Reading Notes Week 13: Twenty Jatakas Tales, Part B

Of all the jatakas I've, read, I thought the Great Elephant was by far the most powerful story. I don't think it's so much the sacrifice itself, but how immediate it was and for men he had only just met.

Image of an elephant.
Source: Wikipedia

I don't know if it was easier because or more meaningful because he had had such an easy life before that. For example, he had never shed tears before he met those men. On one hand, this sadness that was new to him was so profound and he could so quickly empathize with these strangers, and he threw himself off a mountain.

On the other hand, he had never known any sadness, so of course this sadness would be profound. He had nothing to compare it to you. At such a profound sadness that is made all the more powerful because it is the first negative emotion ever felt, he of course acted on it. Perhaps it was part sacrifice, but also part "who knew this world was so cruel, I would rather not live in it while also helping others." I can see how an elephant who thought the world was perfect would be shattered after having such a pristine bubble of a worldview popped.

Inayat. The Great Elephant, Twenty Jataka Tales (1939)