The Gatakamala or Garland of Birth-Stories by Aryasura

This is the first Indian edition of Speyer’s English translation of Aryasura’s Gatakamala. The work belongs to the Canon of the Northern Buddhists. It contains thrityfour Gataka legends woven into the ethical and religious discourses that either magnify the glory of the Buddha or illustrate Buddhist doctrine and precepts by appropriate examples. The book is a first-rate document for the study of Mahayana Buddhism. Interspersed with the moral maxims the accounts of the marvellous deeds of the Bodhisattva are meant to inspire the reader with a stronger faith in the Buddha or an extraordinary zeal for self-sacrifice. The translation is authentic and authoritative. The reader will derive adequate knowledge and inspiration as from the original text.

Contents

Introduction, Introductory Stanzas, The Story of the Tigress, The Story of the King of the Sibis, The Story of the Small Portion of Gruel, The Story of the Head of a Guild, The Story of Avishahya, The Head of a Guild, The Story of the Hare, The Story of Agastya, The Story of Maitribala, The Story of Visvantara, The Story of the Sacrifice, The Story of Sakra, The Story of the Brahman, The Story of Unmadayanti, The Story of Suparaga, The Story of the Fish, The Story of the Quail’s Young, The Story of the Jar, The Story of the Childless One, The Story of the lotus-Stalks, The Story of the Treasurer, The Story of Kuddabodhi, The Story of the Holy Swans, The Story of Mahabodhi, The Story of the Great Ape, The Story of the Sarabha, The Story of the Ruru-Deer, The Story of the Great Monkey, The Story of Kshantivadin, The Story of the Inhabitant of the Brahmaloka, The Story of the Elephant, The Story of Ayogriha, The Story of the Buffalo, The Story of the Woodpecker, Synoptical Table of the Correspondence between the Stanzas of the Gatakamala and the Scripture Verses of the Pali Index.

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