Collection Online as of September 24, 2023

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

c. 1450

Part of a set. See all set records

Western India, Gujarat

Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

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

Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1932.119.60.b

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

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.

Inscriptions

Inscription

[[beginning with line 1]] ttehiṁto | ittha ṇaṁ godāse nāmaṁ gaṇe niggae | tassa ṇaṁ imāu cattāri [line 2] sāhāu | evam=āhijjaṁti || taṁ jahā Tāmalittiā | Koḍīvarisiā [line 3] Poṁḍavaddhaṇiā | Dāsīkhabbaḍiā | therassa| |ṇaṁ ajja-Saṁbhūivija- [line 4] yassa | māḍhara-saguttassa | ime ḍuvālasa therā | aṁtevāsī || [line 5] ahāvaccā abhinnāyā hutthā || taṁ jahā | Naṁdaṇabhadde [line 6] Uvanaṁde [note 1] | taha Tīsabhadda Jasabhadde | there a Sumiṇabhadde 7? [line 7] Gaṇibhadde Punnabhadde a || 1 there a Thūlabhadde | Ujjumaī [note 2] Jaṁbu nā- [line 8] madhijje a | there a Dīhabhadde | there taha Paṁḍubhadde a || 2 therassa ṇaṁ | [line 9] ajja-Saṁbhūivijayassa | māḍhara-saguttassa | imāu satta aṁtevāsi

Inscription Translation

[…] the ‘Godāsa’ gaṇa was created. It has those four branches; they are the following: Tāmraliptikā, Koṭivarṣīyā, Puṇḍravardhanīyā, Dāsīkharbaṭikā. The noble Sambhutavijaya of the Māṭhara gotra had those twelve wise Theras as disciples: Nandanabhadra, Upananda, also Tiṣyabhadra, Yaśobhadra and the Thera Sumanobhadra, Gaṇibhadra and Puṇyabhadra and the Thera Sthūlabhadra, R̥jumati and the one named Jambū and the Thera Dīrghabhadra and also the Thera Pāṇḍubhadra. The noble Thera Sambhutavijaya of the Māṭhara gotra had those seven [female] disciples:

Inscription Remark

1. upanaṁda 2. ūjjumati

Inscription

[[upper right]] sīha guphā

Inscription Translation

The lion’s cave

Provenance

?–1932

(Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1932–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

Main Gallery Rotation (Gallery 242B). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 6–November 7, 2016).