A note on Jataka Tales--2

A note on Jataka Tales--2
In fact the religious preachers never claim that they are saying anything new. They always claim to have revealed the open secret, the secret open to all but seen almost by none. They always claim to have revealed the eternal truth discovered earlier also but forgotten in course of time to be revived again. This is why they always speak of their predecessors. Thus, the Buddha had predecessors. Mahavira had predecessors. Jesus acknowledged the Jewish lore of the Old Testament as authentic. Islam appropriated the Old Testament. Besides Islam acknowledges Jesus as a prophet. Only thing is that Islam does not acclaim Jesus, as God the son because according to Islam God cannot have a son by a mortal.
By the by the Buddha we are talking of is a historical personage he was Siddhaarta; he was born at Kapilavastu in the southern part of what we know as Nepal today. Miracles happened when he was born. In fact, his birth was itself a miracle. It is said that the king Suddhodan had no physical contact with his consort Maya Devi during and immediately prior to the period when Siddharta Buddha entered the womb of Maya Devi. It is said that Maya Devi saw a white elephant entering her womb and she became carrying. When god incarnates are there they are seldom born of any man. Think of Jesus. Virgin Mary was his mother. Think of Rama his mother was administered a kind of pudding that leaped up from a fire sacrifice priested by the sage Risya-sringa. Be that as it may Siddharta spent his childhood and early youth in the palace only. As soon as he had a child by Gopa he stealthily renounced the world for a life of meditation in the forests. He had named his son----Rahul. Rahul the name means obstacle; he deemed his son as obstacle and left home without giving any intimation to his dear wife. Well Siddharta Buddha surely knew what he was about. But in the context of the values that are current today one asks--- Was Siddharta’s action open and straight forward? Though it must be acknowledged that God men were born of women the divine spirit entering into their body why should be women left in the lurch by those God men even in quest of knowledge and truth ? Shakespeare said --- Frailty thy name is woman. And are we wide off the mark if we dare say --- Ingratitude thy name is man.
Let us however proceed along the high road of narrative where Siddhartha Buddha was the journeyman. After a lot of penance our Siddhartha became enlightened or Buddha. He is the Buddha to whom we have referred earlier and whose Speeches are said to have been enshrined in the Tripitaka.
Here one thing is important to note. As long as Siddhartha remained unenlightened he was not a Buddha but a Bodhisattva. Bodhisattva etymologically means a sattva or a being whose essence is Bodhi or wisdom. It logically follows therefore that when a Bodhisattva becomes Buddha the innate or latent wisdom is manifest in the person of Buddha.