Description
The Prince Vessantara Monument (อนุสาวรีย์พระเวสสันดร) is a Thailand shrine honoring the story of Prince Vessantara, the second-to-last incarnation of the Buddha before his final incarnation as Siddhartha Gautama. It depicts a large elephant carrying Prince Vessantara and his wife Princess Maddi back to the kingdom of Sivi after their banishment. It's located in the Song Dao province of Sakon Nakhon, about 10 minutes away from Wat Tham Apai Damrongtham (Wat Tham Phuang), which was founded by the legendary bulletproof Thai monk Ajarn Wan Uttamo.
The story of Prince Vessantara (พระเวสสันดร) appears in the Jataka Tales, which tell the stories of the Buddha's previous lives before attaining Buddhahood. It is probably the most well-known Jataka Tale in Thailand, with paintings of scenes from the story appearing on the walls of many Thai temples. There are also Vessantara Festivals in Thailand, known as Thet Mahachat (เทศน์มหาชาติ), which include traditional Thai dancing, dramatic performances, and parades.
The Jataka Tale of Prince Vessantara is said to be a story of extraordinary generosity and selflessness, which is why it is celebrated in Thailand, as well as neighboring countries such as Burma and Cambodia. However, when you take a deep dive into this particular Jataka Tale (written around 300 BC), the story is a quite disturbing to the modern ear — even to today's Thai Buddhists who celebrate the story.
The reason Prince Vessantara's Jataka Tale is so troubling, even horrifying, to modern sensibilities is that the prince gives away his children to an evil Brahmin beggar, even after the prince sees the beggar beating his children mercilessly. Then, when his wife returns to find her children given away, she eventually accepts their fate. Because she knows that her husband must rid himself of all attachments and possessions if he wants to achieve his goal of becoming a Buddha. In return for her understanding, the prince then gives her away to a beggar! But fortunately for her, the beggar was a kind deity disguised as a beggar, and she wasn't really given away.
The story ends with Prince Vessantara and his wife Maddi being welcomed back to the Kingdom of the prince's birth after he had been banished for giving away a magical elephant and hundreds of servants. The King and Queen had already acquired his children from the Brahmin beggar, so the entire family is reunited and they live happily ever after.
It should be noted that many, if not most, Thai Buddhists are not familiar with all of the details of this Jataka Tale, and (when they do learn them) find the actions of Prince Vessantara as troubling as the Westerner or Christian might. However, they tend to overlook these details as just something strange from long ago, and focus on the main message of the story: the virtue of giving and acting selflessly.