A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Viśvaṇtara rides Rājyavardhana to a springtime park. The elephant is strikingly white, large and well formed, with distinguished marks, and its stride is compared to Airāvaṇa’s. When Brahmans request it, the prince dismounts and gives it away; his father’s anger at the gift leads to exile. The comparison does not identify it as Airāvaṇa. A footnote says Hardy’s separate recension gives the elephant rain-producing power, then speculates about the word nāga. That power is not performed by Rājyavardhana in this main account, and the editorial speculation is not an established explanation of the tradition.

White royal elephant given away by the Bodisat princeBuddhist narrative witness
01

Origins & earliest records

Indian Buddhist narrative preserved in Tibetan translation

02

Records & interpretation

Whole chapter and its footnotes directly read in the digitized1906 edition.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources

    F. Anton von Schiefner, Tibetan-to-German translator; W. R. S. Ralston, English translator · 1906

    XVI, Viśvaṇtara, pp. 257–272, especially pp. 258–259; notes cite Kah-gyur iv. ff. 192–200

  2. 02

    Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources — XVI Viśvaṇtara

    Anonymous Buddhist narrative tradition; F. Anton von Schiefner and W.R.S.Ralston, mediated translators · 1906

    Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1906, title-page transcription independently checked. Tibetan Kah-gyur to German by F. Anton von Schiefner, then German to English by W.R.S.Ralston. Complete selected XVI257–272/XIX286–287/L360–363 and all notes independently read. Particular subject arcs located separately; source-language originals not collated.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

Schiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources (London, 1906)

XVI, Viśvaṇtara. XVI, Viśvaṇtara, pp. 257–272, especially pp. 258–259; notes cite Kah-gyur iv. ff. 192–200

Complete chapter and all notes read. Translation’s canonical locator retained; original Tibetan not independently inspected. Actual endings, explicit identities and comparative material kept separate, with no death/kinship/anatomy inferred beyond the telling.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources

Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1906, title-page transcription independently checked. Tibetan Kah-gyur to German by F. Anton von Schiefner, then German to English by W.R.S.Ralston. Complete selected XVI257–272/XIX286–287/L360–363 and all notes independently read. Particular subject arcs located separately; source-language originals not collated.

  1. Viśvaṇtara rides the large white elephant Rājyavardhana to a spring park and willingly gives it to requesting Brahmans. Its loss provokes his father Viśvāmitra’s anger and banishment, triggering the forest narrative of further gifts and eventual restoration. The main description compares its stride with Airāvaṇa, but does not say that Rājyavardhana produces rain. That power is assigned to Hardy’s different recension only in a footnote, with an editorial hypothesis about the word nāga.

    XVI Viśvaṇtara, complete257–272; Rājyavardhana258–259 and comparative note2; Kah-gyuriv.ff192–200

German-mediated English witness; Tibetan originals and cited comparative texts not independently read. Page markers from transcription. Historical sacrificial/slavery and moral framing not endorsed. No rite, vow, verse, poison preparation or trapping instructions copied.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical translation of Buddhist narrativeSchiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales (1906), XVI, Viśvaṇtara, pp. 257–272, especially pp. 258–259; notes cite Kah-gyur iv. ff. 192–200Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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