Culavana or Cullapon, meaning ‘a small forest’ is the sixth episode of the 13 episodes of the Vessantara Jataka and tells of a Brahmin called Jūjaka who was walking to Mount Vamka to ask Prince Vessantara for the two kumara (young prince and princess), Jali and Kanha. On his way, Jūjaka meets the hunter, Jetaputta. When he was chased by the hunter’s dogs, he climbed up a tree where he tricked the hunter by telling him that he was a royal emissary sent to invite Prince Vessantara. The hunter trusted him and showed him the way to Vamkata.
Colophon:
In CS 1263, a ruang pao year, on the fifth waning-moon day of the sixth [lunar] month, the seventh day of the week, at the time of the evening drum, Monk Sommana wrote this manuscript to sustain the continuation of the Teachings of the Buddha until [the end of] 5,000 years or long as the life of the manuscript. May I definitely become a Buddha.
Nibbānaṃ paramaṃ sukkhaṃ dhuvaṃ dhuvaṃ niccaṃ.
May the merit derived from writing the manuscript support my family members, all lay supporters, and my teachers to reach Nibbāna. I wrote the manuscript at Wat Si Bun Rüang Ban Hong in Hariphunchai.
Other notes:
This date corresponds to Saturday, 29 March 1902 (1263 Phalguna 21).