Oriental Studies (Sep 2023)
Two Plots about Tigress: Analyzing the Jātakamālā and the Sutra of the Wise and the Fool
Abstract
Introduction. The article deals with two samples of Tibetan-language jātaka texts traced back to the story of the tigress — from the Jātakamālā or Garland of Birth Stories” (Tib. skyes pa'i rabs kyi rgyud, 4th c. AD) and Sutra of the Wise and the Fool (Tib. ’Dzangs blun zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo, 5th–7th cc. AD). In the narratives under consideration, the Bodhisattva sacrificed himself to a tigress that suffered from starvation and was unable to feed two cubs of hers. Despite the setup and resolution parts associated with the image of a starving tigress and the Bodhisattva’s deed of ‘giving one’s own body’ (Tib. lus sbyin pa) are identical enough, the narrative constructs at large, main and secondary characters do differ significantly in the two stories. The article analyzes some distinctive aspects of compositional components inherent to the canonical Tibetan original texts, describes the plots proper, and identifies common and differing features. Goals. The paper aims to consider contents of the two stories — Jātaka of the Tigress and [Story] of How Prince Mahasattva Sacrificed His Body to a Tigress (Chapter 2), respectively — arising from the plot archetype of giving one’s own body to a tigress, yield genre affiliations, provide comparative data about characters of the stories. The work employs methods of textual and literary analysis Results. Our analysis of the texts shows the latter differ significantly, and the differences touch upon some aspects, such as belonging to the canonical corpus (which accordingly influences structural patterns), numbers of storylines and images of the main character, composition of characters, etc. The work also examines semantics of the concept ‘generosity’ (Tib. sbyin pa) articulated in the title of the Sutra’s chapter. Conclusions. The plot contents of the analyzed jātaka texts vary essentially but the plot archetype of sacrificing one’s body to a tigress remains unchanged.
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