Illustrator: Souren Roy

ISBN:  81-7508-368-9

Vol. No: 714

The Jatakas Tales are a collection of five hundred and fifty stories, included in the Pali canon. They are tales in which the life of Bodhisatva in his previous births is narrated. The Bodhisatva is one, who by performing virtuous, kind and intelligent acts, aspires to become a Buddha.
br> Jataka tales are based on folklore, legends and ballads of ancient India. We cannot assign a definite date to the Jataka stories. Taking into account archaeological and literary evidence it seems likely that they were complied in the period, third century B.C. to fifth century A.D. They give us invaluable information about ancient Indian civilization, culture and philosophy. br> br> The Jataka stories have been very popular in the Buddhist world. These stories have been translated into almost all the languages of the Buddhist countries such as Chinese, Tibetan, Sinhalese, Siamese, Burmese, Japanese and also into many modern European languages. These stories have encouraged painting and sculpture in ancient India and other Buddhist countries. Sanchi, Bharhut, Amaravati and Ajanta in India, Borobudur in Java, Pegan in Burma and Sukhodaya in Thailand bear testimony to the popularity of these tales.