The Lion's Cave with Sthulabhadra and His Sisters, Folio 60 (verso), from a Kalpa-sutra

c. 1450

Western India, Gujarat

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Medium

Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

Measurements

Overall: 12.5 x 25.7 cm (4 15/16 x 10 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1932.119.60.b

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The three red dots in the margins and the center occur only on the reverse side of the page; the obverse side has only one red dot in the center.

Description

This manuscript is open to a page with a painting that depicts the story of a Jain monk who transformed himself into a composite beast when his sisters, two nuns, came to visit him. Terrified, the nuns ran to a senior monk, at the lower left, who admonished their brother for his overly prideful display of power. Remarkably, this story is not told in the text itself, which contains only their names among a list of prominent Jain teachers. The painting would remind a reader of the story that is found in many commentaries to the text.