Jain Tales of Moksha

Name: Jain Tales of Moksha
Price: 61.95 AUD
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ISBN: 9780674292512

Shivakotyacharya, Visiting Professor Vanamala Viswanatha (Bangalore University)

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Kannada

Harvard University Press
21 July 2026

Biography: general; History of religion; Jainism

Series: Murty Classical Library of India

A tenth-century Jain guide to ethics, self-discipline, and the quest for meaning at life's end.

Vaḍḍārādhane (literally, the veneration of ritual death), the first extant prose work in Kannada, is a tenth-century collection of Jain stories about nineteen warrior saints who embrace death in pursuit of moksha, or spiritual liberation. Each tale in this book of living and dying follows the renunciate's transformation from an ordinary person enmeshed in worldly desires to an enlightened being who attains moksha through penance, fasting, meditation, and self-mortification, culminating in ritual death. Originally recited for spiritual protection to Jain renunciates approaching the end of life, these narratives explore social hierarchy, duty, and discipline while offering enduring insights into human striving and ethical courage.

Attributed to Shivakotyacharya, a Digambara Jain cleric, the collection combines the vernacular stories with verses in Prakrit and Sanskrit. Presented here in a modern English translation alongside the authoritative Kannada text, Jain Tales of Moksha speaks across centuries. Its medieval themes of moral choice, self-discipline, and the search for ultimate freedom invite contemporary readers to reflect on how we navigate desire, duty, and the quest for meaning in our own lives.

By: Shivakotyacharya
Translated by: Visiting Professor Vanamala Viswanatha (Bangalore University)
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: Bilingual edition
ISBN: 9780674292512
ISBN 10: 0674292510
Series: Murty Classical Library of India
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 21 July 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Vanamala Viswanatha is a literary scholar and translator of The Life of Harishchandra.