🙏The Book of Five Hundred and Fifty Jataka🙏

There is hardly another literary genre in Eastern literature as popular as Jataka stories. With the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Jataka stories came to  Ceylon through the book "Jataka Pali" in the Tripitaka. The Jataka Paliya was a work limited to stanzas that summarized the essence of the Jataka story. Mihindu Thero wrote a commentary in Sinhala on those stanzas. This is co nsidered to be the beginning of the existing Jataka stories. There are many factors that show the interest shown by the Lions in learning the Jataka stories even before the Sinhala Jataka book was written. Jataka Gatha Sannaya, Vesathura Da Sannaya, Dasa Jataka Sannaya, Atada Sannaya etc were written and Jataka stories were included in all Sinhala literary works from Dharma Pradeepika.

 

The author of the book Fifty Jatakas is King Parakramabahu the Great who took over the kingdom of Kurunegala.However, the name of the king is not mentioned in the Jataka book itself. T he Book of Jataka contains five hundred and forty-seven Jataka stories (547). Every story in the Book of Genesis has three instances: the present story, the past story, and the adjustment of the anterior joints. The present story belongs to the time of Gautama Buddha. The story of the past is presented in retrospect. The connection between the present and the past is shown by the Supreme Buddha himself.This book is considered sacred by the Sinhala Buddhist people