SOME ILLUSTRATED JAIN MANUSCRIPTS
JEREMIAH P. LOSTY
THE Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books has recently acquired
several illustrated Jain manuscripts of great interest. The earliest is the Uttarddhyayanasutra, one of the four Mulasutras of the Svetdmbara Canon. The scribe provided no
colophon: but the miniatures, in the Early Western Indian style, fix the date of the
manuscript as the early sixteenth century and its provenance as Gujarat or southern
Rajasthan, in western India. The Prakrit text of the Sutra is accompanied by an anonymous avacurni in Sanskrit; the Department already possesses one other manuscript of
this commentary. Or. 2095. The new manuscript has 131 folios in all, measuring
26X II cm. In common with most Hindu and Jain manuscripts of this date, which still
retain the ancient format of palm-leaf manuscripts, the text is written parallel to the
longer side of the paper folios, which were left unbound. The Prakrit text is written in
Jain Ndgari script in the centre of each folio, with the Sanskrit commentary, written in
much smaller characters, above and below. Illustrated examples of the Uttarddhyayanasutra are far from numerous - few are to be found outside India and the present manuscript
is the first to be acquired by the Department. It has been numbered Or. 13362.
The Uttarddhyayanasutra^ is a work in thirty-six chapters, each being a sermon on
various aspects of Jain doctrine and discipline, and is thought by orthodox Jains to
represent the actual words of Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, whose traditional date
of death is 526 B.C., 1974 being the 2,500th anniversary of the event. The commentators
have enlivened the somewhat dry material of the sermons with numerous tales illustrating the points made therein.^ Jain artists utilized these popular stories as well as the
actual SUtra when painting miniatures in manuscripts of this text. The one under
consideration has thirty-seven miniatures in all, one illustrating each chapter, with
a final one concluding the whole work. They measure approximately 11 X 9 cm and are
surrounded by red and blue plain borders. The artist's palette is severely limited to the
colours sanctified by tradition: red for the backgrounds, gold for the figures and architectural features, etc., and blue for haloes and other large areas; while details and smaller
areas are coloured green, black, white (both unpainted paper and white paint), and
crimson. Our artist has been content to work within the traditional framework laid down
for the illustrations of the Jain sacred texts and has not sought to extend the frontiers
of the style in either design or colour as did several artists in the fifteenth century. None
145
the less the rarity of illustrated copies of this work and the consequent lack of specific
models from which to work have forced him to use his own taste and imagination to
a much greater extent than would have been the case had it been a Kalpasutra^ which
he was illustrating, with thousands of precedents to be drawn upon. In many instances
the miniatures differ from other published manuscripts of this text, and our artist has
often produced drawings of great charm in which the line is everything and colour of
little importance, for example the lively hunting scene in fol. 57b, Harikesa's refusal of
Bhadra (fol. 37b), the sins committed by an errant monk on fol. 57b (fig. 6), a cat playing
with a mouse on fol. io6b (fig. 14), and Samudrapala's birth on fol. 71b (fig. 9).
In addition to the colouring, the miniatures display the usual characteristics of the
Early Western Indian style - complete absence of modelling and perspective, the majority
of faces in three-quarter profile, and bodily distortions including sharply pointed nose
and chin and projecting further eye. The garments worn are those usual in Jain manuscripts of this period.-* The monks' robes are represented by white dots or diagonal lines
on gold paint (fig. i, top), often with the lines of the body and undergarment visible
beneath (fig. 4); larger figures of Mahavira and other important monks sometimes have
patterns formed by clusters of white dots on their robe (figs. 12, 13). When lying asleep
both monks and laymen wear the same kind of brief dhoti as do ascetic Brahmans (compare the sleeping men in figs, i and 2 with the Brahman magician in fig. 4). Nuns' robes
are the same as those of monks except that they cover the nape of the neck and even
occasionally the head (as in the seated nun in the top half of fig. 15). Laymen generally
wear a dhott formed by coloured stripes on the gold paint along with a dupattd or scarf,
usually multi-coloured. A garland of white jasmine flowers hangs round their neck and
they wear large, round earrings, bracelets, and anklets (see the prince in the lower part
of fig. i). Important non-monastic figures drawn on a large scale wear a dhoti of black
stuff with gold patterns (fig. 4, top). Laywomen wear a dhoti and waist-length coli^or
bodice, with a dupattd, and ornaments like those of laymen (fig. 16). The hair of both
laymen and laywomen is worn long, arranged in a chignon on the back of the head or
the nape, that of the women being tied with a fillet. Religious figures both male and
female wear their hair short. Deities and royal personages wear a peaked diadem or
mukuta. Laymen have a U-shaped red tilaka mark on their forehead and women the
tikd spot. The mouth-cloths used by Jain monks to protect microscopic life are prominent
in the miniatures and are held out at arm's length to indicate speech, while the whisks
used to sweep the path before them are often seen tucked under the arm. Architectural
features, drawings of animals, trees, chariots, and other such details are of the usual type.
As mentioned above, when illustrating a manuscript of the Uttarddhyayanasutra the
artist was much freer to use his imagination than in the case of the Kalpasutra in which
the limited number of subjects suitable for artistic representation prevented any deviation from precedent except in the case of the very finest artists. On the contrary, in the
former case the relative lack of precedent and the immense variety of stories told in the
commentaries ensure that few manuscripts of this text are alike, and the copy under
consideration is no exception. Five miniatures in it are completely different from those
146
Fig. I
Fig. 2
Fig. 4
Or. 13362 (i) fol. 12b, (2) fol. 13b, (3) fol. i6b, (4) fol. 19b
which have already been published by W. Norman Brown.^ These are fols. 13b, i6b,
53b, 85b, and i i i b . Those miniatures which are partly different from Brown's are:
fols. 12b, 57b (left), 67b, 90b, 93b, ioib, io6b, and 119b. In all of these the artist has
utilized for his source different stories from the commentators or different verses from
the actual text of the Sutra. In only one instance, however, has he demonstrably used his
imagination in painting a scene, unless of course it was taken from a hitherto unpublished
manuscript. This is in fol. 57b (left), showing the bad monk striking his superior with
a saucepan and kissing a woman (fig. 6): in neither instance is there any authority in text
or commentaries. Moreover, the precise interpretation of some of the scenes still remains
doubtful (fols. 13b, 53b, 6ib, 90b, and n i b ) . In these instances it is possible that the
artist has misunderstood the purport of some of his now lost models.
The following is a list of the miniatures:
1. Fol. ib. Lesson i, the Discipline of Monks. Mahavira preaching the Sutra to a
disciple at his feet.
2. Fol. 5b. Lesson 2, Hardships. Top: Mahavira sits preaching. Bottom: various
monks are seated listening or engaged in kdyotsarga meditation, which leads to the spirit
freeing itself from the body.
1,. Fol. 12b. Lesson 3, the Four Requisites. In three registers, and illustrating several
commentatorial stories. Top: the Pontiff Aryaraksita trying to choose his successor.^
Middle: the ascetic who befriends King Brahmadatta and his wife who will not let him
accept the gifts of the grateful king;^ and the gambler with magic dice and his victim.^
Bottom: Muladeva dreaming of the moon f the tortoise and his relatives living in a weedencrusted pond;''' the axle and its pin in the ocean;" and the prince who has to perform
the rddhdvedha in order to win his beloved, i.e. pierce with an arrow the left eye of a
wooden doll placed on top of a pole with eight wheels revolving in front of the doll, four
clockwise and four anti-clockwise, aiming by looking at the target's reflection in a cauldron of oil.'^ Only the first two stories are represented in Brown's manuscripts^^ (fig, i).
4. Fol. 13b. Lesson 4, Impurity. A problematic miniature. In the centre stands the
ever-watchful Bhdrunda bird with two heads.'-* Above Agadadatta lies asleep on a couch,
below he sits in a wakeful position.^^ xhe upper figure lacks the tilaka mark on his forehead and ought therefore to be a monk, but neither the text of the Sutra nor the commentaries provide a reason for such an interpretation. Brown's manuscripts have no
paralleP^ (fig-2).
5. Fol. i6b. Lesson 5, Death against One's Will. Top: the punishments of hell for
those who lead evil lives.'^ Middle: a sinner being thrown into a cauldron of boiling
fihh; and the charioteer who drives along a bad road and laments over his broken axle.'^
Bottom: the goatherd who was engaged to kill the king by the latter's brother.^^ Brown's
manuscripts all show scenes of men on their deathbeds^'' (fig. 3).
6. Fol. 19b. Lesson 6, the False Ascetic. Top: the magician and the farmer (who is
shown as a prince) with the magic pot. Bottom: Mahavira preaching to two monks
(fig-4)-
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 8
Or. 13362 (5) fol. 53b, (6) fol. 57b (left), (7) fol. 6ib, (8) fol. 67b
7. Fol. 22b. Lesson 7, the Parable of the Ram. Top: the fatted ram about to be
slaughtered. Bottom: the cow and her calf. Top right: the king with the fatal mango
and his minister.
8. Fol.25b. Lesson 8, Kapila. Top: King Prasenajit and Kapila, and Kapila plucking out his hair to become a monk. Bottom: Kapila dancing in the mountains with the
robbers.
9. Fol. 27b. Lesson 9, the Entry of King Nami into Monkhood. King Nami seated
on his throne, with Sakra or Indra disguised as an ascetic (above) and in his godlike
form (below).
10. Fol. 32b. Lesson 10, the Leaf of the Tree. Mahavira enthroned as Tlrthahkara^
with Gautama by his side, and below four laymen, probably the kings converted by
Gautama.
11. Fol. 34b. Lesson 11, the Very Learned. Mahavira preaching to a disciple, with
representations of the objects to which he compares a learned monk.
12. Fol. 37b. Lesson 12, Harikesa. Top: two Brahmans in a sacrificial enclosure, and
Harikesa refusing Bhadra's offer of herself. Middle: Harikesa being beaten by two men
with sticks. Bottom: Harikesa being paid reverence by a man and by Bhadra.
13. Fol. 42b. Lesson i3,Citraand Sambhuta.Top: the monk Citra and King Sambhuta.
Middle and bottom: their former births together.
14. Fol. 46b. Lesson 14, Isukara. Left: the six characters of the story. Right: various
laymen and laywomen with a monk. Bottom: a monk with his sthdpandcdrya and the
six characters seated before him.
15. Fol. 51b. Lesson 15, the True Monk. Top: Mahavira preaching to two disciples.
Bottom: two monks in kdyotsarga meditation.
16. Fol. 53b. Lesson 16, the Conditions of Perfect Chastity. Top left: a man and
a woman. Top right: two eunuchs(?). Bottom: two cattle. Women, eunuchs, and cattle
should be avoided by a chaste monk.^' Brown's manuscripts all have cliche preaching
scenes for this chapter^^ (fig. 5).
17. Fol. 57b (left). Lesson 17, the Bad Monk. A monk standing in kdyotsarga meditation, contrasted with another monk's acts of indiscipline, which include striking a
superior with a saucepan and kissing a woman. The meditating monk and these two
particular faults are unrepresented in Brown-^ (fig. 6).
18. Fol. 57b (right). Lesson 18, Sanjaya. Top: Sanjaya hunting the deer. Middle: the
monk Gardabhali preaching to Sanjaya and his attendants, with five more attendants
below.
19. Fol.6ib. Lesson 19, Mrgaputra. Left: Mrgaputra seated in his parents' palace.
Right: he pays reverence to a monk, asks permission of his mother to join the order,
and plucks out his hair. The couch with its objects remains mysterious (fig. 7).
20. Fol. 67b. Lesson 20, the Great Duty of Monks. Top: King Srenika on horseback,
and in conversation with an ascetic. Bottom: the ascetic in his earlier life lying on his
sickbed attended by a doctor and his relatives.^ Only the top half of the miniature has
a parallel in Brown^^ (fig. 8).
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Fig. II
Or. 13362 (9) fol. 71b, (10) fol. 73b, (11) fol. 90b, (12) fol. 93b
21. Fol. 7ib. Lesson 21, Samudrapala. Top: the birth of Samudrapala on a ship on the
ocean. Bottom: Samudrapala looking out of his window, and then dressed as a monk (fig. 9).
22. Fol. 73b. Lesson 22, Rathanemi. Top: Princess RajimatI awaiting the arrival of
her bridegroom Neminatha, who is stricken at the sight of all the animals caged for
slaughtering for the wedding-feast, and leaves to become a monk. Bottom: having become
a recluse herself, RajimatI refuses the advances of Neminatha's brother, Rathanemi, who
also becomes a monk (tig. 10).
23. Fol. 75b. Lesson 23, Kesi and Gautama. Top: the two monks seated in discussion.
Bottom: a congregation listens.
24. Fol. Sob. Lesson 24, the Articles of the Doctrine. Three registers, each showing
two monks seated in discussion.
25. Fol. 82b. Lesson 25, the True Sacrifice. Top: the Brahman Vijayaghosa and his
assistant offering sacrifice. Bottom: the Jain monk Jayaghosa stands preaching and
Vijayaghosa plucks out his hair on becoming a Jain monk himself.
26. Fol. 85b. Lesson 26, Correct Behaviour. Mahavira seated as Tlrthankara in his
Samavasarana, with his fourfold congregation below. Brown's manuscripts here show
Mahavira preaching as a monk to his disciples.^^
27. Fol. 89b. Lesson 27, the Bad Bullocks. Top: a monk preaching to two unruly
disciples. Bottom: the two unruly bullocks to which he compares them drawing a chariot.
28. Fol. 90b. Lesson 28, the Road to Final Deliverance. Top: five perfected souls
seated in Siddhasitd, with the Isatprdgbhdra beneath them. Bottom: five monks would
appear to be demonstrating the four causes of attaining salvation. Right Knowledge,
Faith, Conduct, and Austerities.-^ Brown's manuscripts lack this latter scene^^ (fig. 11).
29. Fol. 93b. Lesson 29, the Exertion of Righteousness. Bottom: a monk being
reverently waited on by his attendants. Top: the results of such devotion, rebirth as
a god, who is shown seated surrounded by dancers and musicians.^^ Only paintings of
a god represent this last scene in Brown's manuscripts, without the diversions of heaven^°
(fig. 12).
30. Fol. ioib. Lesson 30, the Road of Penance. Top: Mahavira preaching to a monk
and a layman on the virtues of austerities, with insets of the lotus-pond and the sun
which he uses as similes.^' The latter is absent from Brown's manuscripts'*^ (fig. 13).
31. Fol. 104b. Lesson 31, on the Mode of Life. Mahavira preaching to two monks.
32. Fol. io6b. Lesson 32, on the Causes of Carelessness. Mahavira preaching to a
congregation, with three illustrations of his similes: a hen laying eggs, a cat and a mouse,
and a monk and a woman.^^ The last two are lacking in Brown^''^ (fig. 14).
33. Fol. I lib. Lesson 33, the Nature o^ Karman. Top: a monk with a nun, a layman,
and a hermaphrodite(?), of all of whom he should be wary.^s Bottom: two pairs of monks
engaged in conversation. Brown's manuscripts have cliche scenes of Mahavira preaching
for this chapter^^ (fig. 15).
34. Fol. 113b. Lesson 34, on Lesyd. Six men gather the fruit ofihcjambu tree in various
ways, three evil, three good, a parable on the nature of the six lesyds (effects o^ kartnan
on the soul).
152
-13
Fig. 15
Fig. 14
Fig. 16
Or. 13362 (13) fol. ioib, (14) fol. io6b, (15) fol. iiib, (16) fol. 119b
35- Fol. 117b. Lesson 35, the Houseless Monk. Mahavira preaches to two monks.
36. Fol. 119b. Lesson 36, on Living Things and Things without Life. Various living
beings, taken from the commentators' examples. Several more are shown here than in
Brown's manuscripts-^^ (fig. 16).
37. Fol. 131b. Conclusion. Mahavira preaching to his fourfold congregation.
Some Jain artists ignored the various styles of painting which flourished in sixteenthand seventeenth-century India and continued to produce miniatures in the traditional
style when illustrating the sacred texts until well into the seventeenth century. Another
recent acquisition is from this last period of the style, a manuscript of the Kdlakdcdryakathd
or Tale of the Monk Kalaka (Or. 13475). The tale is in the popular anonymous Sanskrit
version noted by Brown,-^^ and was originally appended to a Kalpasutra?^ The colophon
of the latter text (which was viewed but not acquired) records that it was completed in
Sarnvat 1696 (A.D. 1639-40) at Rajanagara (i.e. Ahmadabad in Gujarat). The whole
manuscript is in the archaic tradition established in the early fifteenth century, untouched
by contemporary artistic influences. Slight changes in style are noticeable, however:
for example, the Jain Ndgarl script is on a somewhat larger and coarser scale characteristic
of the seventeenth-century presentation manuscripts, as is the use of heavy blue scrollwork in all the marginal ornamentation. The nine folios measure 12X28 cm, with nine
lines of text per side between margins ruled in red. The lavish use of red, blue, and gold
gives the six miniatures (which measure 12x8 cm) a brilliant, jewel-like effect. The whole
colour scheme is in fact similar to that of the Uttarddhyayana discussed above, while
details of style, costume, etc., are practically the same as in that work, except for the
treatment of the Sahi and his followers. Kalaka was supposed to have led an invasion of
Sakas or Scythians from Sind into western India c. 50 B.C., and to depict this personage
and his followers Jain artists traditionally used a Persianized figure, probably based on
Persian paintings or ceramics introduced into Gujarat during the Sultanate period. In
this manuscript, too, his square face is shown almost in frontal view, without the projection into space of the further eye, and with a thin moustache; and he wears a four-peaked
crown. Over a loose-sleeved undergown, of which only the sleeves are visible, the Sahi
wears a qaba of black patterned with gold flowers, with a cape around his shoulders
(fig. 17). His followers wear short-sleeved^imi^ over the same undergown, and a kamarband depicted with flying ends around their waist. They all usually wear boots, and their
hair falls behind in a long pigtail.
Six subjects were chosen for illustration:
1. Fol. ib. The conversion of Prince Kalaka by Gunakara.
2. Fol. 2b. Sarasvati, Kalaka's sister, being abducted by King Gardabhilla of Ujjain.
3. Fol. 3b. Kalaka solicits the support of the Sahi (fig. 17).
4. Fol. 5a. Kalaka converts the bricks to gold.
5. Fol. 5b. Gardabhilla is besieged in Ujjain by Kalaka and his allies who kill the
magic she-ass which protects the city (fig. 18).
6. Fol. 8b. Kalaka and the god Sakra.
154
L
-
'ill u il Tnii I iTTTtnfffnTTmrrrrA
Fig. ij. Kalaka and the Sahi, Or. 13475, f^l- 3b
Fig. 18. The siege of Ujjain, Or. 13475, fol. 5b
A small number of sixteenth-century manuscripts, the so-called Caurapancdsika
group,"^ has now come to light, which show that alongside the traditional Early Western
Indian style artists were developing for Hindu and Muslim texts a new idiom which had
freed itself from some of the ancient mannerisms associated with medieval Jain painting,
such as the limited palette, projecting further eye, contorted bodies, and curtailed subjectmatter; and Jain artists too occasionally experimented with the new style. It has also
been known for some time that painting in Gujarat in the late sixteenth century preserved
many of the traditions of this style, as well as betraying new influences, usually attributed
to the spreading of the Mughal style of painting, exemplified by the Sarigrahani from
Matar of 1583'*' and the Uttarddhyayana of 1591.'^^ It is in this context that another
recent acquisition must be placed. This too is an Uttarddhyayana, but with only two
miniatures and a different commentary, styled Arthalavalesa, in Sanskrit and Gujarati
(Or. 13476). It was copied by Upadhya Harsaratna (who may also have been responsible
for the paintings) at Slhgamapura, possibly the modern Singanapor, a suburb of Surat
in Gujarat, in Samvat 1594 (A.D. 1537-8). The two miniatures measure 1 1 x 8 cm. Like
many manuscripts of the Jain Canonical texts, it begins with two cliche scenes, the first
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Fig. ig. Mahavira, Or. 13476, fol. ib
Fig. 20. Gautama, Or. 13476, fol. 2a
(fol. ib) of Mahavira in the Puspottara heaven (fig. 19); the second (fol. 2a) of Gautama,
the eldest of Mahavlra's disciples (fig. 20). Both these figures are as usual represented
as being seated within a shrine, but the stkharas or spires are somewhat unusual, that
on fol. ib having spires resembling the fifteenth-century temples of Ranakpur and
Varkan, particularly in view of the lions projecting from the roof,**^ while that on fol. 2a
has rather curious versions of the bulbous spires seen in many of these shrines in paintings of Gautama. The niches and other architectural features which usually surround
these shrines have also disappeared, while underneath Mahavira are four of the eight
auspicious symbols usually associated with Gautama. But the most interesting features
are the small subsidiary figures and the colouring. All these figures are in profile rather
than in the usual Jain three-quarter view and are lacking both the projecting further
eye as well as any noticeable bodily distortions. Their eyes are almond shaped with the
pupils towards the top centre. The larger figures on either side of the shrines, who appear
to be dvdrapdlas or door-guardians, are coloured respectively grey and brown, and wear
only a loose, skirt-like dhotl^ with a patkd hanging before it on fol. ib, and a blue kamarband on fol. 2a. Those on fol. ib wear necklace, earrings, and armbands, and retain
alone of all the figures the traditional Jain halo, while their headgear appears to be an
elaborate type o( mukuta; but on fol. 2a they appear to be wearing the small and pointed
type of Jain mukuta seen to perfection on the Jaunpur Kalpasutra of 1465 which it
156
resembles in outline.^* As it is white, however, it is more probably a version of the turban
worn by the Sultan in the India Office Library Ni'mat Ndma from Malwa c. 150010.'^^ The smaller figures at the base of both pictures are coloured white or yellow and
wear only dhotis of white or pink, green or blue kamarbands, and Turkman-like turbans
of yellow, pink, or blue which resemble those seen on the Persian-inspired figures of
the Kalpasutra painted near Broach and generally ascribed to r. 1475,'*'^ and the Kalpasutra
of 1501 painted at Patan.*' These turbans are thought to be those worn at the time in
the Sultanate of Gujarat and differ considerably from the Malwa turbans of 1500-10.
However, the most obvious point of comparison for this manuscript is the Jain
Mahdpurdna produced at Palam near Delhi in 1540,'*^ and the resemblances between
the two can be seen in the lively movements and gestures of the figures and also in their
colouring with their cherry-red backgrounds and heavy use of dark blue, olive green,
ochre, and yellow; but while the small figures on fol. 2a have the squarish faces and
smooth round limbs characteristic of the Mahdpurdna, those on fol. ib are altogether
longer and more angular. The only other dated manuscript of the Caurapancdsika group,
the Aranyakaparvan of 1516 painted at Kacchauva near Agra,'*^ is of less relevance to
us here, owing to its non-Jain provenance and the close resemblance of some of its folios
to the actual Caurapancdsika manuscript, which suggests for it a different milieu than
for either of these two Jain manuscripts of 1537 and 1540.
It would perhaps be inaccurate to describe this new Uttarddhyayana as belonging to
the Caurapancdsika group, as the most outstanding characteristics of the sartorial style
of this group of manuscripts, the kuldhddr turban, formed by tying a turban cloth round
the base of a conical cap, and the chdkddr jdmd, a coat ending in four or six points, are
absent from the two miniatures, though indeed this type of jdmd is absent also from the
Agra and Delhi manuscripts mentioned above. Moreover, the turbans of the small figures
at the bottom of both miniatures conform to the Gujarati type seen in the Kalpasutras
off. 1475 and 1501, while the turbans of the dvdrapdlas on fol. 2a resemble those of the
Malwa Ni^mat Ndma: that is to say, all of these turbans are more characteristic of that
group of manuscripts from fifteenth- and sixteenth-century India commonly termed
Sultanate. Clearly, however, our Uttarddhyayana has been influenced by the same artistic
revolution that produced the Caurapancdsika group of manuscripts, and the most satisfactory way to regard it would appear to be as the Jain response to this revolution, i.e.
showing a cautious adoption of certain new characteristics - faces in profile, the abandonment of the projecting further eye,^*^ and new garments more in keeping with contemporary fashion; but the late medieval conservative Jain tradition of painting lingers
on in the central figures of the two miniatures and the traditional subject-matter. The
Delhi Mahdpurdna of 1540 may be regarded in the same light, though in this case the
response is on a much higher level of artistic achievement. But to seek in these derivative
documents, the Mahdpurdna and the Uttarddhyayana, for a starting-point of the style
of the Caurapancdsika group is to ignore the conservative, backward-looking, and eclectic
nature of late medieval Jain painting.
The new Uttarddhyayana of 1537 is important also for the light it sheds on the
157
development of painting in Gujarat, and it is clearly an early forerunner of the Sangrahani
from Matar of 1583 and the Uttarddhyayana of 1591.5' Both of these manuscripts have
adopted certain conventions of the Caurapahcdsika style - the turbans," chdkddr jdmds,
pure profiles, large almond eyes and so on, and in their vigorous movement, of the former
in particular, reflect the Delhi Mahdpurdna. Another recent acquisition (Or. 13454) continues the tradition of archaic Gujarati painting well into the seventeenth century. This
is a copy of the Sangrahauisutra of Candra Suri, a work on Jain cosmography, lavishly
illustrated with maps, and pictures of the denizens of heaven, earth, and hell, done at
Stambhatirtha (i.e. Khambat or Cambay in Gujarat) in Samvat 1699 (A.D. 1642-3).
There are forty-four folios measuring 11 X 25 cm, and the paintings are of various sizes.
Fig. 21. A god with his wives, Or. 13454, fol. 30b
Fig. 22. A scene in hell,
Or. 13454, fol- 28b
As it was of a much less sacred character than the Canonical texts, artists were freer to
experiment in illustrating this work; and our artist has chosen to add to the traditional Jain
style elements from the styles current during the preceding century of rapidly changing
artistic forms. Here are preserved many of the characteristics of the Caurapancdsika
style, defunct for fifty years. This is seen particularly in the representation of women,
whose faces are invariably drawn in full profile with large eyes, their pupils towards the
top in the centre, though in traditional Jain fashion their corners are extended towards
the ears; and with rounded foreheads, small pointed noses, pursed lips, and pointed
chins (fig. 21). They wear either the dhoti or a skirt, in either case with broad patkd,
a coli just covering the breasts which are large and round and invariably drawn from the
front rather than in profile, and a transparent odhni ballooning out from the top of the
158
head and standing out stiffly in wings from the body. Their hair is smoothed back from
the forehead, beginning high on the crown of the head, and twisted at the back into
a heavy, projecting chignon. In fact, apart from the coiffeur and the line of the breasts,
this female type approximates quite closely to that of the Gltagovinda manuscripts^ of
the main Caurapancdsika group. The men depicted in the Sangrahanlsutra show some
equally archaic features, but are on the whole more in contemporary style. Their eyes
are like those of the women and their profiles have the typical Caurapancdstka group
features of a sharply pointed nose and pointed chin curving down into the neck, but
the kuldhddr turban itself is absent along with the chdkddr jdmd. Some of the men,
however, appear to be wearing the cap or kuldh about which the turban cloth was wound
to form this type of turban (fig. 22). On the other hand, many are wearing Akbar period
atpati turbans of the late sixteenth century, or the looser type of the Jahangir period
(1605-27) (fig. 23, centre), while a few are wearing the Shah Jahan type of turban, the
Fig. 2j. A Universal-Emperor and his necessary attendants, Or. 13454, fo^- 36b
height of fashion in 1642 (fig. 23, right). The first two types of turban are as one would
expect in an artistic style heavily influenced as this one is by Popular Mughal painting,
while the gherddr or rounded y^wJ^ and patkds with dupattds hanging over the shoulders
which many of the men wear also reveal this influence. Traditional features of Jain
painting are represented by those men wearing mukutas with their hair arranged in a
chignon at the back of the head and dhotis with kamarband or patkd round their body.
Though a few men are shown in three-quarter view, the projecting further eye is absent;
but many of the men still have vestiges of the traditional Jain distortion of a projecting
chest.
Another manuscript of the same text with a Gujarati commentary also in the British
Library (Or. 2116C) is undated but was clearly copied and illustrated in Gujarat about
1640. Unlike the recent acquisition, its style is more in keeping with its period, being in
the Gujarati Popular Mughal style with only a few archaic characteristics. All the faces
are drawn in profile, with two exceptions which still have the further projecting eye
159
Fig. 24, A god with his attendants. Or. 2116, fol. 71b
(fig. 24, left), though the corner of the eye tends to be prolonged towards the ear. All
the women wear a skirt with patkd, a dupattd^ and a coli, and some an odhni; in only
a few instances are there vestiges of the latter ballooning from the head. Pompoms are
in abundance, and their hair now falls in a long braid behind, abandoning the chignon
(Rg. 25). The men wear jamas and trousers, patkd or kamarband^ dupattd and atpatl
turban, or alternatively just a dhoti and dupattd with mukuta and projecting chignon.
In only one instance is there a chdkddr jdmd (fig. 25, left). Several other seventeenthcentury manuscripts of this type are known, illustrated in Gujarati Popular Mughal
style.^"^ The new Safigrahanl (Or. 13454) ^^ in an archaic style in comparison and owes
more to the Matar Safigrahanio^ i^*^!) ^^^ Uttarddhyayana of 1591 and their predecessors
than the intervening manuscripts, which makes it a much rarer type of document.
Fig. 25. A god being entertained. Or. 2116, fol. 76a
160
1 The work has been edited by Jarl Charpentier
(Uppsala, 1922), Archives d"£tudes Orientates,
vol. XVIII, hereafter called US, and translated into
English by Hermann Jacobi, Jama Sutras, Part II
{Oxford, I8()s)^Sacred Books of the East, vol XL\,
hereafter called Jacobi. For a description see:"
Jacobi, pp. xiii-xli; US, pp. 9-65; and H. R.
Kapadia, A History of the Canonical Literature
of the Jains (Bombay and Surat, 1941), passim.
2 The chief published commentaries are those by
Santi Suri, the Brhadvrtti, published with
Bhadrabahu's Niryukti (Bombay, 1916-17), and
by Devendra, the Laghuvrtti, edited by Vijayamahga Suri (Valad and Bombay, 1937). The
ancient Prakrit tales contained in tbese commentaries were published in Sanskrit in 1959-60
from Rajkot, in the edition of the Sthanakavasi
Jainasastroddhara Samiti with the commentary
of Ghasllal Maharaj, hereafter referred to as
USG. Some of the most important tales from
Devendra's commentary were edited by Jacobi
in Ausgewdhlte Erzdhlungen m Mahdrdstrl (heipzig, 1886), and translated into English from
Jacobi's edition by John Jacob Meyer, Hindu
Tates (London, 1909).
3 A work mostly on the lives of the Tirthahkaras,
the twenty-four founders of the Jain religion.
See W. Norman Brown, Miniature Paintings of
the Jama Kalpasutra (Washington, 1934), Freer
Gallery of Art Oriental Studies, no. 2, and
Sarabhai M. Nawab, Masterpieces of the Kalpasutra Paintings (Ahmedabad, 1956), Jain Art
Publication Series, no. 7, for illustrated manuscripts of this work. In medieval India it was the
custom for Jains of any wealth to have prepared
illustrated copies of this work and to present
them to their gurus for deposit in the temple
library - hence the great number of surviving
examples, the majority of them prepared on a
commercial basis and of little artistic value.
4 For a full analysis of the costumes, jewellery,
architecture, etc., of Jain miniatures, see Moti
Chandra, Jam Miniature Paintings from Western
India (Ahmedabad, 1949), Jain Art Publication
Series, no. i, pp. ii4ff.
5 W.Norman Brown, Manuscript Illustrations of
the Uttarddhyayana Siitra (New Haven, 1941),
American Oriental Series, vol.21, hereafter
referred to as Brown, which should be consulted
for an analysis of each chapter. Only where Brown
is lacking is reference made below to the
Uttarddhyayana text and commentaries.
6 USG, i. 761-757 Ibid. 574-83.
8 Ibid. 598-600. But possibly another story is
referred to in this miniature, that of the king
and his son gambling for the kingdom (ibid.
602-4).
9 Ibid. 608-13.
10 Ibid.618-21.
11 Ibid. 621-2.
12 Ibid.613-18.
13 Brown, pp. 7-8, figs. 7-9.
14 US, IV. V. 6; Jacobi, p. 19.
15 USG, ii.65-6.
16 Brown, pp. 8-10, figs. 10-13.
17 US, V. V. 12, a passing reference to the punishments of hell, more fully described in US, xix
and again in the Sutrakrtdhgasutra, Jacobi, op.
cit., p. 279.
18 US, V. vv. 14-15.
19 USG, ii. 137-40.
20 Brown, pp. io-i I, figs. 14-16.
21 Jacobi, pp. 74-5
«
22 Brown, p. 23, figs. 54-6
23 Ibid., p. 24, figs. 57-61. Nor do these last two
acts occur in either text or commentaries.
24 Jacobi, pp. 102-4.
25 Brown, p. 29, figs. 74-6.
26 Ibid., p. 37, figs. 102-4.
27 Jacobi, pp. 152 ff.
28 Brown, p.40, figs. 111-14.
29 US, XXIX. V. 14; Jacobi, p. 164.
30 Brown, p. 41, figs. 115-18.
31 US, XXX. vv. 5-6; Jacobi, p. 174.
y2 Brown, pp. 42-3> figs. 119-23.
;^i, US, xxxii. vv. 6, 13, and 14; Jacobi, pp. 185-6.
34 Brown, pp. 45-6, figs. 128-33.
35 US, XXXIII. V. 11; Jacobi, p. 194.
36 Brown, p. 47, figs. 134-7.
37 Ibid., pp. 50-1, figs. 144, 146.
38 W. Norman Brown, The Story of Kalaka (Washington, 1933), Freer Gallery of Art Oriental
Studies, no. i, pp. 98-101.
39 One of the three Kalakas whose legends have
been confused in the various versions of the
Kalaka story (this one an historical figure who
became the head of the Svetdmbara]z\n Church)
in A.D. 466 moved the date of the most sacred
Jain festival, the Paryusand; and as one of the
chief events of the festival was the recitation of
the Kalpasutra, it became a common practice in
honour of Kalaka to append one of the many
versions of his story to the presentation copies of
161
the Kalpasutra. Sec Brown, The Story o
pp. I-I2.
40 Sec Karl Khandalawala and Moti Chandra, New
Documents of Indian Painting - a Reappraisal
(Delhi, K)(K)), pp. 57- ioy, who believe that these
manuscripts come from the area between Delhi
and JiUinpur (in eastern Uttar Pradesh); and
Douglas Barrett and Basil Gray, Painting of
/Hi//.i (Lausanne, 1963), pp. 63--72. Barrett argues
very persuasively for their origin in the Rajput
state of Mewar in southern Rajasthan, but it is
more probable that the style was current in the
sixteenth century over most of northern and
western India.
41 Moti Chandra and Umkant P. Shah, 'New
Documents of Jain Paintings'. Sri Mahiivihilra
Jama lidyalaya Golden Jubilee Volume, i (Bombay, IQ68), 364-3^ 387-9> figs. 12-13.
42 Brown, Manuscript Illustrations of the Uttarddhyayana Sutra, passim.
43 See M. A.Dhaky, 'Renaissance and the late
rt Maru-Gujara Temple Architecture', Journal of
the Indian Society of Oriental Art, Special Number
Western Indian Art (Calcutta, 1965-6), pp. 4-22,
particularly plate IV, no. 2 for the lions (from
Ranakpur) and plate VI. no. 5 (the outhne of the
sikhara from Varkan corresponds to that on
fol. ib). On both these miniatures, however, the
crowning amalaka of the sikhara is missing, and
it is unlikely that they were drawn from specific
temples. The torana or arch on fol. 2b, broken
in the middle above Gautama's head and curving round into lotus blossoms, is often seen in
pictures of Gautama's shrine.
44 Khandalawala and Moti Chandra, 'An illustrated Kalpasutra painted at Jaunpur in
A.D. 1465', LaUt Kald, no. 12 (Delhi, 1962),
pp. 9-15; and New Documents, pp. 23-7.
45 Robert Skelton, 'The Ni'mat Nama : a Landmark
in Malwa Painting', Mdrg, \it. no. 3 (Bombay,
1959), 44-50; and New Documents, pp. 59-63.
46 W. Norman Brown, 'A Jain Manuscript from
Gujarat illustrated in Early Western Indian and
Persian Styles', Ars Islamica, iv (1937), 154-72;
Moti Chandra, Jain Miniature Paintings from
Western India, pp 39ff ; and New Documents,
pp. 29-40.
47 Moti Chandra and Sbah, op. cit., i. 364-5, 387-9,
figs. 12-13.
48 Khandalawala and Moti Chandra, 'Three New
Documents of Indian Painting', Bulletin of the
Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, no. 7
(Bombay, 1959-62), pp. 23-7; and New Documents, pp. 69-78.
49 Khandalawala and Moti Chandra, 'An illustrated Manuscript of the Aranyaka Parvan in
tbe Collection of the Asiatic Society, Bombay',
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay, N.S.y
38 (t963), 116-21; and New Documents, pp.
64-9.
50 Tbis trend in non-Islamic Indian manuscripts
can now be traced back to the fifteenth century:
a wooden palm-leaf manuscript cover of 1491
from Bihar, now in tbe British Library (Or.
13133), bears pictures of the incarnations of
Visnu which show the faces in strict profile without projecting eyes. Tbis I bope to publish
shortly.
5r Vide supra, notes 41 and 42.
52 Moti Chandra and Shah (op. cit., p. 387) think
that tbe turbans worn by some of tbe men in the
Matar Sarigrahani o( is^i are the contemporary
tightly wound atpatl-style pagris of Akbar's
court and thus show Mugbal artistic infiuence
in Gujarat at tbis early date. However, this type
of turban can be seen in tbe Jaunpur KalpasHtra
of 1465 (Kbandalawala and Moti Chandra, New
Documents, figs. 38 and 40), and all tbe other
details of costume have counterparts in the
Mahdpurdna, tbe Caurapancdsika-^TOUp, and
various Jain manuscripts. It therefore seems to
me unnecessary to posit Mughal influence id'lhis
or the Uttarddhyayana of 1591. When Mughal
influence becomes discernible in Gujarati painting, it is from the Popular Mugbal style of the
early seventeenth century.
53 K. Khandalawala, 'A Gita Govinda Series in the
Prince of Wales Museum', Bulletin of the Prtnce
of Wales Museum, no. 4 (1953-4), pp. 1-18; and
New Documents, pp. 85-9.
54 For example, two are in the Kbajancbi collection at Bikaner, one undated, tbe other from
Saurashtra dated 1638. See K. Khandalawala,
Moti Chandra, and Pramod Cbandra, Miniature
Paintings from the Sri Motichand Khajanchi
Collection (New Delhi, i960), exbibits no. 9,
figs. 18-19, and no. 139, figs. 97-8.
162