c. 1450

Harinegameshin Transfers Mahavira's Embryo from Devananda to Trishala

This page comes from an illustrated copy of the Kalpasutra, the sacred Jain text that describes the life of the historical Jain savior-saint Mahavira, who lived in about the sixth century B.C. The lower register of the illustration depicts Harinegameshin, the goat-headed divine helper, taking the embryo containing Mahavira from the womb of the Brahmin (priestly caste) mother in whom he was conceived; the upper register shows him placing the embryo in the womb of Queen Trishala, the Kshatriya (ruler caste) mother to whom Mahavira must be born.