Kalpa Sūtra

Kalpa Sūtra
Kalpa Sūtra
	Bhadrabahu

The Kalpa Sūtra (

Bhadrabahu, which would place it in the 4th century BCE,^[2] it was probably put in writing 980 or 993 years after the Nirvana (Moksha

) of Mahavira or 1230 years after the Nirvana of Tirthankar Parswanath.

History

Within the six sections of the Jain literary corpus belonging to the Śvetāmbara school, it is classed as one of the Cheda Sūtras. This Sutra contains detailed life histories and, from the mid-15th century, was frequently illustrated with miniature painting. The oldest surviving copies are written on paper in western India in the 14th century.^[3]

The Kalpa Sutra is ascribed to

Dhruvasena, 980 or 993 years after Mahavira's death.^[4]

Importance

The book is read and illustrated in an eight-day-long festival of

Paryushan

by Jain monks for general people. Only monks can read the scriptures, as in Jainism, this book has very high spiritual values.

Kalpasutra

folio on Mahavira Nirvana. Note the crescent-shaped Siddhashila, a place where all siddhas reside after Nirvana.

References

Citations

^ Jacobi, Hermann (1884). Müller, F. Max (ed.). Kalpa Sutra, Jain Sutras Part I, Sacred Books of the East. Vol. 22. Oxford: The Clarendon Press.
^ ^a ^b "Mahavira". Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. 2006. Archived from the original on 19 October 2009 – via Answers.com.
^ Budny, Mildred O. (18 April 2018). "Sanskrit and Prakrit Manuscripts -". Retrieved 16 June 2024.
^ Kailash Chand Jain 1991, p. 75.
^ ^a ^b ^c Vyas 1995, p. 27.