Explorers, researchers, theologians and politicians have long puzzled over the whereabouts of Suvarnabhumi, with references dating back to the
Jataka tales of the life of the Buddha, and ancient Buddhist accounts from the time of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, who ruled over much of the Indian subcontinent in the third century BC.
While this small group may seem shockingly out of place in a collection of instructional Buddhist verse, Rouzer brings in passages from
jataka tales and the Vimalakirti sutra to suggest that a Buddhist reader may have understood the women depicted in these poems as "unruly" more than seductive, making them "dangerous but also convertible" (p.
Thus, while the Vessantara Jataka text which underlies this ceremony is known throughout the Buddhist world (25) and may be "the most famous of all
Jataka tales," (26) different cultures deal with it differently.
A great option for Zen beginners, the book playfully works with sutras (teachings), Bodhisattvas (enlightened beings) and
jataka tales (parables).
Hussain's popular writings include Basti, Hindustan Se Aakhri Khat, Agay Samander hai, Shehr-e-Afsos,
Jataka Tales, Janam Kahanian and Wo Jo Kho Gaye.
"Agay Samander hai", "Shehr-e-Afsos", "
Jataka Tales", "Janam Kahanian" and "Wo Jo Kho Gaye".
In what follows I first survey jatakas found in early discourse literature, arguably the earliest strata of
jataka tales attested in Buddhist literature, in order to provide a background for evaluating the Ekottarika-agama discourse that reports a past life of the Buddha as a woman.
In the
Jataka Tales, stories about the Buddha's life before he was Buddha, there is a story about a parrot and a fig tree that demonstrates the joy that comes from this deep acceptance of both sides of our lives.