The Jain teacher Nemi abandons his bride-to-be, from a manuscript of the Kalpasutra (Book of Ritual)

(One of two pages)

Like Siddhartha, the Buddha-to-be, Nemi was a prince with great spiritual powers. Persuaded by the examples of the previous Jain teachers, all of whom had dutifully married before embarking on their spiritual quests, the young prince reluctantly agreed to wed. In this painting, Nemi is depicted in a horse-drawn chariot. The large female figure at the upper left is Nemi's bride-to-be, who is awaiting the bridegroom's arrival at the wedding pavilion. According to Jain tradition, Nemi heard several anguished cries as he approached the wedding pavilion. Upon discovering that the sounds came from the numerous animals that were to be slaughtered for the wedding feast, he ordered his charioteer to turn back. He thereafter renounced the world and began his search for spiritual salvation. The lower register of this painting depicts Nemi fleeing from the sight of the captive animals.

The life stories of some of the Jain teachers are among the subjects contained in the Kalpasutra, an important text still recited by Jain monks in an annual festival that occurs during the rainy season. These pages derive their elongated horizontal format from earlier manuscripts that were composed of long, narrow strips of palm leaves. The red circle in the center of each page recalls holes for the binding cord by which these earlier manuscripts were held together.