Viśvantarajātaka

The Viśvantara-jātaka is the ninth story in Āryaśūra’s Jātakamālā, in which the bodhisattva is reborn as Prince Viśvaṃtara, renowned for his extreme generosity. After giving away the kingdom's auspicious elephant to brahmins, he is exiled and retreats to Mount Vaṅka with his wife, Madrī, and their children, Jālī and Kṛṣṇājinā. There, he donates his children to a brahmin and offers his wife to a mendicant who is later revealed to be Śakra in disguise. Śakra restores the family, and Viśvaṃtara eventually returns to rule as king. Matsunami notes that the colophon of the manuscript reads “iti jātakamālāyāṃ viśvantara-jātakaḥ navamaḥ samāptaḥ”, identifying it as the ninth story of the Jātakamālā.