मातंग जातक कथा आणि बौद्धांचा इतिहास

Matanga Jataka Katha 497 The Matanga Jataka narrates a story of an untouchable Bodhisattva who attained higher enlightenment through his practice and devotion. He used his enlightenment to correct the ills then prevalent in society. The Bodhisattva who went by the name of Matanga, a son of a Chandala is one of the most influential tales in the Pali canon of Jataka stories that takes on the menace of caste purity and untouchability, by providing a unique agency to the Chandalas. Buddha was a Matanga in one of his previous lives as a Bodhisattva who argued for virtue over caste birth, and defied the dominance of brahmins as high priests to receive preferable donations and alms.