Several layers of insight have been woven around the Kalpa Sūtra over the centuries. Key traditional commentaries include:

• Kalpa-vṛtti by Āchārya Haribhadra Sūri (8th century CE)
Often reckoned the earliest surviving gloss, this Prākrit masterpiece unpacks ritual details and Mahāvīra’s life stories. Haribhadra Sūri’s explanations still serve as a cornerstone for later scholars.

• Kalpa-sūtra-vṛtti by Āchārya Hemacandra (12th century CE)
Penned in refined Sanskrit, Hemacandra’s commentary brings a systematic, almost architectural, clarity to monastic rules. It remains a go-to reference in many Śvetāmbara monastic libraries.

• Tīkā of Jinaprabha Sūri (14th century CE)
Adding fresh illustrative anecdotes, Jinaprabha Sūri’s Tīkā sparkles with moral lessons drawn from village life. It turned complex ethical codes into bite-sized stories that novice monks could readily recall.

• Modern bilingual editions and notes
- Champat Rāi Jain (1917): An early English translation sprinkled with British-era scholastic footnotes, still cited by historians tracing Jain historiography.
- Muni Jambuvijaya & Pt. Nathmal Tatia (1950s): A landmark Prākrit–English edition complete with cross-references to canonical texts.
- Prof. Padmanbhai Jaini and Dr. Nalini Balbir (2000s onward): Offering fresh philological insights, they bridge traditional exegesis with contemporary academic methods.

In today’s digital age—spurred on by projects like the 2024 Mahāvīra Jayanti online archive—several of these commentaries have been digitized and annotated. That trend is shaking off centuries of dust and putting classical wisdom right at one’s fingertips. Whether it’s Haribhadra’s foundational vṛtti or Hemacandra’s finely chiseled verses, each commentary adds its own brushstroke to the portrait of Mahāvīra and the monastic ideal.