Buddhist Models of Existential Crisis in Āryaśūra’s Jātakamālā

Abstract This article explores the diversity of classical Buddhist models of experiencing existential crisis. It offers an analysis of four narratives from Āryaśūra’s Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives ( Jātakamālā ) that revolve around a transformative occurrence in one of the Buddha’s previous births. By unpacking the Buddhist doctrinal and philosophical principles embedded in these stories of transformation, the article underscores the ethical and spiritual meaning Āryaśūra assigns to literary accounts of experiencing existential distress ( saṃvega ). At the same time, this study examines the narratological significance of these dramatic episodes of personal strife. In doing so, it highlights a classical Buddhist narrative structure developed around a protagonist whose life trajectory is completely altered by a painful emotional experience. Altogether, the article considers the existential inflection point in one’s life as both a feature of the mainstream Buddhist conception of the path and a trope in classical Sanskrit Buddhist literature.