Jain Texts and Scriptures: The Agamas

Two branches of the same religion disagree about their own holy book. One branch says it is authentic. The other says the true version was lost centuries before it was ever written down. This is the story of the Jain Agamas.

MCQ Questions

Jain Agamas

Two Sects, One Lost Chapter

c. 6th-5th Century BCE

Ganadharas compose the 12 Angas

Mahavira’s chief disciples record his oral teachings as the 12 Angas.

c. 300 BCE

A famine scatters the monks who remembered it

A 12-year famine in Magadha breaks the chain of memorisers. The Pataliputra council tries a partial compilation, but the 12th Anga is already fading.

c. 1st-2nd Century CE

Dharasena teaches surviving fragments

Worried about fading knowledge, he teaches two monks in a Girnar hill cave, Chandra Gupha.

Shortly After

The Shatkhandagama is written

Pushpadanta and Bhutabali write down the fragments, roughly 6,000 sutras, forming the Digambara canon’s core.

453 or 466 CE

The Valabhi Council writes the Agamas

About 500 scholars, led by Devardhigani Kshamashramana, end centuries of oral transmission.

The split: Svetambaras trace their scripture’s authenticity to Valabhi. Digambaras don’t dispute that the council happened — they hold that authentic originals were already lost centuries earlier, so nothing genuine survived for Valabhi to write down.

6th c. BCE – 466 CE mcqquestion.com

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What the Agamas Are Need to Know

• The Agamas are Jainism’s canonical scriptures, based on the teachings of Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara.
• His chief disciples, called Ganadharas, composed the Agamas from his oral teachings.
• The earliest Agamas were composed in Ardhamagadhi Prakrit, not Sanskrit.
• The full Svetambara canon traditionally includes around 45 texts: 12 Angas, 12 Upangas, 10 Prakirnakas, 4 Mulasutras, 6 Chedasutras, and 2 Chulikasutras.
• The 12th Anga, the Drishtivada, is considered lost by both sects. It once held 14 older texts called Purvas, covering advanced spiritual and metaphysical subjects.

A Text Nearly Lost, and Saved Twice Good to Know

• Tradition ties the Drishtivada’s loss to a specific event: a 12-year famine in Magadha. It scattered the monks who had memorised it, breaking the chain of oral transmission.
• Around 300 BCE, a council at Pataliputra tried a partial compilation to save what remained. It wasn’t enough to save the full Drishtivada.
• Around the 1st or 2nd century CE, Digambara Acharya Dharasena grew worried about fading scriptural knowledge. He taught surviving fragments to two monks, in a cave called Chandra Gupha, on Girnar hill in modern Gujarat.
• Those monks, Pushpadanta and Bhutabali, wrote the fragments down as the Shatkhandagama, “Scripture in Six Parts,” roughly 6,000 sutras in total. It forms the core of the Digambara canon today, alongside the related Kashayaprahrita.
• In 453 or 466 CE, a council at Valabhi, in present-day Gujarat, first wrote down the Svetambara Agamas. About 500 scholars took part, led by Acharya Devardhigani Kshamashramana, under the patronage of King Siladitya.

Test Yourself

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1. The earliest Jain Agamas were composed in which language?

Sanskrit

Ardhamagadhi Prakrit

Pali

Tamil

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Digambara vs. Svetambara: A Real Doctrinal Split Great to Know

• Svetambaras accept the Agamas written at Valabhi as authentic scripture, tracing their authority straight back to Mahavira’s own teachings.
• Digambaras take a more precise position than simply rejecting the council. They hold that the original, authentic scriptures had already been lost centuries before Valabhi even met. So Valabhi’s text, however carefully compiled, isn’t the same as Mahavira’s actual words in their view.
• For the history of this split and how it shaped Jainism’s spread, see AncHist0063. This article focuses on the texts themselves.
• Modern scholars generally treat the surviving Agamas as a multi-century compilation, finalised at Valabhi, rather than a verbatim record of Mahavira’s own words.
• The Acharanga Sutra, the first Anga, was traditionally the first text a Jain monk studied.
• The Kalpa Sutra, traditionally attributed to Bhadrabahu, gives biographies of the Tirthankaras, including Mahavira’s life and nirvana. It is read aloud during Paryushana, Jainism’s major annual festival.