batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l17081-l17197
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l17081-l17197
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
passage_locator:
label: INDIAN TALES FROM TIBETAN SOURCES. / THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA. / BY A. BARTH.
/ FOOTNOTES:; lines 17081-17197
start: '17081'
end: '17197'
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: This line range consists of translator footnotes discussing Jātaka-related
interpretive points, including the truth-act miracle, salvation as death to oneself
and spiritual rebirth, animal episodes, moral similes, renunciant status, and
comparisons to other texts or fables.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A solemn appeal to a former good action, if true, is described as often producing
a miracle and is named saccakiriyā, or truth-act.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:2
text: The note says Buddhist-scripture miracles following a truth-act are usually
assistance to someone in distress.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The note contrasts foolish attempts at salvation through rites and delusions
with death to oneself and spiritual rebirth as true salvation.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: The passage mentions monkeys sitting and listening to the Bodisat in a Bharhut
sculpture.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: A cited verse compares a person exceeding in wickedness to a creeper covering
and dragging down a tree.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: A rogue elephant is defined as a male driven from the herd or one who has
lost self-command in the rutting season and become vicious.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The passage says true Brāmanship is based on self-culture and self-control
rather than birth.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: A biblical passage is cited in comparison, where fire comes down from heaven
and consumes a man and his fifty followers.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: truth-act performer
description: An unspecified person who makes a solemn appeal to a former good action.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: person in distress
description: An unspecified beneficiary whom a Buddhist truth-act miracle may assist.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: fools seeking salvation
description: People who seek safety from divine wrath through rites and delusions
that become spiritual bonds.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Bodisat
description: The Bodisat is shown as one to whom monkeys listen in a Bharhut sculptural
scene mentioned by the note.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: monkeys
description: Monkeys are described as sitting like good little boys and listening
to the Bodisat.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: rogue elephant
description: A male elephant driven out of the herd or losing self-command in rut
and becoming vicious.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Samaṇas
description: Self-conquering ones who have given up the world and live in self-renunciation
and peace.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: true Brāhmans
description: Those whose superiority is attributed to self-culture and self-control,
not birth.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: truth-claimant
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The miracle is said to follow a solemn appeal to a former good action if
true.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: distressed beneficiary
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The note says such miracles usually assist someone in distress.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: deluded salvation-seeker
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The note describes fools practicing rites and harboring delusions while seeking
salvation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: teacher or listener's focus
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The Bodisat is the figure to whom the monkeys listen.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: animal listeners
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The monkeys are described as sitting and listening to the Bodisat.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: dangerous outcast male animal
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The rogue elephant is defined as driven from the herd or lacking self-command
and becoming vicious.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: self-renouncing holy persons
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Samaṇas are glossed as self-conquering ones devoted to self-renunciation
and peace.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:8
label: status by moral cultivation
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The note states true Brāmanship results from self-culture and self-control,
not birth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: fire from heaven
literal_form: fire
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: tree covered by creeper
literal_form: tree
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: spiritual rebirth
literal_form: death to oneself and spiritual rebirth
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:4
label: rogue elephant
literal_form: elephant
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Truth-act miracle
summary: A true appeal to a former good action is said to work a miracle, usually
by assisting someone in distress.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: False and true salvation
summary: Fools seek safety through rites and delusions, while the note states that
death to oneself and spiritual rebirth is the only true salvation.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:3
label: Monkeys listening to the Bodisat
summary: A sculptural depiction is described in which monkeys sit and listen to
the Bodisat.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Self-destructive wickedness simile
summary: A cited verse says excessive wickedness makes a person as an enemy would
wish, like a creeper dragging down the tree it covers.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Rogue elephant condition
summary: A male elephant outside the herd or in rut is described as losing self-command
and becoming vicious.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: truthful declaration brings miraculous aid
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage explains saccakiriyā as a truth-act in which a true appeal to
a former good action can work a miracle, usually to assist someone in distress.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The passage is a translator's explanatory note rather than the full narrative
episode.
- id: motif:2
label: spiritual death and rebirth as salvation
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: The note explicitly states that death to oneself and spiritual rebirth is
the only true salvation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: high
cautions: This is doctrinal exposition in a footnote, not a narrated mythic event.
- id: motif:3
label: wickedness destroys its bearer
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: A cited verse says the wicked person makes himself as his enemy might desire,
like a creeper dragging down a covered tree.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The note reports a verse associated with another commentary; the immediate
narrative context is absent.
- id: motif:4
label: moral cultivation supersedes birth status
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The note says real superiority and true Brāmanship come from self-culture
and self-control rather than birth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy link to wisdom is broad; this is more an ethical-doctrinal
pattern than a mythic plot motif.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage itself reports Childers's comparison between Buddhist truth-act
miracles and 2 Kings i.10, where a true claim is followed by fire from heaven.
claim_level: same_function
target: 2 Kings i.10, fire from heaven after the declaration 'If I be a man of God'
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The note also distinguishes the Buddhist pattern by saying its miracles
are usually assistance to someone in distress, unlike the cited destructive biblical
fire.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage flags a comparison to the Fable of the Two Sides of the Shield.
claim_level: same_motif
target: Fable of the Two Sides of the Shield
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: low
limitations: The passage gives only a bare comparison note and does not describe
the fable or the specific shared motif.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 17110-17117; footnote [296]
quote_or_summary: Fools seek salvation as safety from divine wrath through rites
and delusions that become spiritual bonds; death to oneself and spiritual rebirth
is identified as true salvation.
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 17125-17136; footnote [298]
quote_or_summary: A solemn appeal to a former good action, if true, often works
a miracle and is called saccakiriyā or truth-act; Childers compares 2 Kings i.10,
but Buddhist examples usually assist someone in distress.
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 17119-17124; footnote [297]
quote_or_summary: The note refers to restless monkeys at monasteries and says a
Bharhut sculptor represented monkeys sitting like good little boys and listening
to the Bodisat.
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: quote
locator: lines 17147-17151; footnote [303]
quote_or_summary: "“He who exceeds in wickedness makes himself such as his enemy
might desire, (dragging himself down) as the creeper the tree which it has covered.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief quotation.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 17161-17166; footnote [309]
quote_or_summary: A rogue elephant is described as a male driven out of the herd,
or one that loses self-command in rutting season and becomes exceedingly vicious
and wanton.
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 17168-17190; footnote [310]
quote_or_summary: Samaṇas are glossed as self-conquering renunciants; true Brāmanship
is said to arise from self-culture and self-control, not birth.
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: line 17108; footnote [294]
quote_or_summary: "“Compare the Fable of the Two sides of the Shield.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief quotation.
confidence:
extraction: medium
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: low
notes: The passage is primarily footnotes and commentary rather than continuous
narrative, so motifs are mostly doctrinal, explanatory, or comparative references.
All records require human review.
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 additional figures, scenes, or taxonomy identifiers were inferred beyond the supplied passage and available taxonomy list.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l17081-l17197
passage_sha256=c2da877151dca17f3a9f4edf1c359b264594970d751cf0b6d3dff277f83a5ef7