On stories of previous incarnations of Gautama Buddha.

The Jataka Stories have for hundreds of years been seminal to the development of many civilizations, the cultivation of moral conduct and good behavior, the growth of a rich and varied literature in diverse parts of the world, and the inspiration for painting, sculpture, and architecture of enduring aesthetic value. The Buddha himself used jataka stories to explain concepts like karma and rebirth and to emphasize the importance of certain moral values.

Jataka stories (stories about the previous births of the Buddha) are very popular in Theravada Buddhist countries, where they are found in both canonical texts and later compositions and collections, and are commonly used in sermons, children's books, plays, poetry, temple illustrations, rituals and festivals. Whilst at first glance many of the stories look like common fables or folktales, Buddhist tradition tells us that the stories illustrate the gradual path to perfection exemplified by the Buddha in his previous births, when he was a bodhisatta (buddha-to-be). Jataka stories have had a long and colourful history, closely intertwined with the development of doctrines about the Buddha, the path to buddhahood, and how Buddhists should behave now the Buddha is no more. This book explores the shifting role of the stories in Buddhist doctrine, practice, and creative expression, finally placing this integral Buddhist genre back in the centre of scholarly understandings of the religion.