A boy perches on the shoulder of a bearded figure while two other children play. The tree, flowers and peacocks indicate the scene is an outdoor one. A long black snake is wound around the trunk of the tree.
This episode has become part of the conventional account of the childhood of the 24th Jina, Mahāvīra. It emphasises his courage and steadiness during a children’s game. According to the caption in the upper left corner, which says āmalīkrīḍā 19 – 'the game of āmalī, [illustration number] 19 [in this manuscript]', the game is āmalākīkrīḍā, which is played around a tree.
This ancient game’s name refers to the tree around which it is played but all of the rules have not survived. The serpent coiling around the tree is a disguised god who wants to test the courage of the young Vardhamāna. While the other boys are frightened, Mahāvīra continues playing undisturbed.
Another part of the game is that the winner rides on the back of the loser. The larger, bearded figure is a god jealous of Vardhamāna’s strength when the young boy succeeds in riding on his back as well as on the back of all other children.
This is the first of a long series of trials – upasarga – of Mahāvīra’s courage and steadiness. The episode is not narrated in the Prakrit text of the Kalpa-sūtra but is known from other sources and has become part of the conventional account of Mahāvīra’s youth.
The long protruding eye is a typical feature of western Indian painting. Its origin is unclear.
But, 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 three circles along the central horizontal plane are symbolic reminders of the way in which manuscripts were bound at one time. Strings through three holes in the paper were used to thread together the loose folios so the reader could turn them over easily. The circles are in the places where the holes would once have been.
The elaborate script used for the main text is the Jaina Devanāgarī script, in a form which recalls calligraphy. It is used for writing numerous Indian languages, here for Prakrit.
There are a few notable features of this script:
In this particular folio there are occasional rings above the main line of writing. These notate the nasalised vowels and are used instead of simple dots. There are examples above the first line.
The Kalpa-sūtra is the most frequently illustrated Jain 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 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 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 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 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
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 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 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
Victoria and Albert Museum. IM 11-1931. Unknown author. Circa 1490
British Library. I.O. San. 3177. Unknown author. 1437
Wellcome Trust Library. Gamma 3. Unknown author. 1503
British Library. Or. 5149. Unknown author. 1464
Wellcome Trust Library. Gamma 3. Unknown author. 1503
Gamma 453. Wellcome Trust Library. Unknown author. 1512