Mahāvīra is seated on a throne in a pavilion, dressed as a prince and wearing precious ornaments. Jewels and various riches are heaped in front of him.

The old white-bearded man standing on the right represents the poor. The two men at the top may be the Laukāntika gods who come to awaken Mahāvīra spiritually and inspire him to give up his possessions. This is explained in the text on the recto of this page.

Then Mahāvīra knows that the time is right for him to renounce the worldly life. He spends the following year giving all that belongs to him to the poor.

The long protruding eye is a typical feature of western Indian painting. Its origin is unclear.

Other visual elements

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 red background of the text
• the use of gold ink instead of the standard black ink for the text
• the use of gold in the paintings themselves instead of ordinary colours
• the decorated borders with floral arabesques and geometrical designs in blue
• the division of the text into two parts by a central margin holding a red disk surrounded by intricate blue designs.

Below the disk, the number 38 refers to the folio number.

Script

The elaborate script is Jaina Devanāgarī, which is here like calligraphy. It is used for writing numerous Indian languages, here Ardhamāgadhī Prakrit.

This script is notable because it is an old type in the way the sounds e and o are notated when used with a consonant. It is known as pṣṭhamātrā script.