Comparative-content study of the Buddha Myth with a Folk Narrative from the City of Fasa

 

Introduction

Anthropologists have long found traces of myth in folk tales and the roots of some of these stories and legends are known as myths. Myths are the beliefs of ancient humans on which human culture is based. Thus, general public literature is perhaps an appearance of mythical beliefs, and by analyzing the common stories and narrations among the people of different regions, one can find great ancient treasures. This study compares two completely distant narratives - in terms of time and place - one of them is from the general popular literature and the other is the mythical narratives of India, so that by examining their differences and similarities, the deep connection between myth and popular literature will be revealed.
This narration has been quoted from the people of Fasa. Fasa with 4205 square kilometers is located between Shiraz, Estahban, Darab and Jahrom. This city is located in the central part of Fars province. It is bounded by Shiraz from the northwest, Estahban from the northeast, Jahrom from the southwest and west, and Darab from the southeast and east. The language of most people in Fasa is Persian with the dialect of East Fars (a dialect between Shirazi and Kermani) and since different tribes have lived in this region from ancient times, several languages have become popular in it, among which Turkish and Arabic languages can be mentioned. Turkish and Arab ethnic groups with their native speakers in their mother tongue and use Persian language in conversation with other people, which this interaction and conflict of dialects and languages has formed different pronunciations of words between dialects among people of Fasa.
 

Methodology

In this research, the authors first collected the special and common narrative among the people of Fasa through field interviews; then they extracted the mythical sources related to the Buddha's history and studied the two narratives in a descriptive-analytical method, also adapted them to each other.
 

Discussion

A)- Birth
The story of the Buddha's birth begins with the dream of Queen Maya, the king's wife; She dreams that Budisatova enters her womb in the form of a white elephant, and at that moment all the elements of nature begin to rejoice. In the folk tale, the beginning of the story is narrated differently; it is about a king having no son and praying that God will give him a son to succeed him after his death. The king's wish was granted and he soon had a child. The presence of fortune tellers in this story is after the birth of the baby; whereas in the life story of the Buddha, once interpreters predict his coming before his birth, and once on the seventh day of his birth, an old cleric man announced his future. In both stories an old man predicts that he will reach to high degree of spirituality.
In Folk narrative, the birth of a baby is normal; but the Buddha has an unnatural birth; the queen stands under a tree and the baby is born from her side without any pain or discomfort. There is a strange resemblance in the next part of the story; that the baby does strange things after birth. In folklore, the baby prostrates immediately after birth; he kisses the ground and walks three steps. The Buddha also begins to walk in four main directions as soon as he is born.

B) – Life

In both narrations, it is emphasized to stay away from the phenomena of death, old age, disease and visiting the hermits. In both stories, the king keeps his son in a palace away from the others and recommends that he should be kept away from the signs of death, old age, disease, and anything that introduces him to the adversities of life. He then chooses for her a daughter from a noble family, but after a while, the young man, seeing the signs of the misfortunes of life, changes and leaves his wife, house and anonymously, he deals with spiritual journey. In the folk tale, the prince leaves his house on the wedding night, while the Buddha leaves his family when he has a son.
Changing the face and clothes of the prince after leaving the family is also a common theme in both stories. During his several years of travel, he deals with discovery and intuition attaining a high spiritual level. Eventually he returns to his father to invite him to piety and justice.
The difference between the two narrations is in the two short anecdotes that are quoted by the prince in the middle of the folk tale. When a marriage proposal is made by the king of a neighboring country and he asks the young man to be his son-in-law, the prince tells two stories to the king and his wife. Raising the marriage proposal by the girl's family is a kind of temptation of the prince with physical pleasures and worldly belongings, which is reflected in the life story of the Buddha, in the form of the manifestations of the beautiful daughters of 'Mara', and their intention is to deceive the prince and awaken his sensual desires. In both versions, the young man emerges with pride. Thus, the asceticism, secularism and religiosity of the prince, as well as his return from the journey and the invitation of his father to justice and truth, are the common themes of both stories.

C) - Ethical message

This folk tale also contains a moral message that is consistent with the message of the Buddha's narrative. The call to freedom and liberty, learning from the stories of the dead, justice and the establishment of justice are the messages and moral points of both stories. In both narrations, the prince returns to his father and calls him to truth.
It is also said that the prince learned theology from the stars, the moon and the rocks and worked hard for many years until he reached a spiritual position. Then he took the skull of a human being from the graveyard and went to his father to remind him the human annihilation and to warn him of oppression.
 

Conclusion

As a result of this analysis, it became clear that the roots of some folk tales and legends that are current in the language of the people, are myths and legends of ancient myths. These two stories have a lot in common in terms of internal and external. The outline of both narratives is the same. In both stories, there is a kingdom that has no son, he asks God to give him a son. This baby is different from normal babies and walks immediately after birth. Predicting the future is also a common theme in both narratives.
Most of the events in the life of the hero of both stories are similar and consistent with each other. What can be considered in this study is the futile attempt of human beings to free themselves from the fate of destiny; as the king makes many arrangements for his son; But he cannot change his predicted destiny. The moral message of both narrations is the same; Independence from the perishable and deceptive world; Effort and struggle to know the truth; and finally, justice and the establishment of justice.
Based on the studies, it can be said that the Buddha's narration is broader and more mature than the popular narration of the people of Fasa. The narration of the people of Fasa contains a summary of the whole story of the Buddha, with the difference that also has two instructive short anecdotes in its heart. This analysis led to the following conclusions regarding these two narrations:
- The first theory is that these two narrations have no connection with each other and their similarity is completely coincidental.
- The second theory, which may be closer to reality, is that in the distant past, Buddhism had followers in the land of Persia and the surrounding areas, simultaneously with some regions of the country and as mentioned, with the arrival of Islam in Iran, gradually it is destroyed. In this case, the oral and folklore narrative is the same historical narrative that has changed over the time in some parts.
- Another theory that cannot be ignored is that this story may have been made elsewhere and entered the area through the migration and movement of people. In Indo-European culture, people had much in common in beliefs and customs; Iran and India have had a similar culture for a long time and there were many exchanges between them for different reasons. It is obvious that each of the people of the neighboring country, by coming, transmitted customs and stories to the destination country; thus, it may be said that this story is a remnant of a story that the Persians in this region heard from Hindu immigrants or Iranians who had been travelling to India.