124 



JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [Vol. VIII. 



states. The priests of one convent naturally vied with 

 those of another in securing large audiences. And large 

 audiences always depended on the eloquence of the preacher, 

 who became known as extra kathu All preachers, however, 

 could not be learned and eloquent. The Jataka stories are, 

 therefore, artistic sermons. 



"Apart of the gatha, a paccuppanna vatthu, or something 

 in its stead, the full gatha, the abstruse comments upon it, 

 the atita vatthu, and the conclusion, in which everything 

 said by the preacher is referred to Buddha Gotama him- 

 self — the great omniscient teacher — all this is not an acci- 

 deatal arrangement. It is an essential growth necessitated 

 by the tendencies of the times : the ekamsikas could 

 counteract the activity of the anekamsikas in this way alone; 

 because the environment of the opponents and the opposed 

 being the same, the same weapons must needs be used by 

 both. Hence the points of resemblance between a Jain 

 sermon and a Buddhistic sermon have already been insisted 

 upon. I have heard Jain sermons, and am inclined to 

 conclude, on account of the considerations already stated, 

 that each Jataka is a systematic sermon." 



The Compilation is the work of one hand. — That the book 

 as we have it is a compilation by a single hand is thus 

 inferred: — " These sermons are compiled by one individual — 

 (1) because in the paccuppanna vatthu references back- 

 wards and forwards— to Jatakas already narrated as well 

 as to Jatakas to be narrated —are made ; (2) because com- 

 ments upon gathas are abbreviated, and directions about 

 such abbreviations are given ; (3) because directions indi- 

 cating the abbreviations to be made in the conclusions of 

 the sermons are also, ouce for all, given ; and because the 

 same system of fitting in all the parts— a part of the gatha, 

 the paccuppanna vatthu, the gatha in full, the comments 

 upon the gatha, the atita vatthu, and the conclusion— is 

 discernible ; and when any part is wanting, an attempt to 

 provide a semblance for it is made." 



So far Professor Kunte. Another paper thus touches on 

 the same: — " In some the introduction may possibly 

 be historical, and the second or illustrative story is dis- 

 tinct from it, and has some bearing on it. But in 

 contrast with these there are a considerable number in which 



