For eight centuries, readers have found in Hemachandra’s Lives of the Jain Elders a storybook of the spirit — a long chain of teachers, kings, robbers, courtesans, and householders, each meeting the teaching of Mahavira at a life’s turning point. Here the chief disciple Gautama debates his way to omniscience; a bandit on an open road lays down his sword and takes up the mendicant’s bowl; a prince learns what a royal elephant can teach about desire; and an empire rises and falls while the elders watch the slow turning of time. Woven through the lives of the patriarchs — Jambu, Bhadrabahu, Sthulabhadra, and others — are lessons about karma, impermanence, renunciation, and mercy, told with the warmth of a master storyteller. This new edition presents the complete work in clear, contemporary English that keeps faith with the original’s meaning and spirit. Introductions and appendices place it among the world’s great scriptures. Part of The World Scriptures Library.