Background
The ultimate purpose of Śālibhadra’s story – Śālibhadra-caupaī – is to illustrate the virtues of giving alms to Jain monks. But, like most Jain stories, it is eventful and full of lively characters. The Śālibhadra-caupaī is very popular in the Jain tradition. It is known from the many interpretations that have been written in Prakrit, Sanskrit and the vernacular languages.
This manuscript features the famous telling by Matisāra, written in Old Gujarati. Matisāra’s version of the story has often been illustrated in different styles.
The text is a narrative poem in verse, known as rāsa or caupa. This type of composition is popular in Gujarāti literature. The poem is divided into 29 sections called ḍhāla. Each section starts with a refrain verse and is associated with a specific musical mode – rāga. Such poems are meant to be read, but also performed, with recitation and musicians.
Glossary
Description
A turbaned man fanned by a servant holding a fly-whisk stands in a room facing a man in red. Other richly dressed men are entering the mansion. Groups of women in separate rooms look on while green parrots perch on the roof. Outside the building, a mahout and his elephant rest under a tree.
King Śreṇika has arrived at his destination after travelling by elephant. The king is welcomed with presents. He and his retinue begin the tour of Śālibhadra’s mansion on the first floor, as detailed in the caption: pahilī bhūma 15.
At the sight of the first storey everyone was delighted [and cried,]. 'This is not the dwelling-place of a mortal being – it is so beautiful!'
As for Śālibhadra’s wives, they stay in their private apartments as custom commands.
Other visual elements
The borders around the illustration, which takes up most of the folio, are plain. The double lines that form the border are in red pigment, which is now quite faded.
Script
The elaborate script is the Jaina Devanāgarī script, in a form which recalls calligraphy. It is used for writing many Indian languages, here for Gujarati.
There are a few notable features of this script, namely:
- it is an old type in the way the sounds e and o are notated when used with a consonant, known as pṛṣṭhamātrā script
- the red vertical lines within the text, which, though they are used to divide the long sentences into smaller parts, are not necessarily punctuation marks.
There is a blank space in the text, which 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. In this manuscript the blank space is normally in the place where the central hole would once have been. However, because the illustration takes up most of the page, the text and the blank space it contains are pushed to the left side.
- Source:
The British Library Board
- Shelfmark:
Or. 13524
- Author:
Matisāra
- Date of creation:
1726
- Folio number:
11 recto
- Total number of folios:
40
- Place of creation:
Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
- Language:
Gujarāti in Devanāgarī script
- Medium:
opaque watercolour on paper
- Size:
28 x 11.5 cms
- Copyright:
CC0 1.0 (Creative Commons Public Domain)
- Image Copyright:
Glory and luxury
- Source:
The British Library Board
- Shelfmark:
Or. 13524
- Author:
Matisāra
- Date of creation:
1726
- Folio number:
11 recto
- Total number of folios:
40
- Place of creation:
Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
- Language:
Gujarāti in Devanāgarī script
- Medium:
opaque watercolour on paper
- Size:
28 x 11.5 cms
- Copyright:
CC0 1.0 (Creative Commons Public Domain)
- Image Copyright:
Description
A turbaned man fanned by a servant holding a fly-whisk stands in a room facing a man in red. Other richly dressed men are entering the mansion. Groups of women in separate rooms look on while green parrots perch on the roof. Outside the building, a mahout and his elephant rest under a tree.
King Śreṇika has arrived at his destination after travelling by elephant. The king is welcomed with presents. He and his retinue begin the tour of Śālibhadra’s mansion on the first floor, as detailed in the caption: pahilī bhūma 15.
At the sight of the first storey everyone was delighted [and cried,]. ‘This is not the dwelling-place of a mortal being – it is so beautiful!’
As for Śālibhadra’s wives, they stay in their private apartments as custom commands.
Other visual elements
The borders around the illustration, which takes up most of the folio, are plain. The double lines that form the border are in red pigment, which is now quite faded.
Script
The elaborate script is the Jaina Devanāgarī script, in a form which recalls calligraphy. It is used for writing many Indian languages, here for Gujarati.
There are a few notable features of this script, namely:
- it is an old type in the way the sounds e and o are notated when used with a consonant, known as pṛṣṭhamātrā script
- the red vertical lines within the text, which, though they are used to divide the long sentences into smaller parts, are not necessarily punctuation marks.
There is a blank space in the text, which 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. In this manuscript the blank space is normally in the place where the central hole would once have been. However, because the illustration takes up most of the page, the text and the blank space it contains are pushed to the left side.