The stories in The Clever Adulteress span almost one thousand years of story-telling in India. Most originate in North India and all were written by Jain monks for the education and amusement of the faithful. Jain literature is both rich and varied. Stories were told in verse and prose, in Sanskrit and in vernacular languages. Some resemble simple folk tales while others are as sophisticated as courtly romances. The stories in Jain literature are about holy men and holy places, famous kings and courtiers and those not often heard in ancient and medieval India–women and toiling villagers. The treasures of India’s heritage of story-telling are known to us today mainly from these Jain stories which have been carefully preserved through the years. The stories in The Clever Adulteress have been translated by a renowned group of scholars from India, North America, and Europe. Each translator has chosen his or her favorites from the vast treasures of Jain literature.

Dr. Phyllis Granoff is a specialist in Indic religions. She is a Professor of World Religions at Yale University. She also serves as the editor of the Journal of Indian Philosophy. She previously taught at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and has held visiting positions at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Berkeley, and Harvard. She has done research in all of the classical religions of India–Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and has published articles on Indian art and literature. Her interests include contemporary Indian literature and she has published translations of short stories from Bengali and Oriya.

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