Within the Jain tradition, the Kalpa Sūtra has given rise to a layered commentarial heritage that mirrors the depth of its subject matter—the life of Mahāvīra and the discipline of monastic conduct. At the foundation of this tradition stands the **Kalpa-sūtra-niryukti**, composed in Prakrit verse and traditionally attributed to **Bhadrabāhu**. This niryukti is regarded as the earliest systematic attempt to elucidate the text and provides the seed from which later exegesis grows. Building upon it, **Jinadāsa Gaṇi Mahattara** authored the **Kalpa-sūtra-cūrṇi** in Jain Śaurasenī Prakrit prose, expanding and clarifying the earlier verses in a more discursive manner. Together, these two works form a kind of double commentary: one terse and mnemonic, the other more expansive and explanatory.

Subsequent centuries saw the emergence of Sanskrit commentaries—variously styled as ṭīkā, vṛtti, or bhāṣya—by eminent Śvetāmbara ācāryas, who sought to integrate the Kalpa Sūtra more fully into the broader scholastic and ritual life of the community. Among these, **Jinaprabha Sūri** is noted for a Sanskrit ṭīkā or vṛtti that engages closely with both narrative and disciplinary dimensions of the text. Later traditions also associate **Hemacandra Sūri** and **Abhayadeva Sūri** with explanatory works or glosses on the Kalpa Sūtra, often embedded within their wider kalpa and Āgama commentarial projects. These medieval ṭīkās and vṛttis do not merely paraphrase; they interpret, systematize, and sometimes subtly reframe the text for new pedagogical and ritual contexts.

Over time, the commentarial stream broadened into more accessible forms, reflecting the living reception of the Kalpa Sūtra within lay and monastic communities alike. Vernacular works in Gujarati and Hindi—such as **Sukhabodha**, **Dīpikā**, and **Balavabodha**—came to be associated with various teachers and lineages, including figures like **Devacandra Sūri**, **Ajitadeva Sūri**, **Vijayānandasūri**, and other later monks and scholars. These works often take the form of anvaya (running explanation) or practical ṭīkā, designed to accompany public recitation during observances such as Paryuṣaṇa and to make the text’s ethical and ritual implications transparent to a broader audience. In this way, the Kalpa Sūtra stands not as an isolated scripture but as the center of a living hermeneutical tradition, in which successive generations of commentators have sought to illuminate its vision of the Jina’s life and the disciplined path it enjoins.