Background
This episode is known as ‘the embryo transfer’ and is found only in the Śvetāmbara versions of Mahāvīra’s life. It is not told for other Jinas.
The Kalpa-sūtra is the most frequently illustrated Jain text of the Śvetāmbara sect. It is read and recited by monks in the Śvetāmbara 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 final 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.
The author, or authors, of the Kalpa-sūtra is unknown, although it is attributed to Bhadrabāhu. Manuscripts of the Kalpa-sūtra frequently contain a related text at the end, called the Kālakācārya-kathā. The Story of the Monk Kalaka provides an explanation of the date of the festival of Paryuṣaṇ, in which the Kalpa-sūtra features. The version in this manuscript is by Bhavadeva-sūri.
Glossary
Description
A lady is lying on an elaborate couch, under a canopy. The sun and moon appear above the bed. Under the bed are various receptacles.
The figure is Queen Triśalā. On the night Mahāvīra’s embryo was transferred to her womb, the queen was sleeping in her beautiful bedchamber, which is elaborately described in the facing text.
The sun and moon are two of the auspicious dreams.
The protruding eye is a typical feature of western Indian painting. Its origin is unclear.
Other visual elements
In many Kalpa-sūtra manuscripts, there is a clear intention to make the manuscript a valuable and remarkable object in itself. Here this is achieved in a rather modest manner. This aim is signalled by the:
- ornamental motif in the central margin
- calligraphic script.
The three red discs along the central horizontal plane are symbolic reminders 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. The discs are in the places where the holes would once have been.
This manuscript belongs to a rather early phase of Kalpa-sūtra paper manuscripts, the beginning of the 15th century. This is evidenced by the:
- format of the paper, which is rather narrow
- old system of folio numbering, using 'letter-numerals', which is visible in the left-hand margins of verso pages.
Script
The elaborate script is the Jaina Devanāgarī script, in a form which recalls calligraphy. It is used for writing numerous Indian languages, here for Ardhamāgadhī Prakrit and Sanskrit.
The lines in smaller script above and below the main text and in the margins are explanations in Sanskrit of phrases found in the central part. The two small parallel lines like slanted = after the words are meant to separate the explanations in the margins. The parallel lines around words in the text indicate which words are glossed. The glosses are fairly numerous here as the text is a description with numerous elaborate epithets. In the middle margin is x cittiya x 2. This means that the Prakrit word cittiya – ‘painted’ – should be added within the text at the end of the second line from the bottom.
- Source:
Royal Asiatic Society
- Shelfmark:
Tod MS 34
- Author:
unknown author / Bhavadeva-sūri
- Date of creation:
1404
- Folio number:
17 recto
- Total number of folios:
97 folios, numbered 16 to 112, with 1–15 missing
- Place of creation:
western India
- Language:
Prakrit and Sanskrit
- Medium:
ink and watercolour on paper
- Size:
32.5 x 9.4 cm
- Copyright:
Royal Asiatic Society Images/RAS, London
- Image Copyright:
Triśalā on her couch
- Source:
Royal Asiatic Society
- Shelfmark:
Tod MS 34
- Author:
unknown author / Bhavadeva-sūri
- Date of creation:
1404
- Folio number:
17 recto
- Total number of folios:
97 folios, numbered 16 to 112, with 1–15 missing
- Place of creation:
western India
- Language:
Prakrit and Sanskrit
- Medium:
ink and watercolour on paper
- Size:
32.5 x 9.4 cm
- Copyright:
Royal Asiatic Society Images/RAS, London
- Image Copyright:
Description
A lady is lying on an elaborate couch, under a canopy. The sun and moon appear above the bed. Under the bed are various receptacles.
The figure is Queen Triśalā. On the night Mahāvīra’s embryo was transferred to her womb, the queen was sleeping in her beautiful bedchamber, which is elaborately described in the facing text.
The sun and moon are two of the auspicious dreams.
The protruding eye is a typical feature of western Indian painting. Its origin is unclear.
Other visual elements
In many Kalpa-sūtra manuscripts, there is a clear intention to make the manuscript a valuable and remarkable object in itself. Here this is achieved in a rather modest manner. This aim is signalled by the:
- ornamental motif in the central margin
- calligraphic script.
The three red discs along the central horizontal plane are symbolic reminders 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. The discs are in the places where the holes would once have been.
This manuscript belongs to a rather early phase of Kalpa-sūtra paper manuscripts, the beginning of the 15th century. This is evidenced by the:
- format of the paper, which is rather narrow
- old system of folio numbering, using ‘letter-numerals’, which is visible in the left-hand margins of verso pages.
Script
The elaborate script is the Jaina Devanāgarī script, in a form which recalls calligraphy. It is used for writing numerous Indian languages, here for Ardhamāgadhī Prakrit and Sanskrit.
The lines in smaller script above and below the main text and in the margins are explanations in Sanskrit of phrases found in the central part. The two small parallel lines like slanted = after the words are meant to separate the explanations in the margins. The parallel lines around words in the text indicate which words are glossed. The glosses are fairly numerous here as the text is a description with numerous elaborate epithets. In the middle margin is x cittiya x 2. This means that the Prakrit word cittiya – ‘painted’ – should be added within the text at the end of the second line from the bottom.
Fourteen dreams – moon
The British Library Board Or. 13701 Sukhasāgara – commentary 17th to 18th centuries
Fourteen dreams – garlands
The British Library Board Or. 13701 Sukhasāgara – commentary 17th to 18th centuries
First six of the 14 dreams
The British Library Board Or. 13701 Sukhasāgara – commentary 17th to 18th centuries