Description

The text describes Triśalā’s final stage of pregnancy and the atmosphere when the baby who will be known as Mahāvīra is about to be born.

Lines 1 to 4 describe Triśalā’s way of life during her pregnancy in the following words:

In the proper place and time she ate only such food which was good, sufficient, and healthy for the nourishment of her child. She took her walks in places which were empty and agreeable as well as delightful to the mind; her desires were laudable, fulfilled, honoured, not disregarded, but complied with and executed; she most comfortably dozed, reposed, remained, sat, and laid on unobjectionable and soft beds and seats, and thus most comfortably carried her unborn child.

translation by Hermann Jacobi

1895, page 250

Starting with line 5, the peaceful atmosphere before the happy event is described. Since horoscopes are very important in Indian tradition, detailed calendrical information about the time and astral conjunction is given. The birth takes place in the second fortnight of the first month of summer. This means the 14th day of the dark fortnight of the month of Caitra.

Other visual elements

The central diamond filled with golden ink is a decorative ornament. Jain manuscripts usually have one in the centre of recto pages, like here, and there are  three on versos. The borders of the margins are filled with red ink.

On line 4 the red character, usually transcribed as ‘cha‘, indicates the end of a section or paragraph.

Script

The elaborate script used is the Jaina Devanāgarī script, which is here like calligraphy. It is an old type in the way the sounds e and o are notated when used with a consonant, and is known as pṣṭhamātrā script.