Jataka tales modified
 The
Head of the Department of Sinhala of the Colombo University, Venerable
Agalakada Sirisumana Thera has brought out a collection of 50 Jataka
tales with modern commentaries and interpretations titling them to mean
as re-reading jataka tales. In the first instance, the 50 stories thus
written have appeared in the Silumina newspaper as a literary column.
He was prompted to publish them in the form of a book since it
retains an eternal value when compiled into a single volume. Thus the
Sinhala compilation is titled as 'Bosat Katha Pela Nevata Kiyavamu'
giving a broader sense of rereading concept and leaning the age old
jatakas in the proper perspective giving vent to some modernistic
ideologies. The tales known as Jatakas have wielded an enormous creative
spirit all over the world, the Orient and the Occident, stemming both as
great human interest stories and as wonderful tales of reality and
fantasy intermixed.
Various beings
 They
cover most interesting and sensitive areas of life irrespective of
humans, gods, devils, animals, birds, beasts and other beings that cover
a gamut of living and non-living creatures. In one of the books written
in the sixties by the Buddhist scholar named Kenneth K S Chen, titled as
'The Buddhism', two chapters are set aside for the analysis of Jataka
tales. Chen recounts how Jataka tales may have been born. When the
Buddha addressed his five great disciples and sent them in five
directions to preach what they have learned from him, he saw to the fact
that they bring along with them the myths and folk tales of the five
directions and see that they are fused into the teachings of the Buddha
wherever possible to create a better impact on the receiver.
This may have gone into the genesis of Jataka tales as one sees in
the original form. As such, the five disciples of the Buddha could be
discerned as the very first Buddhist folklorists of India. According to
Rhys Davids, in 'The Buddhist Birth Stories' published in London as a
pioneer work of the same subject, the Jatakas have been tales as extant
even in the pre-Buddhist vedic era descending down centuries as tales of
wonder based on some of the realistic aspects of human life that
explains meaning of the existence in works appeared as studies in
Jatakas.
V Fausboll's English translation with notes on the allusions and
original terms seems to be the best that has come as a series of volumes
tin most oriental counties as a cross section of intermix of religious
teachings. They spread far and wide as a stock in trade of the poets
dramatists and other creative narrators down the years. One serious
scholar on Jatakas was Martin Wickramasinghe in his writings like 'Jatakas
and the Russian Novel' and 'Jataka Katha Vimasuma'. He refers to
silmilarities both in structure and content of great narratives and the
same in the Jatakas.
He makes use of Jatakas to show how the folklorist gathered the
thematic references to various forms of meritorious deeds that could be
gathered via the use of Jatakas in day to day life. This extension of
literary vision is visible in the creative works of Professor Ediriweera
Sarachchandra put into practice, triggering off from his much discussed
realistic play titled as 'Pabavati' based on Kusa Jataka.
Rich inspiration
As we remember, he wrote a long post-word to the text of Pabavati
titled as 'bosat saravanum'. Bosat refers here to the would be Buddha
where in each Jataka tale the central character or the protagonist
happens to be the Bodisatta. The great five hundred and fifty Jjatakas
are venerated by the Buddhist masses in Sri lanka. But in the entire
collection there are only five hundred and forty seven tales commencing
from Apannaka Jataka to Vessantara Jataka.
Sarachchandra based his well known plays on several Jatakas like
Chulladhanuddara (Maname), Mahasara, Serivanija (Kadavalalu), Uddala (Pemato
Jayati Soko), Vessantara and Lomahansa. Over the years quite a number of
radio plays have been written based on jataka tales. When pandals or
vesak torana are erected the stories embedded are mostly Jatakas. In
this manner Jatakas cannot be separated from the life of the laymen.
Even Buddhist monks make use of the Jatakas to enhance their sermons.
Thousands of poetic works have appeared during the Kandyan period of
Sinhala literature in the genre called kavikatha or ballads. The
respective poets made use of these works to gather merits by writing
them down. All these background details go to make it clear that Jatakas
have been too old as narrations and at the same time they are quite new
and modern in context. They remain as classics for all times.
Thus the work by Venerable Agalakada Sirisumana Thera is a timely
compilation adding material taking into account the value of the
contemporary consciousness that could be tapped transcending the mere
value of a column of serious writing he as the author takes notice of
the social issues like injustice, worth of learning, the care and needs
of adults, the love rendered to children, and the reverse where the care
needed on the part of the children on adults.
In this manner the entire work is a series of rereading the Jataka
tales with a serious mission and vision. Each chapter which analyses the
original Jataka is brief and help the reader to grasp the content more
easily The use of the language is sensitive and touching. The author
refers to the various misdeeds as reported in the mass media channels
and takes them as critical analysis via Jataka tales.
As such the function of his presentation looks more like a series of
reconstructions that has to be considered seriously by the modern
reader.
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