Text · hagiographic romance
Barlaam and Josaphat
The Christian legend of an Indian prince, shielded from all knowledge of suffering, who sees an old man, a sick man and a corpse, renounces his kingdom and is converted by the hermit Barlaam — the life of the Buddha, retold as a saint's life.
- Function
- Text & inscription
- Confidence
- Not assessed
Worth knowing
The name travelled Bodhisattva to Bodisav in Persian, Budhasaf and then Yudasaf in Arabic, Iodasaph in Georgian, Ioasaph in Greek and Josaphat in Latin. Both Josaphat and Barlaam were entered in the Roman martyrology, and the Greek church still keeps the day. The identification was made in the nineteenth century.
Connections (2)
- TransmissionRome
Barlaam and Josaphat is the life of the Buddha retold as a Christian saint's life: the sheltered prince, the old man, the sick man, the corpse, the renunciation. The name travelled Bodhisattva to Bodisav in Persian, Budhasaf and then Yudasaf in Arabic, Iodasaph in Georgian, Ioasaph in Greek and Josaphat in Latin. Both Josaphat and Barlaam were entered in the Roman martyrology and the Greek church still keeps the day — so the Buddha has been, technically, a canonised Christian saint.
- AnalogueThe Buddha
Josaphat is the Buddha. The name travelled Bodhisattva to Bodisav in Persian, Budhasaf and then by a copyist's slip Yudasaf in Arabic, Iodasaph in Georgian, Ioasaph in Greek and Josaphat in Latin, and the four sights, the renunciation and the hermit came with it. Both Barlaam and Josaphat were canonised; the Buddha has a feast day in the Roman Martyrology.
On these journeys
Sources
Wikipedia, “Barlaam and Josaphat”. Barlaam and Ioasaph (Loeb Classical Library); Donald Lopez and Peggy McCracken, In Search of the Christian Buddha (2014).
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