Manifestation of Moral, Ethical and Human Values in Contemporary Society through selected Fables from Jataka Tales.

Abstract

All around the world, Jataka Tales have cherished our Moral Values, Ethics and Human Values for a long time. They have been an indispensable source of teaching the way of living life in the society of those times. “This line is referring to the fact that the tales being described recount the previous lifetimes of Lord Buddha, during which he was progressing towards achieving enlightenment and becoming a Buddha. In other words, the stories are about the various stages of his spiritual journey leading up to his ultimate attainment of Buddhahood.” Jataka Tales are a core part of Buddhist literature articulated by Lord Buddha. They are preached by Buddhist monks to imbibe these values in people. A person may live a meaningful life by following the path led by these stories for inculcating the theme of peace of mind and happy life. The further analysis and implementation of these morals and ethics in modern times and their importance will be discussed in this research. (Along with its proliferation). In the present paper selected three stories have been taken for the discussion: 1. “The Noble Monkey”; 2.“The Clever she Goat”; 3.“ This sentence describes the story of a conceited woman who, as a result of her vanity and negative karma, was reborn in her next life as a lowly dung-worm. In other words, the woman's pride and self-importance led to a negative consequence in the form of her reincarnation as an insignificant and unpleasant creature.”. These stories are conveying the powerful feelings of friendship, loyalty, honesty, wit, affection, salvation, rebirth, hard work, and skills. All these stories are much needed for the Contemporary Society in which these values are depreciating each day.