The story of the next-to-last life of the Buddha (Vessantara Jataka)

TO BE LOOKED AT FROM LEFT TO RIGHT

Huge paintings such as this one (which is over twenty yards long), are used in annual Buddhist ceremonies in villages in northeastern Thailand. Such a painting is unfurled completely and carried by a number of people holding its upper edge through the village to a temple building in which it is to be displayed. Accompanying its display, over many hours monks chant the extended story it documents in the story's original ancient language, Pali.

The story tells of Prince Vessantara, the Buddha-to-be in his next-to-last life before achieving buddhahood. This story and the stories of each of the nine lives preceding it show the Buddhato-be perfecting one of the ten primary virtues. Vessantara cultivates the virtue of generosity by giving away all his most valued possessions, and even, eventually, his wife and children. The part of the painting displayed here illustrates episodes from the middle of the story:

• The leftmost section is divided horizontally to create a splitscreen effect. Below, Vessantara has been asked by a group of brahmans for his kingdom's magical rain-bringing elephant, and he formalizes giving it to them by the traditional means of pouring water from a ceremonial vessel. Above, Vessantara is shown handing out donations, and an inscription tells us that we see "Prince Vessantara giving away things."
• Next is Vessantara's father in his palace being urged by townspeople to send his son into exile for giving away the precious elephant.
• Split screen: Below, we are shown the brahmans trying to crowd onto the elephant's back to ride it away. Above is a flashback to the time of Vessantara's birth and childhood. At upper left Vessantara's mother rides in a chariot with her attendants. At center she is shown again, seated and still in her royal finery though entering labor. She grasps a rope attached to a tree for support, and one of her maids strokes her abdomen to soothe her discomfort. According to the story, many other births occurred at the same time as Vessantara's. One of these was of the elephant he would give away many years later. At upper right this elephant, as a baby, is shown emerging from its mother's body.
• Beneath the scene of Vessantara's mother in labor, inside a rectangle is shown an incident from Vessantara's boyhood that prefigured his later life. As the ancient text says, "The king [Vessantara's father] caused to be made a prince's necklace with a hundred thousand pieces of money and gave it to his son; but he, being of four or five years of age, gave it away to his nurses . . . ."
• In another palace scene, Vessantara, together with his wife and children (at the top of the stairs), bids farewell to his father before going into exile.
• Split screen: Below, Vessantara and his wife and children ride out of the city in a horse-drawn chariot. Another group of brahmans asks him for the horses, which he readily gives them. Minor gods take the form of deer to pull Vessantara's chariot, but more brahmans ask him for the chariot and have their request granted. Above, one group of brahmans makes off with the chariot, while other brahmans ride the horses away.
• Vessantara and his family find their way to a neighboring capital city, and in yet another palace scene, Vessantara is shown being asked to stay and govern the city by several of its nobles.
• Vessantara declines this offer, being determined to accept the banishment imposed on him in spite of the fact that this punishment is unjust.
• Split screen: Below, he and his wife continue their journey into exile, now walking and carrying their children. The trees lean toward them: according to the ancient written text "The trees bowed down their fruit so that their hands could reach it, and they picked out the ripest and gave it to the little ones." Next, Vessantara and his family encounter a man who has been directed to protect them, and they give him a golden hair ornament. Above, near a herd of deer, Vessantara and his family are show having put on the tigerskin garments of hermits, as befits their status as exiles living in the forest.
• Split screen: Below, we are introduced to the elderly brahman who will eventually ask Vessantara to give him his children. This man has taken a pretty young wife and is shown fondling her. Later, when she goes to fetch water, she is ridiculed and berated by other women of the village for having such an old husband. Worse, her dutiful care of him has caused the other women's husbands to expect equally good treatment from them. In an episode that is not represented in the painting, the young wife complains to her husband of being mocked by the other women, and demands that he find her some slaves. Her husband, having heard of Prince Vessantara's boundless generosity, resolves to find the prince and ask for his children. Above, the old brahman, searching for Vessantara, visits Vessantara's hometown and, when he asks Vessantara's whereabouts, is driven away by townspeople; they blame people like him, who ask Vessantara for things, for what they consider Vessantara's disastrous overgenerosity. Going into the forest the old brahman gets lost. He encounters the man protecting Vessantara, who, suspecting his bad intentions, threatens to kill him (we see the protector loading his crossbow) and chases him up a tree. The old brahman lies his way out of his predicament, and is released.
In the remainder of the painting (not shown), the story of the Buddha-to-be in his next-to-last life as Prince Vessantara continues and concludes. He accomplishes the supreme sacrifices of giving away his wife and children, confirming his flawless generosity. A series of complicated plot twists follow, with much suffering for Vessantara, his wife, their children, and his own parents. Finally all are happily reunited, and Vessantara returns to his home city in triumph.