Jatakas

Jatakas.

Jataka tales — “the story of (previous) births (of the Buddha)” is one of the most important monuments of narrative literaturanalyse.

Jataki – there is a prose commentary from the third basket of teachings, to the poetic sayings-Gath.

Thus, in the modern form each Jataka breaks down into the following parts:

  1. the story of the present, setting forth the circumstances under which it was told by the Buddha
  2. the story of the past , including the Jataka tales, and
  3. related to the latter poetic sayings, which is attached to
  4. interpretation of verses and
  5. explanation of the connection between the heroes of the story of the present and the story of the past.

All 547 jatakas. They differ both in subject matter and in styles and genres.

  1. Buddhism. History, creed, and cult.

Buddhism (from the Sanskrit word “Buddha”, literally-enlightened) is one of the three world religions, which has spread among the population of a number of countries in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Asia and the Far East.

According to the Buddhists, every being who has attained the highest Holiness can become a Buddha, i.e. enlightened. One of the Buddhas, called Shakyamuni in his earthly life (“the hermit of the Shakya family”), told people the doctrine of “salvation”, which his followers usually call the Sanskrit word “Dharma” (doctrine, law). Therefore, the term “Buddha” usually means Shakyamuni.

The question of whether the personality of Shakyamuni is completely mythical, or whether his biography, colored by the religious imagination of the compilers, is based on some real facts, has not yet been solved by Science. Detailed “biographies” of Shakyamuni appeared not earlier than the II-III centuries ad. However, there is no doubt that Shakyamuni could not have been the sole “Creator” of Buddhism, as it is represented by Buddhist literature.

Buddhists believe that after countless previous rebirths, the coming Buddha decided to descend to the earth to the joy of all the gods and announce the way to salvation to people. For his “last birth” he chose a Royal family in the noble family of Gotama (hence one of his names – Gautama) of the Shakya tribe, who lived in Northern India.

Knowing the cause of suffering and the way to get rid of them, the Buddha decided to announce his discovery to people. The God of death-the demon of evil Mara tried to prevent this in every way. But the Buddha defeated Mara, came to Benares, and there delivered his first sermon, in which he briefly formulated the basic tenets of the new religion. One by one, the addresses of those who listen to his sermons follow. They join a group of monks traveling with him. For 40 years, surrounded by disciples, he walks through the cities and villages of the Ganges valley, performing miracles and preaching his teachings. Death overtook him at the age of eighty and coincided, as well as birth and Epiphany, with the day of the may full moon (so for Buddhists it is a “thrice Holy” day).

Different directions and schools of Buddhism date the years of Shakyamuni’s earthly life differently. In most cases, it is believed that he lived in the VII-VI lli in the VI-V centuries BC. Recently, the Buddhists of a number of Eastern countries agreed to accept the date of death of Shakyamuni day of the may full moon 544 BC. e. and very widely noted in 1956 2500 years of Buddhism.

The doctrine of Buddhism.

The most important point of the Buddhist doctrine is the idea of the identity between being and suffering. Buddhism did not refute the doctrine of transmigration developed by Brahmanism, i.e. the belief that after death any living being is reborn again as a new living being (human, animal, deity, spirit, etc.). However, Buddhism has made significant changes in the teaching of Brahmanism, If the brahmanas claimed that by different for each class (“Varna”) rites, sacrifices and spells can achieve “good rebirth”, i.e., become a Raja, Brahman, rich merchant, king, etc. Buddhism declared all reincarnation, all kinds of being, to be an inevitable misfortune and evil. Therefore, the highest goal of a Buddhist should be the complete cessation of rebirth and the attainment of Nirvana, i.e. non-existence.