The Tham Vessantara-jAtaka - Khamkoo

life. Here we discuss the tradition in Thailand. There then is the preacher of the written
text. Two methods were used for transmission; oral transmission and scriptural
transmission. Oral transmission is a method of reading a palm leaf manuscript of the
JAtaka book. Even while teaching orally, monks would commonly recite long passages
in PALi and then translate the passage literally, which was very hard for the ordinary
person to understand. 81
The intention of this method is to impart instruction and
propagating knowledge of the JAtaka stories. This used to take place in the village
temple with the participation of the laity and the community of monks. This kind of
method of oral transmission is still in use in the Southeast Asian countries. The second
method is the scriptural transmission. This is the method of writing the entire text of the
stories on palm leaves. For example, in Thailand, there are many different versions of
the VJ. According to a manuscript survey conducted in the North of Thailand, the
number of MahA ChAt is 1,424 texts in more than eighty literary styles. The numbers of
general JAtaka stories are in 907 texts. They were composed by monks 82 who have
played the important role in both these methods of transmission. 83 The popular of the
VJ, in Thailand, is transmitted in its own right as Phra Wetsandon, MahA ChAt, great
birth. 84 When gAthA, the verses alone are recited, it is called gAthA pan, a thousand
stanzas. On the other hand, the Phra Vessantara merit-making festival is an important
part of the annual ritual calendar in the North-East of Thailand and in Laos. Recitation
and performance is part of the fabric of merit-making. 85
It was a court custom for
princes, during their period of ordination, in the early Bangkok period, to preach a
sermon on the VJ to their father King. In 1817, during the Second Reign, Prince
81
82
83
84
85
The Clock of Vipassana has Struck, p. 76.
Skilling, JAtaka and PaGGAsa-JAtaka in South-East Asia. pp.127-128.
Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Vol. VI, p.22.
Skilling, JAtaka and PaGGAsa-JAtaka in South-East Asia. pp.126-127.
Ibid. P. 127.
42