batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l3130-l3233
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l3130-l3233
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
passage_locator:
label: TABLE VII. / THE BODISATS. / TABLE VIII. / THE DISTANT EPOCH.; lines 3130-3233
start: '3130'
end: '3233'
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 introduces the distant epoch of Sumedha in the city of Amaravatī.
Sumedha, a wealthy and learned brahmin whose parents have died, reflects that
his ancestors could not carry wealth into another world. He announces his intention,
gives largess, and becomes an ascetic hermit. The narrative then retells the Story
of Sumedha from the Buddhavaṃsa, describing Amaravatī’s abundance and Sumedha’s
status. In seclusion, seated cross-legged, Sumedha reflects on rebirth, decay,
disease, and death, and resolves to seek the deathless Nirvāṇa and the road to
release from existence, reasoning by contrasts such as pain and bliss, heat and
cold, and birth and the cessation of birth.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage locates the events four asankheyyas and a hundred thousand cycles
ago in a city called Amaravatī or Amara.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: obs:2
text: Sumedha is described as a brahmin of good family, pure ancestry, physical
beauty, and brahminical learning.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: obs:3
text: Sumedha’s parents died while he was young, and a minister acting as steward
displayed inherited stores of gold, silver, gems, pearls, and other valuables.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Sumedha reflected that his parents and ancestors had not taken any wealth
with them when they went to another world.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: Sumedha informed the king, had a proclamation made in the city, gave largess
to the people, and embraced the ascetic life of a hermit.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: Amaravatī is described as beautiful, pleasant, abundant in food and drink,
supplied with requisites, engaged in industry, possessing seven precious things,
and thronged with many races.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: Sumedha retired to the upper apartment of his house, sat cross-legged, and
thought in seclusion.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: Sumedha identified himself as subject to birth, decay, disease, and death,
and resolved to seek Nirvāṇa, described as deathless, tranquil, secure, and free
from decay and death.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: Sumedha expressed the need to find a road leading to Nirvāṇa and release from
existence.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: 'Sumedha reasoned through paired contrasts: pleasure with pain, cessation
of existence with existence, cold with heat, extinction with the fire of passion,
good with evil, and cessation of birth with birth.'
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Sumedha
description: A wealthy, learned, well-born brahmin of Amaravatī who gives away wealth,
becomes an ascetic hermit, and seeks Nirvāṇa.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Minister of state / steward
description: A minister who acts as steward of Sumedha’s property and shows him
the inherited estate.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Sumedha’s parents and ancestors
description: Deceased family members whose accumulated wealth passes to Sumedha
and whose inability to carry wealth to another world prompts his reflection.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: King
description: The ruler whom Sumedha informs of his intention before making a proclamation
and giving largess.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: People of Amaravatī
description: The people who receive Sumedha’s largess after proclamation is made
in the city.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
roles:
- id: role:1
label: wealthy learned brahmin heir
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Sumedha is described as a brahmin versed in studies and as inheriting large
stores of wealth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: renouncer and ascetic hermit
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He gives largess and embraces the ascetic life of a hermit.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: seeker of Nirvāṇa
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He resolves to seek Nirvāṇa and the road to release from existence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: property steward
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The minister acts as steward and presents the estate records and stores.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: deceased predecessors
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Their death and inability to take wealth to another world are explicitly
cited in Sumedha’s reflection.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:6
label: recipient of formal notice
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Sumedha informs the king of his intention before public action.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:7
label: recipients of largess
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The people receive largess after a proclamation in the city.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: abundant city
literal_form: City of Amaravatī or Amara
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: inherited wealth
literal_form: Stores of gold, silver, gems, pearls, and other valuables
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: road to release
literal_form: A road that leads to Nirvāṇa and releases man from existence
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: fire of passion
literal_form: The threefold fire of passion and its extinction
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: distant epoch count
literal_form: Four asankheyyas and a hundred thousand cycles
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Sumedha inherits and renounces wealth
summary: After his parents’ death, Sumedha is shown the inherited estate. He reflects
that past generations took no wealth to another world, informs the king, has a
proclamation made, gives largess, and becomes an ascetic hermit.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Description of Amaravatī and Sumedha’s status
summary: The retelling from the Buddhavaṃsa describes Amaravatī as an abundant,
beautiful city and presents Sumedha as wealthy, learned in mantras and Vedas,
and trained in divination and caste observances.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Sumedha’s secluded reflection
summary: Sumedha sits cross-legged in an upper apartment and reflects on rebirth,
bodily dissolution, birth, decay, disease, and death. He resolves to seek deathless
Nirvāṇa and a road to release from existence.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Reasoning by opposites
summary: Sumedha reasons that just as pain has pleasure, heat has cold, and evil
has good, existence and birth must have cessation, and the fires of passion must
have extinction.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: renunciation of wealth and social life
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: Sumedha gives away inherited wealth and enters the ascetic life of a hermit.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The passage frames this as ascetic renunciation rather than a travel departure
narrative.
- id: motif:2
label: quest for deathless release
taxonomy_refs:
- mystical_quest
- wisdom
basis: Sumedha deliberately seeks Nirvāṇa, the road to release from existence, through
secluded contemplation and doctrinal reasoning.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives the resolution and reasoning, not the full later quest
outcome.
- id: motif:3
label: cycle of birth, decay, disease, and death contrasted with cessation
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: Sumedha reflects on rebirth and bodily dissolution and seeks the cessation
of birth in Nirvāṇa.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The motif is doctrinal reflection on rebirth and cessation, not a narrative
death-and-return episode.
- id: motif:4
label: extinction of the fires of passion
taxonomy_refs:
- annihilation_union
basis: The passage uses the image of fires of passion and their extinction in relation
to Nirvāṇa.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy reference is approximate; the passage emphasizes extinction/cessation
rather than union.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 3130-3140
quote_or_summary: Tradition places the events four asankheyyas and a hundred thousand
cycles ago in Amaravatī and introduces Sumedha as a well-born, beautiful, learned
brahmin.
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 3140-3155
quote_or_summary: After Sumedha’s parents die, a minister-steward shows him inherited
wealth. Sumedha reflects that ancestors took nothing to another world, informs
the king, gives largess, and becomes an ascetic hermit.
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 3163-3190
quote_or_summary: Buddhavaṃsa verses describe Amara/Amaravatī as beautiful, pleasant,
full of cries, food, drink, industry, seven precious things, many races, and devout
men; Sumedha is wealthy, studious, and versed in mantras, Vedas, divination, and
caste observances.
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 3191-3215
quote_or_summary: "“I am subject to birth, to decay, to disease, to death” and “There
is, there must be a road ... that I may obtain release from existence.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 3216-3233
quote_or_summary: Sumedha reasons that as pain has pleasure, heat has cold, and
evil has good, so existence and birth must have cessation; the fires of lust and
passion have an extinction in Nirvāṇa.
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: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Motif assignments are cautious
because several elements are doctrinal reflections rather than fully developed
narrative episodes. No external comparison claims were made.
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 comparison claims were added because the passage does not itself require a cross-textual or cross-traditional comparison beyond its internal doctrinal analogies.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l3130-l3233
passage_sha256=1ea221380520fdfbeef1f49725b27b64a924580d1a22fbe4036c966945fa794f