The Forest of Thieves and the Magic Garden

Book excerpt: Original and compelling tales of Jain wisdom This fine selection of stories revolves around the concept of renunciation, the essence of Jainism. True and complete knowledge, omniscience and liberation from the endless cycles of transmigratory births can be achieved by lay men and women as well as by monks and nuns. Themes central to Jainism are explored here. Among these are renunciation of the world by young men; the effects of such renunciation upon families, wives and children; the persistence of emotional bonds beyond a single birth; the paradox of friendship and social ties, at once tenacious and transient; the strength of the fidelity and piety of women and the power of love and excessive emotion to delude and entrap. The translations, drawn from texts dating between the seventh and fifteenth centuries B.C., represent a variety of genres: didactic tales, the epics, spiritual autobiographies, pilgrimage texts and folktales. Phyllis Granoff's authentic, modern and reader-friendly rendering from the Sanskrit and Prakrit makes this a rich and remarkable narrative of living Jainism and its literary traditions.