- Title
- Harinegameshin Brings the Embryo of Jina Mahavira to Queen Trishala, Folio from a Kalpasutra (Book of Sacred Precepts)
- Date Made
- circa 1650
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor and ink on paper
- Dimensions
- Image (Image): 4 x 2 7/8 in. (10.16 x 7.3025 cm)
Sheet (Sheet): 4 5/8 x 12 1/4 in. (11.7475 x 31.115 cm)
Frame: 14 × 19 in. (35.56 × 48.26 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.71.1.18
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
The Kalpasutra (Book of Sacred Precepts), a Shvetambara (white-clad sect) Jain text, is traditionally ascribed to the Bengali Jain abbot Bhadrabahu (circa 367-298 BCE). It contains the hagiographies of the Jain saviors, especially Parshvanatha and Mahavira.
This folio from a dispersed Kalpasutra depicts the deer-headed Harinegameshin bringing the embryo of Jina Mahavira from his Brahmin mother, Devananda, to his Kshatriya surrogate mother, Queen Trishala. Harinegameshin (or Naigamesha), who can be alternatively represented with a goat head, was originally an ancient tutelary deity venerated for the protection of children. According to the tradition of the Shvetambara Jains (white-clad sect), when Devananda was close to giving birth, Indra ordered Harinegameshin to transfer the embryo of Jina Mahavira to Trishala because all Jinas (or Tirthankaras) must be born as Kshatriyas. In contrast, the Digambara Jains (sky-clad sect) believe Trishala was Mahavira’s natural mother.
Here, Harinegameshin arrives with the embryo as Trishala reclines in a palatial bedchamber at night. The circular red marginal decorations are a decorative remanent of the string hole used to bind earlier palm leaf manuscripts.
- Selected Bibliography
- Rosenfield, John. The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.
