Jataka is a collection of stories about the Buddha’s previous births as a Bodhisttva. In Hinayana form of Buddhism, Bodhisattva is a previous incarnation of a Buddha. For an orthodox Buddhist Jataka tales are the autographical accounts of Gautama Buddha and hence a part of the Buddhist religious scriptures.
One of the earliest and most significant collections of folk tales extant, the Jataka (written in the Prakrit language of Pali) comprises 547 stories. The stories are written in full in a prose commentary which has been credited to Buddhaghosa. The collection contains fables, moral tales, fairy tales, maxims and legends.
Incorporated in the Pali canon, the Jataka stories are included in the Sutta Pitaka's Khuddaka Nikaya (“Short Collection”). Tripitaka or Three Baskets (Sutta Pitaka, Vinaya Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka), a traditional term used for various Buddhist scriptures, is known as Pali Canon in English.
In Sanskrit Jatakas are known as Jatakamala while they are known as Cietak in Khmer, and in Chinese they are called Sadok.
The Jataka stories have also been illustrated frequently in Buddhist sculpture and painting. The muurals of the paintings at Buddhist caves at Ajanta in Maharashtra depict scenes from the Jataka tales.
The architraves of the Sanchi gateways in Madhya Pradesh are covered with panels depicting scenes from the Jataka stories. The railings of the 2nd-century BC Bharhut Stupa in Madhya Pradesh feature scenes from the Jatakas .
It was at Venuvana Vihar monastery (in Rajgir in Bihar) where Buddha had delivered several Jataka stories. Venuvana Vihar, the pleasure garden of King Bimbisara, was offered to Buddha. Bimbisara, the founder of Haryanka Dynasty of Magadha, was a devotee of Buddha.
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