batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l5545-l5653
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l5545-l5653
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 5545-5653
start: '5545'
end: '5653'
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 describes Brahman sign-readers interpreting the Bodisat's marks,
Kondanya's certain prophecy of Buddhahood, the later formation of the Company
of Five Elders, the king's attempt to shield the prince from the Four Omens, and
a childhood episode at the Ploughing Festival in which the Bodisat enters the
first Jhāna beneath a Jambu-tree whose shadow remains fixed.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Eight Brahmans are described as recognizers of signs who had interpreted the
dream on the night of conception.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: 'Seven Brahmans hold up two fingers and give an alternative prophecy: household
life leads to Universal Monarchy, while taking vows leads to Buddhahood.'
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Kondanya, the youngest Brahman, holds up one finger and gives an unambiguous
prophecy that the Bodisat will become a Buddha.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Kondanya is said to have made a deep resolve of holiness under former Buddhas
and to have reached his last birth.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The older Brahmans tell their sons to take vows according to the religion
of Suddhodana's son after he gains omniscience.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: Kondanya renounces his possessions, goes to Uruvela, and later leads four
sons of the Brahmans into vows; these five are called the Company of the Five
Elders.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: obs:7
text: 'The king asks what sights will make his son forsake the world and is told
the Four Omens: an aged man, a sick man, a dead body, and a monk.'
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:8
text: The king places guards in the four directions to prevent the four kinds of
beings or sights from coming before his son.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:9
text: Eighty thousand clansmen each dedicate a son so that the child will be attended
whether he becomes a Buddha or a king.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:10
text: At the Ploughing Festival, the town is ornamented, servants wear new garments
and garlands, and ploughs are prepared, including a gold plough for the king and
silver-decorated ploughs for ministers.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:11
text: The child is placed on a couch beneath a leafy Jambu-tree with a dense shade,
beneath a canopy inlaid with stars of gold and surrounded by a curtain.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: obs:12
text: When the nurses leave to see the king's glory, the future Buddha finds himself
alone, sits cross-legged, holds his breath, and enters the first Jhāna.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: obs:13
text: The shadows of other trees move, but the Jambu-tree's shadow remains steady
and circular; the nurses report this and the prince's posture to the king.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Eight Brahmans
description: Sign-recognizers who interpret marks and earlier interpreted the conception
dream.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Seven Brahmans
description: Seven of the sign-readers give a twofold prophecy of either Universal
Monarchy or Buddhahood.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Kondanya
description: The youngest Brahman, who gives a single, unambiguous prophecy of the
Bodisat's Buddhahood and later renounces.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Bodisat / Siddhattha the prince / future Buddha
description: The child whose marks are interpreted, who is expected to become a
Buddha, and who enters the first Jhāna beneath the Jambu-tree.
role_refs:
- role:6
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:8
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Suddhodana / the king / the rāja
description: The prince's father and ruler who wants his son to become a Universal
Monarch and attempts to prevent him from seeing the Four Omens.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:11
- ev:12
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Sons of the Brahmans
description: Sons instructed to take vows after the prince gains omniscience; four
of them later follow Kondanya.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Company of the Five Elders
description: Group formed by Kondanya and four sons of the Brahmans after taking
vows.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Nurses of the Bodisat
description: Beautiful and faultless nurses appointed for the Bodisat; they leave
the child briefly and later observe the miracle of the shadow.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Eighty thousand clansmen
description: Assembled clansmen who each dedicate a son to attend the child whether
he becomes Buddha or king.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
roles:
- id: role:1
label: recognizers of signs
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: They are explicitly called recognizers of signs and interpret the conception
dream and bodily marks.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: alternative destiny prophets
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: They predict either Universal Monarchy or Buddhahood depending on whether
the marked person remains a householder or takes vows.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: unambiguous prophet
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Kondanya raises one finger and declares that the Bodisat will become a Buddha.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: renunciant seeker
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Kondanya leaves all that he has, makes the great renunciation, and resides
at Uruvela.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: vow-takers / early followers
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: Kondanya and four sons take vows and become known as the Company of the Five
Elders.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:6
label: destined Buddha
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The prophecies identify the Bodisat as one who will become a Buddha.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:7
label: miraculous contemplative child
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: As a child he sits cross-legged and enters the first Jhāna while the Jambu-tree
shadow remains fixed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: role:8
label: protective royal father
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The king seeks to prevent the prince from seeing the Four Omens and prefers
his son to exercise sovereignty.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:9
label: attendants and witnesses
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The nurses attend the Bodisat, leave briefly, return, and report his meditation
and the fixed shadow to the king.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: role:10
label: dedicators of attendants
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Each clansman dedicates a son to attend the child whether he becomes Buddha
or king.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: auspicious marks
literal_form: bodily marks on the Bodisat
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: raised two fingers
literal_form: two fingers held up by seven Brahmans
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: raised one finger
literal_form: one finger held up by Kondanya
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: Four Omens
literal_form: an aged man, a sick man, a dead body, and a monk
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: sym:5
label: royal universal sovereignty
literal_form: rule over the four great continents and the two thousand surrounding
islands
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:6
label: golden plough
literal_form: the king's plough ornamented with red gold
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: sym:7
label: Jambu-tree
literal_form: leafy Jambu-tree with dense shade
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:14
- id: sym:8
label: fixed circular shadow
literal_form: the Jambu-tree's shadow remaining steady and circular while other
shadows turn
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: sym:9
label: star-inlaid canopy
literal_form: canopy over the child's couch inlaid with stars of gold
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Prophecy by sign-readers
summary: Eight Brahmans interpret the Bodisat's signs; seven give an alternative
destiny, while Kondanya gives a certain prophecy of Buddhahood.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Transmission to future followers
summary: The Brahmans instruct their sons to take vows after the prince gains omniscience;
Kondanya later renounces and leads four of the sons into vows as the Company of
the Five Elders.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:3
label: King attempts to block the Four Omens
summary: The king learns that the Four Omens would cause the prince to forsake the
world, so he has guards placed in four directions to prevent such sights from
reaching him.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: scene:4
label: Dedication of attendants and royal upbringing
summary: Clansmen dedicate sons to attend the child in either spiritual or royal
destiny, and the king appoints nurses while the Bodisat grows in splendor.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: scene:5
label: Ploughing Festival setting
summary: The town and royal household are ornamented for the Ploughing Festival,
with decorated ploughs and a gold plough for the king.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: scene:6
label: Meditation beneath the Jambu-tree
summary: The child is placed beneath a Jambu-tree; after the nurses leave, he sits
cross-legged and enters the first Jhāna, and the tree's shadow remains fixed and
circular.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:13
- ev:14
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: twofold royal or spiritual destiny
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
- wisdom
basis: The marked child is predicted either to become a Universal Monarch if he
remains a householder or a Buddha if he takes vows; Kondanya resolves the alternative
toward Buddhahood.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage frames the alternative specifically in Buddhist terms; broader
motif classification should not erase the local terminology of Cakkavatti and
Buddha.
- id: motif:2
label: prophecy by reading bodily signs
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Specialists in signs interpret the Bodisat's marks and make predictions about
his future destiny.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: No external taxonomy reference for sign-reading is supplied beyond the
general motif family of wisdom.
- id: motif:3
label: renunciation foretold and imitated
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
- initiation
basis: The predicted path requires taking vows; Kondanya renounces, and four others
take vows in imitation after hearing that the prince has taken vows.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The prince's own departure is only referred to indirectly in this passage,
not narrated in detail.
- id: motif:4
label: guarded child protected from knowledge of suffering
taxonomy_refs:
- forbidden_knowledge
- departure
basis: The king learns that the Four Omens will prompt the prince to forsake the
world and places guards to prevent the prince from seeing them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not yet narrate the prince actually seeing the omens.
- id: motif:5
label: miraculous contemplative child under a tree
taxonomy_refs:
- miraculous_child
- sacred_tree_axis
- wisdom
basis: As a child, the Bodisat enters the first Jhāna beneath a Jambu-tree, and
the tree's shadow remains fixed and circular.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:13
- ev:14
confidence: high
cautions: The available symbol taxonomy includes tree, but not Jambu-tree or shadow
miracle as distinct identifiers.
- id: motif:6
label: ritual ploughing festival with royal implements
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
- seasonal_cycle
basis: The king participates in a Ploughing Festival with a golden plough while
ministers and peasants plough with other decorated implements.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage emphasizes royal ceremony and agricultural action, but does
not explicitly interpret the festival cosmologically.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 5545-5547
quote_or_summary: Eight Brahmans are called recognizers of signs and are said to
have interpreted the dream on the night of conception.
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: quote
locator: lines 5547-5551
quote_or_summary: "“If a man having such marks should remain a householder, he becomes
a Universal Monarch; but if he takes the vows, he becomes a Buddha.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 5553-5559
quote_or_summary: Kondanya sees the perfection of the auspicious marks, raises one
finger, and says the Bodisat will become a Buddha and remove veils of sin and
ignorance from the world.
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 5561-5567
quote_or_summary: Kondanya is described as having made a deep resolve of holiness
under former Buddhas, having reached his last birth, and surpassing the others
in wisdom.
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 5569-5574
quote_or_summary: The Brahmans tell their sons that, after the son of King Suddhodana
gains omniscience, they should take vows according to his religion.
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 5576-5581
quote_or_summary: Kondanya leaves all he has, makes the great renunciation, comes
to Uruvela, and takes up residence there for spiritual exertion.
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 5583-5592
quote_or_summary: Kondanya tells the Brahmans' sons that Siddhattha has taken vows;
four follow him into vows, forming the Company of the Five Elders.
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: quote
locator: lines 5594-5600
quote_or_summary: The Four Omens are named as “A man worn out by age, a, sick man,
a dead body, and a monk.”
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 5602-5609
quote_or_summary: The king says he wants his son to rule the four great continents
and surrounding islands, and he places guards two miles apart in the four directions
to block the four kinds of sights.
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 5611-5618
quote_or_summary: Eighty thousand clansmen each dedicate a son to attend the child
whether he becomes Buddha or king; the king appoints beautiful faultless nurses,
and the Bodisat grows in splendor.
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 5620-5628
quote_or_summary: At the Ploughing Festival the town is ornamented, servants wear
new garments and garlands, a thousand ploughs are yoked, and the royal plough
is ornamented with red gold.
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 5630-5635
quote_or_summary: The king takes his son to the festival site and has the child's
couch placed under a dense Jambu-tree shade, with a star-inlaid golden canopy
and curtain.
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:13
type: summary
locator: lines 5642-5646
quote_or_summary: When the nurses leave, the future Buddha looks around, sees no
one, sits cross-legged, holds his breath, and enters the first Jhāna.
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:14
type: summary
locator: lines 5648-5653
quote_or_summary: The shadows of other trees turn, but the Jambu-tree's shadow remains
steady and circular; the nurses return, see the Bodisat sitting cross-legged and
report the shadow miracle to the king.
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: uncertain
notes: Extraction uses only the supplied passage. Motif labels are candidates mapped
cautiously to the supplied taxonomy; no cross-tradition comparison claims are
made because the passage itself does not support them.
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: |-
All figure, role, symbol, scene, and motif entries cite internal evidence IDs. Comparison claims are intentionally empty.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l5545-l5653
passage_sha256=73c258f884bf25bc7201d3ad673234123031d5707be866de3b96828b18897994