The Dṛṣṭivāda or Drishtivaad ("Disputation about views") is a lost text in the Jain religion. It is the last of the 12 Jain āgamas as per Śvetámbara tradition, said to be promulgated by

Māhavīra Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...

himself and composed by

Ganadhara In Jainism, the term Ganadhara is used to refer the chief disciple of a ''Tirthankara''. In '' samavasarana'', the ''Tīrthankara'' sat on a throne without touching it (about two inches above it). Around, the ''Tīrthankara'' sits the ''Gana ...

Sudharmaswami Sudharmaswami ( or Sudharman; 607 BC – 507 BC) was the fifth ganadhara of Mahavira. All the current Jain acharyas and monks follow his rule. Life Sudharmaswami was the spiritual successor of Indrabhuti Gautama in religious order reorganise ...

. The text is traditionally said to contain the entire knowledge of the Fourteen

Purvas The Fourteen Purvas (meaning ancient or prior knowledge) are a large body of Jain scriptures that was preached by all Tirthankaras (omniscient teachers) of Jainism encompassing the entire gamut of knowledge available in this universe. The persons ...

. However, its contents have been referred and explained in Nandi and ''Samavāyānga Sūtra''.

Subdivisions

The Dristivāda was divided into five parts, according to the ''

Sarvārthasiddhi ''Sarvārthasiddhi'' is a famous Jain text authored by Acharya (Jainism), Ācārya Pujyapada. It is the oldest extant commentary on ''Ācārya Umaswami's Tattvartha Sutra, Tattvārthasūtra'' (another famous Jain text). Traditionally though, th ...

'' commentary from the

Digambara ''Digambara'' (; "sky-clad") is one of the two major Jain schools and branches, schools of Jainism, the other being ''Śvetāmbara'' (white-clad). The Sanskrit word ''Digambara'' means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic pract ...

tradition. #Parikarma, containing Jaina calculatory science #Sūtra, containing discussion about creeds and narratives #Prathamānuyoga (Pūrvanayoga), containing Puranic narratives, religious biographies, and illustrative tales # Pūrvagata, with fourteen subdivisions, containing discussions about Jaina doctrines and principles and may have been composed before the time of

Mahavira Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...

#Cūlikā, containing the

, knowledge prior to

which was preserved only in oral form

References

Jain texts Agamas {{Jainism-book-stub