Book review
The Jataka on which this title is based is a collection of five hundred and fifty stories, included in the Pali canon. They are tales in which the life of the Bodhisattva in his previous births in narrated. The Bodhisattva is one, who by performing virtuous, kind and intelligent acts aspires to become a Buddha. Jataka tales are based on folklore, legends and ballads of ancient India. We cannot assign a definite date to the Jataka stories. Taking into account archaeological and literary evidence it appears that they were compiled in the period, the 3rd Century B.C. to the 5th Century A.D. They give us invaluable information about ancient Indian civilization, culture and philosophy. The Jataka stories have been very popular in the Buddhist world. These stories have been translated almost into almost all the languages of Buddhist countries such as Chinese, Tibetan, Sinhalese, Siamese, Burmese, Japanese and also many modern European languages. These stories have encouraged painting and sculpture in ancient India and other Buddhist countries. Sanchi, Bharhut, Amravati and Ajanta in India, Borobudur in Java, Pegan in Burma and Sukhodaya in Thailand bear testimony to the popularity of these tales. This is a collection of Jataka stories in which the Bodhisattva is born as a monkey. We hope, in the words of Professor Rhys Davids that “we may still turn with appreciation to the ancient book of the Buddhist Jataka tales as a priceless+G42 record of the childhood of our race”.