 10th century Shia scholar Ibn Bābūya, who adapted a jātaka into a story titled Balawhar wa Būdāsf, which became the Christian narrative of Barlaam and Joasaph.