The Characteristics and Beliefs Deduced from Japanese Narratives on the Life of the Buddha: A Case Study of Shaka no honji (The Story of Sakyamuni)

Abstract

This article analyzes Japanese narratives on the life of the Buddha through a case study of Shaka no honji (The Story of Sakyamuni) by investigating Japanese beliefs that may be deduced from the narrative. After analyzing the plot of three versions of Shaka no honji (‘Denki-kei’, ‘Honji-kei’, and ‘Shakamonogatari’), the unique elements in the Japanese narratives of the Buddha’s life and beliefs implicit in Shaka no honji were analyzed. The results revealed that some similarities existed between the three versions, for example adding Jataka tales such as Sibi jataka, Prince Mahasattva jataka, and Young Ascetic of the Himalayas jataka; eliminating details unfamiliar to Japanese readers; or featuring sacred beings other than Indra as Buddha or Prince Siddhartha’s retinue. Adding the three jataka tales as a preface to Shaka no honji underlines the challenges in accumulating merit for enlightenment, while also showing how Shaka no honji reproduced a regular pattern of telling the Buddha’s life in medieval Japan. This featured abandonment of the body (‘shashin’) as it uniquely applied to the Boddhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. Buddha or Prince Siddhartha’s retinue in the narratives was likely a sacred being disguised in diverse forms, such as a child. In the medieval period, children were seen as ambiguous entities between sacred and worldly spaces, containing spiritual and supernatural aspects. This theme is generally visible in medieval Japanese historical sources as well as in the Shaka no honji.