Book cover of The Jatakas

Book description

When my concentrated mind was purified; I directed it to the knowledge of the recollection of past lives' -The Buddha on the night of his enlightenment
Associated with the living traditions of folk tale; drama and epic; the Jatakas recount the development of the Bodhisatta-the being destined to become the…


When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Jatakas as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

More popular even than the Dhammapada, and often illustrated in Buddhist architecture, are the Jataka Tales, a collection of stories from the previous lives of the Buddha. The jatakas (‘birth stories’) are premised on the night of the Buddha’s enlightenment, during which he remembered hundreds of thousands of former births.

In these past lives, he was not yet a Buddha, but a bodhisattva, which, in the Theravada tradition, is someone who has resolved to become a Buddha and received this confirmation or prediction from a living Buddha. Thus, in the Jataka Tales, the bodhisattva, having been inspired by his encounters…

If you love The Jatakas...

Ad

Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Want books like The Jatakas?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 2 books like The Jatakas.

Browse books like The Jatakas

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,210

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like The Jatakas, you might also like...

Book cover of Old Man Country

Old Man Country by Thomas R. Cole,

This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.

In these and other intimate conversations, the book…

Book cover of Lane and the Inventor

Lane and the Inventor by Amy Q. Barker,

A grumpy-sunshine, slow-burn, sweet-and-steamy romance set in wild and beautiful small-town Colorado. Lane Gravers is a wanderer, adventurer, yoga instructor, and social butterfly when she meets reserved, quiet, pensive Logan Hickory, a loner inventor with a painful past.

Dive into this small-town, steamy romance between two opposites who find love…