Jātaka - Jātaka (English spelling)

A collection of ancient Indian Buddhist tales written in Pali. Translated as "Tales of the Original Life." This is a collection of 547 stories about how, before the Buddha was born into this world as a Sakyan prince, he lived many lives as a bodhisattva, taking births as heavenly beings, kings, ministers, rich men, commoners, thieves, or animals such as elephants, monkeys, peacocks, rabbits, and fish, and performing various good deeds and merits.

The Jataka are part of the Pali Buddhist scriptures, or the Small Scriptures in the Tripitaka. Each story is composed of three parts: a story about the present life, a story about a past life, and a connecting section that connects the two stories. The story of the past life is the center of each story, and the stories are written in prose with short verses interspersed. These stories are a collection of legends and tales that have been passed down among the people since around the 3rd century BC, with Buddhist influences added. They were not written by a single author, and are thought to have been created around the 1st century. Many of the Jataka stories are shared with the two great epics and other Sanskrit tale collections such as the Panchatantra and Katasarithsagara, and some have similar themes to The Thousand and One Nights and Aesop's Fables. They occupy an important position in world literature, and contain legends, tales, fables, children's tales, anecdotes, and moral sayings, giving them great literary value. At the same time, these stories, rich in moral lessons, wit, humor and irony, contain a wealth of information that tells us about the social life and cultural state of ancient India.

There is no complete translation of the Pali Jatakas among the extant Chinese translations of Buddhist scriptures, but many of the stories are included in Chinese translations of Buddhist scriptures such as the Sutra of Birth (Shokyo), the Buddha's Original Practice of Living (Butsubongyojikkyo), and the Bodhisattva's Treatise on the Original Birth of a Garland (Bosatsuhonshomanron), and have been passed down to Japan through these. The stories "Living Liver of the Monkey" (Boneless Jellyfish) and "Moon Rabbit" can both be traced back to the Jatakas, and many stories in the Konjaku Monogatarishu also have Jataka origins, and they have had a great influence on Japanese tales and literature.

[Tanaka Otoya]

"Nanden Daizōkyō vol. 28-32" (1972, Daizō Shuppan) " Complete Jataka Collection supervised by Nakamura Hajime, 10 volumes (1982-91, Shunjūsha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

パーリ語で書かれた古代インドの仏教説話集。『本生話(ほんしょうわ)』と訳される。仏陀(ぶっだ)がサーキヤ人の王子としてこの世に生まれる以前、菩薩(ぼさつ)として幾多の生を重ねる間、天人、国王、大臣、長者、庶民、盗賊、あるいは象、猿、孔雀(くじゃく)、兎(うさぎ)、魚などの動物として生を受け、種々の善行功徳を行ったという物語547話を集めたもの。

『ジャータカ』はパーリ語の仏典、すなわち三蔵のなかの小部経典に含まれ、各話は現世物語と過去世物語と、この両話を結び付ける結合部の3部からなり、過去世の物語が各本生話の中心をなし、散文に短い詩句を交えている。これらの物語は、紀元前3世紀ごろから民間に語り伝えられていた伝説や説話を集め、これに仏教的色彩を加えたもので、1人の作者によってつくられたものではなく、成立は1世紀ごろと推測される。『本生話』のなかには二大叙事詩や他のサンスクリットの説話集『パンチャタントラ』『カターサリットサーガラ』などと共通の話も多く、また『千夜一夜物語』や『イソップ物語』などと同工異曲のものもあり、世界文学としても重要な地位を占め、伝説、説話、寓話(ぐうわ)、童話、逸話、道徳的格言を含み、文学的価値も高い。しかも、同時にその教訓、機知、諧謔(かいぎゃく)、皮肉に富んだ物語のなかには、古代インドの社会生活や文化状態を伝える多くの資料を包含している。

　パーリ語『ジャータカ』の全訳は現存の漢訳仏典中にはないが、多くの物語は『生経(しょうきょう)』『仏本行集経(ぶつほんぎょうじっきょう)』『菩薩本生鬘論(ぼさつほんしょうまんろん)』などの漢訳仏典のなかに含まれ、これらによって日本にも伝えられている。『猿の生き肝(いきぎも)』（くらげ骨なし）や『月の兎』の説話は、いずれもその源流を『ジャータカ』に探ることができ、『今昔物語集』のなかにもジャータカ起源の話は多く、日本の説話や文学に与えた影響は大きい。

［田中於莵弥］

『『南伝大蔵経28～32』（1972・大蔵出版）』▽『中村元監修『ジャータカ全集』全10巻（1982～91・春秋社）』

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