Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Jain Tales of Moksha

Jain Tales of Moksha

Shivakotyacharya
Viswanatha, Vanamala

Hardcover

Series: Murty Classical Library of India

Biographies GeneralReligion General Jainism

PREORDER - Expected ship date September 1, 2026

ISBN10: 0674292510
ISBN13: 9780674292512
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: Sep 1 2026
Pages: 608
Weight: 1.49
Height: 1.26 Width: 5.51 Depth: 8.27
Language: English

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.

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