Potprecha Cholvijarn
University of Bristol (UK)
This paper examines the Bhūridatta Jātaka, one of the most well-known jātakas in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka, and widely regarded as the sixth of the Buddha’s last ten lives (dasajātaka). This jātaka tells the story of the Bodhisatta born as a nāga prince named Bhūridatta. Wishing to be reborn in the heaven realm, Bhūridatta made a vow to keep the moral precepts and observe the uposatha on an anthill by the Yamunā River. When he was betrayed by an evil brāhmin and captured by a snake-charmer, Bhūridatta displayed his perfection of morality in showing no anger, not harming his betrayer and capturer, allowed himself to be tortured by the snake-charmer, and made to dance in the village squares.
This story was adapted into a ballet-opera by Somtow Sucharitkul, which was premiered on 22 May 2015 at Thailand Cultural Centre. “Bhuridat: The Dragon Lord” is the third episode of Somtow’s Das Jati project, a cycle of ten music drama based on the dasajātaka. The paper will focus on how the jātaka and the ballet-opera interpret the practice of keeping the moral precepts and observing the uposatha, the values of silence and submission, and their views on human cruelty towards animals.
(Presented in the International Conference on Buddhist Studies: Buddha's Biography – Buddhist Legends, 18-19 July 2015, Le Meridien Bangkok Hotel, Bangkok, organized by Department of Thai, Faculty of Arts, The Pali and Sanskrit Section, Department of Eastern Languages, Faculty of Arts and Institute of Thai Studies, Chulalongkorn University)