Description
The slightly damaged caption in the upper-right corner says: sāmācārī – ‘right conduct‘.
A large monk sitting on an ornate seat faces two smaller ascetics. All are in characteristic Śvetāmbara robes. They each hold the cotton broom – rajoharaṇa – of the Śvetāmbara ascetic, the two smaller figures apparently holding two. The large monk holds his hand palm up above an intricately decorated item.
A senior monk is teaching, his seniority shown by his larger size and his throne-like seat. The listeners are two members of the monastic community, one of whom may be a nun.
The cotton broom is represented twice in the smaller figures, both under their arms, as it should be when the monk is sitting, and also before them. The upper figure is delicately wiping something in his hand with the broom. Between the teacher and the pupils is the sthāpanācārya.
The text alongside the illustration is the beginning of the third section of the Kalpa-sūtra, the Sāmācārī.
Other visual elements
The bottom of the right margin contains the number 118. This is the folio number, in a square with two blue lines as an ornamental motif.
The original paper is slightly damaged. 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:
- coloured background for the text
- gold ink instead of the standard black ink
- decorated border with blue floral motifs
- three diamonds filled with gold ink, with arrow-like blue lines and surrounding blue border as ornamental motifs.
The three diamonds along the central horizontal plane are symbolic reminders of the way in which manuscripts were bound when they were on palm leaf. Strings through holes in the paper were used to thread together the loose folios so the reader could turn them over easily. The diamonds are in the places where the holes would once have been.