Jātaka
The ''Jātaka'' (Sanskrit for "Birth-Related" or "Birth Stories") are a voluminous body of literature native to the Indian subcontinent which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. Jataka stories were depicted on the railings and torans of the stupas. According to Peter Skilling, this genre is "one of the oldest classes of Buddhist literature."Skilling, Peter (2010). ''Buddhism and Buddhist Literature of South-East Asia,'' pp. 161–162. Some of these texts are also considered great works of literature in their own right.Shaw, Sarah (2006). ''The Jatakas: Birth Stories of Bodhisatta'', p. xxii. Penguin UK. The various Indian Buddhist schools had different collections of jātakas. The largest known collection is the '' Jātakatthavaṇṇanā'' of the Theravada school, as a textual division of the Pāli Canon, included in the '' Khuddaka Nikaya'' of the ''Sutta Pitaka''. In these stories, the future Buddha may appear as a king, an o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jātaka (Pali Canon)
The Jātaka is a Buddhist scripture, part of the Pāli Canon of Theravāda Buddhism. It is included in the Sutta Pitaka's Khuddaka Nikaya. It comprises 547 poems, arranged roughly by an increasing number of verses. The various Indian Buddhist schools had different collections of ''jātakas'', and the definitive Jātaka of the Pali Canon is one of the canonical collections that have existed within various Buddhist traditions. Some of the stories are also found in numerous other languages and media, such the Hindu Panchatantra. History Early ''jātakas'' ''Jātakas'' were originally transmitted in Prakrit languages and various forms of Sanskrit (from classical to Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit). They were then translated into central Asian languages (such as Khotanese, Tocharian, Uighur, and Sogdian)''.''Skilling, Peter (2010). ''Buddhism and Buddhist Literature of South-East Asia,'' p. 165. Various ''jātaka'' stories and source texts were also translated into Chinese and Tibet ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bharhut
Bharhut is a village in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh, central India. It is known for a Buddhist stupa, unique in that each panel is explicitly labelled in Brahmi characters saying what the panel depicts. The major donor for the Bharhut stupa was King Dhanabhuti. The Bharhut sculptures are some of the earliest examples of Indian and Buddhist art, later than the monumental art of Ashoka (), and slightly later than the early Shunga-period reliefs on railings at Sanchi Stupa No.2 (starting circa 115 BCE). It is more provincial in quality than the sculpture at Sanchi, Amaravati Stupa and some other sites, a large amount of sculpture has survived, generally in good condition. Recent authors date the reliefs of the railings of Bharhut circa 125–100 BCE, and clearly after Sanchi Stupa No.2, compared to which Bharhut has a much more developed iconography. The torana gateway was made slightly later than the railings, and is dated to 100–75 BCE. Historian Ajit Kumar gives a l ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but Great Renunciation, renounced his Householder (Buddhism), home life to live as a wandering ascetic. After leading a life of mendicancy, asceticism, and meditation, he attained Nirvana (Buddhism), nirvana at Bodh Gaya, Bodh Gayā in what is now India. The Buddha then wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a Sangha, monastic order. Buddhist tradition holds he died in Kushinagar and reached ''parinirvana'' ("final release from conditioned existence"). According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to Vimutti, freedom from Avidyā (Buddhism), ignora ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pāramitā
''Pāramitā'' (Sanskrit, Pali: पारमिता) or ''pāramī'' (Pāli: पारमी) is a Buddhist term often translated as "perfection". It is described in Buddhist commentaries as a noble character quality generally associated with enlightened beings. ''Pāramī'' and ''pāramitā'' are both terms in Pali but Pali literature makes greater reference to ''pāramī'', while Mahayana texts generally use the Sanskrit ''pāramitā.'' Etymology Donald S. Lopez Jr. describes the etymology of the term: Theravāda Buddhism Theravada teachings on the ''pāramīs'' can be found in late canonical books and post-canonical commentaries. Theravada commentator Dhammapala describes them as noble qualities usually associated with bodhisattvas. American scholar-monk Thanissaro Bhikkhu describes them as perfections ''(paramī)'' of character necessary to achieve enlightenment as one of the three enlightened beings, a '' samma sambuddha'', a '' pacceka-buddha'', or an '' arahan ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dāna
(Devanagari: , IAST: ) is a Sanskrit and Pali word that connotes the virtue of generosity, charity or giving of alms, in Indian religions and philosophies. In Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, is the practice of cultivating generosity. It can take the form of giving to an individual in distress or need, or of philanthropic public projects that empower and help many. is an ancient practice in Indian traditions, tracing back to Vedic traditions. Hinduism (Sanskrit: ) means giving, often in the context of donation and charity. In other contexts, such as rituals, it can simply refer to the act of giving something. is related to and mentioned in ancient texts along with concepts of () which means benevolent deed, helping others; () which means fee one can afford; and (), which means alms. is defined in traditional texts as any action of relinquishing the ownership of what one considered or identified as one's own, and investing the same in a recipient without ex ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Avadana
Avadāna (Sanskrit; Pali: '' Apadāna'') is the name given to a type of Buddhist literature correlating past lives' virtuous deeds to subsequent lives' events. Richard Salomon described them as "stories, usually narrated by the Buddha, that illustrate the workings of karma by revealing the acts of a particular individual in a previous life and the results of those actions in his or her present life." This literature includes around 600 stories in the Pāli language Apadāna ("Legends"). There are also a large number in Sanskrit collections, of which the chief are the Mahāsāṃghika's '' Mahāvastu'' ("Great Book") and the Sarvāstivāda's '' Avadānaśataka'' (''Century of Legends'') and '' Divyāvadāna'' (''The Heavenly Legend''). These latter collections include accounts relating to Gautama Buddha and the third-century BCE "righteous ruler," Ashoka. Amongst the most popular ''avadānas'' of Northern Hinayāna Buddhism are: * Ratnamālāvadāna, which is a collecti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Avadanasataka
The ''Avadānaśataka'' (''A Hundred Tales'') is a Buddhist anthology in Sanskrit of one hundred Buddhist avadāna legends associated with the Mūlasarvāstivāda school.Buswell, Robert E; Lopez, Donald S. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, pp. 81-82. Princeton University Press, Nov 24, 2013. The Sanskrit text's composition date is uncertain, with an approximate origin around 100 CE or later, between the second and fourth centuries CE. The collection likely originated in the northwest Indian subcontinent, with some fragments discovered in the Schøyen Collection, possibly from Bāmiyān. The Mūlasarvāstivāda affiliation is supported by shared passages with the Divyāvadāna and the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, as well as its textual and thematic parallels. The ''Avadānaśataka'' is similar to and possibly from the same milieu as the ''Aśokāvadāna'' and the '' Ratnamālāvadāna''. The text was later translated into Chinese (as ''Zhuanji baiyuan jing'') and into Tibetan. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Buddhahood
In Buddhism, Buddha (, which in classic Indo-Aryan languages, Indic languages means "awakened one") is a title for those who are Enlightenment in Buddhism, spiritually awake or enlightened, and have thus attained the Buddhist paths to liberation, supreme goal of Buddhism, variously described as Enlightenment in Buddhism, awakening or enlightenment (''bodhi''), ''Nirvana (Buddhism), Nirvāṇa'' ("blowing out"), and Moksha, liberation (''vimokṣa''). A Buddha is also someone who fully understands the ''Dharma, Dhārma'', the true nature of all things or Phenomenon, phenomena (''Abhidharma, dhārmata''), the Two truths doctrine, ultimate truth. Buddhahood (Sanskrit: ''buddhatva''; or ; zh, c=成佛) is the condition and state of being a Buddha. This highest spiritual state of being is also termed ''sammā-sambodhi'' (Sanskrit: ''samyaksaṃbodhi''; "full, complete awakening") and is interpreted in many different ways across schools of Buddhism. The title of "Buddha" is most c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in order to compassionately help other individuals reach Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools, as well as modern Theravāda Buddhism, bodhisattva (or bodhisatta) refers to someone who has made a resolution to become a Buddha and has also received a confirmation or prediction from a living Buddha that this will come to pass. In Theravāda Buddhism, the bodhisattva is mainly seen as an exceptional and rare individual. Only a few select individuals are ultimately able to become bodhisattvas, such as Maitreya. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva refers to anyone who has generated '' bodhicitta'', a spontaneous wish and compassionate mind to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. Mahayana bodhisattvas are spiritua ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dipankara
Dipankara (Pali: ''Dīpaṅkara''; Sanskrit: ', "Lamp bearer") or Dipankara Buddha is one of the Buddhas of the past. He is said to have lived on Earth four asankheyyas and one hundred thousand kalpas ago. According to Buddhists, Dipankara was a previous Buddha who attained Enlightenment eons prior to Gautama Buddha, the historical Buddha. Generally, Buddhists believe that there has been a succession of many Buddhas in the distant past and that many more will appear in the future. Dipankara was one of these previous Buddhas, while Gautama Buddha was the current and most recent Enlightened one, and Maitreya will be the next Buddha in the distant future. Chinese Buddhism honors Dipankara as one of many Buddhas of the past. Dipankara, Gautama, and Maitreya are "the Buddhas of Three Times" in Yiguandao. Iconography Sanjaa (Dipankara) inside Western Temple in the Mongolia.html" ;"title="Erdene Zuu Monastery, Mongolia">Erdene Zuu Monastery, Mongolia. Dipankara is generally rep ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Southern India, Andhra Pradesh, Possibly Amaravati, Satavahana Period - Buddha's Previous Life As A Woodpecker- Javasakunda Jataka - 1970
Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, Memphis-based passenger air transportation company, serving eight cities in the US * Southern Company, US electricity corporation * Southern Music (now Peermusic), US record label * Southern Railway (other), various railways * Southern Records, independent British record label * Southern Studios, recording studio in London, England * Southern Television, defunct UK television company * Southern (Govia Thameslink Railway), brand used for some train services in Southern England Media * 88.3 Southern FM, a non-commercial community radio station based in Melbourne, Australia * Heart Sussex, a radio station in Sussex, England, previously known as "Southern FM" * ''Nanfang Daily'' or ''Southern Daily'', the official Communist Party newsp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sanchi
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen, Raisen town, district headquarter and north-east of Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh. The Great Stupa at Sanchi is one of the oldest stone structures in India, and an important monument to the historical architecture of India. It was originally commissioned by the Maurya Empire, Mauryan emperor Ashoka the Great, Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE. Its nucleus was a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the Gautama Buddha, Buddha. It was crowned by the Chatra (umbrella), chatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics. The original construction work of this stupa was overseen by Ashoka, whose wife Devi was the daughter of a merchant of nearby Vidisha. Sanchi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |