The Garland of Birth Stories of the Teacher: Analyzing the Xylographic Edition of Dalongshan Monastery

Abstract

Introduction. The Jātakamālā by Āryaśūra (4th c. AD) had been very popular in India, and was considered an early example of a structurally particular poetic composition. The Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339) supplemented Āryaśūra’s 34 jātakas with 67 more stories of his own. Rangjung Dorje holds a prominent place both in the history of his lineage and in the history of Tibetan culture at large, his legacy remaining of immense interest to date. So, he authored a number of famous texts, such as Aspiration of Mahamudra (Tib. phyag chen smon lam), The Profound Inner Principles (zab mo nang don), and a collection of jātakas — The Garland of Birth Stories of the Teacher (Buddha). Goals. The article aims at analyzing the text of the specified collection available at the Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC) to introduce data on the former and its structure. Results. The Garland of Birth Stories of the Teacher includes 101 jātakas — 34 ones by Āryaśūra and 67 ones by Rangjung Dorje. The last, 101st, story tells about the life of Shakyamuni Buddha. The paper deals with the 1430 Beijing xylographic edition of Dalongshan Monastery (Tib. ta’i lung shen).

Keywords

• jātaka
• story of the buddha’s past birth
• āryaśūra
• jātakamālā
• third karmapa rangjung dorje
• dalongshan