Background
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 and then their 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.
Assorted folios
The pages or folios under this shelfmark belong to different manuscripts. The folios show a variety of handwriting, language and artistic style and are on noticeably different paper.
The folios are from four separate manuscripts, as follows:
- several folios are from a single manuscript of the Kālakācārya-kathā – Story of the Ācārya Kālaka
- three folios are from different manuscripts of the Kalpa-sūtra, an extremely popular text in the Śvetāmbara canon.
There is also a manuscript holder made for an unknown manuscript.
It is not known what has happened to the rest of each manuscript.
Copies of the Kalpa-sūtra and Kālakācārya-kathā are often made in a single manuscript, which may be why these folios were bundled together. At some point in the past these folios and the manuscript holder were put into a box at the British Library and labelled ‘Frags. of Jain Mss. Skt. / Pkt.’ meaning 'Fragments of Jain manuscripts in Sanskrit and Prakrit'. However, it is important to remember that they do not belong together.
Glossary
Description
This page is blank because it separates the end of the text of the Kalpa-sūtra and the beginning of the text of the story of Kālaka, which begins on the other side of the manuscript folio.
The double-lined red borders down each side indicate that the page was prepared for the scribe to write in the middle part. It suggests that many pages were prepared at the same time, perhaps before the scribe began to copy out the text.
- Source:
The British Library Board
- Shelfmark:
Or. 13950
- Author:
unknown
- Date of creation:
unknown
- Folio number:
1 recto
- Total number of folios:
10
- Place of creation:
western India
- Language:
various in Devanāgarī script
- Medium:
opaque watercolour on paper
- Size:
25 x 10.5 cms
- Copyright:
CC0 1.0 (Creative Commons Public Domain)
- Image Copyright:
Opening page
- Source:
The British Library Board
- Shelfmark:
Or. 13950
- Author:
unknown
- Date of creation:
unknown
- Folio number:
1 recto
- Total number of folios:
10
- Place of creation:
western India
- Language:
various in Devanāgarī script
- Medium:
opaque watercolour on paper
- Size:
25 x 10.5 cms
- Copyright:
CC0 1.0 (Creative Commons Public Domain)
- Image Copyright:
Description
This page is blank because it separates the end of the text of the Kalpa-sūtra and the beginning of the text of the story of Kālaka, which begins on the other side of the manuscript folio.
The double-lined red borders down each side indicate that the page was prepared for the scribe to write in the middle part. It suggests that many pages were prepared at the same time, perhaps before the scribe began to copy out the text.
Blank first page of Kalpa-sūtra
The British Library Board Or. 13701 Sukhasāgara – commentary 17th to 18th centuries
Blank first page of Ḍhola-Māru
The British Library Board Or. 14687 Kuśalalābha Upādhyāya composed in 1560, this copy created in perhaps 18th to 19th centuries
Blank first page of the Laghu-kṣetra-samāsa
The British Library Board Add. 26374 Ratnaśekhara (text), Pārśvacandra (commentary) 1769