Kathrine Bowie's Of Beggars and Buddhas is a mixture of historical and ethnographic studies of the Thai interpretations of the Vessantarajātaka based on her survey of its performances such as ceremonies and festivals in central, northeastern and northern Thailand. Furthermore Bowie treats the actual reception and status of the Vessantarajātaka in Thai modern society. Her discussions are supported by her encyclopedic knowledge of Thai history and rich data gathered through her longtime and extensive fieldwork in Thailand. Of Beggars and Buddhas is an excellent contribution to the historical and ethnographic study of Thailand as well as to the study of Thai Buddhist culture.
The Jātaka “Birth-Story” is a genre of Buddhist literature, which tells stories of former existences of the Buddha before he reaches the highest enlightenment. The Vessantara Jātaka is one of the most famous jātakas and tells a story of the prince Vessantara, who is regarded as the penultimate reincarnation of Gotama Buddha. As child, Vessantara makes a vow to perfect his charity-giving in order to become the omniscient (i.e. the Buddha). His limitless generosity brings the kingdom of Sivi to a crisis, and thus his father, King Sañjaya, banishes Vessantara from his kingdom. In exile he gives his son, Jāli, and his daughter, Kanhājinā, to an old greedy brahmin, Jūjaka. This extraordinary generosity upsets all the living beings including the highest god Indra. And so Indra, to immediately fulfill Vessantara's vow, disguises himself as a brahmin and asks Vessantara for his wife, Maddī. Directly after Vessantara gives his wife to Indra, Indra appears as god, returns Maddī to the prince, and declares that Vessantara's vow has been fulfilled. The story comes to a happy end: King Sañjaya ransoms his two grandchildren from Jūjaka. Suddenly rich, Jūjaka overeats and dies. The king, accompanied by the queen and their grandchildren, comes for Vessantara and Maddī. So the family reunites and finally comes back to its kingdom. The Vessantarajātaka originated in India and must have been composed before the schism of the Indian Buddhist community: versions of various Buddhist schools other than Theravāda still survive. Further, the interpretations and translations of this jātaka into local languages were carried out in almost every Buddhist country and where Buddhism was propagated, from Sri Lanka as the southernmost country to Japan as the northernmost. However, the places where this jātaka most enjoys its popularity up until today are Sri Lanka and the Southeast Asian mainland, i.e., Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. Research on Southeast Asian interpretations of the Vessantarajātaka as well as festivals or ceremonies based on the Vessantarajātaka is progressing. But further extensive studies in this field are still needed. Under the present circumstances Bowie's contribution stands out.
Bowie announces that she divides Of Beggars and Buddhas into two main parts. However, practically, this book has four divisions: the Introduction, Part I titled “Diversity in Humor”, Part II titled “The Politics of Diversity”, and a conclusion. In the Introduction Bowie gives an outline of the story of the Vessantarajātaka and then emphasizes the originality and wider variety of Thai interpretations of this Jātaka, against the general views of previous scholars. Already in the Introduction, Bowie explains that interest in the Vessantarajātaka has diminished in present-day Thai society. The starting point for its decline ultimately lies in the fact that the royal court changed its attitude toward this jātaka. What Bowie pays most attention to is the monastic regulation issued by Rama I in 1782, in which “the recitation of and listening to sermon in song-verse or the expression of buffoonish words for comic purpose is strictly forbidden” (Introduction, p. 27). The first part of this regulation mentions that some monks recited the Vessantarajātaka in a comic and obscene manner. Thus, the kernel of Bowie's discussion in the whole book appears: What is the recitation of the Vessantarajātaka in a comic and obscene manner? And, why did the royal court need to forbid it? Further, Bowie argues that Jūjaka, the antagonist of the story, plays a comic role or more aptly the role of the “trickster”. The introduction ends with the paragraph titled “Overview of This Book” explaining Bowie's methodology and providing a compact description of materials as well as of each part and chapter.
Part I is divided into three chapters. They are historical studies and at the same time ethnographic reports on the performances of the Vessantarajātaka. The first chapter discusses its performances in central Thailand, the second in the northeast, and finally the third in the north. Bowie provides a table of “a regional comparison of the Vessantarajātaka” (Part I, p. 166), through which readers can see the overview of these chapters. Nevertheless, the quantity and variety of data in these chapters are overwhelming. They include quotations from historical documents and secondary literature as well as interviews, ranging from with monks to working-class people. Furthermore, reports on festivals and ceremonies of the Vessantarajātaka in which the author herself participated are also included. As for the presentation of Jūjaka, he is never humorous in central Thailand, while he is ambivalent but played with vaudevillian humor in the northeastern region. Finally Jūjaka is most humorous and a beloved trickster in the north.
Part II titled “The Politics of Diversity” is also divided into three chapters. Mainly discussed in the first two chapters is how Thais transformed Jūjaka into a trickster, and also why the trickster was regarded as dangerous by the royal court. The first chapter includes quotations from interviews and audio tapes, which give us a glimpse of the storyteller's art among Thai monks. By contrast, the second chapter mainly includes quotations from written material. This chapter seems to draw a hasty conclusion, and there is no really definitive evidence indicating that Jūjaka as trickster should have been dangerous to the Bangkok court. The third chapter treats Jūjaka from a different angle, reporting on the worship of him in present Thailand. According to this chapter, Jūjaka is regarded as a deity who promotes personal wealth: Although he is old and ugly, he has a young wife and becomes rich in the Jātaka. Furthermore Bowie reports on the revival of the ceremonies or festivals regarding the Vessantarajātaka in modern Thai society. The promotion of tourism and cultural heritage is the main reason for this revival. In such cases Jūjaka no longer plays an important role. In the conclusion Bowie briefly looks back on what she aims at in this book and ends by emphasizing the diversity of possible interpretations of the Vessantarajātaka as well as the ambiguity of its teaching.
Finally a few minor points needing correction are here enumerated:
1) Introduction 14, 7, “The final reference …” Bowie does not indicate the source of this reference. In which text does this “final reference” occur? In the biography of Gotama Buddha (Jātaka Nidānakathā), this does not occur.
2) Introduction 15, 16, Digha Nikaya 26 → Manorathapūranī I 87, 3ff.
3) Introduction 15, 26, Mahajajati → Mahajati.
