| Summary: | The story of <i>Śārdūlakarṇāvadāna</i> consists of stories of the present life and past life. The former is about a girl from the low-caste <i>Mātaṅga</i> tribe who pursues Ananda, a disciple of the Buddha, but her pursuit ends in vain, and she eventually converts to Buddhism. The latter is about a low-caste king demonstrating his knowledge of the Vedas and astrology in a bid to marry the daughter of a great Brahmin for his son. The story could be seen in various Buddhist texts, such as the <i>Divyavadāna</i> from Nepal and the <i>Mātaṅga Sutra</i> in China. This paper studies the narration and logic of <i>Śārdūlakarṇāvadāna</i> stories, and it makes conclusions on the commonalities in the compilation of Buddhist narratives by analyzing the beginning and end of the story, as well as its narrator, narratee, and the four conflicts (i.e., the caste barriers, the violation of precepts, the use of incantations, and the use of expertise in seeking marriage).
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