Garland of the Buddha's Past Lives (Volume 2). Aryashura
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“Forgiveness only exists if there is something to forgive, not otherwise.” Indeed the Bodhi·sattva of the story (a buffalo) interprets the insults inflicted on him by a mischievous monkey as a benefit, since they provide him with an opportunity to practice forbearance:
There is never a wrong time for forbearance.
But the occasion is rare as it depends on others.
So if another person produces an opportunity,
why would one resort to anger? (33.22 [14])
Other stories move beyond a merely instrumental form of agency to focus extensively on characters other than the Bodhi·sattva. A startling example is provided by ‘The Birth-Story of the Goose’ (22), in which the main protagonist of the story is in fact not the Bodhi·sattva (a king of geese) but the Bodhi·sattva’s general Sumukha. Sumukha’s prominent role is highlighted by the fact that not only does the prose introduction give a longer description to Sumukha than to the Bodhi·sattva, but also the story breaks the convention of identifying solely the Buddha’s former rebirth by identifying Sumukha as the former rebirth of the monk Ananda. Moreover, the main focus of the story is on Sumukha’s devotion to his king. In fact it is this quality that resolves the conflict in the tale between the geese and their hunters ________
rather than any virtue displayed by the Bodhi·sattva.6 Accordingly, when the hunter decides to release the geese, he pinpoints Sumukha’s virtue as the main factor influencing his actions:
The virtue you have displayed here
in giving your life for your master
would be miraculous even
among humans or gods!
Out of reverence
I will release your king.
For who could wrong him
who is dearer to you than life? (22.95 [52]—96 [53])
In a similar manner to the love shown between the Bodhi·sattva and his wife in ‘The Birth-Story of Vishvan·tara’ (9), the inseparable companionship between the Bodhi·sattva and his general is again stressed:
The two worked as one in upholding
the body of bliss for the flock of geese,
just as two wings work as one in upholding
the body of a bird flying in the sky. (22.6 [1])
However, while Sumukha receives prominent attention for his own individual morality, it is significant that the virtue for which he is praised is devotion, an attitude that necessarily involves a strong bond of attachment to an object of loyalty, in this case the Bodhi·sattva. The value of Sumukha’s moral conduct is therefore never entirely autonomous, however virtuous it is shown to be, but is always dependent on his relationship with the Bodhi·sattva. This is ________
equally true of ‘The Birth-Story of Vishvan·tara,’ in which the significance of Madri’s virtue is based primarily on her devotion to her husband (the Bodhi·sattva). While other characters play an important role in the Bodhi·sattva’s lives, the Bodhi·sattva’s paramount status is thus always maintained.
This emphasis on devotion picks up on a central theme that was highlighted in the first volume and that is equally important to the present book. Often described as a source of refuge and protection, the Bodhi·sattva’s role as a savior is constantly accentuated:7
You come to us as Comfort incarnate
as we sink into this mouth of death! (30.22 [10])
Portrayed as offering freedom from fear (“Have no fear! Have no fear!” 26.10), the Bodhi·sattva in various stories saves people from death, suffering and the disastrous consequences of holding immoral views, all of which serve to foreshadow his ultimate attainment of Buddhahood and the end to suffering that will be brought about by this salvific goal. In “The Birth-Story of the Elephant’ (30), the Bodhi·sattva explicitly connects the merit derived from his act of self-sacrifice with his quest to attain Buddhahood. Not only that, in a startling comparison between the corporeal and the soteriological, the body that the Bodhi·sattva sacrifices to save a group of starving people is implicitly compared with the Buddha’s teaching of the Dharma that will save the world:8
Instead, if I possess any merit from desiring
to rescue these people floundering in the desert,
may I use it to become savior of the world
as it roams the wilderness of samsara. (30.44 [22])
In this intensely devotional context, the intimacy of friendship takes on a heightened role. “A special friend and kinsman” (30.17 [7]), the Bodhi·sattva is portrayed as companion to all, even to strangers or to those who have wronged him:
Be a relative to us bereft of kinsmen!
Be our resort and refuge!
Please save us, illustrious lord,
in whatever way you know best. (30.35 [18])
Though our acquaintance is new,
you have acted towards us
as one would toward a best friend,
following your magnanimous nature. (22.146 [89])
With its emphasis on self-sacrifice, compassion and forbearance, the Bodhi·sattva’s practice of virtue thus leads to his depiction as an ultimate “good friend.” Offering moral guidance to the world, he saves both friends and foes through a devotional relationship that is both intimate and at the same time based on a hierarchy of savior and saved.
Animals, Ascetics and Kings
A striking aspect of the present volume is the number of animal stories it contains. Eight of the fourteen stories describe the Bodhi·sattva’s rebirth as a bird or animal.9 Animal stories are common in jataka collections and far from ________
unique to the “Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives.” However, the fact that they are grouped together in the present volume is noticeable and points to important thematic continuities running through the tales.
There are doctrinal problems involved in depicting the Bodhi·sattva as an animal. According to Buddhist thought, animal rebirth derives from bad karma and thus raises a potential question mark over the purity of the Bodhi·sattva’s karmic history. Moreover, while animals have the ability to act morally, their potential for virtue is usually restricted in comparison to humans. The issue of whether the Bodhi·sattva suffers from bad karma is raised by a verse in “The Birth-Story of the Buffalo’ (33.6 [3]): “Some trace of karma must have affected him to be reborn this way.” Normally, however, the problem is sidestepped by simply extolling the Bodhi·sattva as a superior being whose virtue transcends the norms of animal nature.10 “The Birth-Story of the Great Monkey’ (24.4) thus states: “Even though he was a monkey, the Bodhi·sattva had lost none of his moral awareness. Grateful and full of vast fortitude, his nature was devoid of anything lowly.” The Bodhi·sattva’s virtue is seen as a constant and unchanging attribute, despite his animal rebirth:
The earth with its forests, fine peaks and seas
may through water, fire and wind
perish a hundred times at an eon’s end,
but not the great compassion of the Bodhi·sattva.
(24.5 [1])
Numerous references are made to the abnormal quality of the virtue displayed by the Bodhi·sattva as an animal. ________
Shock is expressed at his ability to speak in an articulate human voice (26.48) and the conceit is often raised that the