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.

A thirteenth-century adaptation of one of ancient India’s most enduring stories, a cornerstone of the Kannada literary canon, translated for the first time into English.

The Life of Harishchandra, Raghavanka’s thirteenth-century masterpiece, is the first poetic rendering of one of ancient India’s most enduring legends. When his commitment to truth is tested by a powerful sage, King Harishchandra suffers utter deprivation—the loss of his wife and son, his citizens and power, and, dearest of all, his caste status—but refuses to yield. The tale has influenced poets and readers through the ages. Mahatma Gandhi traced his own commitment to truth to the impact of a Harishchandra play seen in childhood.

A poet from northern Karnataka trained in the twin traditions of Sanskrit and Kannada, Raghavanka negotiates a unique space for himself in the Kannada literary canon through important thematic, formal, and stylistic innovations. The conflicts he addresses—of hierarchical social order, political power, caste, and gender—are as relevant to contemporary India as to his own times.

Accompanied by the original text in the Kannada script, this spirited translation, the first into any language, brings an elegant and energetic narrative to a global readership.