Recital Of TheTham Vessantara–jĀtaka: A Social–cultural Phenomenon In Kengtung, Eastern Shan State, Myanmar

Abstract

The Vessantara Jātaka is possibly the single most important and widely known Buddhist text in South East Asia. It relates the life story of the bodhisatta in his final life before birth in historical time as Siddhattha Gotama. It exemplifies the cardinal virtue of generosity as it shows the hero prepared to give away everything that is most precious to him, including wife and children, in pursuit of Buddhist virtue. This powerfully emotive story is very popular in the Theravada countries of South and South East Asia, where its formal recitation, taking a minimum of three days, is regarded as highly meritorious and sponsorship of such performances a valued form lay patronage and participation. This paper is a study of the context and process of such recitation, as observed in Kentung, Eastern Shan State, and an appraisal of its role in communal life in the region.

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