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

Overview

Born to Queen Dharmikā, the boy is exchanged with a fisherwoman’s daughter to escape King Sūryanemi’s order. He grows into a poet, then survives pursuit through human disguises, Nāga shelter and the destruction of Yaksha Pingala by his own dogs. After another escape from a precipice, a grove deity reminds his ascetic uncle of the danger. The uncle teaches a spell changing a man into a woman and back. The youth assumes a beautiful woman’s form and reaches the enamoured king’s palace, kills him privately, resumes male form and claims the crown with minister Goshṭhila’s knowledge. The temporary female form is an actual narrated magical change, unlike the earlier corpse disguise. The story does not identify this transformation as a separate person or supply a personal name for the poet.

Persecuted royal child who uses a reversible transformation to fulfil a prophecyBuddhist 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.

In the literature

“became a man again”
Anonymous Buddhist narrative tradition; F. Anton von Schiefner and W.R.S.Ralston, mediated translators · Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources — XVII The Fulfilled Prophecy
XVII The Fulfilled Prophecy, hosted printed-page marker278 · W.R.S.Ralston, English from Schiefner’s German Tibetan translation

The transformed fisher-lad reverses the spell after killing the king; prose fragment rather than magical formula.

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

    XVII, The Fulfilled Prophecy, pp. 273–278; note cites Kah-gyur iv. ff. 233–236

  2. 02

    Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources — XVII The Fulfilled Prophecy

    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 chaptersXVII273–278/XVIII279–285/XXI291–295 and their notes read; Tibetan and German 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)

XVII, The Fulfilled Prophecy. XVII, The Fulfilled Prophecy, pp. 273–278; note cites Kah-gyur iv. ff. 233–236

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 chaptersXVII273–278/XVIII279–285/XXI291–295 and their notes read; Tibetan and German originals not collated.

  1. The diviners’ royal threat survives a childhood exchange, foster upbringing, disguises, nāga refuge, dog attack and apparent cliff death. An ascetic uncle teaches the youth a reversible bodily transformation. As a beautiful woman he enters Sūryanemi’s palace, kills the king in a solitary place, changes back into a man and takes the crown with Goshṭhila informed.

    XVII The Fulfilled Prophecy, complete273–278; bodily transformations278

Historical German-mediated English translation. Chapter’s Kah-gyur folios are attributed source notes, not independent Tibetan manuscript inspection. Printed-page markers are hosted transcription labels, not separate facsimile collation. No prayer, spell, ritual, medical recipe or modern translation 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), XVII, The Fulfilled Prophecy, pp. 273–278; note cites Kah-gyur iv. ff. 233–236Research 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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