batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l11108-l11242
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l11108-l11242
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
passage_locator:
label: END OF THE STORY OF THE DOG. / END OF THE STORY OF THE BHOJA THOROUGHBRED.
/ END OF THE STORY OF THE THOROUGHBRED. / END OF THE STORY OF THE FORD.; lines
11108-11242
start: '11108'
end: '11242'
translation: Buddhist birth stories; or, Jataka tales, Volume 1
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: Evil communications corrupt good manners.
summary: In the frame story, a monk ordained under the Buddha is repeatedly persuaded
by a follower of Devadatta to eat food supplied at Devadatta's monastery, and
the Master rebukes him for following unsuitable influence. In the past-life tale,
the Bodisat is a minister of King Brahma-datta. The king's gentle state elephant,
Girly-face, overhears robbers discussing violent methods and assumes he is being
instructed; he becomes violent and kills those who approach him. The Bodisat diagnoses
that speech heard near the stable caused the change, arranges for holy men to
speak of nonviolence, patience, love, and mercy near the elephant, and the elephant
returns to his former tame character.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Devadatta receives patronage from Prince Ajāta-sattu, including a monastery
at Gayā-sīsa and daily food, and his following increases.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A monk ordained under the Teacher is repeatedly urged by a friend who follows
Devadatta to come to Gayā-sīsa for better food.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The monk eats at Gayā-sīsa and later admits this to other monks while distinguishing
the givers from Devadatta himself.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The Master rebukes the monk for eating Devadatta's food and says he has previously
followed anyone he met, even when already attached to worthy people.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: In the past-life tale, the Bodisat is the minister of King Brahma-datta in
Benares.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The king has a state elephant named Girly-face who is initially good, gentle,
and harmless.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Robbers repeatedly sit near the elephant's stall at night and discuss housebreaking,
taking goods, murder, harshness, violence, and cruelty.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: The elephant interprets the robbers' talk as instruction addressed to himself
and becomes harsh, violent, and cruel.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: The elephant seizes an elephant keeper with his trunk, dashes him to the ground,
kills him, and similarly kills others who come near.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: The Bodisat finds no bodily ailment in the elephant and concludes that overheard
conversation caused the change.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:11
text: The Bodisat confirms that thieves had talked near the stable at night and
reports to the king that the elephant became a rogue from hearing robbers' talk.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:12
text: At the Bodisat's direction, holy devotees sit near the elephant's stall and
speak of not striking or killing, and of patience, love, and mercy.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:13
text: The elephant interprets the holy men's speech as instruction for himself and
becomes tame and quiet again.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: The Master
description: The Teacher at Jetavana who tells the story about Devadatta and rebukes
the monk.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Devadatta
description: A rival religious figure who receives Prince Ajāta-sattu's patronage
and whose food becomes the issue in the frame story.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Prince Ajāta-sattu
description: The prince who provides Devadatta with a monastery and daily food.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Monk ordained under the Teacher
description: One of two friends at Rājagaha; he took vows under the Teacher but
eats at Devadatta's monastery after persuasion.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Devadatta's adherent
description: The other friend at Rājagaha; he took vows under Devadatta and urges
the Teacher's monk to come for food at Gayā-sīsa.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Other monks or brethren
description: The monk's friends who question him and bring him before the Master.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: King Brahma-datta
description: King of Benares in the past-life tale; owner of the state elephant
and ruler served by the Bodisat.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:9
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: The Bodisat as minister
description: The king's minister who investigates the elephant's change of behavior
and prescribes corrective speech.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Girly-face, the state elephant
description: A good and gentle royal elephant who becomes violent after hearing
robbers' talk, then becomes tame again after hearing holy discourse.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:12
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Robbers or thieves
description: People who repeatedly gather near the elephant's stall at night and
discuss violent robbery.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:10
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Elephant keepers
description: Handlers of the elephant; one is killed, and they later answer the
Bodisat's question about night talk near the stable.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Holy devotees or holy men
description: Venerable men placed near the elephant's stall to speak of righteousness
and nonviolence.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
roles:
- id: role:1
label: teacher and moral interpreter
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Master rebukes the monk and introduces a tale explaining prior susceptibility
to influence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: rival recipient of patronage
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Devadatta receives patronage, food, and followers, and is described by the
Master as sinful and wicked.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: royal patron
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Prince Ajāta-sattu has a monastery built for Devadatta and provides daily
food.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: susceptible listener
assigned_to:
- fig:4
- fig:9
basis: The monk is persuaded to eat at Gayā-sīsa, and the elephant changes behavior
after interpreting overheard speech as instruction.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- ev:12
- id: role:5
label: corrupting speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:10
basis: Devadatta's adherent urges the monk toward Devadatta's provisions; robbers
speak of violent robbery near the elephant.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: disciplinary witnesses
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The brethren question the monk and bring him before the Master.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:7
label: king seeking diagnosis
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The king sends the Bodisat to find why the elephant has become a rogue and
later asks whether he is quieted.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:12
- id: role:8
label: wise diagnostician and adviser
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The Bodisat finds no bodily illness, identifies the effect of overheard speech,
and prescribes holy discourse near the stall.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: role:9
label: transformed animal
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The elephant shifts from gentle to violent after bad speech and back to tame
after righteous speech.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:12
- id: role:10
label: victims and informants
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: Elephant keepers are killed by the elephant, and keepers report the thieves'
night talk to the Bodisat.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: role:11
label: corrective speakers
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: Holy men sit near the elephant and speak of nonviolence, patience, love,
and mercy.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: state elephant
literal_form: A royal elephant named Girly-face, initially gentle, then violent,
then tame again.
associated_figures:
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
- ev:12
- id: sym:2
label: elephant stall or stable
literal_form: The place near which robbers and later holy men sit and speak within
the elephant's hearing.
associated_figures:
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: sym:3
label: robbers' talk
literal_form: Repeated nighttime speech about tunneling, housebreaking, murder,
harshness, violence, and cruelty.
associated_figures:
- fig:10
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:4
label: holy discourse
literal_form: Speech near the elephant that no one should be struck or killed and
that upright conduct is patient, loving, and merciful.
associated_figures:
- fig:12
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
- id: sym:5
label: Devadatta's food at Gayā-sīsa
literal_form: Food provided under Devadatta's patronage, including gruel and many
dishes, which the monk is urged to eat.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Devadatta's patronage and increased following
summary: Devadatta becomes pleasing to Prince Ajāta-sattu, receives a monastery
and daily food, and gains many followers.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Persuasion of the monk at Rājagaha
summary: A friend ordained under Devadatta repeatedly urges a monk ordained under
the Teacher to stop begging and eat at Gayā-sīsa.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Monk brought before the Master
summary: The monk's visits to Gayā-sīsa become known; other monks challenge him
and bring him before the Master, who rebukes him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Robbers speak near the elephant
summary: Robbers gather near the gentle elephant's stall at night and repeatedly
discuss violent methods of theft and murder.
figure_refs:
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Elephant becomes violent
summary: The elephant takes the robbers' talk as instruction and kills keepers and
others who approach him.
figure_refs:
- fig:9
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:6
label: Bodisat diagnoses overheard influence
summary: The king sends the Bodisat, who finds no bodily ailment and concludes from
inquiry that the elephant's behavior changed because of thieves' talk near the
stable.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: scene:7
label: Holy speech restores the elephant
summary: Holy devotees speak of nonviolence and mercy near the elephant, and the
elephant becomes tame and quiet again.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: bad company or bad speech corrupts conduct
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The frame maxim states that evil communications corrupt good manners; the
monk is drawn toward Devadatta's food by a friend's urging, and the elephant becomes
violent after hearing robbers' talk.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage is primarily didactic rather
than a mythic cosmological motif.
- id: motif:2
label: corrective good counsel restores conduct
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: After the Bodisat identifies bad speech as the cause, holy men speak of nonviolence
and mercy near the elephant, and the elephant becomes tame again.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
confidence: high
cautions: This is a moral-instruction pattern within a Jataka tale, not necessarily
a named comparative motif.
- id: motif:3
label: wise minister diagnoses hidden cause
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The Bodisat as minister discovers that the elephant's violence is not bodily
illness but the result of overheard robbers' talk, and he prescribes a remedy.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: medium
cautions: The role of wise diagnostician is explicit, but the available taxonomy
only supports the general family 'wisdom.'
- id: motif:4
label: animal morally transformed by human speech
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The elephant changes first toward violence and then back toward gentleness
according to the human speech he hears and interprets as addressed to him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:11
- ev:12
confidence: high
cautions: No specific supplied taxonomy reference matches this animal-transformation-through-speech
pattern.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 11108-11242, frame opening at Jetavana
quote_or_summary: Devadatta gains Prince Ajāta-sattu's favor; a monastery is built
for him at Gayā-sīsa, daily food is provided, and his following increases.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 11108-11242, two friends at Rājagaha
quote_or_summary: A Devadatta adherent urges his friend ordained under the Teacher
to come to Gayā-sīsa for excellent gruel and eighteen kinds of dishes instead
of begging.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 11108-11242, discovery of the monk's meals
quote_or_summary: The monk goes to Gayā-sīsa for meals, the matter becomes known,
and he admits eating there while saying Devadatta is not personally the giver.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 11108-11242, Master rebukes the monk
quote_or_summary: Other monks bring him before the Master, who says Devadatta is
wicked and that the monk has formerly followed anyone he met, then begins a tale.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 11108-11242, past-life tale opening
quote_or_summary: When Brahma-datta reigns in Benares, the Bodisat is his minister,
and the king's state elephant Girly-face is good, gentle, and harmless.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 11108-11242, robbers near the stall
quote_or_summary: Robbers repeatedly gather near the elephant's stall at night and
discuss tunneling, housebreaking, carrying off goods, murder, harshness, violence,
and cruelty.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: quote
locator: lines 11108-11242, elephant hears the robbers
quote_or_summary: "“It is me they are teaching. I am in future to be harsh, violent,
and cruel.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 11108-11242, elephant kills keepers
quote_or_summary: In the morning the elephant seizes an elephant keeper with his
trunk, throws him down, kills him, and kills others who come near.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 11108-11242, Bodisat investigates
quote_or_summary: The king sends the Bodisat to discover why the elephant has become
a rogue; the Bodisat finds no bodily ailment and suspects overheard conversation.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 11108-11242, keepers report thieves' talk
quote_or_summary: Elephant keepers say thieves used to talk near the stable at night,
and the Bodisat tells the king the elephant became a rogue from hearing robbers
talk.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 11108-11242, holy men placed near stall
quote_or_summary: The Bodisat advises that holy devotees sit in the elephant stable
and speak of righteousness; they say no one should be struck or killed and that
upright conduct is patient, loving, and merciful.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: lines 11108-11242, elephant restored
quote_or_summary: The elephant hears the holy speech, takes it as instruction for
himself, becomes good, and is reported by the Bodisat to be re-established in
his former character.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: The narrative sequence and figures are explicit in the passage. Motif labels
are descriptive and use only the broad available 'wisdom' taxonomy where supported.
No comparison claims were added because the passage does not itself compare this
story to another tradition or motif family beyond its explicit moral pattern.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Only the supplied passage and metadata were used. The passage is from the Mahilā-mukha Jātaka and includes both a monastic frame story and a past-life animal tale.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l11108-l11242
passage_sha256=b485a71173e4d2cc61a3a224464ed86a4475b4ea654e5a99dac95405288fe3a3