batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l9620-l9746
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l9620-l9746
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
passage_locator:
label: END OF THE STORY OF CHULLAKA THE TREASURER. / END OF THE STORY OF THE MEASURE
OF RICE. / END OF THE STORY ABOUT TRUE DIVINITY. / END OF THE STORY ON A HAPPY
LIFE.; lines 9620-9746
start: '9620'
end: '9746'
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: In a Jataka deer story, deer are made to take turns going voluntarily to
execution. When a pregnant roe asks to postpone her turn, the Monkey Deer refuses,
but the Bodisat as the Banyan Deer takes her place on the block. The human king,
moved by this compassion, grants safety first to the Bodisat and roe, then to
all deer, quadrupeds, birds, and fish. The Bodisat instructs the king in the Five
Precepts and later establishes rules so deer do not harm crops, using tied leaves
as a boundary sign. The frame identifies the former-birth figures with persons
in the Buddha's present narrative.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The deer arrange to take turns going to a place of execution and placing their
necks on the block, so that they will not be wounded by arrows.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A pregnant roe whose turn has come asks the Monkey Deer to let her turn pass
until after the birth of her son.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The Monkey Deer refuses to shift the pregnant roe's lot to others.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The Bodisat agrees to relieve the pregnant roe of her turn and lies down with
his neck on the execution block.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The cook sees the protected King of the Deer at the execution place and reports
it to the human king.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The human king comes by chariot with a retinue and questions why the King
of the Deer is lying at the execution place.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The Bodisat explains that he has given his life for the pregnant roe and accepted
death in her place.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The king praises the golden-coloured King of the Deer for forbearance, kindness,
and compassion, and grants life to him and the roe.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: At the Bodisat's repeated requests, the king extends protection to the rest
of the deer, other deer outside the park, quadrupeds, birds, and fish.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: The Bodisat establishes the king in the Five Precepts and exhorts him to walk
in righteousness, justice, and mercy.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:11
text: The roe gives birth to a son and advises him to stay with the Banyan Deer
rather than the Monkey Deer.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:12
text: After the deer become secure, they eat men's crops; the men complain to the
king.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:13
text: The king says he may give up his kingdom but not his oath, and forbids harm
to the deer.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:14
text: The Banyan Deer forbids the deer to eat other people's crops and instructs
husbandmen to tie leaves around the field edge as a sign instead of putting up
fences.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:15
text: The passage says that afterward no deer crossed the tied-leaf boundary.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:16
text: The Bodisat and the king pass away according to their deeds.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: obs:17
text: The frame identifies the Monkey Deer as Devadatta, the roe as the nun, her
son as Kassapa the Prince, the king as Ānanda, and the royal Banyan Deer as the
Buddha in a former birth.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Bodisat / royal Banyan Deer / King of the Deer
description: A golden-coloured deer king who takes the pregnant roe's place at execution,
intercedes for creatures, instructs the king, and is identified in the frame as
the Buddha in a former birth.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:11
- ev:13
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Monkey Deer
description: A deer herd leader who refuses the pregnant roe's request to postpone
her allotted death; identified in the frame as Devadatta.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:9
- ev:13
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Pregnant roe
description: A roe with young whose execution turn falls; she seeks relief and is
protected by the Bodisat; identified in the frame as the nun.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:9
- ev:13
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Roe's son
description: The son born after the roe is spared; he is advised to keep to the
Banyan Deer's herd and is identified as Kassapa the Prince.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:13
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Human king
description: The king who had promised the Banyan Deer's life, grants successive
protections to animals, upholds his oath, and receives the Bodisat's exhortation;
identified as Ānanda.
role_refs:
- role:8
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:10
- ev:13
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Cook
description: The king's cook who takes away the deer lying at the execution place
and reports seeing the protected Deer King there.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Deer herds
description: The herds subject to execution by lot, later protected by the king
and instructed by the Banyan Deer not to eat crops.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Other creatures
description: Four-footed creatures, birds, and fish for whom the Bodisat asks protection.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Men / husbandmen
description: Crop owners who complain to the king about deer eating crops and later
receive the tied-leaf boundary instruction.
role_refs:
- role:13
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: The Master
description: The narrator in the frame who expounds the Four Truths and connects
the former-birth story to present figures.
role_refs:
- role:14
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
roles:
- id: role:1
label: self-substituting protector
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He takes the pregnant roe's execution turn and lies on the block in her place.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:2
label: intercessor for creatures
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He repeatedly asks the king to extend safety beyond himself and the roe to
deer, quadrupeds, birds, and fish.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: moral instructor
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He establishes the king in the Five Precepts and later instructs the deer
regarding crops.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:11
- id: role:4
label: former-birth identity of the Buddha
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The frame states that the royal Banyan Deer was the speaker himself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: role:5
label: uncompassionate herd leader
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: He refuses the pregnant roe's request to postpone her death turn.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:6
label: supplicant mother
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: She is pregnant, asks for her turn to pass, and later gives birth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:9
- id: role:7
label: protected child
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: He is born after his mother is spared and is advised to join the Banyan Deer's
herd.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:8
label: grantor of protection
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: He grants life and safety to the Bodisat, roe, deer, quadrupeds, birds, and
fish.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:9
label: oath-keeping ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: He declares he may give up his kingdom but not his oath, and forbids harm
to deer.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:10
label: execution functionary
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: He comes to carry off the deer lying at the execution place and reports the
Deer King's presence there.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:11
label: protected herd community
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The deer are first subject to execution by lot, then protected and instructed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- ev:11
- id: role:12
label: beneficiaries of widened mercy
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: They receive protection through the Bodisat's requests to the king.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:13
label: aggrieved cultivators
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: They complain about crop damage and are later told to mark field boundaries
with leaves.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: role:14
label: frame narrator and expositor
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: He concludes the discourse, expounds the Four Truths, and identifies the
Jataka characters.
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: execution block
literal_form: block of execution on which deer place the neck/head
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: lot or turn
literal_form: the allotted turn by which deer go to execution
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: king's chariot
literal_form: chariot mounted by the king when going to the execution place
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: tied leaves as boundary sign
literal_form: leaves tied around the edge of a field to mark crops protected from
deer
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:7
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: sym:5
label: Five Precepts
literal_form: the Five Precepts in which the Bodisat establishes the king
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Arrangement of voluntary execution by turns
summary: To avoid being wounded by arrows, deer agree to go by lot to the execution
block, where the cook takes away the one lying there.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Pregnant roe refused and then protected
summary: A pregnant roe asks the Monkey Deer to postpone her turn; he refuses, but
the Bodisat takes her place on the block.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: King confronts the Deer King at the execution place
summary: The cook reports the protected Deer King's presence at execution; the king
comes by chariot and hears that the Bodisat accepted death for the roe.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Protection extended to all creatures
summary: The king praises the Bodisat and, after successive questions, extends safety
from the Bodisat and roe to deer, quadrupeds, birds, and fish.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Moral instruction of the king
summary: The Bodisat establishes the king in the Five Precepts and exhorts him to
righteousness, justice, and mercy.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: scene:6
label: Roe's counsel to her son
summary: After bearing a son, the roe tells him to follow the Banyan Deer rather
than the Monkey Deer.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: scene:7
label: Crop dispute and oath upheld
summary: The protected deer eat crops; the men complain, but the king refuses to
break his oath of protection.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:7
- fig:9
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: scene:8
label: Leaf boundary instituted
summary: The Banyan Deer forbids crop eating and tells husbandmen to mark field
edges with tied leaves; deer do not cross the sign.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:7
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: scene:9
label: Jataka frame identification
summary: The Master concludes the discourse, expounds the Four Truths, and identifies
the former-birth characters with present figures.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:10
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: self-sacrificial substitution for another's death
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: The Bodisat voluntarily lies on the execution block in place of the pregnant
roe and says he has given his life to her and accepted death in her place.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The passage ends with the Bodisat spared rather than killed, so the sacrifice
is intended or offered rather than completed.
- id: motif:2
label: compassionate intercession expanding from one life to all creatures
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: After securing the roe's safety, the Bodisat repeatedly asks the king to
extend protection to more categories of beings.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage emphasizes compassion, moral
instruction, and non-harm.
- id: motif:3
label: ruler bound by protective oath
taxonomy_refs:
- covenant
basis: The king maintains the boon of safety for the deer even when crops are damaged,
declaring that he may give up his kingdom but not his oath.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage uses the language of a boon and oath rather than a formal
covenant between equal parties.
- id: motif:4
label: moral animal teacher instructs human ruler
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The deer Bodisat teaches the king the Five Precepts and exhorts righteous
conduct, justice, and mercy.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: This is a Jataka didactic pattern; no additional comparison beyond the
passage is asserted.
- id: motif:5
label: marked boundary respected by animals
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Banyan Deer instructs men to tie leaves around fields as a sign, after
which deer do not trespass beyond it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: No available taxonomy reference directly matches this boundary-sign motif.
- id: motif:6
label: former-birth identity and karmic continuity
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: The frame connects story figures with later persons and says the royal Banyan
Deer was the Buddha himself in a former birth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:13
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage states former-birth identity but does not narrate the mechanics
of rebirth in detail.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly functions as a Jataka former-birth narrative, linking
animal-story characters to later Buddhist figures.
claim_level: same_function
target: Jataka former-birth identification pattern
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This claim is limited to the passage's own frame identification and
does not establish historical contact with other traditions.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 9620-9631
quote_or_summary: A deer leader proposes that deer take turns going to execution
and placing the head or neck on the block, so they avoid arrow wounds; the cook
carries off the one found lying there.
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 9632-9641
quote_or_summary: A pregnant roe asks the Monkey Deer to postpone her lot until
after she gives birth; he refuses to transfer her lot to others.
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 9642-9646
quote_or_summary: The Bodisat tells the roe he will relieve her of her turn, then
goes himself and lies down with his neck on the execution block.
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 9647-9655
quote_or_summary: The cook sees the protected King of the Deer at the execution
place, tells the king, and the king comes by chariot with a retinue to ask why
he is lying there.
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: quote
locator: lines 9656-9661
quote_or_summary: "“So I, giving my life to her, and accepting death in her place,
have lain down.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt quoted.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 9662-9669
quote_or_summary: The king praises the golden-coloured King of the Deer for forbearance,
kindness, and compassion, grants life to him and the roe, and then grants life
to the rest of the deer.
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 9670-9682
quote_or_summary: Through the Bodisat's successive questions, the king grants security
to deer outside the park, four-footed creatures, birds, and fish.
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 9683-9692
quote_or_summary: The Great Being intercedes for all creatures, establishes the
king in the Five Precepts, exhorts him to righteousness, justice, and mercy, preaches
the Truth, and later returns to the forest with his herd.
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 9693-9703
quote_or_summary: The roe gives birth to a son and tells him to follow the Banyan
Deer rather than the Monkey Deer, saying death with the Banyan Deer is better
than life with the Monkey Deer.
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 9704-9713
quote_or_summary: Protected deer eat men's crops; the men complain, but the king
says he may give up his kingdom, not his oath, and forbids anyone to hurt the
deer.
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 9714-9724
quote_or_summary: The Banyan Deer forbids deer from eating others' crops and sends
word that husbandmen should tie leaves around field edges as a sign; thereafter
no deer trespasses beyond it.
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 9725-9730
quote_or_summary: The Bodisat continues instructing the deer through life and passes
away with his herd according to his deeds; the king also follows the exhortations
and later passes away according to his deeds.
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 9731-9746
quote_or_summary: The Master concludes the discourse, expounds the Four Truths,
and identifies the Monkey Deer as Devadatta, the roe as the nun, her son as Kassapa
the Prince, the king as Ānanda, and the royal Banyan Deer as himself.
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 main narrative actions and identities are explicit. Motif labels are
descriptive and limited to available taxonomy where support is clear or moderately
clear.
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: |-
Extraction uses only the supplied passage and metadata; taxonomy references are limited to the provided lists.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l9620-l9746
passage_sha256=94f2c15ff049576a132981eb735e12a98252782cc813b4c56196e52fc76d5946