Jain literature

Jain Agamas

The canonical texts of Jainism are called Agamas. These are said to be based on the discourse of the tirthankara, delivered in a samavasarana (divine preaching hall). These discourses are termed as Śrutu Jnāna (Jinvani) and comprises eleven angas and fourteen purvas.^[1] According to the Jains, the canonical literature originated from the first tirthankara Rishabhanatha. The Digambara sect believes that there were 26 Agam‑sutras (12 Ang‑agams + 14 Ang‑bahya‑agams). However, they were gradually lost starting from one hundred fifty years after Lord Mahavir's nirvana.^[2] Hence, they do not recognize the existing Agam-sutras (which are recognized by the Svetambara sects) as their authentic scriptures.

Shatkhandagama

The Shatkhandagama is also known as Maha‑kammapayadi‑pahuda or Maha‑karma‑prabhrut. Two Acharyas; Pushpadanta and Bhutabali wrote it around 160 AD. The second Purva‑agama named Agraya‑niya was used as the basis for this text. The text contains six volumes. Acharya Virasena wrote two commentary texts, known as Dhaval‑tika on the first five volumes and Maha‑dhaval‑tika on the sixth volume of this scripture, around 780 AD.

Kashay‑pahud or Kashay-prabhrut

Acharya Gunadhara wrote the Kasay-pahud on the basis of the fifth Purva‑agama named Jnana‑pravad. Acharya Virasena and his disciple, Jinasena, wrote a commentary text known as Jaya‑dhaval‑tika around 780 AD.^[6]

Acharya Kundakunda

Jain text composed by Acharya Kundakunda in the first century B.C. are:^[7]

• Samayasāra (The Nature of the Self)
• Niyamasara (The Perfect Law)
• Pancastikayasara

Gommatsara

Gommatsāra is one of the most important Jain texts authored by Acharya Nemichandra Siddhanta Chakravarti.^[8] It is based on the major Jain text, Dhavala written by the Acharya Bhutabali and Acharya Pushpadanta.^[9] It is also called Pancha Sangraha, a collection of five topics:^[10]

1. That which is bound, i.e., the Soul (Bandhaka);
2. That which is bound to the soul;
3. That which binds;
4. The varieties of bondage;
5. The cause of bondage.

Theological

Bhadrabahu (c. 300 BCE) is considered by the jains as last sutra-kevali (one who has memorized all the scriptures). He wrote various books known as niyukti, which are commentaries on those scriptures.^[11] He also wrote Samhita, a book dealing with legal cases. Umaswati (c. 1st century CE) wrote Tattvarthadhigama-sutra which briefly describes all the basic tennets of Jainism. Haribhadra (c 8th century) wrote the Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya, a key Jain text on Yoga which compares the Yoga systems of Buddhists, Hindus and Jains. Siddhasena Divakara (c. 650 CE), a contemporary of Vikramaditya, wrote Nyayavatra a work on pure logic.

Hemachandra (c. 1088-1072 CE) wrote the Yogaśāstra, a textbook on yoga and Adhatma Upanishad. His minor work Vitragastuti gives outlines of the Jaina doctrine in form of hymns. This was later detailed by Mallisena (c. 1292 CE) in his work Syadavadamanjari. Devendrasuri wrote Karmagrantha which discuss the theory of Karma in Jainism. Gunaratna (c. 1400 CE) gave a commentary on Haribhadra's work. Dharmasagara (c. 1573) wrote kaupaksakausi-kasahasrakirana (Sun for the owls of the false doctrine). In this work he wrote against the Digambara sect of Jainism. Lokaprakasa of Vinayavijaya and pratimasataka of Yasovijaya were written in c. 17th century CE. Lokaprakasa deals with all aspects of Jainism. Pratimasataka deals with metaphysics and logic. Yasovijaya defends idol-worshiping in this work. Srivarddhaeva (aka Tumbuluracarya) wrote a Kannada commentary on Tattvarthadigama-sutra. This work has 96000 verses. Jainendra-vyakarana of Acharya Pujyapada and Sakatayana-vyakarana of Sakatayana are the works on grammar written in c. 9th century CE. Siddha-Hem-Shabdanushasana" by Acharya Hemachandra (c. 12th century CE) is considered by F. Kielhorn as the best grammar work of the Indian middle age. Hemacandra's book Kumarapalacaritra is also noteworthy.

Narrative literature and poetry

Jaina narrative literature mainly contains stories about sixty-three prominent figures known as Salakapurusa, and people who were related to them. Some of the important works are Harivamshapurana of Jinasena (c. 8th century CE), Vikramarjuna-Vijaya (also known as Pampa-Bharata) of Kannada poet named Adi Pampa (c. 10th century CE), Pandavapurana of Shubhachandra (c. 16th century CE).

Prakrit

Jain Prakrit is a term loosely used for the language of the Jain Agamas (canonical texts). The books of Jainism were written in the popular vernacular dialects (as opposed to Sanskrit which was the classical standard of Brahmanism), and therefore encompass a number of related dialects. Chief among these is Ardha Magadhi, which due to its extensive use has also come to be identified as the definitive form of Prakrit. Other dialects include versions of Maharashtri and Sauraseni.^[13]

Citations

Sources

• Jain, Vijay K. (2012), Acharya Amritchandra's Purushartha Siddhyupaya: Realization of the Pure Self, With Hindi and English Translation, Vikalp Printers, ISBN 978-81-903639-4-5, This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
• Melton, J. Gordon; Baumann, Martin, eds. (2010), Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, One: A-B (Second ed.), ABC-CLIO, ISBN 978-1-59884-204-3
• Dundas, Paul (2002) [1992], The Jains (Second ed.), London and New York City: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-26605-X
• Jain, Champat Rai (1929), Risabha Deva - The Founder of Jainism, Allahabad: The Indian Press Limited, This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
• Jaini, Jagmandar-lāl (1927), Gommatsara Jiva-kanda, archived from the original on 2006
• Singh, Upinder (2016), A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century, Pearson Education, ISBN 978-93-325-6996-6
• von Glasenapp, Helmuth (1999), Jainism: An Indian Religion of Salvation [Der Jainismus: Eine Indische Erlosungsreligion], Shridhar B. Shrotri (trans.), Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-1376-6