Question regarding "jathaka katha"

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danesh
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Question regarding "jathaka katha"

Post by danesh »

Hi All,
I am Buddhist from Sri Lanka and having question regarding of "Jathaka katha". I assume "Jathaka katha" were not included anywhere in "Thripitaka" (Vinaya, Abhidamma and Sutra). I hope If there anyone in this forum who have already fully read all "Thripitaka" may able to answer my question. Thanks in advance.

May triple gem bless you.

danesh
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LonesomeYogurt
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Re: Question regarding "jathaka katha"

Post by LonesomeYogurt »

Bhikkhu Pesala knows quite a bit about the Jataka tales, you might try PMing him?
Gain and loss, status and disgrace,
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.

Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.

His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta

Stuff I write about things.
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mikenz66
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Re: Question regarding "jathaka katha"

Post by mikenz66 »

Here's some info that Bhikkhu Pesala compiled on his website:
http://www.aimwell.org/DPPN/jaataka.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The tenth book of Khuddaka Nikāya of the Sutta Piṭaka containing tales of the former births of the Buddha. The Jātaka also forms one of the nine divisions (aṅga) of the Buddha’s teachings, grouped according to subject matter (DA.i.15, 24).

The canonical book of the Jātakas (so far unpublished) contains only the verses, but it is almost certain that from the first there must have been handed down an oral commentary giving the stories in prose. This commentary later developed into the Jātaka Aṭṭhakathā.
:anjali:
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cooran
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Re: Question regarding "jathaka katha"

Post by cooran »

Hello danesh,

My understanding is that the Jataka Stories are not Buddhavacana (Word of the Buddha), but that the Jataka Verses in the stories are Buddhavacana (Word of the Buddha).

I agree with Lonesome Yogurt about asking Bhikkhu Pesala about this.

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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fig tree
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Re: Question regarding "jathaka katha"

Post by fig tree »

The info cooran posted in a previous thread seemed good:

http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1202

Fig Tree
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Dhammanando
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Re: Question regarding "jathaka katha"

Post by Dhammanando »

danesh wrote:Hi All,
I am Buddhist from Sri Lanka and having question regarding of "Jathaka katha".
The Jataka Katha (or Nidanakatha or Jataka Nidana) is not in the Tipitaka but is the opening section of Buddhaghosa’s commentary (atthakatha) to the Jataka verses, which are in the Tipitaka. It’s one of the earliest attempts to present the Buddha’s life in the form of a connected biography: in effect a Theravadin version of works like the Buddhacarita, Divyavadana, Lalitavistara, etc. Some of its contents are present in the Sutta Pitaka, some are not.
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
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cooran
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Re: Question regarding "jathaka katha"

Post by cooran »

Thanks Bhante! Glad of your learning and knowledge!

with metta and respect,
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Question regarding "jathaka katha"

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

LonesomeYogurt wrote:Bhikkhu Pesala knows quite a bit about the Jataka tales, you might try PMing him?
Please don't encourage anyone to send Private Messages just to ask questions that can be asked on the forums. If I see a question that I can answer, then I usually do.

It takes longer to answer a PM than it does to answer a question on the forum, and there's always the feeling that one is being rude if one decides not to reply, whereas on the forum anyone can reply to any question, so if I see its already been answered well by someone else, then I don't need to.
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