batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l6702-l6791
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l6702-l6791
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 6702-6791
start: '6702'
end: '6791'
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 events after the Blessed One’s awakening: he remains
near several trees, is sheltered by the snake-king Mucalinda during a storm, receives
cleansing provisions from Sakka, accepts food from two merchants with the aid
of bowls brought by Guardian Angels, gives the merchants hair relics, considers
whether to teach the Truth, is petitioned by the ruler of the Brahma heavens to
proclaim it, chooses the five mendicants at Benares as his first audience, travels
toward them, and is met with their initially guarded response.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The unnamed women return to their father and confess that he had spoken truly
about the Blessed One not being led away by unholy desire.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The Blessed One spends a week at the Mucalinda-tree, where Mucalinda the snake-king
shields him with seven folds of his hood during a storm.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The Blessed One sits at a Rājāyatana-tree and seven weeks pass during which
he experiences no bodily wants and is described as feeding on meditative joy and
the joy of the Paths and Fruit.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: On the forty-ninth day, Sakka brings a myrobolan fruit, a tooth-cleanser,
and water so that the Blessed One can eat and wash his face.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The merchants Tapassu and Bhalluka are travelling with five hundred carts
when a related angel stops their carts and moves them to offer food to the Master.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The Blessed One reflects that Buddhas do not receive food in their hands,
and the four Guardian Angels bring bowls from the four corners of heaven.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The Blessed One receives four bowls, places them one above another, and commands
them to become one bowl.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Tapassu and Bhalluka take refuge in the Buddha, the Truth, and the Order,
become professed disciples, and receive hair relics for reverence.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: The two brothers build a Dāgaba in their own city and place the hair relics
within it.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: The Perfectly Enlightened One returns to the Shepherd’s Nigrodha-tree and
doubts whether he has the ability to explain the deep Truth he has gained.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:11
text: The great Ruler of the Brahma heavens comes with heavenly rulers and archangels
and asks the Blessed Lord to proclaim the Truth.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:12
text: The Master first considers Aḷāra and Uddaka as possible first recipients of
the Truth, but perceives that each has died.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:13
text: The Master determines to go to the Deer-forest in Benares to inaugurate the
Kingdom of Righteousness for the five mendicants.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:14
text: On the way, the Buddha meets the Hindu mendicant Upaka and announces to him
how he has become a Buddha.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:15
text: The five mendicants see the Buddha approaching and decide not to pay him reverence,
but to prepare a seat for him because of his good family.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Blessed One / Master / Perfectly Enlightened One / Buddha
description: The central awakened figure who sits beneath trees, receives offerings,
gives thanks and relics, considers teaching the Truth, and travels toward Benares.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:7
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Mucalinda
description: The snake-king who shields the Blessed One with seven folds of his
hood during a storm.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Sakka
description: King of the gods who brings fruit, a tooth-cleanser, and water for
the Blessed One.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Tapassu
description: One of two merchants travelling with carts who offers food to the Master
and becomes a professed disciple.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Bhalluka
description: One of two merchants travelling with carts who offers food to the Master
and becomes a professed disciple.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Related angel of the merchants
description: An angel described as a blood relation of Tapassu and Bhalluka who
stops their carts and moves their hearts to offer food.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Four Guardian Angels
description: Angels who know the Blessed One’s thought and bring bowls from the
four corners of heaven.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Great Ruler of the Brahma heavens
description: A heavenly ruler who laments that the world will be lost and asks the
Blessed Lord to proclaim the Truth.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Rulers and archangels of the heavens
description: Heavenly beings accompanying the Ruler of the Brahma heavens from tens
of thousands of world-systems.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Aḷāra
description: The Buddha’s former teacher, considered as a first recipient of the
Truth but perceived to have died seven days earlier.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Uddaka
description: A possible recipient of the Truth whom the Buddha perceives to have
died that evening.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Five mendicants
description: Former attendants of the Buddha who are at the Deer-forest in Benares
and are chosen as the first audience for the Truth.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:12
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: Upaka
description: A Hindu mendicant met on the road, to whom the Buddha announces that
he has become a Buddha.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: fig:14
name_or_label: Unnamed women and their father
description: Women who return to their father and confess that he spoke truly about
the Blessed One’s resistance to unholy desire.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
roles:
- id: role:1
label: awakened recipient of reverence and offerings
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Blessed One receives divine provisions, food offerings, refuge, and requests
for objects of reverence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:2
label: serpent protector
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Mucalinda shields the Blessed One from a storm with seven folds of his hood.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: divine provider or mover of events
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: Sakka provides cleansing items, the merchants’ related angel moves them to
offer food, and the Guardian Angels bring bowls.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: merchant offerer
assigned_to:
- fig:4
- fig:5
basis: Tapassu and Bhalluka bring rice cake and honey cake to the Master.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: professed disciple and relic recipient
assigned_to:
- fig:4
- fig:5
basis: The brothers take refuge, become professed disciples, receive hair relics,
and enshrine them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:6
label: heavenly petitioner for teaching
assigned_to:
- fig:8
- fig:9
basis: The Brahma ruler and accompanying heavenly beings go to the Master and beg
him to proclaim the Truth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:7
label: holder of deep Truth
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He considers the depth of the Truth he has gained.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:8
label: teacher preparing first proclamation
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He grants the request to teach and determines to inaugurate the Kingdom of
Righteousness at Benares.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: role:9
label: deceased former or possible teacher-recipient
assigned_to:
- fig:10
- fig:11
basis: Aḷāra and Uddaka are considered as possible first recipients but are perceived
to have died.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:10
label: chosen first human audience
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: The five mendicants are selected as the group to whom the Truth will be first
revealed at the Deer-forest.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:11
label: roadside mendicant hearer
assigned_to:
- fig:13
basis: Upaka meets the Buddha on the road and hears him announce how he became a
Buddha.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:12
label: witnesses to the Blessed One’s resistance to desire
assigned_to:
- fig:14
basis: The women confess that their father was right that the Blessed One could
not be led away by unholy desire.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Mucalinda-tree
literal_form: tree
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: snake-king’s hood with seven folds
literal_form: serpent hood
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: Rājāyatana-tree
literal_form: tree
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: Shepherd’s Nigrodha-tree
literal_form: tree
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:5
label: Bo-tree neighborhood
literal_form: tree
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: sym:6
label: water for bathing the face
literal_form: water
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:7
label: myrobolan fruit and tooth-cleanser
literal_form: fruit and thorn cleanser
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:8
label: rice cake and honey cake
literal_form: food offering
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:9
label: four heavenly bowls made one
literal_form: bowl
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:10
label: hair relics
literal_form: hair from the Buddha’s head
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:11
label: Dāgaba containing relics
literal_form: relic monument
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:12
label: Deer-forest in Benares
literal_form: forest location
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Resistance to unholy desire acknowledged
summary: Unnamed women return to their father and acknowledge that he spoke truly
about the Blessed One’s resistance to unholy desire.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:14
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Post-awakening tree meditations and serpent shelter
summary: The Blessed One stays at the Mucalinda-tree and is protected by the snake-king
during a storm, then sits at a Rājāyatana-tree as seven weeks pass without bodily
wants.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Divine cleansing provisions
summary: On the forty-ninth day Sakka supplies fruit, a tooth-cleanser, and water;
the Blessed One uses them and sits at the foot of the tree.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Merchants offer food and the bowl is formed
summary: Tapassu and Bhalluka are moved by a related angel to offer food; the Guardian
Angels bring bowls, which the Blessed One receives and causes to become one bowl
for the food.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: First lay disciples receive hair relics
summary: The two brothers take refuge, become professed disciples, ask for an object
of reverence, receive hair relics, and enshrine them in a Dāgaba.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:10
- sym:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Hesitation to teach and Brahma’s petition
summary: At the Shepherd’s Nigrodha-tree, the Enlightened One doubts his ability
to explain the deep Truth; the Ruler of the Brahma heavens and accompanying beings
request that he proclaim it.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: scene:7
label: Choice of first audience and journey toward Benares
summary: The Master grants the request, considers Aḷāra and Uddaka but perceives
them dead, chooses the five mendicants at Deer-forest, and sets out toward Benares,
meeting Upaka on the way.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
- fig:13
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: scene:8
label: Five mendicants prepare a restrained reception
summary: Seeing the Buddha from afar, the five mendicants say they will not pay
him reverence but will prepare a seat for him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:12
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: serpent shelters holy awakened figure
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
basis: The snake-king Mucalinda shields the Blessed One from a storm with seven
folds of his hood while the Blessed One remains in meditative bliss.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents a protective serpent episode; broader comparative
implications are not stated in the passage.
- id: motif:2
label: sacred tree stations after awakening
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_tree_axis
basis: The Blessed One stays or sits at named trees, including the Mucalinda-tree,
Rājāyatana-tree, Shepherd’s Nigrodha-tree, and the neighborhood of the Bo-tree,
during post-awakening events.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:8
- ev:10
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage clearly uses trees as sacred or significant settings, but
does not explicitly describe them as an axis or world center.
- id: motif:3
label: divine provisioning of enlightened figure
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: Sakka brings fruit, a cleanser, and water; Guardian Angels bring bowls; the
merchants offer food; the Blessed One receives, eats, and gives thanks.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The exchange is religious and devotional in the narrative, but the taxonomy
fit is interpretive.
- id: motif:4
label: relic bestowed as object of reverence
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: After the merchants take refuge, they ask for something to revere; the Blessed
One gives hair relics, which they enshrine in a Dāgaba.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage supports the relic-gift pattern, though it does not elaborate
later cultic functions beyond reverence and enshrinement.
- id: motif:5
label: heavenly request for wisdom teaching
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The Blessed One doubts whether he can explain the deep Truth; the ruler of
the Brahma heavens asks him to proclaim it, and he grants the request.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: The passage frames the Truth as a teaching to be proclaimed, not as a
comparative wisdom motif beyond this narrative context.
- id: motif:6
label: journey to inaugurate first teaching
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
- wisdom
basis: The Master chooses the five mendicants at the Deer-forest and determines
to go there to inaugurate the Kingdom of Righteousness, then travels toward Benares.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: medium
cautions: The journey is a literal teaching journey; classification as a departure
motif is tentative.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 6702-6705
quote_or_summary: Women return to their father and confess that he spoke truly when
saying the Blessed One could not be led away by unholy desire.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 6707-6713
quote_or_summary: At the Mucalinda-tree, Mucalinda the snake-king shields the Blessed
One during a storm with seven folds of his hood.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 6713-6718
quote_or_summary: The Blessed One goes to a Rājāyatana-tree; seven weeks pass, during
which he has no bodily wants and feeds on the joys of Meditation, the Paths, and
the Fruit.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 6720-6727
quote_or_summary: On the forty-ninth day Sakka brings a myrobolan fruit, a tooth-cleanser,
and water; the Master uses the cleanser, bathes his face, and sits at the foot
of the tree.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 6729-6735
quote_or_summary: Tapassu and Bhalluka travel with five hundred carts; a related
angel stops the carts and moves them to offer rice cake and honey cake to the
Master.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 6737-6748
quote_or_summary: Because Buddhas do not receive food in their hands, the four Guardian
Angels bring bowls; the Blessed One accepts four, places them together, and commands
them to become one.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 6750-6756
quote_or_summary: The two brothers take refuge and become professed disciples; the
Blessed One gives them hair relics, which they place in a Dāgaba in their city.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 6758-6764
quote_or_summary: The Perfectly Enlightened One returns to the Shepherd’s Nigrodha-tree
and, considering the depth of the Truth gained, doubts whether he can explain
it to others.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 6766-6772
quote_or_summary: The great Ruler of the Brahma heavens, with rulers and archangels
from many world-systems, asks the Blessed Lord to proclaim the Truth.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 6774-6784
quote_or_summary: The Master grants the request, considers Aḷāra and Uddaka but
perceives them dead, then chooses the five mendicants at the Deer-forest in Benares
and resolves to inaugurate the Kingdom of Righteousness there.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 6786-6789
quote_or_summary: At dawn he takes robe and bowl, travels halfway, meets the Hindu
mendicant Upaka, announces how he became a Buddha, and arrives near Benares that
evening.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: lines 6791-6797
quote_or_summary: The five mendicants see the Buddha coming, say he has returned
to a freer use of necessities, decide not to revere him, but agree to prepare
a seat.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is strong for named actions and figures. Motif assignments
are cautious, especially where taxonomy labels such as sacred_tree_axis and departure
extend beyond explicit phrasing. No comparison claims were added because the passage
itself does not make cross-textual or cross-traditional comparisons.
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 observations and motif candidates are based only on the supplied passage and metadata.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l6702-l6791
passage_sha256=553bc678ceb6829444557f444ae2fd3929282a7ae2cdfbbc2818b036ff4b2cf0