Bhūridatta Jātaka

[Full title: Jātakas and Avadānas in the Amarāvatī Art: Bhūridatta Jātaka]

Story:-

According to the story king Brahmadatta of Banaras had a son. The king made his son the viceroy of his kingdom. But when he saw the great glory of his son he became apprehensive about his power and asked him to quit the kingdom until his death. After his father’s death he will take the kingdom. The prince obeyed his father and went near the confluence of the Yamunā. There he built a hut and dwelt there. At that time a nāga woman who had lost her husband was wandering. She saw the hut. She decided to enter it. When she entered the hut the prince was away. Seeing the bedstead and the furniture she understood that it was the dwelling place of an ascetic. She went back to the nāga world, collected divine flowers, perfumes and prepared a bed of flowers. She thought that if he is an ascetic he will not accept it. But if he was a lover of pleasure he will lie on the bed.

When the prince returned he saw the prepared bed, ate various fruits, laid down on the couch of flowers and fell asleep. Next the woman saw the withered flower and understood that the man was a lover of pleasure. So she decided to make him her husband and repeated her act. Finally both revealed their identity and decided to marry.

The nāga woman conceived and gave birth to a son and daughter named Sagara Brahmadatta and Samuddajā. One day a forester from Banaras recognized the prince. Some days later the king died. The forester told the minister about the prince. He asked the prince to occupy the throne. Since the wife was a nāga woman she refused to go with her husband. She advised him to take her two children in a boat filled with water.

A tortoise entered the boat when water was let in. The children became afraid of it and thought that it is a yakṣa. So the prince ordered his attendants to throw the water. The tortoise went to the nāga world and narrated a false story about his escape from death. He said that he went as a messenger for the marriage alliance between Dhattaratta, the son of the nāga King and Samuddajā. Ultimately the marriage took place. Later she gave birth to four children. The second son Datta, who was actually the Bodhisattva accompanied the king to the great king Virupaksha. In the assembly Śakra put questions which could be answered only by Datta. Thus Śakra named him Bhūridatta. In order to get rid of the frog eating habit he went to the forest for prayer. At that time a Brāhmiṇ and his son heard his prayer. Bhūridatta was adorned with jewels. The Brāhmiṇ took a snake charmer Alambayana to Bhūridatta and told him to take the snake and give him the jewels. But the gem fell down to the nāga world while handing over to the Brāhmiṇ. Alambayana took the snake and earned a lot of money.

Due to the captivity Bhūridatta couldnot visit his parents. Her mother asked her children to search for Bhūridatta. Ultimately they found him when Alambayana was making the snake dance in front of the king of Kāśi. Bhūridatta saw his brother and sister in the guise of a frog who spilt three drops of poison. The poison was burnt with cow dung which generated vicious smoke. Alambayana being afraid let Bhūridatta free. He came out of the basket and assumed his form like the glorious Indra. The wicked Brāhmiṇ became a leper. He relieved the Brāhmiṇ. At the end of his life he went to heaven with a host of nagās^[1].

Depiction:-

The monoscenic narrative of the Jātaka is identified on a fragment of limestone upright pillar at Amarāvatī preserved in the Madras Government Museum. The jātaka has two scenes almost broken. In the first panel one can see the king or the prince as the viceroy seated on a throne attended by a couple of women. In the second panel is a nāgini humbly approaching with folded hands. Other details are missing^[2].

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Cowell E.B, Op.cit, vol V-VI, No 543, pp 80-113

[2]:

Sivaramamurti C, Op.cit, p 207, pl XXX fig 2