batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l4436-l4521
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l4436-l4521
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 4436-4521
start: '4436'
end: '4521'
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 Bodhisatta, born as the brahmin Suruci, invites the Buddha and a vast
assembly of monks to a meal. Worried about seating them, he draws the attention
of Indra, whose throne becomes warm. Indra assumes the form of a carpenter and
miraculously builds a jeweled hall with bells, garlands, seats, benches, and water
vessels. Suruci recognizes the divine origin of the hall, gives alms for seven
days, and provides food, medicinal ingredients, and robes. The Buddha predicts
that Suruci will become the Buddha Gotama after an immense span of time. Suruci
resolves to renounce household life. The passage also compares ordinary gifts
with the Bodhisatta’s joy in bodily self-giving, citing the Sivijātaka example
of giving his eyes.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The Buddha’s bodily lustre is said to extend constantly through ten thousand
worlds.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The Bodhisatta is born as the brahmin Suruci and approaches the Teacher to
invite him to his house.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Suruci invites the Teacher and the Teacher’s escort of a million million monks
to take a meal at his house.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Suruci worries about how there can be room for the invited monks to sit down.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Suruci’s thought causes Indra’s marble throne, far away, to become warm.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: Indra sees Suruci with the divine eye and says that he should go there and
obtain a share of Suruci’s merit.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: Indra assumes the form of a carpenter carrying an axe and offers to do hired
work.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: Indra, by thought and gaze, causes a hall of seven precious stones to rise
from the ground.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The hall contains varied precious pillars, musical hanging bells, garlands
of perfumes and flowers, seats and benches for the monks, and water vessels at
each corner.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: Suruci sees the hall, is filled with fivefold joy, and concludes it was built
by Indra rather than mortal hands.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:11
text: Suruci decides to give alms in the hall not for one day but for a whole week.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:12
text: The passage states that Bodhisattas are not satisfied by gifts of external
goods but feel joy in self-renunciation, including giving body parts.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:13
text: In the cited Sivijātaka example, Indra comes disguised as a brahmin and asks
for the Bodhisatta’s eyes, which the Bodhisatta gives away without wavering.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:14
text: Suruci gives alms called gavapāna to the monks for a week, while angels and
men wait upon them.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:15
text: The monks are not contained by a space of fifty leagues or more, but seat
themselves by their own supernatural power.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:16
text: On the last day Suruci has the monks’ bowls washed, fills them with butter,
honey, and molasses for medicinal use, and gives them robes.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:17
text: The Teacher predicts that Suruci will become a Buddha named Gotama after two
asankheyyas and four thousand cycles.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:18
text: After hearing the prediction, the Bodhisatta resolves to give up household
life.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: the Teacher / this Buddha
description: The Buddha who accepts Suruci’s invitation, leads an enormous monastic
assembly, returns thanks, and predicts Suruci’s future Buddhahood.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:11
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: the Bodhisatta as the brahmin Suruci
description: The Bodhisatta born as the brahmin Suruci, who invites the Buddha and
monks, receives Indra’s help, gives alms for a week, receives a prediction of
future Buddhahood, and resolves to renounce household life.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:6
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Indra / the archangel Indra
description: A divine being whose throne becomes warm at Suruci’s thought; he sees
Suruci, descends, assumes the form of a carpenter, and miraculously creates the
hall.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: million million monks / clergy
description: The Teacher’s escort and invited recipients of the meal and alms; they
are seated in the miraculous hall and receive food, medicinal substances, and
robes.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: angels
description: Non-human attendants who take turns with men waiting upon the monks
during Suruci’s almsgiving.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: men
description: Human attendants who serve along with angels, though men alone are
not enough to wait upon the monks.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Bodhisatta in the Sivijātaka example
description: A cited example of the Bodhisatta who gives alms in his capital and
later gives away his eyes when Indra, disguised as a brahmin, asks for them.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Indra disguised as a brahmin in the Sivijātaka example
description: Indra in a cited example, appearing as a brahmin and asking for the
Bodhisatta’s eyes.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: host and donor
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Suruci invites the Buddha and monks and gives them alms, medicinal items,
and robes.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: role:2
label: invited teacher
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Teacher is invited to take a meal with Suruci and consents.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: divine builder
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Indra assumes a carpenter’s form and causes the jeweled hall and its furnishings
to appear.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: deity in disguise
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:8
basis: Indra appears as a carpenter in the main episode and as a brahmin in the
cited Sivijātaka example.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
- id: role:5
label: recipients of alms
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The monks are invited, seated, fed, and given robes and medicinal substances.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: role:6
label: Bodhisatta donor practicing renunciation
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:7
basis: Suruci gives great alms; the Sivijātaka Bodhisatta is cited as giving away
his eyes in self-renunciation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: role:7
label: predictor of future Buddhahood
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Teacher predicts that Suruci will become a Buddha named Gotama.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:8
label: future Buddha Gotama
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The Teacher states that Suruci will become a Buddha named Gotama.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:9
label: attendants
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
basis: Angels and men wait upon the monks during the week of almsgiving.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: warm throne of Indra
literal_form: Indra’s marble throne becomes warm when Suruci worries about seating
the monks.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: divine eye
literal_form: Indra looks down with the divine eye and sees Suruci’s situation.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: carpenter disguise and axe
literal_form: Indra appears as a carpenter with an axe in hand.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: hall of seven precious stones
literal_form: A hall made of seven precious stones rises from the ground.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: musical bells
literal_form: Hanging wreaths or fringes of little bells produce musical tinkling
in a gentle breeze.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: garlands of perfumes and flowers
literal_form: Hanging garlands of perfumes and flowers appear in the hall.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:7
label: water vessels
literal_form: Water vessels rise up at each corner of the building.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:8
label: alms and robes
literal_form: Gavapāna, butter, honey, molasses, bowls, three robes, robes, and
cloaks are given to the monks.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: sym:9
label: eyes given away
literal_form: In the Sivijātaka example, the Bodhisatta takes out his eyes and gives
them away.
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Invitation of the Buddha and monks
summary: Suruci approaches the Teacher, hears his discourse, and invites him and
his million million monks to take a meal at his house.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Suruci’s worry reaches Indra
summary: Suruci worries about seating the invited monks; this thought warms Indra’s
distant throne, and Indra sees Suruci with the divine eye.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Indra as carpenter creates the hall
summary: Indra appears to Suruci as a hired carpenter and miraculously causes a
jeweled hall with bells, garlands, seats, benches, and water vessels to arise.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: Suruci recognizes the hall and expands the gift
summary: Suruci sees the hall, experiences joy, infers that Indra built it, and
resolves to give alms for a whole week rather than one day.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Reflection on Bodhisatta renunciation
summary: The passage comments that Bodhisattas are not satisfied by external gifts
and cites the Sivijātaka episode of the Bodhisatta giving his eyes when Indra
asks for them in disguise.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: scene:6
label: Seven days of almsgiving
summary: Suruci seats the monks in the hall and gives alms for a week, while angels
and men wait upon them; the monks seat themselves by supernatural power.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: scene:7
label: Final offerings and prediction
summary: Suruci provides medicinal substances and robes to the monks; the Teacher
perceives his future and predicts that he will become the Buddha Gotama, after
which Suruci resolves to renounce household life.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: divine helper responds to merit
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: Suruci’s meritorious intention warms Indra’s throne; Indra descends to help
and says he should obtain a share of Suruci’s merit.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage frames the event in terms of merit, but no explicit taxonomy
label is supplied in the text.
- id: motif:2
label: deity in disguise performs miraculous construction
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Indra assumes the form of a carpenter and creates a vast jeweled hall and
furnishings by miraculous power.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: No available taxonomy reference directly names divine disguise or miraculous
construction.
- id: motif:3
label: vast almsgiving to a sacred assembly
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: Suruci feeds a million million monks for a week and gives them medicinal
substances and robes; the act precedes a prediction of future Buddhahood.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: medium
cautions: The sacred-exchange classification is interpretive and should be reviewed.
- id: motif:4
label: Bodhisatta self-renunciation through bodily gift
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: The passage contrasts external goods with Bodhisattas’ joy in self-renunciation
and cites the Bodhisatta giving away his eyes in the Sivijātaka.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The bodily self-gift is presented as a cited example rather than the main
Suruci action in this passage.
- id: motif:5
label: prophecy of future Buddhahood leading to renunciation
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: After the Teacher predicts Suruci’s future Buddhahood as Gotama, Suruci decides
that household life is useless and resolves to give up the world.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage ends mid-sentence after the renunciation resolution, so subsequent
departure details are not included.
- id: motif:6
label: supernatural expansion or accommodation of an immense assembly
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The hall is made for a million million monks, and when fifty leagues or more
do not suffice, the monks seat themselves by their own supernatural power.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage gives the action literally, but no available taxonomy reference
directly matches it.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage itself compares Suruci’s almsgiving with the Sivijātaka example
to illustrate the broader Bodhisatta pattern of unsatisfied generosity and bodily
self-renunciation.
claim_level: same_function
target: Sivijātaka example of the Bodhisatta giving his eyes
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: This is an internal comparison supplied by the passage; it does not
establish historical contact or a broader cross-cultural relationship.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 4436-4438
quote_or_summary: The Buddha’s bodily lustre constantly extends through ten thousand
worlds.
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 4438-4448
quote_or_summary: The Bodhisatta, born as the brahmin Suruci, invites the Teacher
and his escort of a million million monks to eat at his house; the Teacher consents.
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 4448-4455
quote_or_summary: Suruci worries about room for the monks, and his thought causes
Indra’s marble throne, very far away, to become warm.
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 4455-4469
quote_or_summary: Indra sees Suruci with the divine eye, decides to go and share
his merit, assumes the form of a carpenter with an axe, and offers to build a
hall for hire.
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 4469-4478
quote_or_summary: Indra selects a fifty-league level site and causes a hall made
of seven precious stones, with varied jeweled pillars and capitals, to rise from
the ground.
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 4478-4488
quote_or_summary: Indra creates hanging bells, garlands of perfumes and flowers,
seats and benches for a million million monks, and water vessels at each corner
of the hall.
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: summary
locator: lines 4488-4500
quote_or_summary: Suruci sees the hall, is thrilled with fivefold joy, concludes
that Indra built it through the power of his good intention, and resolves to give
alms for a week.
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:8
type: summary
locator: lines 4500-4512
quote_or_summary: The passage says Bodhisattas are not satisfied by external gifts
but rejoice in self-renunciation; it cites the Sivijātaka, where Indra in brahmin
disguise asks for the Bodhisatta’s eyes and the Bodhisatta gives them without
wavering.
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 4512-4518
quote_or_summary: Suruci gives gavapāna alms for seven days to a million million
priests; angels and men wait upon them, and the monks seat themselves by supernatural
power when the space is insufficient.
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 4518-4523
quote_or_summary: On the last day Suruci has the bowls washed, fills them with clarified
and unclarified butter, honey, and molasses for medicinal use, and gives robes
and cloaks.
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 4523-4529
quote_or_summary: The Teacher returns thanks, perceives Suruci’s future, and predicts
that after two asankheyyas and four thousand cycles he will become a Buddha named
Gotama.
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 4529-4521 as supplied passage ending
quote_or_summary: Hearing the prediction, the Bodhisatta thinks that household life
is of no use and resolves to give up the world; the supplied passage ends mid-sentence.
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: medium
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The passage is internally coherent but the provided excerpt ends mid-sentence,
and line numbering in the supplied locator appears to cut off before the final
summarized sentence. Motif labels using taxonomy references are cautious and need
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: |-
Used only the supplied passage and metadata. Quotations were avoided in favor of public-domain summaries.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l4436-l4521
passage_sha256=8f2d57a83164f6b1fffd3ba3e5b4e277a2e8bb5adc2a7cda82d7266b50c9b886