Sanskrit Manuscripts : Kalpasūtra

Bhadrabāhu, Bhadrabāhu

Sanskrit Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Traditionally attributed to Bhadrabāhu, the <i>Kalpasūtra</i> is a major canonical text of the <i>Śvetāmbara</i><i>Jains</i>, composed in <i>Ardhamāgadhī</i> Prakrit, in a mixture of prose and verse, and containing the life-stories of the twenty-four Jinas, in particular Neminātha, Pārśvanātha and Mahāvīra. This manuscript presents copious marginal annotations in Sanskrit from <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(2);return false;'>the beginning up to f. 55v</a>, and then again <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(185);return false;'>from f. 93r</a>, where the last section called <i>Sāmācārī</i> begins. This section deals with special prohibitions and rules for monks and nuns during the rainy season. This beautifully illuminated exemplar can be dated to the 15th-16th century on account of the style of the illustrations, the type of paper and the script. The <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(218);return false;'>colophon</a>, which is most probably not original, reveals that it was the object of a commercial transaction: it was acquired (<i>gṛhītā</i>, lit. "taken") and then sold (<i>vikrītā</i>). </p>