batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l4875-l4993
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l4875-l4993
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 4875-4993
start: '4875'
end: '4993'
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 recounts several previous Buddhas of the current world-cycle,
especially Kakusandha, Koṇāgamana, and Kassapa, and describes the Bodisat’s actions
before each: giving donations, hearing the Law, taking vows, pursuing religious
learning, and receiving prophecy. It then lists a succession of perfect Buddhas,
summarizes the Bodisat’s long course through vast ages from Dīpaŋkara onward,
names the eight qualifications needed for a successful resolve to become a Buddha,
and states that Bodisats destined for Buddhahood traverse the long road of rebirth
while avoiding certain adverse births or impairments.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: 'Four Buddhas are named as having appeared in the current world-cycle before
or including the present Buddha: Kakusandha, Koṇāgamana, Kassapa, and the present
Buddha.'
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Under Kakusandha, the Bodisat is identified as Kshema the king; he gives donations
to the Order, hears the Law, takes vows, and receives prophecy from the Buddha.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Under Koṇāgamana, the Bodisat is identified as Pabbata the king; he hears
the Law, maintains a great donation of fine cloths, takes vows, and receives prophecy.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Under Kassapa, the Bodisat is identified as the Brahman youth Jotipāla, a
friend of the potter Ghaṭīkāra; he hears the Law, takes vows, learns the three
Piṭakas, and receives prophecy.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Each of the three named previous Buddhas is associated with a city or birthplace,
parents, chief disciples, a servitor, chief female disciples, a Bo-tree, body
height, and life span.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The passage lists a sequence of perfect Buddhas and says they appeared like
suns, dispelled thick darkness, blazed like flames of fire, and went out.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The Bodisat is said to have come down through four asaŋkheyyas plus one hundred
thousand kalpas, making resolve in the presence of twenty-four Buddhas beginning
with Dīpaŋkara.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: The passage states eight qualifications for the resolve to become a Buddha,
including being a man, male sex, capability of attaining arahatship, association
with Teachers, renunciation, virtue, self-sacrifice, and earnest determination.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: The Bodisat searches for Buddha-making conditions, beholds the Perfection
of Almsgiving, and comes down through many births fulfilling the Perfections up
to his last appearance as Vessantara.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: Destined Bodisats are described as traversing a long road through vast ages
and as avoiding birth in hell, the space between worlds, as hungry ghosts, as
small animals, and certain impairments when born among humans.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: The Bodisat
description: The future Buddha across many births, appearing in this passage as
Kshema the king, Pabbata the king, and the Brahman youth Jotipāla, and continuing
through many births up to Vessantara.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Kakusandha the Blessed One
description: A previous Buddha with one assembly of forty thousand monks; he receives
the Bodisat’s donation and prophesies to him.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Koṇāgamana the Teacher
description: A previous Buddha with one assembly of thirty thousand monks; he teaches
the Bodisat, receives donation, gives vows, and prophesies.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Kassapa the Teacher
description: A previous Buddha with one assembly of twenty thousand monks; Jotipāla
goes to him, hears the Law, takes vows, studies, and receives prophecy.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Dīpaŋkara the Buddha
description: A Buddha at whose feet or in whose presence the Bodisat’s long resolve
is said to begin; he is named as the first of the twenty-four Buddhas from whom
the Bodisat received prophecy.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Twenty-four Buddhas
description: A collective sequence of Buddhas beginning with Dīpaŋkara, in whose
presence the Bodisat made resolve and from each of whom he received prophecy.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: The Order and assemblies of monks
description: The monastic community accompanying the Buddhas, including assemblies
of forty thousand, thirty thousand, and twenty thousand monks, and receiving donations
from the Bodisat.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Ghaṭīkāra the potter
description: Friend of the Bodisat when the Bodisat is the Brahman youth Jotipāla.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Vessantara
description: Named as the Bodisat’s last appearance before the culmination of the
fulfilled Perfections in this account.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: Bodisat destined for Buddhahood
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage describes the Bodisat resolving to become a Buddha, receiving
prophecies, and fulfilling Perfections across many births.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:2
label: Donor and vow-taker
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: In the episodes of Kakusandha and Koṇāgamana he gives large donations and
takes vows; in the Kassapa episode he takes vows after hearing the Law.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: Repeated-birth practitioner
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:9
basis: The passage says the Bodisat comes down through many births fulfilling Perfections
up to Vessantara.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:4
label: Perfect Buddha or Teacher
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
basis: These figures are named as Buddhas or Teachers in the succession of Buddhas.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: Prophet of the Bodisat
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:6
basis: The passage states that the Buddhas prophesied to the Bodisat, and that he
received prophecy from each of the twenty-four Buddhas.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: Initial witness to resolve
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The Bodisat is said to have made his resolve in the presence or at the feet
of Dīpaŋkara.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: Recipient religious community
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The Order with the Buddha at its head receives donations of robes, bowls,
drugs, and cloths.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:8
label: Companion to the Bodisat
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Ghaṭīkāra is named as the friend of Jotipāla and goes with him to the Teacher.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Bo-trees of the Buddhas
literal_form: Sirīsa-tree, Udumbara-tree, and Nigrodha-tree named as Bo-trees of
Kakusandha, Koṇāgamana, and Kassapa.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: Donation goods
literal_form: Robes, bowls, collyriums, drugs, silk cloths, fine-textured cloths,
and gold-woven cloths given to the Order.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: Sun and fire imagery for Buddhas
literal_form: The perfect Buddhas are described as appearing like suns, dispelling
darkness, blazing like flames of fire, and going out.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: Twenty-four Buddhas
literal_form: The numbered group of Buddhas from Dīpaŋkara onward from whom the
Bodisat receives prophecy.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: Eight qualifications
literal_form: A set of eight required conditions for the resolve to become a Buddha
to succeed.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:6
label: Long road through ages
literal_form: The stanza says destined Bodisats traverse the long road through thousands
of millions of ages.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Kakusandha and Kshema
summary: Kakusandha appears; the Bodisat as King Kshema gives donations to the Order,
hears the Law, takes vows, and receives a prophecy. The passage also gives Kakusandha’s
city, relatives, disciples, Bo-tree, body height, and age.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Koṇāgamana and Pabbata
summary: Koṇāgamana appears; the Bodisat as King Pabbata goes with ministers to
the Teacher, hears the Law, gives cloth donations, takes vows, and receives a
prophecy. The passage also lists Koṇāgamana’s associated city, family, disciples,
Bo-tree, body height, and age.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Kassapa and Jotipāla
summary: Kassapa appears; the Bodisat as the Brahman youth Jotipāla, friend of Ghaṭīkāra,
goes to the Teacher, hears the Law, takes vows, learns the three Piṭakas, serves
the religion of the Buddhas, and receives a prophecy.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Catalogue of perfect Buddhas
summary: A verse catalogue names multiple perfect Buddhas and describes them collectively
as sinless and well-controlled, appearing like suns, dispelling darkness, blazing
like fire, and going out.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Long Bodisat career through epochs
summary: The passage summarizes the Bodisat’s descent through four asaŋkheyyas plus
one hundred thousand kalpas, his resolve before twenty-four Buddhas, his eight
qualifications, his search for Buddha-making conditions, his fulfillment of the
Perfections through many births, and the favorable exclusions from adverse births
for destined Bodisats.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Successive Buddhas prophesy the future Buddha
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The Bodisat receives prophecy from Kakusandha, Koṇāgamana, Kassapa, and,
in summary, from each of the twenty-four Buddhas beginning with Dīpaŋkara.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The available taxonomy has no specific prophecy-of-future-Buddha category;
the wisdom reference is broad and should be reviewed.
- id: motif:2
label: Sacred giving followed by vows and prophecy
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: In the Kakusandha and Koṇāgamana episodes, the Bodisat gives substantial
donations to the Order, takes vows, and receives prophecy; Kassapa’s episode includes
hearing the Law, vows, and prophecy.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not state a transactional exchange; donation, vows, and
prophecy are narrated in sequence.
- id: motif:3
label: Long quest through many births to Buddhahood
taxonomy_refs:
- mystical_quest
- death_rebirth
- wisdom
basis: The Bodisat comes through vast kalpas and many births, searches for Buddha-making
conditions, fulfills Perfections, and proceeds up to Vessantara.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: The term quest is interpretive, though the passage explicitly mentions
searching for Buddha-making conditions and a long road.
- id: motif:4
label: Destined Bodisat protected from adverse rebirths
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: The verses state that destined Bodisats are not born in hell, between worlds,
as hungry ghosts, as small animals, or with certain impairments when human.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage gives exclusions from rebirth states, not a fully narrated
protective intervention.
- id: motif:5
label: Buddha associated with a specific Bo-tree
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_tree_axis
basis: Kakusandha, Koṇāgamana, and Kassapa are each associated with a named Bo-tree.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: low
cautions: The passage names Bo-trees but does not explain an axis mundi or world-center
function.
- id: motif:6
label: Buddhas as lights dispelling darkness
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The catalogue says the perfect Buddhas appeared like suns, dispelled thick
darkness, and blazed like flames of fire before going out.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a poetic image in the passage; broader symbolic interpretation
should be reviewed.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: 'The Kakusandha, Koṇāgamana, and Kassapa episodes share a repeated internal
pattern: a Buddha appears, an assembly is noted, the Bodisat approaches or acts
in devotion, hears the Law or undertakes discipline, takes vows, and receives
prophecy.'
claim_level: same_function
target: The three previous-Buddha encounter episodes within the passage
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This is an internal structural comparison within the supplied passage,
not evidence for historical contact or broader cross-cultural comparison.
- id: claim:2
claim: The later summary extends the same prophetic pattern from the three narrated
episodes to the full sequence of twenty-four Buddhas beginning with Dīpaŋkara.
claim_level: same_motif
target: Narrated prophecies by individual Buddhas and summarized prophecies by the
twenty-four Buddhas
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The twenty-four episodes are summarized rather than narrated individually
in this passage.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 4875-4876
quote_or_summary: 'The passage states that after the preceding Buddha in the world-cycle,
four Buddhas appeared: Kakusandha, Koṇāgamana, Kassapa, and the present Buddha.'
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 4876-4890
quote_or_summary: Kakusandha has one assembly of forty thousand monks. The Bodisat
as King Kshema gives robes, bowls, collyriums, and drugs to the Order, hears the
Law, takes vows, and receives prophecy; Kakusandha’s city, family, disciples,
Sirīsa Bo-tree, height, and age are listed.
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 4891-4906
quote_or_summary: Koṇāgamana has one assembly of thirty thousand monks. The Bodisat
as King Pabbata goes with ministers to the Teacher, hears the Law, gives silk
and fine gold-woven cloths, takes vows, and receives prophecy; Koṇāgamana’s city,
family, disciples, Udumbara Bo-tree, height, and age are listed.
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 4907-4923
quote_or_summary: Kassapa has one assembly of twenty thousand monks. The Bodisat
as the Brahman youth Jotipāla, friend of Ghaṭīkāra, goes to the Teacher, hears
the Law, takes vows, learns the three Piṭakas, serves the religion of the Buddhas,
and receives prophecy; Kassapa’s birthplace, family, disciples, Nigrodha Bo-tree,
height, and age are listed.
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 4924-4944
quote_or_summary: A verse catalogue names many perfect Buddhas from Taṇhaŋkara and
Dīpaŋkara through Kassapa and says the perfect Buddhas were sinless and well-controlled,
appearing like suns, dispelling darkness, blazing like flames of fire, and going
out.
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 4945-4949
quote_or_summary: The Bodisat is said to have come down through four asaŋkheyyas
plus one hundred thousand kalpas, making resolve in the presence of twenty-four
Buddhas beginning with Dīpaŋkara; after Kassapa there is no other Buddha besides
the present supreme Buddha, and the Bodisat received prophecy from each of the
twenty-four Buddhas.
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 4950-4957
quote_or_summary: 'A quoted saying states that the resolve to become a Buddha succeeds
through eight qualifications: manhood, male sex, capability of arahatship, association
with Teachers, renunciation, virtue, self-sacrifice, and earnest determination;
the Bodisat has these qualifications.'
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 4958-4973
quote_or_summary: The Bodisat exerts himself according to his resolve at Dīpaŋkara’s
feet, searches for Buddha-making conditions, beholds the Perfection of Almsgiving,
and comes down through many births fulfilling the Perfections up to Vessantara.
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 4974-4993
quote_or_summary: 'Verses praise rewards of Bodisats destined for Buddhahood: they
traverse a long road through vast ages and are not born in hell, between worlds,
as hungry ghosts, as small animals, or with certain impairments when born among
humans.'
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: medium
notes: Literal extraction is strong because the passage is structured and explicit.
Motif taxonomy mapping is more tentative where available taxonomy categories are
broader than the Buddhist narrative categories.
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. Comparison claims are limited to patterns internally supported by the passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l4875-l4993
passage_sha256=86aa791fe5d92a3e6d3fee81d36d055a5733b61101a30743fc39021021512e89