The tenth book of Khuddaka Nikáya of the Sutta Pitaka containing tales of the former births of the Buddha. The Játaka also forms one of the nine angas or divisions of the Buddha's teachings, grouped according to the subject matter (DA.i.15, 24).
The canonical book of the Játakas (so far unpublished) contains only the verses, but it is almost certain that from the first there must have been handed down an oral commentary giving the stories in prose. This commentary later developed into the Játakatthakathá.
Some of the Játakas have been included in a separate compilation, called the Cariyá Pitaka. It is not possible to say when the Játakas in their present form came into existence nor how many of these were among the original number. In the time of the Culla Niddesa, there seem to have been five hundred Játakas, because reference is made to pańcajátakasatáni (p.80; five hundred was the number seen by Fa Hsien in Ceylon (p.71)). Bas-reliefs of the third century have been found illustrating a number of Játaka stories, and they presuppose the existence of a prose collection. Several Játakas exist in the canonical books which are not included in the Játaka collection. For a discussion on the Játakas in all their aspects, see Rhys Davids Buddhist India, pp.189ff.
The Díghabhánakas included the Játaka in the Abhidhamma Pitaka. (DA.i.15; the Samantapásádiká (i.251) contains a reference to a Játakanikáya).
The Játaka consists of twenty-two sections or nipátas.