Jain literature () refers to the literature of the Jain religion. It is a vast and ancient literary tradition, which was initially transmitted orally. The oldest surviving material is contained in the canonical Jain Agamas, which are written in Ardhamagadhi, a Prakrit (Middle Indo-Aryan) language. Various commentaries were written on these canonical texts by later Jain monks. Later works were also written in other languages, such as Sanskrit and Maharashtri Prakrit.
Jain literature is primarily divided between the canons of the Digambara and Śvētāmbara orders. These two main sects of Jainism do not always agree on which texts should be considered authoritative.
More recent Jain literature has also been written in other languages, such as Marathi, Tamil, Rajasthani, Dhundari, Marwari, Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, and, more recently, in English.
Origins: The Oral Tradition (Śrutajñāna)
According to Jain tradition, the teachings that form the basis of their scriptures are eternal. It is believed that in each universal time cycle, twenty-four tīrthaṅkaras reveal these truths. The first tīrthaṅkara of the current cycle, Ṛṣabhanātha, is considered the original source of the teachings in this era, millions of years ago.
Jains believe the tīrthaṅkaras deliver their teachings in a divine preaching hall called the samavasaraṇa, which are heard simultaneously by gods, ascetics, and laypersons. This divine discourse itself is known as śrutajñāna ("heard knowledge"). Crucially, this initial form is not a written text but an oral transmission.
The tradition holds that the chief disciples (Gaṇadharas) of a tīrthaṅkara possess the unique ability to perfectly understand and recall this divine discourse. They are credited with converting the śrutajñāna into structured scriptures (suttas), initially comprising the fourteen Pūrvas (ancient or prior texts) and the eleven Aṅgas ("limbs"). The complete structure is often referred to as the "twelve-limbed basket" (duvala samgagani pidaga), as the twelfth Aṅga contained the Pūrvas.
For many centuries, these foundational scriptures were meticulously transmitted orally from teacher (guru) to disciple (shishya) through rigorous memorization and chanting. This emphasis on oral transmission was a defining characteristic of the early literary tradition.
Datings While some authors date the composition of the Jain Agamas starting from the 6th century BCE,Nagendra Kr. Singh. (2001). Encyclopedia of Jainism (Edited by Nagendra Kr. Singh). New Delhi: Anmol Publications. page 4308 some Western scholars, such as Ian Whicher and David Carpenter, argue that the earliest portions of Jain canonical works were composed around the 4th or 3rd century BCE.Yoga: The Indian Tradition. Edited by Ian Whicher and David Carpenter. London: Routledgecurzon, 2003. page 64C. Chappie (1993) Nonviolence to Animals, Earth and Self in Asian Traditions. Albany: State University of New York Press. page 5 According to Johannes Bronkhorst it is extremely difficult to determine the age of the Jain Agamas, however:Mainly on linguistic grounds, it has been argued that the Ācārāṅga Sūtra, the Sūtrakṛtāṅga Sūtra, and the Uttarādhyayana Sūtra are among the oldest texts in the canon.Elsewhere, Bronkhorst states that the Sūtrakṛtāṅga "dates from the 2nd century BCE at the very earliest," based on how it references the Buddhist theory of momentariness, which is a later scholastic development.
The Great Schism and the Divergence of Canons The Jaina congregation gradually split into the two sects. While Śvetāmbaras maintain that the schism happened in the 1st century CE, Digambaras hold that it happened in the 3rd century BCE. Śvetāmbaras hold that the theory of Jain monks migrating from North to South is a fabricated account. Some scholars specifically state that the said lore was developed after 600 CE and is inauthentic.
Śvetāmbara Efforts to Preserve the Canon
Śvetāmbaras convened the First Council at Pataliputra (modern Patna) around 300 BCE (traditional dating varies). During this council, the monks pooled their collective memory to compile the eleven Aṅgas. However, the twelfth Aṅga, the Dṛṣṭivāda, which contained the fourteen Pūrvas, was found to be incomplete or lost, as Bhadrabāhu, the only master who knew it fully, was absent. While Sthulabhadra learned 10 of the 14 Pūrvas from Bhadrabāhu when the latter was in Nepal, the full transmission was broken.
Further efforts to consolidate the texts occurred, possibly including a council in the Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves under King Kharavela in the 2nd century BCE.
The most definitive step for the Śvetāmbara tradition was the Council of Vallabhi (in Gujarat) held around 454 or 466 CE, presided over by Devardhigaṇi Kṣamāśramaṇa. Faced with the ongoing weakening of memory, the council made the historic decision to commit the entire remembered canon to writing in manuscript form.
The Śvetāmbara sect considers this written canon, based on the Vallabhi council texts, to be the authentic Agamas, derived from the original oral tradition passed down from Mahavira, even while acknowledging that the twelfth Aṅga and parts of the Pūrvas are missing.
Digambara View: The Canon Was Lost
The Digambara tradition holds a fundamentally different view. They believe that due to the famine and the passage of time, the original Aṅgas and Pūrvas were completely lost by around the 2nd century CE. They state that Āchārya Bhutabali (1st century CE) was the last ascetic with even partial knowledge of the original canon. They maintain that Āchārya Pushpadanta and Bhutabali wrote the Ṣaṭkhaṅḍāgama (Six Part Scripture) under the guidance of Dharasena, which is held to be one of the oldest Digambara texts (2nd to 3rd century CE). Around the same time, Āchārya Gunadhar wrote Kasayapahuda (Treatise on the Passions).
Consequently, Digambaras reject the scriptures compiled by the Śvetāmbaras at Pataliputra and Vallabhi, viewing them as incomplete and corrupted. This disagreement over the authenticity and survival of the Agamas is a central reason for the historical schism between the two major sects. Lacking the original Agamas, the Digambara tradition instead came to hold authoritative a set of later texts, believed to encapsulate the essence of the lost teachings.
Śvetāmbara Canon (The Agamas) The canons (Siddhāntha) of the Śvetāmbaras are generally composed of the following texts: Twelve Aṅgās (limbs): Āyāraṃga (Jain Prakrit; Sanskrit: Ācāranga, meaning: 'On monastic conduct') Sūyagaḍa (Sūtrakṛtāṅga, 'On heretical systems and views') Ṭhāṇaṃga (Sthānāṅga, 'On different points [of the teaching]') Samavāyaṃga (Samavāyāṅga, 'On "rising numerical groups"') Viyāha-pannatti / Bhagavaī (Vyākhyā-prajñapti or Bhagavatī, 'Exposition of explanations' or 'the holy one') Nāyā-dhamma-kahāo (Jñāta-dharmakathānga, 'Parables and religious stories') Uvāsaga-dasāo (Upāsaka-daśāḥ, 'Ten chapters on the Jain lay follower') Aṇuttarovavāiya-dasāo (Antakṛd-daśāḥ, 'Ten chapters on those who put an end to rebirth in this very life') Anuttaraupapātikadaśāh (Anuttaropapātika-daśāḥ, 'Ten chapters on those who were reborn in the uppermost heavens') Paṇha-vāgaraṇa (Praśna-vyākaraṇa, 'Questions and explanations') Vivāga-suya (Vipākaśruta, 'Bad or good results of deeds performed') Diṭhīvāya (Dṛṣṭivāda) — this text was lost 1,000 years after Mahavira. Twelve Upāṅgas (auxiliary limbs): Uvavāiya-sutta (Sanskrit: Aupapātika-sūtra,'Places of rebirth') Rāya-paseṇaijja or Rāyapaseṇiya (Rāja-praśnīya, 'Questions of the king') Jīvājīvābhigama (Jīvājīvābhigama, 'Classification of animate and inanimate entities') Pannavaṇā (Prajñāpanā, 'Enunciation on topics of philosophy and ethics') Sūriya-pannatti (Sūrya-prajñapti, 'Exposition on the sun') Jambūdvīpa-pannatti (Jambūdvīpa-prajñapti, 'Exposition on the Jambū continent and the Jain universe') Canda-pannatti (Candra-prajñapti, 'Exposition on the moon and the Jain universe') Nirayāvaliyāo or Kappiya (Narakāvalikā, 'Series of stories on characters reborn in hells') Kappāvaḍaṃsiāo (Kalpāvataṃsikāḥ, 'Series of stories on characters reborn in the kalpa heavens') Pupphiāo (Puṣpikāḥ, 'Flowers' refers to one of the stories') Puppha-cūliāo (Puṣpa-cūlikāḥ, 'The nun Puṣpacūlā') Vaṇhi-dasāo (Vṛṣṇi-daśāh, 'Stories on characters from the legendary dynasty known as Andhaka-Vṛṣṇi') Six Chedasūtras (Texts relating to the conduct and behaviour of monks and nuns): Āyāra-dasāo (Sanskrit: Ācāradaśāh, 'Ten [chapters] about monastic conduct', chapter 8 is the famed Kalpa-sūtra.) Bihā Kappa (Bṛhat Kalpa, '[Great] Religious code') Vavahāra (Vyavahāra, 'Procedure') Nisīha (Niśītha, 'Interdictions') Jīya-kappa (Jīta-kalpa, 'Customary rules'), only accepted as canonical by Mūrti-pūjaks Mahā-nisīha (Mahā-niśītha, 'Large Niśītha'), only accepted as canonical by Mūrti-pūjaks Four Mūlasūtras ('Fundamental texts' which are foundational works studied by new monastics): Dasaveyāliya-sutta (Sanskrit: Daśavaikālika-sūtra), this is memorized by all new Jain mendicants Uttarajjhayaṇa-sutta (Uttarādhyayana-sūtra) Āvassaya-sutta (Āvaśyaka-sūtra) Piṇḍa-nijjutti and Ogha-nijjutti (Piṇḍa-niryukti and Ogha-niryukti), only accepted as canonical by Mūrti-pūjaks Two Cūlikasūtras ("appendixes"): Nandī-sūtra – discusses the five types of knowledge Anuyogadvāra-sūtra – a technical treatise on analytical methods, discusses Anekantavada
Miscellaneous collections To reach the number 45, Mūrtipūjak Śvētāmbara canons contain a "Miscellaneous" collection of supplementary texts, called the Paiṇṇaya suttas (Sanskrit: Prakīrnaka sūtras, "Miscellaneous"). This section varies in number depending on the individual sub-sect (from 10 texts to over 20). They also often included extra works (often of disputed authorship) named "supernumerary Prakīrṇakas". The Paiṇṇaya texts are generally not considered to have the same kind of authority as the other works in the canon. Most of these works are in Jaina Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit, unlike the other Śvetāmbara scriptures which tend to be in Ardhamāgadhī. They are therefore most likely later works than the Aṅgas and Upāṅgas.
Mūrtipūjak Jain canons will generally accept 10 Paiṇṇayas as canonical, but there is widespread disagreement on which 10 scriptures are given canonical status. The most widely accepted list of ten scriptures are the following:
Cau-saraṇa (Sanskrit: Catuḥśaraṇa, The 'four refuges') Āura-paccakkhāṇa (Ātura-pratyākhyāna, 'Sick man's renunciation') Bhatta-parinnā (Bhakta-parijñā, 'Renunciation of food') Saṃthāraga (Saṃstāraka, 'Straw bed') Tandula-veyāliya (Taṇḍula-vaicārika, 'Reflection on rice grains') Canda-vejjhaya (Candravedhyaka, 'Hitting the mark') Devinda-tthaya (Devendra-stava, 'Praise of the kings of gods') Gaṇi-vijjā (Gaṇi-vidyā, 'A Gaṇi's knowledge') Mahā-paccakkhāṇa (Mahā-pratyākhyāna, 'Great renunciation') Vīra-tthava (Vīra-stava, 'Praise of Mahavira')
From the 15th century onwards, various Śvetāmbara subsects began to disagree on the composition of the canon. Mūrtipūjaks ("idol-worshippers") accept 45 texts, while the Sthānakavāsins and Terāpanthins only accept 32.
Digambara Canon (The Siddhanta) The Digambara canon of scriptures includes these two main texts, three commentaries on the main texts, and four (later) Anuyogas (expositions), consisting of more than 20 texts.
The great commentator Virasena wrote two commentary texts on the Ṣaṭkhaṅḍāgama, the Dhaval‑tika on the first five volumes and Maha‑dhaval‑tika on the sixth volume of the Ṣaṭkhaṅḍāgama, around 780 CE. Virasena and his disciple, Jinasena, also wrote a commentary on the Kaşāyapāhuda, known as Jaya‑dhavala‑tika.
There is no agreement on the canonical Anuyogas ("Expositions"). The Anuyogas were written between the 2nd and 11th centuries CE, either in Jaina Śaurasenī Prakrit or in Sanskrit.
The expositions (Anuyogas) are divided into four literary categories: