The Tham Vessantara-jAtaka - Khamkoo

348
with its thousand stanzas to the monks who were free of defilements, He identified the
characters in this JAtaka thus: Lobhenupento jUjako tadA so pApAtibhAro ahu devadatto
amittatApannA jUjakachAyA abhUtavAdI ahuciGcAmAni . JUjako : The old greedy man
named JUjaka, who was like a demon, who was afraid of wife’s running away; who
lived in the village of DunaviTha running after worldly pleasure; entering into the forest
and asked for the prince JAli and the princesses KaBhA, became cruel Devadat
(Devadatta) who tried to kill the Buddha and was swallowed alive by the earth. He has
been suffering in the AvicI hell for a long time.
AmittatApanA : The young and beautiful wife of the old Brahmin named AmittatA
who knew no gratitude at all and planned for her husband to go away from her, in this
life, was reborn as a brave and sinful CiGcamAna. Persuaded by the wrong view holders
as a plot, she came to where the Buddha was and accused him of a father of a baby that
was about to be born among the people. As a result, she was suffering from the bottom
of the AvicI hell under where Devatatta was. CetAbhidhAno : The clever hunter, Ceta
who had been assigned by the king of Ceta kingdom to be the doorkeeper in order to
prevent any enemy to reach prince Vessantara, became Channa, who accompanied the
Buddha to AnomA River when he renounced the world to become an ascetic.
IsI pavaro : The ascetic, Accuta who lived in the deep forest lonely close to the
prince Vessantara and practiced ascetic practices, aiming to get rid of suffering, became
Venerable SAriputta, the right hand chief disciple of the TathAgata.
Sakko : The king of gods, Indra who took the shape of a Brahmin coming to the
349
forest to ask for the beautiful MaddI to help Vessantara to fulfil his generosity, became
the meritorious Anuruddha who possessed divined eyes. Visukammo : The clever god,
Visukam who was sent to the earth by king Indra to build two ascetic huts for the Great
360