Text, Folio 54 (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 54 (recto), from a Kalpa-sutra is a 1488 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a bright blue figure sitting cross-legged inside a red shrine. Gold jewelry and a crown glow against his skin. Two smaller figures stand beside him, holding fly whisks. This painting comes from a Jain holy book. Jains believe the figure, Arishtanemi, reached perfect peace. The two attendants are actually Hindu gods Krishna and Balarama—but Jains see them differently, as heroes, not gods. The colors are bold and flat, like stained glass. To see more like this, look up western india, gujarat.
Followers of the Jain religion recognize 24 Jinas, individuals who reached liberation from the cycles of death and rebirth. Arishtanemi was the 22nd of the 24 and was a cousin of Krishna. Here Arishtanemi sits in eternal meditative bliss, crowned and bejeweled in a shrine. His attendants are sometimes recognized as the Hindu deities Krishna and Balarama. Followers of the Jain religion do not view Krishna as a supreme deity; instead, they view him and his brother Balarama as semidivine heroes with access to the liberated being.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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