Station I The Sweet Trap: Kaṇḍina-Jātaka (Jātaka 13)

 

 Love, Seduction, and the Fall: from the Kaṇḍina-Jātaka to Eden

 

The image-video inspired by the Kaṇḍina-Jātaka (Jātaka 13) leads us into a threshold moment: the instant before the fall, when nothing is yet lost and everything is already at stake.

At dawn, a stag walks forward along a path, trusting. A doe stops a few steps behind him. She sees what he does not. In the shadows, a hunter waits. There is no violence on display, yet violence is inevitable. Here power does not attack—it invites. And love, rather than saving, silently cooperates with capture.

This ancient story enters into deep dialogue with three major biblical archetypes.

Eden.
As in the garden of origins, evil does not appear as evil. The fruit is beautiful, desirable, promising life. The fall begins with a step forward, not with force. Seduction persuades rather than compels.

The Song of Songs.
The landscape and desire echo the Song. Yet what there is mutual and life-giving here becomes fatal asymmetry. One advances in love; the other survives by holding back. Love is not false—it is unshared in risk.

The Temptations.
As in the desert, power promises nourishment and safety. But while Christ recognizes the bait and remains still, the stag moves forward. Station I stands before resistance: it is the moment when consciousness begins through recognition.

This video does not condemn love, but reveals its most subtle danger: believing that what appears benevolent is always protective.
The Sweet Trap is the gift that asks for just one step.

 Stazione I La Dolce Trappola: Kaṇḍina-Jātaka (Jātaka 13)

 Amore, seduzione e caduta: dal Kaṇḍina-Jātaka all’Eden

 

 

L’immagine-video ispirata al Kaṇḍina-Jātaka (Jātaka 13) ci conduce in un luogo di soglia: l’istante che precede la caduta, quando nulla è ancora perduto e tutto è già in gioco.

In una radura all’alba, un cervo avanza fiducioso lungo il sentiero. Poco dietro, una cerva si arresta. Vede ciò che lui non vede. Nell’ombra, il cacciatore attende. La scena non mostra violenza, ma la rende inevitabile. Qui il potere non aggredisce: invita. E l’amore, invece di salvare, coopera silenziosamente alla cattura.

Questo racconto antico dialoga in profondità con tre grandi archetipi biblici.

Eden.
Come nel giardino delle origini, il male non appare come tale. Il frutto è bello, desiderabile, promette vita. La caduta nasce da un passo in avanti, non da un attacco. Anche qui la seduzione non forza: persuade.

Cantico dei Cantici.
Il paesaggio, il desiderio, l’invito ricordano il Cantico. Ma ciò che nel Cantico è reciprocità salvante, qui diventa asimmetria fatale. Nel Jātaka uno avanza per amore, l’altra si salva arretrando. L’amore non è falso: è sbilanciato.

Le Tentazioni.
Come nel deserto, il potere promette nutrimento e sicurezza. Ma mentre Cristo riconosce l’esca e resta fermo, il cervo avanza. La Stazione I si colloca prima della resistenza: è il tempo dello smascheramento, quando la coscienza comincia a nascere.

Il video non condanna l’amore, ma ne mostra il rischio più sottile: credere che ciò che è benevolo sia sempre protettivo.
La Dolce Trappola è il dono che chiede solo un passo.

 

 

 

 

Station I – The Sweet Trap

When a gift promises life and prepares the capture

 

 

Caption: The gift that asks for a step.

 

 

There is a moment, before the fall, when nothing is yet lost.
The image-video of Station I – The Sweet Trap inhabits precisely this suspended instant: when seduction has not yet prevailed, but has already begun its work.

In a silent clearing at dawn, a luminous fruit descends from above.
Honey drips onto the grass like a promise of nourishment.
A doe stands still, watching.

There is no violence in the scene.
No visible threat.
And yet, everything speaks of capture.

The image draws inspiration from three Jātaka tales (13, 14, 21), where the animal is never attacked—it is invited. This is the most ancient pedagogy of power. Power does not command first: it seduces. It promises life and asks only for a single step.

As Cioran writes, consciousness is born when seduction ceases to function.
Here, consciousness is not yet fully born, but it is emerging. The doe neither advances nor flees: she sees. Her gaze is the threshold.

From the perspective of negative theology, what appears is the most refined idol:
not obvious evil, but apparent good.
The honey is real. The fruit is beautiful. That is precisely why they are dangerous.

This first station does not demand a moral action, but a slower way of seeing.
It invites us to recognize that not everything that nourishes gives life,
that not everything that shines calls us toward freedom.