batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l9951-l9977
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l9951-l9977
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
passage_locator:
label: END OF THE STORY ABOUT TRUE DIVINITY. / END OF THE STORY ON A HAPPY LIFE.
/ END OF THE STORY OF THE BANYAN DEER. / END OF THE STORY OF THE DART OF LOVE.;
lines 9951-9977
start: '9951'
end: '9977'
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: 'An antelope enters an enclosed hall and is frightened by men. The king
observes that the animal has overcome its natural fear because of the lust of
taste, gives a stanza warning against greed, and releases it back to the forest.
The Master then connects the former story to a present situation: Sanjaya corresponds
to a slave-girl, the antelope to a monk, and the king of Benares to the Master
himself.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: After the deer entered, the door was shut.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The antelope saw men, trembled in fear of death, and ran about the hall.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The king came down from an upper chamber and observed the frightened antelope.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The king says the antelope, normally fearful of places where it has seen men
or been frightened, came to such a place because it was bound by the lust of taste.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The king states a lesson that nothing is worse than greed and that taste brought
the wild deer under Sanjaya's control.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: After explaining the danger of greed, the king let the antelope return to
the forest.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The Master states that the monk had formerly also fallen into another's power
through lust of taste.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The Master identifies Sanjaya with a slave-girl, the antelope with the monk,
and the king of Benares with himself.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: deer / antelope
description: A wild antelope or deer that enters the hall, becomes frightened, is
said to be bound by the lust of taste, and is released back to the forest.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: king of Benares
description: The king who observes the frightened antelope, teaches a lesson on
greed, releases it, and is later identified by the Master as himself in a former
birth.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Sanjaya
description: Named in the stanza as the one under whose control the wild deer fell
through taste; later identified with the slave-girl.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: men in the hall
description: Men seen by the antelope, causing it to tremble and run about in fear.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: the Master
description: The speaker who finishes the discourse, makes the connection, and identifies
the Jātaka figures.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: the monk
description: A monk in the present discourse who is said to have been caught by
the lust of taste and formerly to have been the antelope.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: slave-girl
description: The present figure identified by the Master as having been Sanjaya
in the former story.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: mendicants
description: The audience addressed by the Master in the discourse.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: being overcome by lust of taste
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:6
basis: The antelope comes into danger through taste, and the monk is explicitly
said to be caught by the lust of taste.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:2
label: moral instructor
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The king states a lesson about greed and shows the danger of greed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: releaser
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The king lets the antelope go back to the forest.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: controller or captor by appetite
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:7
basis: The stanza says the deer fell under Sanjaya's control through taste, and
the Master identifies Sanjaya with the slave-girl.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: Jātaka interpreter
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The Master makes the connection and sums up the Jātaka by assigning past
identities to present figures.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: enclosed hall
literal_form: hall with a shut door
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: forest or jungle
literal_form: forest / jungle
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: taste
literal_form: taste as the object of greed or appetite
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Antelope trapped in the hall
summary: The deer or antelope enters, the door is shut, and the animal panics on
seeing men in the hall.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: King teaches on greed and releases the antelope
summary: The king observes that appetite brought the wild animal into danger, gives
a stanza against greed, and releases the antelope back to the forest.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Jātaka connection
summary: The Master applies the former story to the present case and identifies
the past figures with present ones.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:2
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Appetite leads to captivity or control
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The antelope enters the dangerous human space because of lust of taste, and
the stanza says taste caused the wild deer to fall under Sanjaya's control.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents the pattern as a moral example rather than as a supernatural
motif.
- id: motif:2
label: Moral instruction through animal example
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The king uses the frightened antelope as an example to teach the danger of
greed, and the Master later uses the whole story as a discourse illustration.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage supports an ethical wisdom
lesson, not a separate wisdom deity or esoteric teaching.
- id: motif:3
label: Former-birth identification of present figures
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Master connects the story to present figures by identifying Sanjaya,
the antelope, and the king of Benares with the slave-girl, the monk, and himself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: This is a Jātaka framing pattern rather than a standalone mythic episode
in the inner animal story.
- id: motif:4
label: Merciful release after moral recognition
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: After showing the danger of greed, the king lets the antelope go back to
the forest.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage gives only a brief release action and does not elaborate a
ritual or legal pardon motif.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly parallels the antelope's former fall under control
through taste with the present monk's fall into another's power through lust of
taste.
claim_level: same_function
target: present discourse about the monk and slave-girl within the Jātaka frame
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The comparison is internal to the passage's Jātaka identification and
does not establish external historical contact or a broader cross-cultural motif.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 9951-9954
quote_or_summary: After the deer enters, the door is shut; the antelope sees men,
trembles in fear of death, and runs about the hall.
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: 9954-9963
quote_or_summary: The king descends, sees the trembling creature, and says that
although an antelope normally avoids places where it has seen men or been frightened,
this one has come there because it is bound by the lust of taste.
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: quote
locator: 9964-9968
quote_or_summary: "“There’s nothing worse than greed, they say... Through taste
the deer, the wild one of the woods, / Fell under Sanjaya’s control.”"
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:4
type: summary
locator: 9970-9971
quote_or_summary: After showing the danger of greed, the king lets the antelope
go back to the forest.
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: 9975-9977
quote_or_summary: The Master says the monk had previously also fallen into another's
power through lust of taste, then identifies Sanjaya with the slave-girl, the
antelope with the monk, and the king of Benares with 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: high
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif labels are descriptive and should
be reviewed for alignment with the Atlas taxonomy; only the broad wisdom taxonomy
reference is used.
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: |-
No external comparisons were added. The only comparison claim records the passage's own internal Jātaka parallel.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l9951-l9977
passage_sha256=65793f80d47d0954742a04673987bf61c7201fac1cd7cd58fefd028b43ca03d7