batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l7117-l7218
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l7117-l7218
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 7117-7218
start: '7117'
end: '7218'
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 the Buddha’s return among his Sākya relatives: Kāḷa
Udāyin prepares the royal family to receive him, the Sākyas escort him to the
Nigrodha Grove, some relatives initially refuse reverence, and the Buddha performs
an aerial miracle that leads the king and all Sākyas to bow. A miraculous rain
follows, which the Buddha links to the Wessantara Birth. The next day he begs
from house to house in Kapilavatthu according to the practice of former Buddhas,
and Rāhula’s mother sees his bodily marks and halo and praises him as the Lion
among Men.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Kāḷa Udāyin brings food to the Master each day and reports the Master’s progress
to the king while praising the Buddha’s character to the king’s family.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The Sākyas prepare the Nigrodha Grove as a residence and go out with flowers
to meet the Blessed One, arranging children and youths before the elders.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The Blessed One sits on a prepared Buddha’s throne at the Nigrodha Grove,
surrounded by twenty thousand Arahats.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Some Sākyas, considering Siddhattha younger than themselves, decide that children
and young people should bow while they sit behind them.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The Blessed One perceives the relatives’ intention, enters an ecstasy depending
on wisdom, rises into the air, and performs a miracle compared to the double miracle
at the Gaṇḍamba-tree.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: 'The king recalls three occasions of obeisance: at Siddhattha’s birth before
Kāḷa Devala, under the Jambu-tree during the ploughing festival, and at the present
miracle.'
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: After the king bows, all Sākyas bow before the Blessed One, who descends from
the sky and sits on the prepared seat.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: A thunder-cloud pours rain; copper-coloured water rumbles beneath the earth,
and only those who wish to get wet are wetted.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The Teacher says such rain had also fallen formerly in an assembly of his
relations and introduces the story of his Birth as Wessantara.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: On the next day the Master enters Kapilavatthu with twenty thousand mendicants
and begs from house to house rather than going directly to royal houses.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:11
text: The mother of Rāhula contrasts Siddhattha’s former royal pomp with his present
shaven head, yellow robes, and begging vessel.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:12
text: Rāhula’s mother sees the Blessed One with the Thirty-two signs, eighty lesser
marks, and a many-coloured halo extending around him.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: The Master / the Blessed One / Siddhattha / Buddha
description: The central figure who is fed during the journey, received by the Sākyas,
performs miracles, teaches, begs in Kapilavatthu, and is seen with bodily marks
and a halo.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Kāḷa Udāyin
description: An Elder who brings food to the Master, reports his progress to the
king, and wins over the Buddha’s family.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: The Sākyas / the Blessed One’s relatives
description: The Buddha’s relatives who prepare the Nigrodha Grove, initially withhold
reverence because of pride, and later bow before him.
role_refs:
- role:6
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: The king
description: A royal relative who recounts three occasions of obeisance to the Blessed
One and bows at the present miracle.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Kāḷa Devala
description: A Brāhman before whom the infant Siddhattha was presented; the king
recalls seeing Siddhattha’s feet turn and place themselves on the Brāhman’s head.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Mother of Rāhula
description: A lady who observes the Blessed One begging from a window, reports
this to the king, and praises him in stanzas as the Lion among Men.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Twenty thousand Arahats
description: A large group surrounding the Blessed One when he sits on the Buddha’s
throne.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Twenty thousand mendicants
description: A large group attending the Master when he enters Kapilavatthu to beg.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: Miracle-performing teacher
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Blessed One rises into the air, performs a miracle, and later explains
the rain by referring to a former birth story.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: role:2
label: Recipient of obeisance
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The king and then all Sākyas bow before him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: Mendicant model
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He decides to follow the descent and tradition of former Buddhas by begging
from house to house.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:4
label: Marked Great Being
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Rāhula’s mother sees him with the Thirty-two characteristic signs, eighty
lesser marks, and a halo.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:5
label: Family-winning disciple
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The Blessed One names Kāḷa Udāyin pre-eminent among disciples who gained
over his family.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:6
label: Proud kin group
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The Sākyas are described as proud and arrange for younger people to bow instead
of themselves.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:7
label: Witnesses of miracles
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: They witness the aerial miracle and the rain miracle and become astonished.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:8
label: First-ranking royal witness
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The king narrates earlier miraculous signs and performs the first bow in
the assembly.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:9
label: Birth-scene Brāhman
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: He is present in the king’s recollection of the infant Siddhattha being presented
for obeisance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:10
label: Window witness and praise speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: She looks from a window, reports the begging to the king, and praises the
Blessed One in stanzas.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:11
label: Arahant retinue
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: They surround the Blessed One at the Nigrodha Grove.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:12
label: Mendicant retinue
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: They attend the Master when he enters Kapilavatthu to beg.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Nigrodha Grove
literal_form: Prepared grove residence where the Blessed One sits on the Buddha’s
throne.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: Buddha’s throne
literal_form: Prepared seat at the Nigrodha Grove.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: Air / sky ascent
literal_form: The Blessed One rises into the air and later descends from the sky.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: Gaṇḍamba-tree
literal_form: Tree named as the location of the comparable double miracle.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: Jambu-tree shadow
literal_form: Shade of the Jambu-tree that did not turn while Siddhattha sat beneath
it during the ploughing festival.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:6
label: Miraculous rain and copper-coloured water
literal_form: A thunder-cloud shower with copper-coloured water rumbling beneath
the earth and selectively wetting people.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:7
label: Begging vessel
literal_form: A potsherd in the Blessed One’s hand while he begs from door to door.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:8
label: Yellow robes and shaven hair
literal_form: The Blessed One’s mendicant appearance as observed by Rāhula’s mother.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:9
label: Many-coloured halo
literal_form: A network of rays or halo extending around the Blessed One and lighting
the street.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:10
label: Lion among Men
literal_form: Praise title used in the stanzas spoken by Rāhula’s mother.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Kāḷa Udāyin prepares the royal family
summary: Kāḷa Udāyin feeds the Master during the journey, reports his progress,
and delights the king’s family by speaking of the Buddha’s character.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Reception at the Nigrodha Grove
summary: The Sākyas prepare the Nigrodha Grove, meet the Blessed One with flowers,
and conduct him to a prepared Buddha’s throne surrounded by Arahats.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Proud relatives and aerial miracle
summary: The Sākyas initially avoid bowing because of kinship pride; the Blessed
One perceives this, rises into the air, and performs a miracle.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Three obeisances and collective bowing
summary: The king recalls earlier signs at birth and under the Jambu-tree, bows
for the third time, and all Sākyas bow; the Blessed One descends and sits.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Selective rain and Wessantara reference
summary: A thunder-cloud rains in a way that wets only those who wish it; the Teacher
says this also occurred formerly and introduces the Wessantara Birth.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:6
label: Begging in Kapilavatthu and Rāhula’s mother’s vision
summary: The Master follows the practice of former Buddhas by begging from house
to house; Rāhula’s mother sees his mendicant appearance, bodily signs, and halo,
and praises him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:6
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
- sym:9
- sym:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Aerial ascent as miracle of authority
taxonomy_refs:
- ascent
basis: The Blessed One rises into the air before proud relatives and performs a
miracle that leads to obeisance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The passage frames the event as a miracle and act of compelled reverence;
broader doctrinal interpretation is not inferred.
- id: motif:2
label: Miracle compels reluctant kin to bow
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Sākyas initially withhold reverence, but after the king witnesses the
miracle and bows, all Sākyas bow before the Blessed One.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: No external analogue is asserted beyond the internal narrative sequence.
- id: motif:3
label: Sacred birth and childhood signs recognized later
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_birth
basis: The king recalls an event on the day of Siddhattha’s birth and a later childhood
sign under the Jambu-tree as earlier grounds for obeisance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The birth event is recalled in speech rather than narrated as the main
scene.
- id: motif:4
label: Miraculous rain in kin assembly
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: A rain shower appears in the relatives’ assembly and selectively wets only
those who wish it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: No available motif-family taxonomy directly matches the selective rain
episode.
- id: motif:5
label: Mendicant practice over royal privilege
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Blessed One chooses to beg from house to house in his native city, following
the tradition of former Buddhas rather than going directly to royal houses.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: This is a behavioral and ethical pattern in the passage, not matched to
an available motif family.
- id: motif:6
label: Radiant marked body of a Great Being
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Rāhula’s mother sees the Thirty-two signs, eighty lesser marks, and a many-coloured
halo around the Blessed One.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives bodily signs and radiance but does not itself compare
them outside this scene.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The aerial miracle is explicitly likened to the double miracle at the foot
of the Gaṇḍamba-tree.
claim_level: same_motif
target: Double miracle at the foot of the Gaṇḍamba-tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage gives only a brief comparison and does not narrate the
Gaṇḍamba-tree miracle in detail.
- id: claim:2
claim: The rain miracle is presented by the Teacher as a recurrence of an event
from his former Birth as Wessantara.
claim_level: same_motif
target: Wessantara Birth rain episode
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The Wessantara episode itself is only introduced, not retold, in this
passage.
- id: claim:3
claim: The Blessed One’s house-to-house begging is aligned with the practice of
former Buddhas in their native towns.
claim_level: same_function
target: Former Buddhas’ begging rounds in their native towns
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The passage reports the Blessed One’s reasoning but does not provide
individual examples of former Buddhas.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 7117-7218; opening paragraph on Kāḷa Udāyin
quote_or_summary: Kāḷa Udāyin brings food daily, reports how far the Blessed One
has come, praises the Buddha to the king’s family, and is declared pre-eminent
in winning over the family.
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 7117-7218; paragraph beginning “The Sākyas, as they sat talking”
quote_or_summary: The Sākyas prepare the Nigrodha Grove, go out with flowers in
ordered groups, conduct the Blessed One there, and he sits on the Buddha’s throne
surrounded by twenty thousand Arahats.
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 7117-7218; paragraph beginning “The Sākyas are proud by nature”
quote_or_summary: Because the Sākyas view Siddhattha as younger kin, they plan for
youths to bow; the Blessed One perceives this, enters an ecstasy depending on
wisdom, rises into the air, and performs a miracle like the double miracle at
the Gaṇḍamba-tree.
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 7117-7218; king’s speech beginning “O Blessed One!”
quote_or_summary: The king says he first bowed when the infant’s feet turned onto
Kāḷa Devala’s head, second when the Jambu-tree shadow did not turn, and third
now upon seeing the unprecedented miracle.
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 7117-7218; paragraphs after the king’s speech
quote_or_summary: After the king bows, every Sākya bows; the Blessed One descends
from the sky, sits on the prepared seat, and the relatives yield him pre-eminence.
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 7117-7218; thunder-cloud and Wessantara paragraphs
quote_or_summary: A thunder-cloud pours rain; copper-coloured water rumbles beneath
the earth, only those wishing to be wet are wetted, and the Teacher says such
rain also fell formerly before introducing the Wessantara Birth.
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 7117-7218; paragraphs on the next day’s begging
quote_or_summary: The next day the Master enters Kapilavatthu with twenty thousand
mendicants, finds no invitation, considers how former Buddhas begged in their
native towns, and begins begging from the first house onward.
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 7117-7218; paragraph beginning “At the rumour that the young chief
Siddhattha” and stanza opening
quote_or_summary: Rāhula’s mother sees the Blessed One begging with shaven hair,
yellow robes, and a vessel; she beholds his Thirty-two signs, eighty lesser marks,
and many-coloured halo, reports him to the king, and praises him as the Lion among
Men.
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: The passage is explicit about events, figures, and internal comparisons.
Motif-family mapping is limited because several strong patterns in the passage
do not correspond directly to the supplied taxonomy list.
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. Taxonomy references were assigned only where directly supportable by the passage and the provided controlled lists.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l7117-l7218
passage_sha256=967cde7536e267e257654e44237bf84731f89a878306e8ca2c38094d2bf66250