Jain Agamas

Jain Agamas are canonical scriptures attributed to the teachings of the Jinas and preserved in distinct collections by Śvetāmbara and Digambara traditions.

Jainism: Jainism is an Indian religious tradition centered on nonviolence, ascetic discipline, and liberation from rebirth. The Agamas are the scriptural inheritance of Jain communities.
Śvetāmbara: Śvetāmbara is a major Jain tradition whose monks traditionally wear white and whose canon includes an Agama collection. Śvetāmbara communities preserve the surviving canonical collection known as the Agamas.
Oral tradition: Oral tradition is the transmission of knowledge through speech, memory, and repeated performance. Jain teachings were transmitted orally before and alongside their preservation in manuscripts.
Ācārāṅga Sūtra: The Ācārāṅga Sūtra is a Śvetāmbara scripture focused on mendicant conduct and nonviolence. It is a prominent Agama source for ascetic discipline and careful avoidance of harm.
Mahavira: Mahavira was the twenty-fourth Tirthankara and a central teacher in Jain tradition. Jain tradition attributes the teachings preserved in the Agamas to Mahavira and his lineage.
Tirthankara: A Tirthankara is a spiritual teacher who rediscovers and teaches the path to liberation in Jain tradition. The scriptures preserve teachings attributed to the Jinas, another name for Tirthankaras.
Digambara: Digambara is a major Jain tradition whose male mendicants renounce clothing and whose scriptures differ from Śvetāmbara canon. Digambara tradition holds that the original Agama canon was lost.
Jain Prakrit: Jain Prakrit is a group of Middle Indo-Aryan languages used in early Jain literature. Many Śvetāmbara scriptures were composed or transmitted in forms of Prakrit.
Sūtrakṛtāṅga: The Sūtrakṛtāṅga is a Śvetāmbara scripture discussing ascetic practice and challenging rival teachings. Its arguments show how Agamic literature combines practical instruction with doctrinal debate.
Bhadrabahu: Bhadrabahu was an early Jain teacher associated in tradition with a migration and the loss of scriptures. Accounts of his era explain Digambara claims that the original canon did not survive.

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