Dossier DJG/2/1/2 - Translation of the Kuśa Jātaka (final version)

The manuscript is the final version of Gogerly's translation of the Kuśa jātaka. Translated around 1830-1860; most likely in Colombo or Negombo, Sri Lanka (Ceylon). From Sinhalese to English; the translation is 48 pages (the last 8 pages of the notebook are left blank). The translated selection of this jātaka contains the first 131 stanzas (gathas) of the original text (approx. 800 stanzas in total) and is written in Gogerly's hand. It also includes verses in Sinhalese. The basic outline of the Kuśa Jātaka offers a narrative about the bodhisattva born as the powerful but hideously ugly King Kuśa. He falls in love with the extraordinaly beautiful princess Prabhāvatī, and in this regard the story deals with his determined wooing of her despite her rejection of him as a suitor. The manuscript is slightly fragile. 20cmX15cm.