|
A creative gift from the Jataka collectionLITERATURE: The Sinhala collection of tales titled Pansiya panas Jataka pota or the great collection of five hundred and fifty tales is said to have been narrated by the Buddha on various occasions to teach the human conditions to elucidate the inherent doctrine creatively. The tales in the collection are said to have been orally transmitted over the years commencing from the Buddha's time, and later came to have been written in Pali or Magadhi and from then into Sinhala. This is a classic venerated by the readers all round the world giving vent to religious sermons on the part of the Buddhist monks as well as creative works on the part of the literary creators like the poets, dramatists, story tellers and many others. One of the main areas of this process happens to be the creative writings for children, which we see in many forms, well illustrated and presented for readers of all ages. The local temple paintings on walls are mostly Jataka tales. The pandals erected on the Vesak days contain a tale from the Jataka collection with songs commentaries and verses. The electronic media of television and radio make use of Jataka tales as their creative messages to the fullest. In this manner Jataka tales have been most popular as well as source material for the creative communication purposes. The book, I received a few weeks ago as retold by Damayanthi Veronica Jayakody, is a recreation of the first Jataka tale titled Apannaka Jataka [ utum tunuruvana ape ekama pihitai, Jayakody 2006], where the Bodhisattva or the would-be-Buddha is shown as one of the wise traders while his rival, depicted as a person unaware of things around him, is shown as a morose person in his outlook, which eventually helps the reader especially as it is intended to be read by child to discern the significant factors such as being wise and being foolish. As the tale unfolds, the reader sees that the two traders are ambitious on their salesmanship, and they have, for them each, a retinue of five hundred followers making use of bullock-driven carts full of goods to cross a desert, where they encounter devils [ yakkhas], who have some magical powers out of which they can deceive the traders and exploit their commodities. As discussed between the two traders, the foolish person becomes the first to cross the desert. This trader wanting to cross the desert, is shown as a person being grossly deceived by the yakkha chief, and is shown as foolish in his outlook, as regards his own trade. On the advice of the yakkha, the chief trader throws away the pots of water packed in the carts thinking that there will be sufficient in the way ahead. But to their grave dismay, they were deceived and falls prey to the yakkhas. He never returns home with his retinue, as he and his retinue and the bullock become a prey to the monstrous devils. But the second merchant, having a better outlook on matters around him, is conscious and prepares his journey in a methodical manner teaching his followers consisting of a retinue of five hundred traders crosses the desert with much safety undeceived by the same devils whom they encounter. The wise trader never listens to the yakkha chief, as he suspects of being deceived. To avert the attention of the yakkhas, the wise trader consults the villagers whom he encounters, and finds that the desert is known as the waterless sandy way [nirudaka katara], where the yakkhas attract the attention of the humans. He comes to know of the vicinity from them and thinks twice before he arrives at a conclusion. This part of the book is quite interesting, as it is written in a live dialogue that ensues between the wise trader and the villagers as a variant to the commentarial narrative writings. He safely crosses the desert. What the reader feels, I presume, is the comparison of the lives and mannerisms of the two traders; one who has no world outlook, while the other has a better and wiser outlook of his own matters giving food for thought at various levels of meaning. For the child there is a nicely woven story or a narrative with the conflict between the humans and devils like the friends and enemies who abound our own lives on our way with a firm intention. Perhaps for the adult reader, there is much more meaningful insight, for they will perceive the devil not as a super human being, but as an enemy who has spread powerful disastrous tentacles which is symbolic of a cunning strategy. The stories centred round devas or deities, animals, birds, beasts and yakkhas, and other superhuman beings are not at all uncommon to the local reader. This is perhaps the legacy of Orientalism, as even enunciated by scholars such as Max Muller and Rhys Davids and carried down the centuries to the times of post modernism of Edward Said who has compiled a work on the subject. The narrative line in this particular Jataka tale is so sensitive that there is room for a modern critic to read more meanings than the general outer story layer conceiving the theme as either magic realism or fantasy or whatever one prefers to denote the genre in terms of modern textual meanings read into it. Even psychological meanings could be alluded to the narrative taking the central human experience enveloped in factors such as the greed, folly and wisdom which may bring either the downfall or the goal of achievement. Perhaps these complex meanings are unexpected from a common layman as he or she is faith bound. But a spark of creative communication may help build a world of insight to the dismal living conditions. What is significant is that the re-constructor of this narrative, Damayanthi Jayakody underlining a layer of devotionism to the age old narrative evoking a degree of bhakti rasa or a sense of religious faith intending to inculcate a right moral attitude to life. The narrative is simplified and shown as an embedded story in the sermon of Buddha as preached to some rich people of the time. This becomes the central intention of the writer, which she firmly wishes to implant in the minds of the readers. As such she uses a certain sermonised form of language addressed to the reader, which is her main mode of communication, and as a result she lays down the reasons for the narrative of this tale as an indivisible part of the Buddha's words creating the faith which is similar to the one that is created in the minds of those who listened to the sermon. Her intention is to re-write in modern terms, especially for the use of young child reader at the school level, a grave sense of both religious faith [which she envisages as a vanishing factor] cum the awareness of her or his surroundings. This flimsy volume with colourful illustrations must attract the attention not only of the child reader but also of the adult who has a thirst for local inspirational creative writings. As the scholar Margeret Mead once said, the inspirational sources, may they come from religious or other sources, if structured and presented well, will help build the socialisation process in the best possible manner, enabling the common traits shared with others. I feel that this is one such attempt. |
|
.................................. |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|