JATAKAS: Birth Stories of the Bodhisatta Paperback – January 1, 2006

A delightful selection of tales and much to ponder.What is a Jataka tale?Jataka tales are about the birth and rebirth of the Bodhisatta, who in his present and final life is the Buddha. The Buddha presents one of his past lifes and a lesson from that life to share with others to help give guidance for enlightenment. The Jataka tales are one of the oldest (composed from around the 5th century BC to about the 3rd century CE) and among the largest collection of stories (547 in all) in the world. Each story reflects one of the ten perfections - giving, restraint, renuciation, wisdom, strength, acceptance, truthfulness, resolve, loving kindness, and equanimtiy. The life of the Bodhisatta is tested in countless situations, through hundreds of lives. The Bodhisatta comes to life in many forms through the different Jataka stories. Among other reincarnations the Bodhisatta lives as many types of animals (such as a monkey, fish, horse), spirits, as a king, a prince, merchant and countless other forms.The Jatakas are still a part of the living traditions of much of South-East Asia that can be seen in art, folk tale and drama.What really makes the Jatakas so interesting and entertaining to read besides the creativity and at times great humour is the form all the stories share. There is a basic structure to the stories that once a reader has read a couple one looks forward to seeing how the next story will both share the expected structure and yet surprise in the unique set of events that unfolds.So what is this "structure"? Well, this structure that each Jataka holds is really a format that does not bind the stories to a rigid constraining mold, rather this structure gives a familiar shape that is shared among the different Jatakas (think of it like a car, there are so many different cars that all seem so unrelated, but all of them do have the gas and brake pedals in the same spot).So what is this form. Each Jataka starts off with an identifying tag in a couple of words. Then the story starts with an event in the present, either an incident or a discussion takes place involving a collection of people. Then the Buddha comments by giving a story of a past life. Then the Jataka ends by the Buddha identifying who the people of the past life were with the people in the present.This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in Buddhism or comparitve religions. There is a very well written introduction that explains the background of the Jataka and sets the cultrual setting. There are many good footnotes that helps to explain special concepts related to Buddhism and many references to other works that could be used for future study. However, even if one is not interested in Buddhism this is a marvelous book for anyone that likes great stories and fine literature.

This awesome book contains 26 retellings of the Jatakas, a collection of 547 ancient tales told by the Buddha about his former lives as the Bodhisatta (the being destined to become the Buddha.) The stories are deeply instructive, entertaining and surprisingly comical, and they shed much light on the Buddha's teaching in a format that is particularly palatable to laypeople. At times the bodhisatta appears as a merchant, a king, a bandit, a rabbit, a deer-king, a mythical snake being or the spirit of a clump of grass; other times he is reborn in a brahma heaven or even a hell. As he journeys along through this continuation of existences, his quest is to cultivate the "ten perfections" (generosity, wisdom, effort, truth, morality, patience/tolerance, loving-kindness, strong determination, renunciation and equanimity) thereby fulfilling the bodhisatta's vow to postpone his own enlightenment so that he may become a Fully Awakened Buddha and teach the path to others. We can learn much from his epic exploits, which have all the appeal of legendary adventure, but feature a hero who conquers through wisdom and kindness rather than violence--both without and within.As a practicing Vipassana meditator and layfollower of the Buddha, I have found the Jatakas to be very illuminating, but in a lighthearted way that is a relief from the more hard-line reading of the suttas. Besides wonderfully illustrating the "ten perfection" values, they show how beings fare in rebirth according to their deeds. Even those approaching the Jatakas from a non-spiritual standpoint will find them interesting as a collection of folktales that is unique in all the world: they show the hero's evolution over not just one lifetime but many. This translation is the best that I have found so far, and Sarah Shaw's insightful commentaries do the tradition justice--it's clear she is not only a scholar but also a practicing Buddhist. By contrast Caroline Rhys Davids' book Stories of the Buddha has awkward prose and a very unenlightened introduction; whereas Dick de Ruiter's Buddhist Folktales from Ancient Ceylon is an almost identical collection to Rhys Davids albeit with better translation and explanatory notes, but nothing like the depth and quality of Ms. Shaw's work. Bummer that it's out of print, but definitely worth the higher price for a used copy--I highly recommend the Penguin Edition Jatakas to anyone following this ancient path.

Some of the stories are just amazing. Some others are totally mind-blowing, whiles others makes you wonder if the characters are just insane. But, overall, the stories depict the incarnated pastimes of the Buddha which kinda gives us an indication of what our own past lives were like from a storyteller point of view. In the end, those stories help to develop a sort of self-realization and awareness of Self in this vast and mysterious creation.Never-the-less, you will enjoy this book and at times burst out with laughter at a few of the cocky pastimes.

Missing many stories

Ten Jataka tales illustrating the Ten Perfections. Wonderful.

This book offers an excellent selection of the Buddha's birth stories, Jatakas, that is, stories of his earlier lives. The translation is good and the introductions helpful. A complete translation would be desirable, but this is a first-rate selection. It is really too bad that Penguin has let it go out of print.

A very nicely compiled book containing past lives of Buddha from pali canon. A very nice work done and english translation is very good and my sincere gratitude to Sarah for this fabulous work.

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It is a very good book. It is translated from the Pali language by Sarah Shaw. It is about 339 pages long. The paper quality is not upto the mark. The print size is legible. It contains 26 stories. Overall it is a really good read.

The quality of the book is really good. I am a prime member so the book was delivered to me within 18hrs.. I was quite impressed by the efficiency. Coming to the book.. Its all about bodhisatta. It has a huge introduction and you need to read that. Lets see how I feel about the book in the coming times

A must have if you appreciate Buddha and his teachings.The book is a collection of stories that are believed to be Buddha's previous births in both plant, animal, and human forms. The concept of being enlightened even in animal forms and rebirth may not necessarily appeal to most but the teachings conveyed through the incidents and stories is worth reading.