Garland of the Buddha's Past Lives (Volume 1) Contributor(s): Aryashura (Author), Meiland, Justin (Translator) |
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ISBN: 0814795811 ISBN-13: 9780814795811 Publisher: Clay Sanskrit OUR PRICE: $23.75 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: April 2009 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Religion | Buddhism - General (see Also Philosophy - Buddhist) - Literary Collections | Ancient, Classical & Medieval |
Dewey: 294.382 |
LCCN: 2008046726 |
Series: Clay Sanskrit Library |
Physical Information: 1.2" H x 4.4" W x 6.5" (0.80 lbs) 548 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: The Garland of Past Lives is a collection of thirty four stories depicting the miraculous deeds performed by the Buddha in his previous rebirths. Composed in the fourth century C.E. by the Buddhist monk Aryashura, the text's accomplished artistry led Indian aesthetic theorists to praise its elegant mixture of verse and prose. The twenty stories in this first volume deal primarily with the virtues of giving and morality. Ascetics sacrifice their lives for hungry tigers, kings open their veins for demons to drink their blood, helmsmen steer their crew through perilous seas, and quail chicks quench forest fires by proclaiming words of truth. The experience is intended to arouse astonishment in the audience, inspiring devotion, through the future Buddha's transcendence of conventional norms in his quest to acquire enlightenment and save the world from suffering. The importance of such stories of past lives in traditional Buddhist culture, throughout Asia and up to today, cannot be overestimated. |