San Lo Mvu 98The Jātaka of Kṣāntivādin

The Jātaka Account of Kṣāntivādin (The Sage of Patience)

Background

In the Theravāda Buddhist tradition, Jātakas, or accounts of former lives, are stories that recount the previous births of the Buddha Gotama when he was still practicing the bodhisattva path. These accounts are recorded in the Jātaka of the Pāli Canon, an important part of the Sutta Piṭaka, in order to illustrate noble virtues and the practice that seeks no reward.

The account of Kṣāntivādin, a name used in the Mahāyāna tradition and called Khantivādin in the Pāli Canon, is one of the most outstanding accounts of the virtue of patience (khanti or kṣānti). This is one of the six pāramīs - the supreme virtues that a bodhisattva must cultivate in order to attain Buddhahood. This sutta is transmitted in the context of the Buddha's instruction and the teaching on overcoming anger, jealousy, and learning tolerance.

Main Content

In this former birth, the Buddha appeared as a noble ascetic named Khantivādin, living deep in the forest with unmatched purity. He harmed no living being, not even insects or birds. His virtue and progress in practice spread widely, and he was respected by all.

A king took delight in the beauty of the celestial maidens (apsarās) in his palace. Wishing to destroy the virtue of the noble ascetic, the king ordered the apsarās to go into the forest and tempt him. When Khantivādin remained firm in his practice, the king became violently angry and sought to test his endurance through torture. He ordered the ascetic's fingers and toes to be cut off one by one, asking whether he could endure it.

Khantivādin declared that he was not angry at all. He explained that the virtue of patience is not merely enduring suffering, but not giving rise to anger and not producing hatred. In the end the king realized that he had erred and was moved by the noble virtue of the ascetic.

Practical Meaning

This account teaches that patience is not weakness or submission to oppression.