https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Kalpa_S%C5%ABtraKalpa Sūtra - Revision history2026-07-31T12:18:09ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Kalpa_S%C5%ABtra&diff=473295&oldid=prevChristinTrickett at 03:22, 24 March 20262026-03-24T03:22:38Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Jain manuscript written by Bhadrabahu}}<br />
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{{For|Hindu text called Kalpa Sutras|Kalpa (Vedanga)#Texts}}<br />
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{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}<br />
{{Infobox religious text<br />
| image = Detail of a leaf with the birth of mahavira.jpg<br />
| alt = Kalpa Sutra<br />
| caption = Detail of a leaf with, The Birth of [[God Mahavira]] (the 24th [[Jain]] [[Tirthankara]]), from the ''Kalpa Sutra'', c.1375–1400.<br />
| religion = [[Jainism]]<br />
| author = [[Bhadrabahu]]<br />
}}<br />
{{Jainism}}<br />
The '''''Kalpa Sūtra''''' ({{langx|sa|कल्पसूत्र}}) is an important [[Jain text|Jain scripture]] containing the biographies of the [[Tirthankara]]s, notably [[Parshvanatha]] and [[Mahavira]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Jacobi |first=Hermann |editor-first=F. Max |editor-last=Müller |title=Kalpa Sutra, Jain Sutras Part I, Sacred Books of the East |volume=22 |publisher=The Clarendon Press |year=1884 |location=Oxford |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/jai/sbe22/index.htm}}</ref> Ascribed to [[Bhadrabahu|Acharya Bhadrabahu]], which would place it in the 4th century BCE,<ref name=Britannica>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/mahavira |url-status=dead |title=Mahavira |encyclopedia=Britannica Concise Encyclopedia |year=2006 |via=Answers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091019131221/http://www.answers.com/topic/mahavira |archive-date=19 October 2009}}</ref> it states that it was written down 980 or 993 years after the ''Nirvana'' (''[[Moksha (Jainism)|Moksha]]'') of Mahavira or 1230 years after the Nirvana of Tirthankar Parswanath.<br />
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==History==<br />
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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jacobi |first=Hermann |url=http://archive.org/details/jainasutrasparti029233mbp |title=Jaina Sutras Part I |date=1964 |publisher=Motilal Babarsidass. |others=Osmania University, Digital Library Of India}}</ref> The oldest surviving copies are written on paper in western India in the 14th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Budny |first=Mildred O. |date=2018-04-18 |title=Sanskrit and Prakrit Manuscripts - |url=https://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/sanskrit-and-prakrit-manuscripts/ |access-date=2024-06-16 |language=en-US}}</ref><br />
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The Kalpa Sutra is ascribed to Acharya Bhadrabahu, the sixth spiritual successor of the great shraman ''Chaturvidh'' sangha of Mahavira, who is said to have composed it some 150 years after the ''Nirvāṇa'' of Mahavira.<ref name=Britannica/> It was compiled probably during the reign of [[Dhruvasena]], 980 or 993 years after Mahavira's liberation.{{sfn|Kailash Chand Jain|1991|p=75}}<br />
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The Kalpa Sutra was one of the first Jain texts to be translated into English.<ref name="Cort 2001 153">{{Cite book |last=Cort |first=John E. |url=http://archive.org/details/jainsinworldreli0000cort |title=Jains in the world : religious values and ideology in India |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford; New York : Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-513234-2 |pages=153}}</ref><br />
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==Importance==<br />
The book is read and illustrated in an eight-day-long festival of [[Paryushan]] by Jain monks for general people. Only monks are generally permitted to read this scripture, as in Jainism, this text has very high spiritual values and sanctity.{{Citation needed|date=November 2025}}<br />
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The sound of the words alone, even without reflection on the meaning, is considered to transform the listener's soul.<ref name="Cort 2001 153"/><br />
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[[File:Kalpasutra Mahavira Nirvana.jpg|thumb|[[Kalpasutra (Jain)|Kalpasutra]] folio on ''Mahavira Nirvana''. Note the crescent-shaped ''Siddhashila'', a place where all siddhas reside after Nirvana.]]<br />
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==Contents==<br />
The Kalpa Sutra mentions nine Ganas and 11 [[Ganadhara]]s of [[Mahavira]].{{sfn|Vyas|1995|p=27}} [[Gautama Swami]] is mentioned as prime Ganadhara of Mahavira.{{sfn|Vyas|1995|p=27}} Acharya Bhadrabahu's disciple Godasa is mentioned to have founded Godasa Gana.{{sfn|Vyas|1995|p=27}}<br />
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The text includes the biography of Mahavira, of the twenty-four jinas, and of the lineage of mendicants who followed Mahavir.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cort |first=John E. |url=http://archive.org/details/jainsinworldreli0000cort |title=Jains in the world : religious values and ideology in India |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford; New York : Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-513234-2 |pages=153–154}}</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Neminatha]]<br />
* [[Parshvanatha]]<br />
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==References==<br />
===Citations===<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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===Sources===<br />
* {{citation |last=Dundas |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Dundas |title=The Jains |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8iAAgAAQBAJ |edition=Second |date=2002 |orig-year=1992 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=0-415-26605-X }}<br />
* {{citation |last=Jain |first=Kailash Chand |author-link=Kailash Chand Jain |title=Lord Mahāvīra and His Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-TxcO9dfrcC |date=1991 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-81-208-0805-8 |ref={{sfnref|Kailash Chand Jain|1991}} }}<br />
* {{citation |editor-last=Vyas |editor-first=R. T. |author-link=R.T. Vyas |url={{Google books|fETebHcHKogC|plainurl=yes}} |title=Studies in Jaina Art and Iconography and Allied Subjects |publisher=The Director, Oriental Institute, on behalf of the Registrar, M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara |year=1995 |isbn=81-7017-316-7 }}<br />
*"The Kalpa Sûtra" translated in English by [[Hermann Jacobi]] is published by Motilal Banarsidass Publishers in Delhi in " The [[Sacred Books of the East]]" (Vol 22) (1989) {{ISBN|81-208-0123-7}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
{{commons category|Kalpa Sutra}}<br />
; Translations<br />
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jai/sbe22/index.htm Kalpa Sutra text (1884 English translation)] (sacred-texts.com)<br />
* [https://www.wisdomlib.org/jainism/book/kalpa-sutra Kalpa Sutra text (1884 English translation)] (Wisdom Library)<br />
* [https://archive.org/details/kalpasutraandna00bhadgoog The Kalpa sutra, and Nava tatva (1848 English translation)]<br />
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{{Jain Agamas}}<br />
{{Jainism topics}}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalpa Sutra}}<br />
[[Category:Atomism]]<br />
[[Category:Prakrit Jain texts]]<br />
[[Category:Indian biographies]]</div>ChristinTrickett