Background
This is a fairly unusual depiction of the 14 auspicious dreams in Kalpa-sūtra manuscripts created in Western India.
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 does not contain the Prakrit text of the Kalpa-sūtra, but a narrative commentary in Gujarati that focuses on Mahāvīra’s previous births.
Glossary
Description
Unusually, this single scene takes up nearly three full pages of the manuscript.
This is the third page, on which are two objects in individual panels. The heap of jewels and a smokeless fire represent the last two dreams.
A woman lies on a richly decorated couch at the bottom. She is the brahmin lady Devānandā.
This page and the previous two pages represent the 14 dreams that were dreamt by Devānandā, who bore the embryo of Mahāvīra before it was transferred to the kṣatriya queen, Triśalā. The embryo Mahāvīra was transferred by Hariṇaigameṣin, the commander-in-chief of the god Śakra. Śakra ordered him to do this because Jinas cannot be born of a brahmin mother. These dreams announce the Jina’s great destiny.
The first six dreams are on one page while the Text next six dreams are on the following page of the manuscript.
This is a painting in popular style.
Other visual elements
This manuscript is different from the mainstream Kalpa-sūtra manuscripts from Western India, which in style are thought of as more suitable as religious objects.
This example represents a more popular style very different from the usual artistic canon.
Script
The script used for the text is the Jaina Devanāgarī script. It is used for writing numerous Indian languages, here for Prakrit and Gujarati.
There are a few notable features of this script:
- 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 divide the long sentences into smaller parts, but are not necessarily punctuation marks.
The larger size script is used for the Prakrit text of the Kalpa-sūtra, the smaller size for Gujarati explanations of words and phrases.
- Source:
The British Library Board
- Shelfmark:
Or. 13701
- Author:
Sukhasāgara – commentary
- Date of creation:
17th to 18th centuries
- Folio number:
21 verso
- Total number of folios:
83
- Place of creation:
western India
- Language:
Gujarati in Devanāgarī script
- Medium:
opaque watercolour on paper
- Size:
27 x 12.5 cms
- Copyright:
CC0 1.0 (Creative Commons Public Domain)
- Image Copyright:
- +
- aAbhavya
- aAbhinandana
- aAbhiṣeka
- aĀcāra
- aĀcārāṅga-sūtra
- aĀcārya
- aAchalbhrata
- aAḍhāī-dvīpa
- aAdharma
- aAdho-loka
- aAdhyayana
- aAdvaita Vedānta
- aĀgama
- aAghātīya
- aAghātīya-karman
- aAgnibhuti
- aAgra
- aĀhāra
- aAhiṃsā
- aAhimsa Day
- aAjita
- aAjīva
- aAkampit
- aĀkāśa
- aAkbar the Great
- aAkṣaya-tṛtīyā
- aAlauddin Khalji
- aAlbert Einstein
- aAllah
- aAlms
- aĀlocanā
- aAloka-ākāśa
- aAmāri
- aAmbikā or Kūṣmāṇḍinī
- aAnagāra
- aAnanta
- aAnarthadaṇḍa
- aAnaśana
- aAnekānta-vāda
- aAṅga
- aAniconism
- aAnojjā
- aAntarāla
- aAntarāya-karma
- aAṇu
- aAṇu-vrata
- aAnukampā
- aAnuprekṣā
- aAnusvāra
- aApabhraṃśa
- aAparigraha
- aAra
- aĀrambha
- aĀrambhaja
- aĀratī
- aArdhamāgadhī Prākrit
- aArhaṃ
- aArhat
- aArśana-āvaraṇīya-karma
- aĀrta-dhyāna
- aĀryikā
- aĀryikā Jñānamati
- aĀśātanā
- aĀścarya
- aAscetic
- aAsceticism
- aAshram
- aAspiration
- aĀsrava
- aAṣṭa-maṅgala
- aAṣṭāpada
- aAstikāya
- aAstrolabe
- aAsura
- aAtheism
- aAticāra
- aAtiśayakṣetra
- aAtithisaṃvibhāgavrata
- aĀtma-vāda
- aĀtman
- aAuṃ
- aAurangzeb
- aAuspicious
- aAusterity
- aAvadhāna
- aAvadhi-jñāna
- aĀvaraṇī-yakarman
- aAvasarpiṇī
- aAvatāra
- aAvidyā
- aAxiom
- aĀyāga-paṭa
- aĀyambil
- aĀyu-karma
- aĀyurveda
- bBabur
- bBāhubali
- bBaladeva
- bBālāvabodha
- bBandha
- bBasadi
- bBazaar
- bBhadrankarvijay
- bBhagavant
- bBhaktāmara-stotra
- bBhakti
- bBhale
- bBharata
- bBhāṣā
- bBhāṣya
- bBhaṭṭāraka
- bBhāva
- bBhāva-pūjā
- bBhāvanā
- bBhavana-vāsin
- bBhavya
- bBhavyatva
- bBhaya
- bBhoga-bhūmi
- bBhogopabhoga
- bBodhi
- bBollywood
- bBrahmā
- bBrahma-deva
- bBrahmacārī
- bBrāhmaṇa
- bBraj Bhāṣā
- bBright fortnight
- bBritish Raj
- bBuddha
- bBuddhi-sagar
- bBuddhism
- bBuddhist
- cCaitya
- cCaityavāsin
- cCakravartin
- cCakreśvarī
- cCāmara
- cCandanā
- cCandragupta
- cCandraprabha
- cCanon
- cCāritra
- cCāritramohanīya-karman
- cCarũrī
- cCaste
- cCaturvidha-saṅgha
- cCaturviṃśati-stava
- cCāturyāma
- cCE
- cCelibacy
- cCha
- cChadmastha
- cChastity
- cCheda-sūtra
- cChristian
- cChristianity
- cClergy
- cCloning
- cColophon
- cCommentary
- cConch
- cConfession
- cCongregation
- cConsecration
- cCosmology
- cCremation
- cCrore
- cCult
- cCūrṇi
- dDādā-guru
- dDalit
- dDāna
- dDaṇḍa
- dDark fortnight
- dDarśana
- dDarśanamohanī-yakarman
- dDaśa-lakṣaṇa-parvan
- dDeity
- dDelhi Sultanate
- dDerāsar
- dDeśāvakāśika-vrata
- dDetachment
- dDevanāgarī
- dDevānandā
- dDevarddhi-gani
- dDevotee
- dDhamal
- dDhanuṣ
- dDhāra
- dDharma
- dDharma-dhyāna
- dDharma-sāgara
- dDharmastikaya
- dDhātakīkhaṇḍa
- dDholak
- dDhyāna
- dDiaspora
- dDig-vrata
- dDigambara
- dDīkṣā
- dDisciple
- dDīvālī
- dDivya-dhvani
- dDNA
- dDoctrine
- dDogma
- dDonor
- dDoṣa
- dDravya
- dDravya-pūjā
- dDrone
- dDuṣamā
- dDuṣamā-duṣamā
- dDuṣamā-suṣamā
- dDveṣa
- dDvīpa
- eEast India Company
- eEightfold Path
- eEkānta-vāda
- eEkendriya
- eElder
- eElders
- eEschatology
- eEtc up to
- fFarmān
- fFast
- fFatehpur Sikri
- fFestival
- fFestschrift
- fFiruz Shah
- fFly-Whisks
- fFolio
- fFour Noble Truths
- gGaccha
- gGaṇa
- gGaṇadhara
- gGanadharavada
- gGaṇeśa
- gGaṇin
- gGarba
- gGarbha
- gGarbha-gṛha
- gGaruḍa
- gGati
- gGene
- gGenomics
- gGhātī-yakarman
- gGhātīya
- gGhaznavid
- gGhiyasuddin Tughlaq
- gGhurid
- gGloss
- gGotra-karma
- gGujarāt
- gGujarati
- gGuṇa
- gGuṇa-sthāna
- gGuṇa-vrata
- gGupti
- gGuru
- gGuruṇī
- hHagiography
- hHajj
- hHaṃsa
- hHaribhadra
- hHariṇaigameṣin
- hHasta
- hHeresy
- hHiṃsā
- hHindi
- hHindu
- hHinduism
- hHīravijaya
- hHoroscope
- hHrīṃ
- hHumayun
- hHymn
- iIconoclasm
- iIconography
- iIdol
- iIndian Independence
- iIndology
- iIndra
- iIndrabhūti Gautama
- iIndriya
- iInitiation
- iIntercession
- iInvocation
- iIQ
- iIslam
- iIslamicate
- iIṣṭadevatā
- iĪśvara
- jJagat
- jJahangir
- jJain
- jJaina Devanāgarī
- jJaina Śaurasenī
- jJaina-dharma
- jJainaśāsana
- jJainness
- jJaisalmer
- jJamāli
- jJambū-dvīpa
- jJames Burgess
- jJanma
- jJanma-kalyāṇa
- jJarā
- jJāti
- jJina
- jJina-āgama
- jJina-bhavana
- jJina-bimba
- jJina-mātā
- jJinacandra-sūri
- jJinadatta
- jJinaprabha
- jJīva
- jJñāna
- jJñāna-āvaraṇīya-karma
- jJñāna-āvarṇiya
- jJñānsundar
- jJyotiṣka
- kKāla
- kKālakācārya-kathā
- kKālidāsa
- kKalpa-sūtra
- kKalpa-vṛkṣa
- kKalyāṇaka
- kKalyanvijay
- kKamaṇḍalu
- kKamaṭha
- kKarma
- kKarma-bhūmi
- kKarma-grantha
- kKarma-prakṛti
- kKarma-vāda
- kKarmon
- kKarnataka
- kKaṣāya
- kKathā
- kKāvya
- kKāya
- kKāyotsarga
- kKeśa-loca
- kKetu
- kKevala-jñāna
- kKevalin
- kKhalji
- kKharatara-gaccha
- kKnowledge
- kKriyā
- kKriyā-vāda
- kKṛṣṇa
- kKṣamā-śramaṇa
- kKṣapakaśreṇi
- kKṣatriya
- kKṣullaka
- kKulakara
- kKundakunda
- kKunthu
- lLabdhi
- lLaity
- lLakh
- lLāñchana
- lLands of Action
- lLaukāntika
- lLavaṇa-samudra
- lLeśyā
- lLiṅga
- lLinguistics
- lLoka
- lLoka-ākāśa
- lLoka-puruṣa
- lLoka-vāda
- lLotus
- lLotus lake
- mMadhya-loka
- mMahā-videha
- mMahā-vrata
- mMahābhārata
- mMahāmastakābhiṣeka
- mMāhārāṣṭra
- mMāhārāṣṭrī Prākrit
- mMahattarā Yākinī
- mMahāvīr Jayantī
- mMahāvīra
- mMakāra
- mMakkhali Gośāla
- mMalli
- mMāna-stambha
- mManaḥ-paryāya-jñāna
- mMaṇḍala
- mMaṇḍapa
- mMandit
- mMaṅgala
- mMantra
- mMantras
- mManuṣya-loka
- mMarāṭhī
- mMārgaṇā
- mMartyr
- mMarudevī
- mMaṭha
- mMati-jñāna
- mMauryaputra
- mMecca
- mMendicant lineage
- mMetarya
- mMiracle
- mMithyādṛṣṭi
- mMohandas Gandhi
- mMohanīya-karma
- mMokṣa
- mMonastic order
- mMonasticism
- mMonk
- mMonotheism
- mMosque
- mMount Meru
- mMount Sammeta
- mMṛgāvatī
- mMughal
- mMuhammad
- mMuhammad bin Tughlaq
- mMuhpattī
- mMūla-sūtra
- mMūlaguṇa
- mMumbaī
- mMuni
- mMunisuvrata
- mMurad Bakhsh
- mMūrti-pūjaka
- mMuslim
- mMysticism
- nNābhi
- nNāga-kal
- nNāgapurīya Tapā-gaccha
- nNāgarī
- nNāma-karma
- nNamaskāra-mantra
- nNami
- nNandīśvara-dvīpa
- nNandivardhana
- nNandyāvarta
- nNāraka
- nNāraki
- nNasalisation
- nNātha
- nNavrātrī
- nNaya-vāda
- nNemi
- nNidāna
- nniggaṃthāṇa vā 2
- nniggaṃtho vā 2
- nNigoda
- nNihnava
- nNikṣepa
- nNirgrantha
- nNirjarā
- nNirvāṇa
- nNiryukti
- nNiṣidhi
- nNitya
- nNiyati
- nNo-kaṣāya
- nNudity
- nNun
- oOcean of milk
- oOmniscience
- oOrdination
- ppa°
- pPadmaprabha
- pPadmāsana
- pPadmāvatī
- pPādukā
- pPalanquin
- pPalette
- pPañca-muṣṭi
- pPāṇḍava
- pPaṇḍit
- pPandit Dalsukh D. Malvania
- pPandit Sukhlalji
- pPāṇipātra
- pPāpa
- pParamātman
- pParameṣṭhin
- pPāraṇā
- pParigraha
- pPariṇāma
- pParīṣaha
- pParokṣa
- pPārśva
- pPārśvanātha
- pParyāya
- pParyuṣaṇ
- pPaṭa
- pPatan
- pPātra
- pPenance
- pPersian
- pPhala
- pPhilology
- pPicchikā
- pPilgrimage
- pPīr
- pPolymath
- pPoṣadha
- pPossession
- pPothī
- pPrabhas
- pPradakṣiṇā
- pPradeśa
- pPrākāra
- pPrakīrṇaka-sūtra
- pPrākrit
- pPramāda
- pPramukhā
- pPrati-vāsudeva
- pPratikramaṇa
- pPratimā
- pPratiṣṭhā
- pPratyākhyāna
- pPratyakṣa
- pPravacana
- pPrāyaścitta
- pPrayer
- pPre-modern
- pPreach
- pPredestination
- pProtestant
- pProvenance
- pPudgala
- pPūjā
- pPujārī
- pPukharavara-dvīpa
- pPuṇya
- pPūrva
- pPuṣkara-dvīpa
- pPuṣpadanta
- pPyre
- qQur’an
- rRāga
- rRāhu
- rRainy season
- rRajasthan
- rRajasthani
- rRājimatī
- rRajoharaṇa
- rRajput
- rRāma
- rRāmāyaṇa
- rRangoli
- rRās-garbā
- rRasa
- rRathanemi
- rRatna-traya
- rRātri-bhojana
- rRaudra-dhyāna
- rRecto
- rRelic
- rRenunciation
- rRetroflex
- rRevatī
- %Ṛg-veda
- rRite
- rRosary
- %Ṛṣabha
- %Ṛṣabhanātha
- rRupee
- sSaciyā Mātā
- sSādhu
- sSādhvī
- sSāgāra
- sSaint
- sŚaivaism
- sŚaka-saṃvat
- sSallekhanā
- sŚalya
- sSamacatuṣṭha
- sSamādhimaraṇa
- sSamaṇi
- sSāmarambha
- sSamavasaraṇa
- sSāmāyika
- sSaṃbhava
- sSamiti
- sSaṃjñā
- sSaṃkalpaja
- sSaṃsāra
- sSamudghāta
- sSaṃvara
- sSaṃvega
- sSamyak-cāritra
- sSamyak-darśana
- sSamyak-jñāna
- sSamyaktva
- sSaṃyama
- sSanctuary
- sSandalwood
- sSaṇgha
- sSanskrit
- sSant
- sŚānti
- sSapta-bhaṅgi-naya
- sSārambha
- sSarasvatī
- sSarvajña
- sSāsan-devi
- sŚāsana-devatā
- sŚāstra
- %Ṣaṭ-jīvanikāya
- sSatī
- sSatīmātā
- sSatya
- sSchism
- sScribe
- sScripture
- sSect
- sSecularism
- sŚenāī
- sSermon
- sŚeṣavatī
- sSevā
- sSeven fields of donation
- sShah Jahan
- sShantidas Jhaveri
- sShrine
- sSiddha
- sSiddha-śilā
- sSiddhacakra or Navadevatā
- sSiddhānta
- sSiddhārtha
- sSiddhi
- sSikh
- sSikhism
- sŚikṣā-vrata
- sŚīla
- sSin
- sSindh
- sŚītala
- sŚiva
- sSkandha
- sSomanatha
- sŚraddhā
- sŚramaṇa
- sŚrāvaka
- sŚrāvakācāra
- sŚrāvikā
- sŚreyāṃsa
- sŚrī
- sŚrīvatsa
- sŚruta-jñāna
- sŚruta-pañcamī
- sSthānaka-vāsin
- sSthāpanācārya
- sSthāvara
- sSthavira
- sSthiti
- sStrīmukti
- sStūpa
- sSubcontinent
- sSudarshana
- sŚuddhi
- sSudharma
- sŚūdra
- sSufism
- sSukha
- sŚukla-dhyāna
- sSulasā
- sSultan
- sSumati
- sSundarśrī
- sSupārśva
- sSūri
- sSuṣamā
- sSuṣamā-duṣamā
- sSuṣamā-suṣamā
- sSūtra
- sSuyam me ausam! Tenam bhagavaya evamakkhayam
- sSvādhyāya
- sSvāhā
- sSvastika
- sŚvetāmbara
- sŚvetāmbara Terāpanthin
- sŚvetāmbaras
- sSwan
- sSyād-vāda
- tTabla
- tTantra
- tTapā-gaccha
- tTapas
- tTāraṇ Svāmī Panth
- tTattva
- tTattvārtha-sūtra
- tTemple
- tTemple-city
- tThe Enlightenment
- tTheology
- tThree worlds
- %Ṭīkā
- tTilaka
- tTīrtha
- tTīrthaṃkaranāma-karman
- tTīrthankara
- tTransliteration
- tTrasa
- tTrasa-nāḍī
- tTriśalā
- tTriṣaṣṭi-śalākā-puruṣa-caritra
- tTti bemi
- tTughlaq
- tTunk
- uUdumbara
- uUniversal History
- uUpādhyāya
- uUpāṅga
- uUpaniṣads
- uUpāsaka
- uUpasarga
- uUpāśraya
- uŪrdhva-loka
- uUtsarpiṇī
- uUttarādhyayana-sūtra
- vVāhana
- vVaimānika
- vVairāgya
- vVaiṣṇava
- vVaiśramaṇa
- vVaiśya
- vValabhī
- vVanaspatikāya
- vVandana
- vVaṇik
- vVarṇa
- vVāsudeva
- vVāsupūjya
- vVayubhūti
- vVeda
- vVedanīya-karma
- vVegetarianism
- vVehicle
- vVernacular
- vVerso
- vVidyā
- vVidyā-devī
- vVihāra
- vVijñapti-patra
- vVikrama-saṃvat
- vVikṛti
- vVimala
- vVinaya
- vVipāka
- vVirji Vora
- vVirodhaja
- vVīrya
- vVisarga
- vViṣṇu
- vVītarāga
- vVizier
- vVotive
- vVow
- vVrata
- vVS
- vVyakta
- vVyantara
- vVyasana
- yYakṣa
- yYakṣī
- yYantra
- yYaśoda
- yYaśovijaya
- yYati
- yYātrā
- yYoga
- yYoginī
- yYojana
Description
Unusually, this single scene takes up nearly three full pages of the manuscript.
This is the third page, on which are two objects in individual panels. The heap of jewels and a smokeless fire represent the last two dreams.
A woman lies on a richly decorated couch at the bottom. She is the brahmin lady Devānandā.
This page and the previous two pages represent the 14 dreams that were dreamt by Devānandā, who bore the embryo of Mahāvīra before it was transferred to the kṣatriya queen, Triśalā. The embryo Mahāvīra was transferred by Hariṇaigameṣin, the commander-in-chief of the god Śakra. Śakra ordered him to do this because Jinas cannot be born of a brahmin mother. These dreams announce the Jina’s great destiny.
The first six dreams are on one page while the Text next six dreams are on the following page of the manuscript.
This is a painting in popular style.
Other visual elements
This manuscript is different from the mainstream Kalpa-sūtra manuscripts from Western India, which in style are thought of as more suitable as religious objects.
This example represents a more popular style very different from the usual artistic canon.
Script
The script used for the text is the Jaina Devanāgarī script. It is used for writing numerous Indian languages, here for Prakrit and Gujarati.
There are a few notable features of this script:
- 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 divide the long sentences into smaller parts, but are not necessarily punctuation marks.
The larger size script is used for the Prakrit text of the Kalpa-sūtra, the smaller size for Gujarati explanations of words and phrases.