The Mahakapi Jataka is one of the Jataka tales or stories of the former lives of the Buddha, when he was still a Bodhisattva, as a king of the monkeys[2]
Mahakapi Jataka in Bharhut, 2nd century BCE.Mahakapi Jataka in Sanchi. The Buddha, in a previous life as the king of 80.000 monkeys, helps them flee and travel a stream with his own body. 1st century BCE.[1]
The story runs that the Bodhisattva was born as a monkey, ruler over 80,000 monkeys. They lived at a spot near the Ganges and ate of the fruit of a great mango tree. King Brahmadatta of Benares, desiring to possess the mangoes, surrounded the tree with his soldiers, in order to kill the animals, but the Bodhisattva formed a bridge over the stream with his own body and by this means enabled the whole tribe to escape into safety.
Devadatta, the jealous and wicked cousin of the Buddha, was in that life one of the monkeys and, thinking it a good chance to destroy his enemy, jumped on the Bodhisattva’s back and broke his heart.
The king, seeing the good deed of the Bodhisattva and repenting of his own attempt to kill him, tended him with great care when he was dying and afterwards gave him royal obsequies.[3]
Depiction in BharhutEdit
In this jataka tale the Buddha, in a previous incarnation as a monkey king, self-sacrificingly offers his own body as a bridge by which his fellow monkeys can escape from a human king who is attacking them. A short section of the river, across which the monkeys are escaping, is indicated by fish designs. Directly below that, the impressed humans are holding out a blanket to catch him when he falls. At the very bottom (continuous narrative), the now recovered Buddha-to-be preaches to the king.
Depiction in SanchiEdit
Down the panel of the relief from Sanchi (Stupa No1, Western Gateway) flows, from top to bottom, the river Ganges. To the left, at the top, is the great mango tree to which two monkeys are clinging, while the king of the monkeys is stretched across the river from the mango tree to the opposite bank, and over his body some monkeys have already escaped to the rocks and jungles beyond.
In the lower part of the panel, to the left, is king Brahmadatta on horseback with his soldiers, one of whom with bow and arrow is aiming upwards at the Bodhisattva. Higher up the panel the figure of the king is repeated, sitting beneath the mango tree and conversing with the dying Bodhisattva, who, according to the Jataka story, gave the king good advice on the duties of a chief.
Public Domain text of "A Guide to Sanchi" published in 1918 in India, John Marshall (1876-1958) [2]
October 20, 2023
mahakapi, jataka, jataka, tales, stories, former, lives, buddha, when, still, bodhisattva, king, monkeys, bharhut, century, sanchi, buddha, previous, life, king, monkeys, helps, them, flee, travel, stream, with, body, century, contents, story, depiction, bharh. The Mahakapi Jataka is one of the Jataka tales or stories of the former lives of the Buddha when he was still a Bodhisattva as a king of the monkeys 2 Mahakapi Jataka in Bharhut 2nd century BCE Mahakapi Jataka in Sanchi The Buddha in a previous life as the king of 80 000 monkeys helps them flee and travel a stream with his own body 1st century BCE 1 Contents 1 Story 2 Depiction in Bharhut 3 Depiction in Sanchi 4 References 5 SourceStory EditThe story runs that the Bodhisattva was born as a monkey ruler over 80 000 monkeys They lived at a spot near the Ganges and ate of the fruit of a great mango tree King Brahmadatta of Benares desiring to possess the mangoes surrounded the tree with his soldiers in order to kill the animals but the Bodhisattva formed a bridge over the stream with his own body and by this means enabled the whole tribe to escape into safety Devadatta the jealous and wicked cousin of the Buddha was in that life one of the monkeys and thinking it a good chance to destroy his enemy jumped on the Bodhisattva s back and broke his heart The king seeing the good deed of the Bodhisattva and repenting of his own attempt to kill him tended him with great care when he was dying and afterwards gave him royal obsequies 3 Depiction in Bharhut EditIn this jataka tale the Buddha in a previous incarnation as a monkey king self sacrificingly offers his own body as a bridge by which his fellow monkeys can escape from a human king who is attacking them A short section of the river across which the monkeys are escaping is indicated by fish designs Directly below that the impressed humans are holding out a blanket to catch him when he falls At the very bottom continuous narrative the now recovered Buddha to be preaches to the king Depiction in Sanchi EditDown the panel of the relief from Sanchi Stupa No1 Western Gateway flows from top to bottom the river Ganges To the left at the top is the great mango tree to which two monkeys are clinging while the king of the monkeys is stretched across the river from the mango tree to the opposite bank and over his body some monkeys have already escaped to the rocks and jungles beyond In the lower part of the panel to the left is king Brahmadatta on horseback with his soldiers one of whom with bow and arrow is aiming upwards at the Bodhisattva Higher up the panel the figure of the king is repeated sitting beneath the mango tree and conversing with the dying Bodhisattva who according to the Jataka story gave the king good advice on the duties of a chief References Edit Marshall p 70 Jataka Or Stories of the Buddha s Former Birth Volumes 1 to 2 E B Cowell Asian Educational Services 2000 p 37 thejatakatales com 1 Source EditPublic Domain text of A Guide to Sanchi published in 1918 in India John Marshall 1876 1958 2 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mahakapi Jataka amp oldid 1169759130, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
