KALPASUTRA

MS 4464
MS Short Title KALPASUTRA
Text 1.KALPASUTRA; THE CANONICAL SHVETAMBARA JAIN ACCOUNT COMPRISING A NARRATIVE OF THE LIVES OF THE JUNAS (JINACARITA), THE LINEAGE OF PATRIARCHS (STHAVIRAVALI), AND BRIEF RULES OF CONDUCT DURING THE MONSOON 
2.KALPAPRASASTIH, SET OF 19 PRAISES OF THE KALPASUTRA
Description MS in Ardhamagadhi Prakrit on paper, Vikramasamvat, Western India, 1509 and 1566 (colophon), 114 ff. (-1 f.), 12x29 cm, single column, (8x22 cm), 7 lines in Jain Devanagari book script, punctuation, vertical line dividers numbering of verses and borders in red, 42 high quality miniatures in gold and colours, red circles for intended palm-leaf string-holes, text 2: 9 lines, geometric space around the central red circles.
Binding India, 1509, poti without string holes, but with 3 large red dots to indicate the holes, in 20th c. black cloth folding case.
Context The miniatures are extremely close to a MS in Washington: Freer Gallery of Art, published by Norman Brown.
Provenance 1. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.
Commentary Kalpasutra is the main text of the Jain religion, attributed to Bhadrabahu, here seen in the painting on f. 88v. Jinas and monks are in the white robes for which their school, Shvetambare, is named, white patterns on a golden ground which makes the figures seem naked at the same time as partly clothed. This may be an influence from the Digambraras (naked ones), the other school of Jainism.
Place of origin Western India
Dates 1509 and 1566 (colophon)