The Tham Vessantara-jAtaka - Khamkoo

has to be reborn not only as a human and a god, but also as a member of inferior
species. As a man, he had been repeatedly king, courtier, Brāhman, ascetic, teacher,
prince, nobleman, merchant, slave, potter, outcaste, elephant driver, carpenter, etc. He
was sometimes at the height of power, at others in the most helpless condition; now at
the steps of a throne, in a moment in the dust of a high road; sometimes virtuous,
sometimes wicked and debased. As a supernatural being, many times he was Brāhma,
Indra (Sakka), a tree god, and once a Deva. As a member of inferior species, he was
elephant, tiger, monkey, dog, bird, snake, fish, frog, etc. However the hardships and
punishments experienced through all the stages of life proved to be highly beneficial to
the path leading to happiness, which he ultimately attained at the end of his mortal
career.
The JAtaka texts in PALi in six volumes (London, 1877-96) together with its
commentaries were edited by Fausbøll and indexed by Dines Andersen. The Burmese
version of the JAtaka PALi edited at the ChaTThasaNgAyana was published in 1960 by the
Burmese Religious Ministry Affairs, Yangon, into Vol. I and Vol. II. This version,
ChaTThasaNgAyana, together with the entire PALi canon, is now available on CD ROM
version 3. The disc is freely distributed by Vipassana Research Institute, Dhammagiri,
Igatpuri, India. 21
As to the translations, Rhys Davids, the founder of the PALi Text Society,
translated into English some JAtakas, known as JAtaka Tales. A translation of selected
JAtaka tales by Francis and Thomas and the translation of the JAtakas under the
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See www.tipitaka.org.
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