The Epitome Of Queen Lilavati: Volume 1 (Clay Sanskrit Library)

The books line up on my shelf like bright Bodhisattvas ready to take tough questions or keep quiet company. They stake out a vast territory, with works from two millennia in multiple genres: aphorism, lyric, epic, theater, and romance. --Willis G. Regier, The Chronicle ReviewNo effort has been spared to make these little volumes as attractive as possible to readers: the paper is of high quality, the typesetting immaculate. The founders of the series are John and Jennifer Clay, and Sanskritists can only thank them for an initiative intended to make the classics of an ancient Indian language accessible to a modern international audience. --The Times Higher Education SupplementThe Clay Sanskrit Library represents one of the most admirable publishing projects now afoot.... Anyone who loves the look and feel and heft of books will delight in these elegant little volumes. --New CriterionPublished in the geek-chic format. --BookForumVery few collections of Sanskrit deep enough for research are housed anywhere in North America. Now, twenty-five hundred years after the death of Shakyamuni Buddha, the ambitious Clay Sanskrit Library may remedy this state of affairs. --TricycleEpitome is one of the hidden jewels of Jain literature. It has great relevance to those of us who are striving for spiritual truths in a complex and often confusing world order. --Jain Spirit [Refers to The Epitome of Queen Lilßvati: Volume One]The Epitome of Queen Lilßvati tells the stories of the lives of a group of souls as they pass through a series of embodiments on their way to final liberation from the continual cycle of death and rebirth. Told as a means to promote the non-violent ethic of Jainism, it abounds in memorable incidents and characters, such as Dhana, the rich merchant who attempted to justify cheating in trade, Padmaratha, who while invisible attempted to seduce the ladies of the royal household, and Vasundhara, the bogus holy man who was caught in a compromising position with a female dog.Written in 1297 CE by the Jain poet-monk Jina'ratna, The Epitome of Queen Lilßvati is undeservedly almost unknown outside India. In the stories, embodied souls undergo all too human adventures in a succession of lives, as they advance to final release. The book abounds in memorable incidents and characters, related to Queen Lilßvati and her husband, King Simha, by the teacher-monk Sßmara'sena.Co-published by New York University Press and the JJC FoundationFor more on this title and other titles in the Clay Sanskrit series, please visit http://www.claysanskritlibrary.orgJinaratna is the author of 'The Epitome Of Queen Lilavati: Volume 1 (Clay Sanskrit Library)', published 2005 under ISBN 9780814727416 and ISBN 0814727417.