The Hungry Tigress

The Tale of the Hungry Tigress Represented through the Three Schools of Buddhism

In Buddhism, the Jataka tales are multiple stories of the previous lives of the Buddha. Within the Jataka tales, the story of “The Tigress” is a story about a tigress who is about to eat her own cubs out of hunger, before the bodhisattva offers himself to her. In this paper, the three branches of Buddhism will be used to demonstrate how the tale of the Tigress can be depicted through these three vehicles of Buddhism, which are Mahayana, Theravada and, Vajrayana. The thesis of this paper isthat through the Mahayana branch, generosity is the main perfection that is used to demonstrate the importance of giving away possessions. Through the Theravada vehicle, renunciation

One of the features in which we can identify as Mahayana aspect is the generosity of the bodhisattva. As previously stated, one of the six perfections includes generosity. In the tenth chapter of the book written by Dalai Lama, the author states that generosity is willingness to give away your own possessions, body and your virtues (157). One gives away their possessions, which are also seen as obstacles for the benefit of other beings. The physical body itself is seen as possessing many faults but it through the body that one can fulfill the goal of helping others rather than being possessive. By being possessive of one’s belongings, one accumulates non virtuous actions and by giving away possessions, one serves a purpose and also increases the practice of generosity. The author also explains that a bodhisattva is a person who gives away their possessions gives away their possessions for the benefits of others not as a reward but through the wish to help others. In the text, the prince clearly offers himself to the tigress so she doesn’t obtain negative consequences. The body itself contains “so much matter” (Sura 7) and it is frail without any substance and it is also impure. The bodhisattva offers himself to the tigress out of the compassion he has for the sentient being, and he does not expect or ask for anything in return when he offers his body. The prince’s lifeless corpse prevents the

In the tale, the “Bodhisattva could derive no pleasure, committed as he was to the path of renunciation and fully absorbed in the study of Law” (6). This demonstrates the emphasis the Bodhisattva puts on renunciation. The Bodhisattva renounced all worldly ties where he could be in lonely retreat to be able to achieve awakening. Through the Theravada vehicle, one can recognize that pleasure is not seen in a positive way. Instead, pleasure should be avoided since it more like an obstacle. Through the understanding of sangha in Theravada, one must be a strong practitioner. In the tale of the Tigress, men “abandoned family and possessions to go to him for instruction” (6). This demonstrates the devotion men had to become awakened beings in order to achieve enlightenment. Almost all the disciples had achieved perfect enlightenment once they joined the bodhisattva. In the stale, while the bodhisattva was reflecting on the thought of giving up his idea, he also thought about the amazement people who didn’t take renunciation would feel once they knew what he had done. In his writing, Strong describes the monasticism that is present in the Theravada vehicle. He states that in Southeast Asia, it has become customary for a young boy to spend a certain amount of time, such as three months during the rainy season in a monastery (Strong 251).This demonstrates renunciation since they are cutting of any