Text, Folio 37 (recto), from a Kalpa-sutra
1488
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1488
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Text, Folio 37 (recto), from a Kalpa-sutra is a 1488 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a man pulling out his own hair in big handfuls under a red tree. Gods watch from above, their blue skin glowing against a gold sky. This is a scene from a Jain holy book, painted in Gujarat around 1490. The man is Mahavira, a spiritual leader who gave up his royal life. The artist shows the moment of pain and determination—his chest muscles tight, his face calm. To see more work like this, look up *western india, gujarat, last quarter of the 15th century*.
When Mahavira chose to renounce his life as a prince to seek omniscience and ultimate liberation, he traveled from his palace to the countryside until he came to a wooded park. The text states that under an ashoka tree in the park, Mahavira removed his ornaments and garlands and plucked out his hair with his fists in five handfuls. In the illumination he unflinchingly grasps a fistful of hair, his pectoral muscle flexed with the effort. Indra, the four-armed king of the gods, sits under a royal canopy on a lower level than Mahavira and praises his extreme act of self-mortification. The…
Read the full account in the museum source.
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