チベット埋蔵経典『マニ・カンブン』における初期仏教についての記述：チベットにおける「ヴェッサンタラジャータカ」の伝播と変容=Tracing the Early Buddhism in a Tibetan Revealed Scripture: Vessantara Jātaka in the Maṇi bka’ ‘bum
Vessantara Jātaka is a well known Buddhist text which has widely spread to all over Asian countries. The story tells a birth story of the Buddha Śākyamuṇi as being Prince Vessantara, featuring his great generosity to the extent that he has offered his children. This paper looks at a Tibetan text in which narratives similar to Vessantara Jātaka are found. The Tibetan text is called the Maṇi bka’ ‘bum, which is a “revealed text” (gter ma), being claimed to be authored by Srong btsan sgam po (d. 650), an ancient Tibetan king as being a manifestation of the Boddhisttva Avalokiteśvara, a tutelary deity in Tibet. The text narrates successive birth stories of the king, and two stories similar to Vessantara Jātara consists of them. There are several features in the two stories in Tibetan, which differ to the story commonly known as the Vessantara Jātaka like in the Pāli literature. The names of characters are different from those in the Pāli. For example, the main character of both stories is named ‘Jig rten dbang phyug (Skt. Lokeśvara) who has two queens, instead of one in the Pāli literature. One is identified as Srong bstan sgam po’s Nepali queen, and the other is his Chinese wife. Philosophically, also the stories teach Mahāyāna thoughts such as the generation of the mind towards enlightenment (sems bskyed), and a faith in the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara and his quintessential mantra oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ.
