batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l1657-l1752
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l1657-l1752
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
passage_locator:
label: THE BARLAAM AND JOSAPHAT LITERATURE. / SUMMARY. / PART II. / ON THE HISTORY
OF THE BIRTH STORIES IN INDIA.; lines 1657-1752
start: '1657'
end: '1752'
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: ''
summary: The passage discusses the Council of Vesāli, the division of the Buddhist
Order into stricter and laxer parties, a Ceylon chronicle's hostile account of
the Great Council's textual changes, and archaeological evidence from Buddhist
relic-shrine railings showing that Jātaka Birth Stories were known and treated
as sacred by the end of the third century B.C.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The Council of Vesāli is dated within about thirty years of 350 B.C. and is
said to have occurred about a hundred years after Gotama’s death.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: At the Council, members of the Buddhist Order of Mendicants divided into two
parties over ten matters of discipline and practice.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The stricter party is described as the orthodox party in the surviving account,
while the laxer side is said to have been in the majority.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: After older and influential members decided for the stricter view, the other
side held a separate council called the Great Council.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The Dīpavaŋsa accuses the monks of the Great Council of breaking up original
scriptures, making a new recension, rearranging discourses, distorting the Five
Nikāyas, and putting aside part of the Jātaka.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The author states that the Dīpavaŋsa is late and partisan but treats it as
evidence that Ceylon tradition knew of a book called the Jātaka at the time of
the Vesāli councils.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: Buddhist carvings on railings around dome-shaped relic shrines at Sānchi,
Amaravatī, and Bharhut are described as bas-reliefs illustrating sacred Birth
Stories from Gotama’s last or previous births.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: Some Bharhut bas-reliefs have titles of Jātakas inscribed above them.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The passage states that by the end of the third century B.C. the Birth Stories
were considered sacred and known by the technical name Jātakas.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Gotama
description: The teacher whose death precedes the Council of Vesāli and whose last
or previous births are represented in Jātaka scenes.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Members of the Buddhist Order of Mendicants
description: The monastic community divided at the Council of Vesāli over discipline
and practice.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Stricter or orthodox party
description: The party that opposed relaxation of the Order’s rules and whose successors
preserve the account described in the passage.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Laxer side / monks of the Great Council
description: The majority party at Vesāli, later said to have held its own council
and to have altered scriptures according to the Dīpavaŋsa.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Dīpavaŋsa
description: The oldest Ceylon Chronicle cited as the published source for what
occurred at the Great Council.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Northern Buddhists
description: Described as successors of those who held the Great Council, from whom
another account may be expected through Sanskrit or Chinese sources.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: deceased teacher
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Council of Vesāli is located after Gotama’s death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: council participants
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The members of the Order were divided at the Council over disciplinary points.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: stricter disciplinary party
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: One side adopted the stricter view and is called orthodox by its successors.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: laxer majority party
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The other side advocated relaxation in ten matters and is acknowledged to
have been in the majority.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: accused textual revisers
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The Dīpavaŋsa says the monks of the Great Council broke up scriptures, made
a new recension, and replaced portions of texts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: subject of birth-story scenes
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The bas-reliefs are described as scenes from Gotama’s life in his last or
previous births.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: chronicle witness
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The passage cites the Dīpavaŋsa as the only published account of the Great
Council and as evidence for Ceylon tradition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:8
label: successor tradition
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Northern Buddhists are described as successors of those who held the Great
Council.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Book of Birth Stories / Jātaka
literal_form: A book called the Jātaka, containing sacred Birth Stories.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: sym:2
label: Original Scriptures and new recension
literal_form: Original Scriptures, Five Nikāyas, Sutta, Vinaya, Abhidhamma books,
and substituted versions described in the Dīpavaŋsa accusation.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: Bas-relief Jātaka carvings
literal_form: Figures sculptured in deep bas-relief on Buddhist railings, some with
inscribed Jātaka titles.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: Dome-shaped relic shrines and railings
literal_form: Dome-shaped relic shrines at Sānchi, Amaravatī, and Bharhut with railings
bearing Buddhist carvings.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Council of Vesāli division
summary: Members of the Buddhist Order divide into stricter and laxer parties over
ten matters of discipline and practice.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Great Council textual accusation
summary: The Dīpavaŋsa says the monks of the Great Council rearranged and altered
scriptures, distorted teachings, and put aside a portion of the Jātaka.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Evaluation of Ceylon chronicle evidence
summary: The author notes the late and partisan character of the Dīpavaŋsa but treats
it as evidence that Ceylon tradition knew a Jātaka book at the time of the Vesāli
councils.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Jātaka scenes on relic-shrine railings
summary: Archaeological carvings from Sānchi, Amaravatī, and Bharhut are identified
as Jātaka illustrations, including scenes from Gotama’s previous births and inscribed
Jātaka titles.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Council schism over discipline and sacred authority
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage describes a council dividing the monastic order over rules, followed
by rival claims about orthodox teaching and textual preservation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a historiographical passage rather than a mythic narrative; the
taxonomy link to wisdom is broad and based on disputed teaching and textual authority.
- id: motif:2
label: Contested recension of sacred texts
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The Dīpavaŋsa accuses the Great Council monks of breaking up original scriptures,
rearranging discourses, changing meanings, and making substitute texts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage itself warns that the source is partisan and late for the
events described.
- id: motif:3
label: Previous-birth sacred biography
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: The bas-reliefs are said to show scenes from the life of Gotama in his last
or previous births, and these stories are called Jātakas or Birth Stories.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage mentions previous births but does not narrate a rebirth episode
in detail.
- id: motif:4
label: Sacred narrative displayed on relic shrines
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Birth Stories were chosen as subjects around sacred Buddhist relic shrines
and were known by inscribed Jātaka titles.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: No specific mythic plot from an individual Jātaka is given in this passage.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly compares the Council of Vesāli in Buddhist history
to the Council of Nice in Christian history in terms of importance.
claim_level: same_function
target: Council of Nice in the history of Christianity
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The comparison is an authorial historical analogy, not a detailed comparison
of myths, rituals, or doctrines.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1657-1665
quote_or_summary: The Council of Vesāli is said to have occurred about a hundred
years after Gotama’s death, with the author dating it within thirty years of 350
B.C.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summary provided.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 1666-1678
quote_or_summary: The Order divided at the Council into a party advocating relaxation
of ten rules and a stricter party; the laxer side was the majority and later held
its own Great Council.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summary provided.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 1679-1705
quote_or_summary: The Dīpavaŋsa says the monks of the Great Council turned the religion
upside down, broke up original scriptures, made a new recension, distorted the
Five Nikāyas, and put aside texts including a portion of the Jātaka.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summary provided.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 1707-1715
quote_or_summary: The author notes the partisan and late nature of the Dīpavaŋsa
but says it is evidence that Ceylon tradition held that a book called the Jātaka
existed at the time of the Councils of Vesāli.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summary provided.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 1720-1740
quote_or_summary: Buddhist bas-relief carvings on railings around dome-shaped relic
shrines at Sānchi, Amaravatī, and Bharhut are described as illustrations of Jātaka
Birth Stories, including scenes from Gotama’s last or previous births; some Bharhut
carvings have Jātaka titles inscribed over them.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summary provided.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 1741-1752
quote_or_summary: The bas-reliefs are treated as evidence that by the end of the
third century B.C. Birth Stories were considered sacred, represented around important
Buddhist buildings, and known by the technical name Jātakas.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summary provided.
- id: ev:7
type: quote
locator: lines 1666-1669
quote_or_summary: "“as important for the history of Buddhism as the Council of Nice
is for the history of Christianity”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; short quotation.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 1716-1719
quote_or_summary: Northern Buddhists are described as successors of those who held
the Great Council, and the author hopes for their account from Sanskrit or Chinese
sources.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summary provided.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The passage is primarily historical and archaeological, so motifs are framed
as candidate patterns around sacred textual authority, previous-birth biography,
and sacred visual representation rather than as full narrative motifs.
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: |-
No available symbol taxonomy entries such as tree, water, fire, cave, mountain, serpent, or milk are directly present in this passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l1657-l1752
passage_sha256=c4a2ec1ebd85c7a0d98b2e76c5ed61226c5ab70e56330e4d7a1a792114bcc619