The caption in the top-right corner says: dāna dīkṣā – 'gift and initiation'. It has been written twice, the second time in larger size.
The illustration contains two scenes at different levels, both featuring Neminātha or Lord Nemi, the 22nd Jina.
A richly jewelled figure dressed in elaborate clothing sits on an ornate throne. There is a heap of jewels on a tripod between him and the two men on the right. One of them is old and white-bearded. There are three men at the top.
The large figure is Prince Nemi, shown with all his worldly privileges. The old man represents the poor. The other men may be the Laukāntika gods.
The Laukāntika gods have come to awaken Nemi spiritually and inspire him to give up his possessions. They exclaim:
Victory be to the joy of the world!
Victory be to one with auspicious marks!
Glory be to thee, oh bull among best kṣatriyas
Awake, oh Lord, Master of the Universe!
Establish religion and order
For the well-being of all living beings.
Then Nemi knows that the time is right for him to renounce the worldly life. He spends the following year giving all his possessions to the poor.
On the left side a male figure wearing a single garment sits under a tree. He catches his long hair in his hand. On the right a man with four hands is seated on a throne.
The figure on the left is Nemi, who has now given up all the possessions of a prince. Even so, he is often shown in pictures as keeping his jewellery. Sitting under an aśoka tree, he is preparing to pluck out his long hair in five handfuls. This is the symbolic gesture of giving up worldly life and entering religious life. Jain monks and nuns still perform this act of dīkṣā today.
The figure watching him is the god Śakra, who is present at the key points of Nemi’s life. Deities are often depicted with four or more hands in Jain art. Here Śakra is shown with a pair of his hands ready to receive the hair of the future Jina.
Nemi performs his initiation ceremony in public in a park outside the city of Dvāravatī. According to some sources, this park is on slightly raised ground. This is symbolised here by the bottom row, which represents mountain peaks.
The long protruding eye is a typical feature of western Indian painting. Its origin is unclear.
The original paper has been pasted onto a new base. As with many Kalpa-sūtra manuscripts, there is a clear intention to make the manuscript a valuable and remarkable object in itself. This aim is signalled by the:
The golden diamond in the centre is a symbolic reminder of the way in which manuscripts were bound at one time. Strings through one or more holes in the paper were used to thread together the loose folios so the reader could turn them over easily. The diamond is where one of the holes would once have been.
A single diamond means a recto side.
The elaborate script used is the Jaina Devanāgarī script, which is here like calligraphy. It is used for writing numerous Indian languages, here for Ardhamāgadhī Prakrit.
There are a few notable features of this script, which:
The lines in smaller script above the main text are explanations in Sanskrit of phrases found in the central part.
The Kalpa-sūtra is the most frequently illustrated text of the Śvetāmbara sect. It is read and recited by monks in the festival of Paryuṣaṇ, which takes place in August to September each year.
The first part of the Kalpa-sūtra deals with the lives of the Jinas, especially Mahāvīra, Pārśva, Nemi and Ṛṣabha. It features almost identical stories of their births, lives as princes, renunciation, enlightenment and final emancipation.
The second part – Sthavirāvali – is a praise of the early teachers of Jainism. The third part – Sāmācārī – deals with particular monastic rules to be followed during the rainy season.
This illustrated page from a 15th-century manuscript of the Kalpa-sūtra is provided by the National Gallery of Australia. At the beginning of the section dealing with the 22nd Jina, Ariṣṭanemi, also called Nemi, the painting shows the famous episode of Prince Nemi's decision to renounce worldly life just before his wedding. He is so appalled by the distress of the animals due to be killed for his wedding feast that he decides to become a monk.
http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail-LRG.cfm?View=LRG&IRN=147981&PICTAUS=TRUE
This highly decorated page from a 15th-century manuscript of the Kalpa-sūtra is provided by the National Gallery of Australia. A young man performs the rite of keśa-loca – ‘pulling out of the hair’ – which indicates indifference to the body. It is part of the initiation ceremony of dīkṣā, in which an initiate renounces the world and becomes a mendicant. He is watched by Śakra, king of the gods who takes an active role in the lives of the 24 Jinas.
http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail-LRG.cfm?IRN=177852&View=LRG
This manuscript of the Kalpa-sūtra is fully digitised on the Gallica Bibliothèque numérique website, part of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (National Library of France) in Paris. Though the website is available in English, the information about the artefact is in French.
This rare palm-leaf page in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art comes from an early 14th-century manuscript of the Śvetāmbara scripture of the Kalpa-sūtra. The picture illustrates the episode where the antelope-headed god Hariṇaigameṣin transfers the embryo of the Jina-to-be Mahāvīra from the brahmin lady Devānandā to the kṣatriya queen Triśalā.
http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/131608.html?mulR=656|4
The National Gallery of Australia offers an elaborately illustrated page from a 15th-century manuscript of the Kalpa-sūtra. The 23rd Jina Pārśva sits in the lotus posture of meditation. He is easily identifiable from his seven-headed snake headdress.
http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail-LRG.cfm?IRN=177853&View=LRG
This illustration is from a page of the Śvetāmbara scripture of the Kalpa-sūtra in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It shows the last Jina, Mahāvīra, performing the rite of keśa-loca – ‘pulling out of the hair’ – which indicates indifference to the body. It is part of the initiation ceremony of dīkṣā, in which an initiate renounces the world and becomes a mendicant. He is watched by Śakra, king of the gods, who takes an active role in the lives of the 24 Jinas.
http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/105108.html?mulR=656|9
Victoria and Albert Museum. IM 11-1931. Unknown author. Circa 1490
British Library. Or. 13455. Unknown author. 14th to 15th centuries
British Library. Or. 5149. Unknown author. 1464
Gamma 453. Wellcome Trust Library. Unknown author. 1512
British Library. Or. 5149. Unknown author. 1464
Gamma 453. Wellcome Trust Library. Unknown author. 1512
Victoria and Albert Museum. IM 10-1931. Unknown author. Circa 1490
British Library. Or. 5149. Unknown author. 1464