Encyclopedia of Buddhism Volume One A -L Robert E. Buswell

B IOGRAPHY
sara, donated land to establish the first permanent residence
for monks. When the Buddha passed away and
left the cycle of REBIRTH (SAM SARA), he was given the
funerary rites of a world conqueror, and his relics were
enshrined throughout the Buddhist world. His disciples
convened the first Buddhist Council shortly after
his death to compile his teachings, and the Buddhist
tradition began to take shape in the transition from the
founder’s charismatic life to the emerging institutional
history and doctrinal developments. For instance,
AŚOKA’s cult of relics helped promote the institutionalization
of the Theravada monastic lineage. Doctrinal
interpretations of the bodies of the Buddha that are
specific to the major branches of the tradition also correspond
to their respective interpretations of the Buddha’s
sacred biography.
The story of the Buddha’s culminating life in
sam sara illustrates central beliefs and doctrines of Buddhism,
including Gautama’s model for and path to enlightenment,
his message, and the establishment of
Buddhist institutions. The story also legitimates the
veneration of the Buddha’s relics and the STU PAS that
enshrine them, as well as the veneration of icons and
images that embody his biography. These sacred objects
are closely associated with the Buddha’s biography
and establish his presence in rituals. They remind
Buddhists of the Buddha’s enlightenment and of his
absence from the cycle of rebirth.
The ja taka tradition
Central motifs of the sacred biography, especially the
Buddha’s remembrance of past lives in visions that culminated
in his enlightenment, eventually developed
into an elaborate genre of tales called JATAKA, which
are stories of the Buddha’s former lives. In the Pali tradition,
jataka attained semicanonical status in compilations
containing up to 550 such stories that recount
the perfection of virtues by the buddha-to-be. These
tales about the Buddha’s past lives as a king, ascetic,
monkey, or elephant do not follow a systematized sequence,
but they do share a similar narrative structure.
Generally, each story opens with a frame in the narrative
present, namely the final life of Gautama Buddha,
and identifies the place and occasion for the story
about a past rebirth about to be recounted. The account
then unfolds events in a former rebirth of the
Buddha and concludes by explaining the outcome according
to universal laws of Buddhist causality. The
story of the former life becomes the dramatic stage
upon which the consequences of moral action are illustrated.
Jataka stories generally conclude by returning
to the time of the Buddha’s final life and identifying
companions of the Buddha with dramatis personae
in the story just recounted.
Perhaps the best-known jataka in the THERAVADA
world is the Vessantara Jataka, in which the buddhato-be,
in his life as Prince Vessantara (Sanskrit,
VIŚVANTARA), perfects the virtue of generosity (dana).
Vessantara gives away everything a king or householder
might value: his prosperity, power, home, and
even his family, only to have it all restored at the conclusion
of the tale.
Jataka tales figure prominently in a variety of ways
in Buddhist cultures; they appear in temple paintings,
children’s stories, movie billboards and, most recently,
comic books. They offer abundant material for religious
education. Central motifs in the biographies of
the Buddha elucidate moral principles, values, and
ethics, and certain well-known jataka tales serve a didactic
purpose in teaching younger generations about
the tradition. Jatakas are salient across Buddhist communities
and the themes they recount readily resonate
with other aspects of religious knowledge and practice.
As such, recounting certain jataka stories in public sermons
or even representing them in paintings can serve
as commentary on current social and political issues.
Stories about the Buddha’s former lives are also a form
of entertainment. In Burma, for example, these stories
have traditionally been the subject of popular theatrical
performances that continue through the night.
Cultural contexts of the biographical genre
In visual art, biographical references can be found in
Buddhist architecture, in sculptures and icons of the
Buddha, and in the visual narratives of paintings and
stone carvings. Paintings of jataka stories can be seen
along walkways in monastery grounds and along the
staircases leading to pilgrimage sites. Jataka paintings
also often decorate the inner spaces of Buddhist temples.
Certain hand gestures (MUDRA) or poses displayed
in BUDDHA IMAGES refer to particular moments in his
life, such as when he touched the earth as witness to
his meritorious deeds at the time of his enlightenment
or when he reclined at the moment of his departure
from the cycle of rebirth. At BOROBUDUR in Java, a
magnificent MAHAYANA Buddhist stupa from the seventh
to the ninth century C.E., carved stone plates along
the meditation path depict jataka scenes that have been
“read” by scholars in much the same way one would
read a textual narrative. Whatever the initial motivation
for the creation of visual portrayals of events from
46 E NCYCLOPEDIA OF B UDDHISM