File:The Heavenly Court of Indra (6124496535).jpg

Series Title: Devasano Pado Bhandara Kalpasutra and Kalakacharya Katha

Label Copy: Among the most revered books of the Jains, the Kalpasutra is attributed to Acharya Bhadrabahu who lived during the fourth century B.C. Written in prose, the work consists of three parts: an account of the lives of the twenty-four Tirthankaras (the twenty-four founders of the Jain religion), the succession lists of Jain leaders, and the code of conduct for monks and nuns during the rainy season. The custom of congregational recitation of the Kalpasutra began in the fifth century and has continued to this day, necessitating the availability of many copies. As a result, it is the most reproduced Jain text and one that has been preseved in large numbers in Jain bhandars, or libraries. The earliest Jain manuscripts are on palm leaves in the horizontal format dictated by the material. When paper was adopted, the horizontal format was kept, but the manuscripts remained unbound and were, like the palm leaf manuscripts held together loosely by twine strung through the leaves and kept between rigid wooden covers. Where the holes for string would have been on this leaf, decorative bosses were painted. The copy from which this leaf comes was dispersed before being properly catalogued and the colophon has not been completely documented. What is left of the colophon says that the manuscript was prepared at the request of Sana and Jutha, who lived at the port of Gandhar near Broach at the mouth of the Narmada River. The text is Sanskrit in Nagari script. The story is of the last Tirthankara, Mahavira. One painting is of Indra in his heaven. On the folio with text Harinegameshi, the commander of Indra's army, is returning from a mission to bring to Indra the embryo of Mahavira from the womb of the woman who conceived him. Harinegameshi's next assignment will be to exchange this embryo with one growing in another woman, so that Mahavira will be born of a woman of the warrior Kshatriya caste.
Display Artist: Artist Unknown
Creation Date: ca. 1475
Display Dimensions: 4 7/16 in. x 10 9/16 in. (11.3 cm x 26.8 cm)
Credit Line: Edwin Binney 3rd Collection