The Jain Cosmography (Sangrahanisutra)

Currently not on view

The Jain Cosmography (Sangrahanisutra)

1663-1664

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

The concentric circles seen on the left in this painting represent continents surrounded by the Arunavara Ocean. On the right is the third stage of the fifth-level heaven of the gods (Brahmaloka), indicated by a small shrine at the center of which is enthroned the Indra of this particular heaven stage. In a wonderfully graphic representation, the heavy, curved black lines leading from the ocean are the "black stuff" (krishnarajis)--a substance made of water and particles of vegetation--that flows from the Arunavara Ocean to the heights of Brahmaloka. Every soul must be reborn several times within this mass, and it is from there that various gods and semi-divine beings produce rain and thunder.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

The Jain Cosmography (Sangrahanisutra)
The third stage of the fifth-level heaven of the gods filled with a substance made of water and vegetation, from where each soul must be reborn several times

Date:

1663-1664

Artist:

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

Medium:

Opaque watercolor and ink on paper

Dimensions:

Sheet: 4 3/8 × 10 1/4 inches (11.1 × 26 cm)

Classification:

Books/Manuscripts/Information Artifacts

Credit Line:

Purchased with the Francis T. S. Darley Fund, 1935

Accession Number:

1935-34-11(19a,b)

Geography:

Made in Gujarat, India, Asia or made in Rajasthan, India, Asia

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Currently not on view