Category:Kalpa-sūtra (Gamma 453)

Section on Mahāvīra

Background

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.

Kalpa Sûtra

The Kalpa Sûtra of Bhadrabâhu

Bhadrabāhu

Kalpa Sūtra of Bhadrabāhu Svāmī

Bhadrabāhu

A Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of Miniature Paintings of the Jaina Kalpasūtra as executed in the Early Western Indian Style

W. Norman Brown

Catalogue of the Jain manuscripts at the British Library: including the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum

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