Kalpa Sutra
Also known as: Kalpa-sūtra, Pajjosavaṇā Kappa, Kalpasutra, Bāraso-sūtra
A Śvetāmbara Jain liturgical scripture recited during Paryuṣaṇa, the Kalpa Sutra contains hagiographies of the Jinas—especially Mahāvīra, Pārśva, Nemi, and Ṛṣabha—followed by a lineage of early teachers (Sthavirāvalī) and monastic regulations for the rainy season (Sāmācārī).
Description
The Kalpa Sutra is among the most revered Śvetāmbara texts, publicly recited during Paryuṣaṇa with special emphasis on Mahāvīra’s birth, renunciation, enlightenment, and liberation. Its first part (Jina-caritra) offers stylized biographies of select Tīrthaṅkaras, including auspicious dreams, royal infancy, princely life, great renunciation, ascetic trials, attainment of kevala-jñāna, teaching, and final emancipation. The second part (Sthavirāvalī) enumerates and praises the early elders who transmitted the teaching, anchoring authority in a remembered succession. The third part (Sāmācārī) codifies seasonal conduct, prescribing restraints and procedures for monastics during the rains. Extant Western Indian paper manuscripts from the 14th century onward are richly illuminated, reflecting the text’s ritual prominence and its role in communal memory and artistic patronage.
Historiography
Kalpa Sutra belongs to the Śvetāmbara Cheda Sūtras and is traditionally linked to Bhadrabāhu, though its present form reflects later redaction. The work became a favored subject for miniature painting in western India from the 14th century, with numerous illustrated paper codices. During Paryuṣaṇa, its recitation—especially Mahāvīra’s birth narrative—cemented its performative and didactic status. Scholarly access in the West was shaped by Hermann Jacobi’s 1884 translation in the Sacred Books of the East series, while modern digital projects and Jain repositories have catalogued manuscripts and outlined its tripartite structure.
Date Notes
Traditionally ascribed to Ācārya Bhadrabāhu; Śvetāmbara tradition places a compilation/redaction roughly 980 or 993 years after Mahāvīra’s nirvāṇa, and the text is classed among the Cheda Sūtras. Surviving illustrated manuscripts date from 14th-century western India.
Archetypes
Symbols
Major Characters
- Mahavira
- Rishabhanatha
- Parshvanatha
- Neminatha
- Queen Trishala
Myths
- Omens and Birth of Tirthankaras
- Life of Pārśvanatha
- Life and Kevala of Mahāvīra
- Mahāvīra’s Nirvana
Facts
- Classed among the Śvetāmbara Cheda Sūtras.
- Recited publicly by monks during the Paryuṣaṇa festival, with focus on Mahāvīra’s birth.
- Structured in three parts: Jina-caritra, Sthavirāvalī, and Sāmācārī.
- Gujarati tradition calls it “Bāraso-sūtra,” from a count approximating 1,216 sections.
- Earliest extant manuscripts are richly illustrated paper codices from 14th-century western India.
- Hermann Jacobi’s 1884 English translation (SBE 22) shaped modern scholarship.
- Mentions Mahāvīra’s eleven gaṇadharas and early monastic succession.
- The Sāmācārī prescribes rainy-season conduct and restraints for monks.
- Iconographic cycles from the text became a major genre of Jain miniature painting.
- Traditional attributions link authorship to Ācārya Bhadrabāhu while acknowledging later redaction.