| ISBN: 81-7508-288-7
Vol. No : 1017
Contents
Buddha
Angulimala
Amrapali and Upagupta
King Kusha – A Buddhist
Tale
The Acrobat – Buddhist Tales
Description
The first Chitra Katha in
this volume is on the life of Buddha. He refused to subscribe to the caste
system which had ceased to be Dharma and had become a tool of oppression.
He would not accept the power-drunk priests as sole agents of God. He questioned
the authority of the Vedas. And he was convinced that penance and meditation
as mere rituals without the accompanying sincerity and contemplation were
futile.
The second Chitra Katha in
this Pancharatna issue, Angulimala, is from the Buddhist text, Paramatthadipani
of Dhammapala.
The story of Amrapali is
told in the Maha-Parinibbana Sutta and in Malasarvastivadas. The garden
which Amrapali gave up to Lord Buddha was still in existence when Fa-Hien
visited India during the Gupta age. Upagupta was a disciple of Buddha.
For him, ahimsa (non-violence) did not merely mean desisting from violence
but doing positive good and showing compassion. When Vasavadatta was shunned
by society and had nowhere to go. Upadupta took her to his hermitage. While
adapting this story for our Amar Chitra Katha, we have omitted a few gruesome
details.
King Kusha and the Acrobat
are stories included in the Pali canon.
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