本生談=Jātaka; 白象入胎=the subject of a white elephant entering the queens’s womb; 然燈佛本事=the Itivuttaka discourses of Dipankara Buddha; 羆(旁生)菩薩=the Pi (brute) bodhisattva
Jātaka, the stories of Buddha’s previous lives, describes the behavior of numerous bodhisattvas incarnations of the Shakamuni Buddha in past kalpas and also the process of his transformation into the Buddha. Therefore, Jātaka has become a popular source of guidance on paths of Bodhisattva to be fulfilled by the Buddhist practitioners. The Jātaka tales were the driving force behind the rise of the Mahayana Bodhisattva path, and also the theoretical foundation for Mahayana Buddhism. The stories of Jātaka gained wide distribution during the ear of Abhidharma Buddhism. It would be interesting to know how the practitioners of the Sravaka Realm have explored their concept via these stories and how the stories have affected various schools of Abhidharma Buddhism. To construct a more accurate distinction between schools of Abhidharma Buddhism, this article uses four themes to explain the school ’s dissension and its theoretical basis: the subject of a white elephant entering the queen’s womb, the Itivuttaka discourses of Dipankara Buddha, the king of selfless giving and the prince of good deeds, and the Pi (brute) bodhisattva. In addition to expressing the variant view and the logical theory of each school, the tales also distinguish the thought behind each school and try to convey their profound legal meaning through casual stories.