Introduction
Foundational to understanding the values of Theravada Buddhists, the Vessantara Jataka[1] emphasizes the perfection of the virtue of generosity while simultaneously inviting its readers to question how Prince Vessantara’s perfects generosity and becomes enlightened. This invitation is difficult to ignore when accounting for the trauma Prince Vessantara’s family endures as the cost of his generosity.[2] During my first reading of the Vessantara Jataka, the expense Vessantara paid for enlightenment — the sacrifice of his own children — left me shocked. Each time I re-read this tale, I struggle to move past the trauma experienced by Maddi, Prince Vessantara’s wife, and better understand why Southeast Asian women weep in the streets during the annual readings of the Vessantara Jataka.
Maddi faces the unthinkable: the loss of her own children at the hands of her husband. Not only does she face a horrifying situation, but she quietly complies and supports Prince Vessantara following his decision to give away their children. In response to the traumatic experience of losing her children, Maddi seems to become emotionally numb to the situation she finds herself in; however, women across Southeast Asia weep on her behalf when she is too traumatized to do so herself. While scholars continue to grapple with the cost of Vessantara’s goal, they do so without due attention to the impact of his enlightenment on Maddi. By critically reading the Vessantara Jataka, I present a more nuanced explanation of Maddi’s role in Vessantara’s journey to Buddhahood.[3] My argument draws on and complements those interpretations of the Vessantara Jataka that honor Maddi’s agency and role in Vessantara’s enlightenment in order to address her experience of emotional trauma.[4] I am accounting for the emotional intensity of the Vessantara Jataka and its impact on Maddi’s character and choices. While scholars of the Vessantara Jataka, such as Suwanna Satha-Anand, Naomi Appleton, Steven Collins, and Patrice Ladwig, engage with the emotional depth of the Vessantara Jataka, they have not yet called Maddi’s experience what it is: trauma. By engaging these interpretations of the emotional content of the Vessantara Jataka alongside trauma theorists, I bridge the text with its modern implications within trauma theory.
The Vessantara Jataka’s value does not lie in a clear-cut answer to ethical questions; rather, its significance is found within the struggle each reader faces as they attempt to discern whether Prince Vessantara made the right choice in giving away his children to Jujaka. Each reader confronts the difficult question of whether enlightenment is worth the suffering Prince Vessantara’s family endures. My critical reading of the tale will rely heavily on assessing the agency of Maddi and the silencing of Maddi within the tale, using a trauma-informed approach. Scholarly readings of the Vessantara Jataka often present Maddi either as a hindrance to Vessantara’s perfection of generosity or as a silent figure whose emotions and personal values have no influence on Vessantara’s enlightenment. My goal in applying a trauma-informed reading to the Vessantara Jataka is to unveil the unrecognized trauma she endures and acknowledge her influence within the tale of Vessantara’s enlightenment. In doing so, I will create a more inclusive, nuanced space for studying the Vessantara Jataka.
Scholarly Representations of Maddi
Many readings of the Vessantara Jataka present Maddi as a woman stripped of her power in service to Vessantara’s enlightenment, as she is expected to comply with and support his generosity. On the surface, Maddi’s compliance with Vessantara’s generosity represents Theravada values and beliefs surrounding marriage, which reduce women such as Maddi to a state of servitude for their husbands. For example, Maddi subjugates herself when she says, “I will follow my husband always wearing yellow robes, for without Vessantara I would not want even the whole earth.”[5] Maddi makes it clear that she has chosen to follow Vessantara; however, the extent to which this decision was a legitimate choice is unclear. While she may not have to follow him through his renunciation, she may face grave consequences for not doing so, as she likely would not be able to provide for herself and her children as a woman living in an ancient cultural context. Later in the tale, Vessantara tells Maddi that “a woman is a stain on a life of renunciation.”[6] While Vessantara’s words may be jarring for modern readers, he is succinctly stating ancient attitudes toward women. He and other men perceive women as either servants in the life of men or hindrances to the success of men. These two moments in the tale set the precedent that Maddi does not necessarily have the power to defy Prince Vessantara and must support him through his enlightenment without hindering him.
Justin McDaniel interprets the Vessantara Jataka with an emphasis on what the tale conveys about Theravada beliefs surrounding marriage, claiming “if we look at the Vessantara Jataka not simply as a story about making merit and perfecting the art of giving but rather as part of a larger genre of stories about marriage,” we can learn a lot about the role of marriage within Buddhist communities.[7] While McDaniel attempts to broaden the scope of engagement with the Vessantara Jataka, he does so by reinforcing the idea that Maddi’s behaviors in the tale primarily reflect her role in marriage with Prince Vessantara. Readings of the Vessantara Jataka that only focus on one dimension of her character, although intended to explore a broader means of engagement with the tale, can contribute to a reductive presentation of Maddi as a participant in marriage rather than as an individual with power and emotional depth. These reductive interpretations of Maddi’s character impact scholarly and cultural understandings of women in positions similar to Maddi’s.
Naomi Appleton approaches Maddi with an understanding of the aforementioned cultural beliefs of women’s role in marriage and enlightenment, claiming that many people subscribe to the belief that “women can be obstacles on a man’s path, but only if he lets them be.”[8] Appleton summarizes operative expectations for women to conform to the enlightenment of men and interprets the Vessantara Jataka with an understanding of the extent to which Maddi fits into the archetype of compliant women in Theravada Buddhism. Upon first reading, it is easy to interpret Maddi’s choices and responses to Vessantara’s generosity as a form of self-sacrifice for the sake of his enlightenment. Maddi quickly shifts from being inconsolable over her missing children to encouraging Vessantara’s extreme generosity, saying, “I am glad for you, my lord; children are the very best gift. Now you have given them, let your mind be calm,” and “rejoic[ing] with Vessantara.”[9] While Maddi’s response to discovering her children were given into slavery makes her seem apathetic and complicit, there may be more emotion behind her reaction than we initially see. When reading about Maddi’s conformity in Vessantara’s path to perfecting generosity, readers must be weary of subscribing to interpretations of the tale that present Maddi’s sole purpose as a support to Vessantara’s enlightenment. Without more nuanced representations of Maddi alongside Appleton and McDaniel’s work, the idea that Maddi’s only significance lies in her marriage to Vessantara becomes the most dominant perspective for interpreting the Vessantara Jataka. By assessing Maddi’s trauma and power, I hope to contribute to creating a more nuanced discourse among scholars of the Vessantara Jataka.
Maddi Exercises Power and Agency
Maddi is often presented as powerless in the Vessantara Jataka, yet this is not necessarily the case. Presenting Maddi as a “hindrance”[10] to Vessantara’s enlightenment disrupts assertions that Maddi lacks any agency or power. Maddi cannot be capable of interfering with Vessantara’s enlightenment without having the power to serve an essential role in his enlightenment. Therefore, we must pay careful attention to the choices Maddi makes throughout the tale. McDaniel and Appleton demonstrate how Maddi willingly supports Vessantara’s enlightenment. McDaniel explains that she “shows her continued dedication by collecting their food and water and taking care of the children. She never complains, even when her husband is callous and unfeeling.”[11] McDaniel goes on to argue that she intuits “his need to perfect generosity and nonattachment,” and, therefore, Maddi consciously sets aside her needs and some of her desires to better support Vessantara.[12] By choosing to set aside her own desires for the sake of Vessantara’s enlightenment, Maddi is exercising her limited power within a patriarchal framework. Furthering this argument, Appleton claims that Maddie “allows [italics added] him to give away their children and herself in order to perfect his generosity.”[13] McDaniel and Appleton agree that Maddi is aware of her power in Vessantara’s pursuit of generosity. As we begin to recognize Maddi’s sacrifices in facilitating Vessantara’s enlightenment, she becomes influential not only in Vessantara’s story, but she also contributes to the broader concept of Buddhahood and facilitates the Bodhisattva path.[14] McDaniel and Appleton, therefore, begin forming a space in which Maddi is an example of a model Buddhist (given the constraints of her culture and beliefs).
While some may argue that Maddi could embark on a path to enlightenment herself rather than merely serving Vessantara’s enlightenment, Appleton makes it clear that the Jatakas were written in a period that excludes women from enlightenment altogether: “only later did jatakas become identified as stories that demonstrate the Bodhisattva path from an initial vow that made rebirth as a female impossible to a buddhahood that excludes women.”[15] Given the constraints of Maddi’s cultural context, she does everything within her power to facilitate Bodhisattva without achieving enlightenment herself. Therefore, Maddi is not only powerful within Vessantara’s enlightenment, but she also becomes a model representative for Buddhism.
Maddi Navigates Trauma
When taking the time to recenter Maddi as not only an agent to Vessantara’s enlightenment, she’s viewed an individual who possesses intrinsic value and emotional depth. By focusing on her value as a character and person rather than her contributions to the Bodhisattva, it becomes clear that Maddi’s attitudes and actions may be a response to traumatic events rather than an act of compliance with Vessantara’s generosity. This interpretation of Maddi in the Vessantara Jataka provides a contrast to the erasure and reduction many scholars apply to her character. We are not doing Maddi justice by solely acknowledging her power; we must also acknowledge the depth of her experiences and feelings.
While the tale is upsetting to read, many people believe that because Vessantara’s family is ultimately reunited, Vessantara and his family face no enduring repercussions for his choice to give them away. However, taking stock of Maddi’s trauma suggests that Prince Vessantara’s decisions may leave lasting damage on the psyche of his family. By acknowledging Maddi’s trauma as a legitimate impact of Vessantara’s enlightenment, the erasure of Maddi’s suffering lessens. The Vessantara Jataka contains persistent references to the suffering of Maddi, especially in the scenes where she is searching for her missing children. As Maddi returns from looking for food for her family, she realizes her children are gone. In an emotionally tense moment, Maddi pleads in terror to Vessantara:
My little ones must be dead! Perhaps wild beasts have eaten my children, noble lord. Or has someone carried them off into the jungle, the barren wilderness? Have you sent the sweet-voiced children off with a message, or are they asleep? Or were they so intent on their games that they have wandered out? I cannot see the hair of Jali’s head, or his hands or feet. Did the birds swoop down? Who has carried off my children?[16]
After begging Vessantara to tell her where her children have gone and receiving no reply, Maddi goes out in search of them. She blames herself, “[crying] out, ‘my lord, why will you not speak to me? What have I done wrong. This is worse pain.’”[17] If Vessantara’s choice to give away his children was not justifiable for the sake of his enlightenment, his choice to give away his children would likely be undeniably immoral to most readers and to Maddi. When she is searching for her children, Maddi’s character becomes separated from the story of Theravada Buddhism. In these moments of terror, she is a mother — afraid and without any support. Taking a closer look at Maddi highlights the traumatic series of events she goes through. Her responses to the events make it evident that she is encountering a traumatic event. Like many parents with missing children would do, Maddi begins to “blame herself” and eventually chooses to “stay silent.”[18] This silence is a common trauma response: shock.
Eventually, she becomes so overwhelmed by the situation that she “gave a cry and fell to the ground on that very spot.”[19] The story reads as if Maddi cannot physically bear the emotional distress she is under any longer. She finally “regained her consciousness” and “modestly greeted [Vessantara],” asking him where their children are.[20] Her disposition changes; she seems numb, calmly asking where her children are. He finally tells her: “I gave them as slaves to a brahmin.”[21] Most readers of the Vessantara Jataka anticipate Maddi being full of outrage at the thought that Vessantara has given away their children as objects of his generosity; however, she calmly tells him, “I am glad for you” and “rejoiced with Vessantara.”[22] At this moment, many readers are shocked at Maddi’s blind agreeance and assume she recognizes his decision as a necessity for his enlightenment. However, when reading Maddi’s forgiveness and apathy as a trauma response, Maddi’s silence begins to make sense as what Balaev calls a “speechless fright that divides or destroys the identity.”[23] In response to the traumatic event of not knowing where her children are only to find out that their father has given them away into slavery, Maddi must choose between her duties to Vessantara, and thereby her identity as a wife and a person, or her instincts as a mother.
Maddi’s struggle with her conflicting identities is not unheard of as a trauma response. Balaev explores the idea that the division of a person’s struggle with their sense of self as a result of trauma can be exacerbated by a culture that does not encourage an authentic expression of emotions: “to what degree traumatic experience disrupts memory, self, and relation to others is mediated by cultural values and narrative forms rooted in a place that allows or disallows certain emotions to be expressed.”[24] Maddi exists within a culture that expects her to instinctively serve her husband first and, therefore, suppress her emotions in service to Vessantara’s enlightenment. Not only is she expected to suppress these feelings to be a good wife and practitioner, but she also may need to suppress her emotions in order to survive. It seems that the longer Maddi remains silent and suppresses her emotions, the easier it is for her to continue remaining silent; however, this silence is not priceless as it asks her to sacrifice her sense of identity as a mother.
Significance of a Trauma-Informed Reading of the Vessantara Jataka
Reading the Vessantara Jataka with an understanding of Maddi’s trauma and its consequences on her behavior enables scholars to recenter Maddi as an individual who possesses power and depth within the tale. This approach undermines readings that focus on Maddi merely as a wife and contributor to Vessantara’s enlightenment. In attempts to read Maddi as an agent to Vessantara’s enlightenment, scholarship tends to lose track of the character of Maddi and the inherent value she possesses within the tale. In hopes of avoiding a reductive interpretation of Maddi, Suwanna Satha-Anand, a Thai scholar of Buddhism, thoughtfully explains her purpose (and mine) in applying this type of reading to the Vessantara Jataka: “the purpose of my analysis is not to belittle the great generosity of Vessantara, but simply to open up new vista for understanding this important jataka.”[25] Trauma-informed readings of the Vessantara Jataka (which Satha-Anand lays out much of the groundwork for) empower scholars to focus their work on Maddi, who has historically been stripped of her voice.
Applying trauma theory to the Vessantara Jataka reinvasions Maddi as a powerful actor in the story of Vessantara’s enlightenment, given the limitations of her history and culture. Balaev explains this concept astutely, arguing that “emphasizing. . . the ways trauma alters the self and relation to world. . .tends to centre the meaning and effect of trauma largely within the individual mind, creating an isolated and culturally immune image of trauma’s impact.”[26] Balaev and her colleagues tend to agree that readings such as the one I have done in this essay have a broad influence on the way our societies perceive and interact with trauma and its voiceless survivors. Similarly, Dominick LaCapra argues for the “relevance to history of a critical but non-dismissive approach to the study of trauma, memory, and identity-formation.”[27] LaCapra is emphasizing the necessity of nuanced approaches to reading historical tales that avoid dismissing significant understandings of the history and culture reflected in stories such as the Vessantara Jataka. Not only are trauma-informed readings of historical tales important to modern understandings of the tales, they are also critical in creating a more comprehensive understanding of the actual experiences of historical characters and figures. In conjunction with Balaev and LaCapra’s scholarly arguments for the widespread importance of trauma-informed interpretations of significant cultural tales, I am narrowing the scope of their ideas by focusing solely on the Vessantara Jataka in hopes of encouraging similar interpretations of other significant tales.
In many studies of the Vessantara Jataka, scholars present Maddi as the “wife,” the “disrupter,” or the “enabler.” A trauma-informed reading of the Vessantara Jataka disrupts these pre-existing understandings of Maddi by looking more thoroughly at her role in the tale. Maddi assumes a much more active role in Vessantara’s enlightenment than she is often credited with. A trauma-informed reading proves that Maddi’s role is more significant than that of an enabler as she makes the choice to venture into the wilderness with him when he is banished and chooses to stay by his side instead of searching for their children. Maddi’s choice to not disrupt Vessantara’s enlightenment is not simple — she suffers deeply as a result of her decision to support Vessantara through every step of his enlightenment. Many readers may criticize Maddi for not searching for her children more or saving them from slavery. However, a trauma-informed reading provides an alternate explanation for Maddi’s silent compliance: she is frozen in response to the traumatic experience of her children being given away.
A reading of Maddi as a complex character who is capable of agency, wisdom, and carrying emotional trauma produces an understanding of trauma that focuses on an authentic version of what Maddi’s actual experiences and identity would be like. A trauma-informed reading allows us to reinterpret Maddi as a more active participant in the Vessantara Jataka, up to the point that she goes silent in response to traumatic events. This trauma-informed interpretation contributes to the creation of a more inclusive discourse in academia, especially in Buddhist and Religious Studies, which centers the experiences of women and other silenced figures by recognizing the traumatic experiences they endure. Not only does trauma theory impact the scholarship on these tales, but it also invites women to see themselves as moral agents, as exemplified by characters such as Maddi. By navigating both trauma theory and other modern interpretations of the Vessantara Jataka, I hope that scholars can continue to add nuance to their studies and that practitioners of Theravada Buddhism are able to engage with the Vessantara Jataka in new ways.
Applications of Trauma-Informed Study of the Vessantara Jataka
The application of trauma theory to the Vessantara Jataka has the potential to shift other perspectives on the tale, such as ethical interpretations. Satha-Anand begins this conversation by arguing that “it is immoral of [Vessantara] to create such sufferings for his children, simply to fulfill his own wish to be enlightened in the future.”[28] She suggests that by failing to account for the “sufferings” (the same suffering which I define as trauma) of Vessantara’s family, we lose track of a large amount of the ethical implications of Vessantara’s actions. Many traditional understandings of the tale rely on a utilitarian argument that Peter Harvey, an expert on Buddhist Ethics, summarizes, saying that behavior “is right if, and only if, it results in a greater amount of happiness or a reduction in unhappiness, for anyone affected by it.”[29] With this ethical framework in mind, many scholars and Buddhists argue that, as Steven Collins summarizes, Vessantara’s actions are “just a temporary state before [his children’s] inevitable return to the family.”[30] Because Vessantara’s family is restored and he ultimately achieves Buddhahood, his actions are ethical within a utilitarian line of thought.
Buddhist Ethics, however, go a step further than utilitarian models. These models describe generosity as a “primal ethical activity . . . which forms a basis for further moral and spiritual development.”[31] For many Buddhists, the issue of trauma is secondary to the enlightenment of Prince Vessantara. In this framework, Vessantara giving away his own children is a necessary and ultimate ethical act in Buddhism.
Consideration of the trauma that Maddi and her children endure in the Vessantara Jataka leads to an interrogation of previous conceptions of Prince Vessantara’s ethics. While an ethical analysis of Prince Vessantara’s means of enlightenment is not my primary purpose in writing this article, I explore these ideas hoping to display how much a trauma-informed reading influences pre-existing discourse on the Vessantara Jataka. By naming Maddi’s trauma, I create a starting point for scholars to continue to engage in more nuanced and empathetic readings of the Vessantara Jataka.
Conclusion
Expanding uon existing interpretations of Maddi’s role in the Vessantara Jataka with trauma theory, Maddi’s moral agency and suffering become undeniable. Rather than continuing to limit Maddi’s character to the confines of her motherhood and her partnership with Prince Vessantara, a trauma-informed interpretation of the Vessantara Jataka presents a more authentic image of how Maddi behaves and may feel within the tale. Few scholars read the Vessantara Jataka as a piece of literature, but rather as a religious text that recounts history and provides moral guidance. However, Naomi Appleton’s work to uplift the “study of the [Jataka’s] literary qualities” indicates the need and desire of many scholars to reconsider their approaches to the Jatakas.[32]
Not only does a trauma-informed reading of the Vessantara Jataka adhere to Appleton’s call for a literary interpretation of the tale, but it also encourages an approach to the study of religious texts that validates and accounts for the emotional trauma many significant religious characters and figures face. By making these adjustments to the attitude with which we approach the Vessantara Jataka, the responses to the tale which Patrice Ladwig says are “embedded in ambivalence”[33] are magnified and validated.
Understanding the trauma that Maddi endures because of Vessantara’s actions also centers and validates the mixed feelings of many readers of the text. The allowance of “ambivalence” toward the text opens a space for sufferers of trauma to see themselves within the tale and for Theravada communities to reassess the ethical implications of the tale. Ambivalence is not only a common response to the tale, but it also is a core means of engaging with the tale. These potential outcomes of trauma-informed readings of the Vessantara Jataka apply more broadly to how scholars and practitioners engage with religious texts across traditions. By doing so, the legacy of a patriarchal system and the silencing of marginalized populations, especially women, begins to disintegrate.
The Vessantara Jataka, when interpreted with trauma in mind, is more than an emotional tale that teaches the values of generosity and perfection. Instead, the Vessantara Jataka can function as a platform for demonstrating how to reinterpret prominent religious texts from the perspective of oppressed people. Trauma-informed readings of religious texts produce nuanced interpretations of religious texts, which have historically been determining factors for moral correctness, and encourage empathetic perspectives and attitudes toward voiceless groups of people. While engaging with these complex interpretations of religious texts, we begin questioning why certain religious figures and characters’ authentic experiences, such as Maddi’s, are hidden deep within the pages of a text.