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6 Khoroche (1985: 63) notes that the date of the text is unknown, but that it cannot be earlier than 700 ce since it refers to Dandin.

7See Meadows (1986: 4) and Khoroche (1989: xii–xiii) for a summary.

8A second title is also used: Bodhisattvavadanamala, “a garland of the Bodhi·sattva’s exploits.”

9See Hahn (1992), (2007) and Meadows (1986: 5). See also verses 7–8 in Somendra’s preface to Kshemendra’s Bodhisattvava- danakalpalata, cited in Hahn (1992: 13), in which we are told that there exist many Jatakamalas that have been composed by “Gopa·datta and other teachers.”

10Bhikkhu Dhammajoti (1998: 71ff.). I am also grateful to Bhikkhu Dhammajoti for a reference to the *Samyuktabhidharmahrdaya (116), in which the tri/yana (“three vehicles”) are mentioned. For a translation of this text, see Dessein (1999). I am grateful to Peter Skilling for his comments on this matter.

11Lamotte (1988: 626). The six perfections are: giving (dana), virtue (sila), forbearance (ksanti), vigor (virya), meditation (dhyana), and wisdom (prajna).

12It is debatable whether the expectation for a climactic conclusion is justified when dealing with this type of literature, especially when it is a collection. A counter-example, however, is provided by the Jatakatthavannana, in which the Vessantarajataka (547) does appear to produce something of a dramatic finale.

13There is a danger of overestimating the importance of the perfections. Indeed, it is noteworthy that the word paramita is never mentioned in the entire Jatakamala. Moreover, the story (particularly the maxim) often needs to be interpreted first, sometimes heavily, before the relevant perfection is gleaned. The Jatakatthavannana again provides an interesting comparison. There the issue of perfections is often irrelevant, or at best ambiguous, being instead the concern of the meta-interpretations of commentarial exegesis.