batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l8039-l8169
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l8039-l8169
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
passage_locator:
label: GLORY BE TO THE BLESSED, THE HOLY, THE ALL-WISE ONE. / BOOK I. / END OF THE
STORY ON HOLDING TO THE TRUTH. / END OF THE STORY OF THE SANDY ROAD.; lines 8039-8169
start: '8039'
end: '8169'
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 Buddha tells a past-birth story about the Bodisat as an honest dealer
and an avaricious dealer who encounter a poor household's neglected golden vessel.
The greedy dealer lies about its value and loses it; the Bodisat honestly values
it and pays what he can. The greedy dealer is overcome by remorse and dies, and
the story is applied to a discouraged monk as a warning against failure in the
present opportunity.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The Buddha speaks at Sāvatthi about a monk discouraged in efforts toward spiritual
enlightenment.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The Teacher says the monk who gives up will sorrow like the Seriva trader
who lost a golden vessel worth a hundred thousand.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: In a former birth, the Bodisat is a dealer in tin and brass ware named Seriva,
and another dealer in the same wares is described as avaricious.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The two dealers cross the river Tēla-vāha, enter Andhapura, and divide the
city streets between them for trading.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: A formerly wealthy family has become poor; only a girl and her grandmother
remain, living by hire.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The household has a dirt-covered golden vessel, neglected among pots and pans,
and the girl and grandmother do not know it is gold.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The avaricious hawker tests the dish with a needle, recognizes it as gold,
and says it is not worth even a halfpenny in order to get it without payment.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: The Bodisat sees that the dish is gold and states that it is worth a hundred
thousand, more than all his goods.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The Bodisat gives the women his cash and stock-in-trade, keeping only eight
pennies, his bag, and his carrying yoke, then leaves for the river.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: The covetous hawker returns for the dish, learns that a just dealer has taken
it, and scatters his money and goods before pursuing the Bodisat.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:11
text: The Bodisat tells the boatman not to stop the boat when the pursuing hawker
calls out.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:12
text: The avaricious hawker is overcome by violent grief, bleeds from the mouth,
and dies at the river-side.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:13
text: The passage states that this was the first time Devadatta harboured hatred
against the Bodisat.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:14
text: The concluding verse warns that failing to reach the Happy State in the present
time of Grace leads to long remorse like the trading man of Seriva.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: The Blessed One / Teacher / Buddha
description: Speaker of the discourse at Sāvatthi and narrator of the past-birth
story.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:9
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Discouraged monk
description: A monk discouraged in efforts to obtain spiritual enlightenment and
addressed by the Teacher.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: The Bodisat as Seriva
description: A dealer in tin and brass ware who honestly values the golden dish
and pays the poor household with his cash and goods.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Avaricious hawker / covetous dealer
description: Another dealer in tin and brass ware who recognizes the dish as gold,
lies about its worth, later pursues the Bodisat, and dies of grief.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Girl
description: A poor girl from the reduced family who asks her grandmother to buy
her an ornament and suggests exchanging the household dish.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Grandmother / old woman
description: The girl's grandmother, one of the two remaining members of the poor
household, who offers the dish to the hawkers.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Boatman
description: A boatman paid eight pennies by the Bodisat; he is told not to stop
when the other hawker calls out.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Devadatta
description: Named at the end as the one who first harboured hatred against the
Bodisat in this episode.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Monks / brethren
description: The monks ask the Blessed One to explain the matter.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
roles:
- id: role:1
label: teacher and interpreter of past birth
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He addresses the discouraged monk, explains what had been hidden by change
of birth, and closes with a verse.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:9
- id: role:2
label: discouraged aspirant
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: He is described as discouraged in efforts to obtain spiritual enlightenment
and as having given up trying.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: honest dealer
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: He recognizes the true value of the gold dish and declares its worth rather
than deceiving the owners.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: generous exchanger
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: He gives all his available cash and trade goods for the dish, keeping only
travel necessities.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: avaricious deceiver
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: He recognizes the dish as gold but says it is not worth a halfpenny, hoping
to get it without giving anything.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: remorseful loser
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: After losing the vessel to the Bodisat, he is overcome by sorrow, pursues
him, and dies from grief.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: impoverished owners of hidden gold
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
basis: They possess the neglected gold dish without knowing its value and offer
it in exchange for an ornament.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:8
label: ferryman
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: He receives the Bodisat's eight pennies and operates the boat at the river.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:9
label: future antagonist identified through past hatred
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The passage says this was the first time Devadatta harboured hatred against
the Bodisat.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:10
label: questioning audience
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The monks ask the Blessed One to explain the matter.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: golden vessel
literal_form: A dirt-covered dish or vessel of gold, neglected among pots and pans
and worth a hundred thousand.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:2
label: needle scratch test
literal_form: A line scratched on the back of the dish with a needle to determine
that it is gold.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: river crossing
literal_form: The river Tēla-vāha and the boat by which the Bodisat leaves while
the other hawker calls after him.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: sym:4
label: carrying yoke
literal_form: The yoke used for carrying trade goods, later seized as a club by
the avaricious hawker.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:5
label: scattered goods and money
literal_form: The covetous hawker scatters his money and goods at the door before
pursuing the Bodisat.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Discourse to the discouraged monk
summary: At Sāvatthi, the Buddha addresses a monk who has given up striving and
introduces the example of a trader who lost a valuable golden vessel.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Two traders enter Andhapura
summary: In a past birth, the Bodisat and an avaricious dealer cross the river Tēla-vāha,
enter Andhapura, and divide the streets for selling tin and brass ware.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Poor household and hidden gold
summary: A girl and her grandmother live in poverty while an unrecognized gold vessel
lies dirty and unused among household pots and pans.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: False appraisal by the avaricious hawker
summary: The avaricious hawker tests the dish, finds it is gold, but claims it is
worth less than a halfpenny and leaves it on the ground.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Honest appraisal and exchange by the Bodisat
summary: The Bodisat identifies the vessel as gold, states its full value, gives
the women his cash and goods, and keeps only what he needs to leave by boat.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:6
label: Pursuit, grief, and death
summary: The covetous hawker returns, learns the dish has been taken by a just dealer,
pursues the Bodisat to the river, and dies of violent grief as the boat departs.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:7
label: Moral verse of remorse
summary: The Buddha's verse warns that failure to attain the Happy State in the
present time leads to long remorse like that of the trading man of Seriva.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: hidden precious vessel in a poor household
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The poor girl and grandmother unknowingly possess a neglected dirt-covered
golden vessel of very high value.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The passage treats the object as a moral narrative device; no broader
treasure-trove classification is supplied in the metadata.
- id: motif:2
label: truthful valuation versus greedy deception
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The avaricious hawker lies about the dish's value, while the Bodisat correctly
declares that it is gold and worth a hundred thousand.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference to wisdom is based on ethical discernment and truthful
conduct rather than an explicit taxonomy label in the passage.
- id: motif:3
label: missed opportunity leading to destructive remorse
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The greedy dealer loses the golden vessel through his own deception and is
overcome by grief that ends in his death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is framed in the passage as a moral warning rather than as a
named traditional motif.
- id: motif:4
label: past-birth origin of hostility
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: The Buddha reveals a past-birth episode and states that this was the first
time Devadatta harboured hatred against the Bodisat.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage implies continuity across births, but the available taxonomy
term death_rebirth is broader than the specific past-life enmity pattern.
- id: motif:5
label: fair exchange with impoverished owners
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: The Bodisat gives the owners all his available cash and trade goods after
admitting the dish's value exceeds his possessions.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The exchange is explicitly ethical and generous, but the passage does
not call it sacred; the taxonomy reference is approximate.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly uses the trader's remorse as an analogy for the discouraged
monk's future remorse if he fails in the present opportunity for attainment.
claim_level: same_function
target: discouraged monk's abandonment of effort toward enlightenment
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:9
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This is an internal didactic comparison made by the passage, not evidence
of historical contact or cross-tradition comparison.
- id: claim:2
claim: The past-birth episode functions as an origin account for Devadatta's hatred
toward the Bodisat.
claim_level: same_function
target: later hostility between Devadatta and the Bodisat/Buddha within the narrative
frame
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage states the first arising of hatred but does not give further
details of later episodes in this excerpt.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 8045-8058
quote_or_summary: The Blessed One, staying at Sāvatthi, speaks about a discouraged
monk and says one who gives up will sorrow like the Seriva trader who lost a golden
vessel worth a hundred thousand; the monks ask for an explanation.
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 8062-8069
quote_or_summary: In a former dispensation, the Bodisat is a tin and brass dealer
named Seriva; he and an avaricious dealer cross the river Tēla-vāha, enter Andhapura,
and divide the streets for trade.
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 8071-8080
quote_or_summary: A once-wealthy family has fallen into poverty, leaving only a
girl and grandmother; a dirty neglected gold vessel remains among pots and pans,
unknown to them as gold.
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 8082-8099
quote_or_summary: The avaricious hawker is offered the dish, scratches it with a
needle, recognizes it as gold, but says it is not worth a halfpenny and throws
it down, hoping to obtain it for nothing.
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: quote
locator: lines 8101-8117
quote_or_summary: "“Mother! this dish is worth a hundred thousand. All the goods
in my possession are not equal to it in value!”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 8123-8129
quote_or_summary: The Bodisat gives the women five hundred pieces of cash and stock
worth five hundred more, keeps only eight pennies, his bag, and yoke, then pays
the boatman and gets into the boat.
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 8131-8143
quote_or_summary: The covetous hawker returns, asks for the dish, learns a just
dealer has given a thousand for it, laments the lost golden pot, scatters his
goods and money, seizes his yoke as a club, and pursues the Bodisat.
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 8145-8156
quote_or_summary: At the river, the pursuer calls for the boat to stop; the Bodisat
says not to stop. The avaricious hawker watches the Bodisat depart, is overcome
by grief, bleeds from the mouth, dies, and the passage states this was the first
time Devadatta harboured hatred against the Bodisat.
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 8158-8169
quote_or_summary: The Bodisat gives gifts and passes away according to his deeds;
the Buddha utters a verse warning that failure to reach the Happy State in the
present time of Grace will bring long remorse like the trading man of Seriva.
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: medium
notes: Literal story elements are explicit. Taxonomy mappings are limited because
the available motif families are broad and not all exact passage patterns have
direct labels.
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. Comparison claims are limited to comparisons explicitly supported within the passage's didactic frame.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l8039-l8169
passage_sha256=ea97fed9b6581af27b206b1d3792ce20392711756d0e3a3bc8dfea3bc0c590b4