Jatakas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A collection of ancient Indian tales featuring the previous lives of the Buddha, often illustrating moral lessons
2. Stories that recount the past incarnations of Buddha, each conveying ethical guidance and spiritual themes
3. Narratives that originate from Buddhist literature, depicting the journeys and lessons of the Buddha across various lifetimes

Etymology: "Jatakas" is the plural of "jataka," a Pali word meaning "birth," from "jāta," "born." The stories are named for their subject, the Buddha's earlier births as a bodhisattva, often as an animal or a humble person, and they are gathered in a Pali commentary compiled around the 5th century CE, containing about 550 tales. English speakers met the term mainly through the six-volume translation edited by E. B. Cowell, published between 1895 and 1907.