Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
📖 A Buddha story 📚 Buddha's past stories 🖼️ A Buddha scene
Jataka

Jataka

1 9.9
A story about one of the Buddha's earlier lives that teaches a moral lesson
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒɑːtəkə/
  • Literature
: Jataka
  • He read a Jataka story to his children before bedtime, teaching them about generosity.

Examples

  • The teacher shared a Jataka to help the students understand the value of kindness.

  • In one Jataka, the Buddha saves a drowning elephant.

  • Many Buddhist temples display paintings that depict scenes from the Jataka tales.

  • The Jataka tales are rich in moral lessons.

  • The teacher shared a Jataka to help the students understand the value of kindness.

  • He read a Jataka story to his children before bedtime, teaching them about generosity.

  • Many Buddhist temples display paintings that depict scenes from the Jataka tales.

How Moral

Jataka
  • Literature
1 9.9
parable
  • Literature
34 5.2
story
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

Jataka singular
Jatakas plural

Etymology

Jataka comes from the Pali and Sanskrit word jātaka, from jāta meaning 'born'. A helpful way to remember it is that each Jataka is one 'birth' story of the Buddha's past life used to teach a moral.