Jataka

The Jataka comprises a genre of narrative originating on the Indian subcontinent that recounts the previous lives of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal forms, and is counted among the oldest classes of Buddhist literature. The stories rest on the premise that the Buddha could recollect all of his past lives and drew on those memories to tell a story illustrating his teachings, showing the virtues, such as generosity, and spiritual practices needed to attain Buddhahood across incarnations as royalty, outcasts, divine beings, or animals. Beyond the Buddha figure, the tales typically include a wide supporting cast that encounters conflicts the Buddha figure ultimately resolves; different Buddhist schools preserved separate collections, the largest being the Theravada school's Jatakatthavannana, and depictions of the stories appear in Indian art as early as the second century BCE.