Buddhist traditions, Nivedita and Coomaraswamy
Bodhisattva
The collection describes the Buddha-elect passing through many births and forms, adhering to a path of dedication. Animal and human stories make these lives episodes of an extended preparation. It explains the joy of that preparation as anticipation of the power to enlighten others. The account gives particular conditions for the births and final incarnation of its own Buddha-elect.
Also known as Buddha-elect · Buddha-to-be
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalThe collection describes the Buddha-elect passing through many births and forms, adhering to a path of dedication. Animal and human stories make these lives episodes of an extended preparation.
Further detail
TraditionalIt explains the joy of that preparation as anticipation of the power to enlighten others. The account gives particular conditions for the births and final incarnation of its own Buddha-elect.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows the specific Buddha-elect explanation in the 1914 collection. It does not present that description as a complete definition of bodhisattva in every Buddhist school, whose vows and uses of the term differ.
Original passages
Source 1
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
reborn in countless formsOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 306
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0306
- Original scan leaf
- 306
- Recorded leaf number
- 306
- Current Reader position
- 297
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
the attainment of power to enlighten othersOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 315
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0315
- Original scan leaf
- 315
- Recorded leaf number
- 315
- Current Reader position
- 306
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Jataka Tales
Stories of previous births in which the Buddha-to-be develops his dedication.
Shared source pageSix-Tusked Elephant
An elephant birth of the Buddha-elect, whose story turns an old slight into deadly resentment.
Shared source pageTusita Heaven
The heaven where the Buddha-elect waits before choosing the final earthly birth.
Same subject and traditionNirvana
Release from the fetters of individuality, explained by the collection through a broken pot and open space.