comics Archives - Handful of Leaves

From Meditation Hall to Comic Page: Reimagining the Jataka Tale Mahasilava

by Rajat Ghose | Mar 11, 2026 | Being Buddhist, Read

TLDR: A lay meditation practitioner brings a Jataka tale to life through the creation of a comic, guided by the Buddha’s teachings. In doing so, the process reframes the author’s understanding of suffering and its place in the modern world.

“Better than a thousand verses comprising useless words, is one beneficial single line, by hearing which one is pacified.”
– The Dhammapada, Translated by Venerable Narada Thera

A Time of Awakening

Sitting with eyes closed in a dark meditation hall, I listened to my teacher’s voice chanting and explaining the Anapanasati Sutta, the authoritative teaching on using the breath as an initial focus for meditation.

I felt transported to the time of the Buddha. Gradually, as I began my meditation practice, I gained a vivid understanding of the Buddhist period within Indian history, a significance I had not experienced before. So this was the Buddha’s teaching! These were its effects on the land and the people!

The practice of Anapanasati, followed by Vipassana (insight meditation), was eye-opening. Over the years, as I continued my meditation practice, the Lord Buddha’s life and the constellation of beings around him became familiar companions. They guided me; they inspired me, and they became a wholesome presence in my mind. Episodes from the Buddha’s life inspire practitioners as much as his parables. Against this backdrop, the colour and energy of the Jataka tales sprang forth.

What were once amusing cartoons in my childhood became teachings that came alive with pulsating incidents. In that light, I recalled the Lord Buddha’s previous lives when he triumphed over the most harrowing circumstances. Meditation practice truly makes the teachings of the Buddha more vivid.

A New Journey

One day, I brought the sensibilities of my filmmaking career into the creation of a comic book, as a whimsical departure from my well-trodden path. Thus, I began a new journey.

I selected the Jataka tale (ancient Buddhist stories that recount Gautama Buddha’s past lives) Mahasilava. It is about the time Lord Buddha was born as King Mahasilava, who pledged never to take a life. However, the King lost his kingdom after being betrayed by one of his ministers. Nevertheless, heheld fast to his noble intention and faced the most dangerous circumstances.

My initial reading of the story, some years earlier, had left an impression of tremendous tension and stress. This was nothing short of King Mahasilava’s painful story of endurance.

When I set out to create the comic, author and comic book artist Anupam Arunachalam introduced me to Harsho Mohan Chattoraj, one of India’s most prolific illustrators in the field. Having this fortunate encounter with Harsho, I decided to involve him in my project.

Harsho specialised in what would be considered in Buddhist parlance as the realms of hungry ghosts. Initially, we interacted through a scribbled draft of the entire comic.

The Process

Months of virtual conversations unfolded between Harsho and me. Throughout the whole process, we met in person only twice. The pages trickled into life intentionally and gradually.

We collaborated panel by panel, line by line. Harsho illustrated far more than he had intended to. Mahasilava’s world started taking form. I suggested imagery from archaeological sites like Ajanta and artefacts from Gandhara and Pala. “As long as it was Buddhist,” I thought. The eclectic references somehow harmonised.

Throughout the creation process, I took up sketching for the main purpose of communicating with Harsho. Along with my daily dose of meditation, I added another hour to practice drawing. I drew with a meditative approach: focusing solely on the act of moving my pencil across the paper.

In another way, sketching trained me to observe. As the comic progressed painstakingly, my scribbles formed drawings over time, and I even had a go at experimenting with colours.

Harsho considered my inputs with utmost seriousness. Preserving his individuality, he arrived at unexpected results that rendered King Mahasilava’s story with striking vividness. Finally, we completed the comic!

The Cover

During our collaboration, Harsho had visited Abu Dhabi, where he saw a Gandhara statue of the Bodhisattva. Since then, Harsho had the idea of designing a cover image based on the statue. When he finally created a cover, it was an image of Mahasilava presented as a sculpture, preserved for timeless posterity.

Final Thoughts

The comic turned out differently than I expected. The story emerged with a raw edge, in which a reader commented that some parts were too violent and gruesome. But hey, I chose to stay true to the Theravada text. (Spoiler alert!) When the story progresses to a charnel ground with hungry jackals and corpse-feeding Yakkhas (powerful nature spirits in the Buddhist Cosmology), there is no way of softening the blow of reality.

Turning to today’s entertainment industry, a question arises. How literal and unflinching has entertainment media become? How much do audiences, including younger ones, stomach these days? The eventual question is, to what end are we consuming? Such images and stories shape the mind towards desire and aversion, strengthening the ignorance that clouds our understanding of suffering and impermanence. Few people pause to see this influence clearly.

By contrast, the Jataka tales resolve very differently. They do so peacefully, leading most viewers from suffering to a place beyond suffering. Stories from the Buddha’s past lives imbue the reader with peace and wisdom.

Once exposed to these stories, readers and audiences may be inspired to navigate emotions, reach a state of equanimity and understand impermanence. This was the Dhamma direction from which I developed the comic Mahasilava. I hope this interpretation of the Buddha’s past life as King Mahasilava brings peace and happiness for all beings.

Wise Steps

Read translations of the Jataka Tales in their original form from the Theravada Canon. Each story contains particular teachings of the Lord Buddha, which are relevant to the everyday practise of the Dhamma.
Be mindful of consuming entertainment, which may perpetuate one’s greed, aversion and delusion.

MAHASILAVA is a 24-page comic written by Rajat Ghose and illustrated by Harsho Mohan Chattoraj. It is currently available on Amazon Kindle in the US, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Australia and India.

All text and images of MAHASILAVA Comic by Rajat Ghose illustrated by Harsho Mohan Chattoraj are Copyright Rajat Ghose 2025

Drawing Instagram Cats That Speak Dhamma. #Mindfulchats With Siha

by Kyle Neo | Feb 9, 2021 | Read

Handful of Leaves and Kusala Mag are in collaboration to share Inspiring stories sprinkled with Buddhist wisdom. Kusala Mag’s interview with Siha the Wise is reproduced in full here:

In Buddhism, happiness is something that comes from within – something that is innate. For Siha the Wise, posts on Instagram are tailored to convey a message of fundamental Buddhist teaching or precept to its viewer.

Siha the Wise seeks to explore and find the true self and inner peaceful and mindful being through the artworks. Each of the pieces is handcrafted, carefully thought out and calibrated to invoke a sense of meaning and purpose to its viewer (whether they be Buddhist or not).

When and how did you first started illustrating?

I graduated from animation school, so I do paint once a while as a hobby. Drawing comics is my first attempt.

Tell us more about Siha_the_wise and how did it get started?

It was about two years ago when my Japanese friend wanted to know more about Theravada Buddhism. I had just adopted my cat, Siha thus I thought maybe I can draw my cat explaining Buddhism. Thus I tried to draw in comic form to portray the Buddhist concepts and hope people can easily relate and understand.

What is the motivation behind Siha_the_wise?

The main motivation is to remind myself of the teachings. It will also be good that others can enjoy learning the dhamma together. In this current social media era, there is a lot of unnecessary and unwholesome information. I hope my comic can help contribute some goodness to people using social media.

Is illustrating a kind of mindfulness practice to you? Tell us more about your thought processes while illustrating!

Yes, in a way. Whenever I’m drawing a comic, I will try my best to make sure during the whole period, my mind is wholesome and peaceful.

Often it is about an incident, something I read or something that occurred to me. I will contemplate on the issue and also dig up the suttas and talks and everything I can find on that issue. With that, I try to use everyday examples and show how I can use Buddhist practice to overcome these issues. After doing my part, my friends will translate them into other languages such as Japanese and Indonesian.

Is illustrating beneficial to your mental health?

I believe so. I try to be in a wholesome mental state whenever I draw the comic.

Tell us about one of your favourite illustrations and what it meant to you?

It will have to be the one titled «a meaningful life». It totally changes one’s outlook in life. It is a constant reminder to myself about what truly matters in life.

Do you feel like illustrating Siha_the_wise helps you understand the Dhamma more in-depth?

Yes! For every post, as I mentioned before, I will need to make an in-depth study. As I am also taking a degree in Buddhism, and sometimes it is quite dry, I try to find ways to implement the Dhamma into everyday life.

More and more people are using art as a therapy, do you see it as a hobby or therapy?

I believe it can be both. But when one truly paint stroke by stroke with compassion and with no unwholesome thoughts arising, I think it will be good therapy for the mind.

What does art mean to you? Do you think learning how to draw or illustrate is good for everyone?

I am more of a visual person. I solve or understand problems by visuals. I cannot say whether it is good for everyone, but art and creativity helps me a lot.

As a Buddhist, is there any commonality you can find in Buddhism and illustrating?

The first thing I think is that there has to be patience. I think the goal is also not so important, more important is the process and journey.

Do you face any challenges in any of your crafting projects? If yes, can you tell us how you overcome it?

The most difficult challenge is still in the mind. Once a while, when drawing the comic, greed, doubt or anger arises in my mind. These unwholesome thoughts undermined my compassion and kindness. Whenever such thoughts arise, I will always calm myself down and think about the qualities of the Buddha, how Buddha will react if he faced the same situation.

Therefore, right in the beginning, I try my best to be anonymous by using a pseudonym. Always trying to see there is no self. To truly draw out of compassion to help myself and others.