This is a list of important texts written by Jain ascetics and those which are of important value to

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current ...

Digambara texts

Ādi purāṇa Ādi purāṇa is a 9th century Sanskrit poem composed by Jinasena, a Digambara monk. It deals with the life of Rishabhanatha, the first ''Tirthankara''. History Adi Purana was composed by Jinasena (a Digambara monk) as a Sanskrit poem praising ...

Dravyasamgraha ' (Devnagari: द्रव्यसंग्रह) (Compendium of substances) is a 10th-century Jain text in Jain Sauraseni Prakrit by Acharya Nemicandra belonging to the Digambara Jain tradition. It is a composition of 58 ''gathas'' (verses) ...

Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra is a Jain text composed by Aacharya Samantbhadra Swamy (second century CE), an ''acharya'' of the Digambara sect of Jainism. Aacharya Samantbhadra Swamy was originally from Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. Ratnakaranda śr� ...

* Pancastikayasara *

Pravachanasara ''Pravachanasara'', is a text composed by Jain monk, Kundakunda Kundakunda was a Digambara Jain monk and philosopher, who likely lived in the 2nd CE century CE or later. His date of birth is māgha māsa, śukla pakṣa, pañcamī tit ...

Puruşārthasiddhyupāya Puruşārthasiddhyupāya (Purushartha Siddhyupaya) is a major Jain text authored by Acharya Amritchandra. Acharya Amritchandra was a Digambara Acharya who lived in the tenth century (Vikram Samvat). ''Puruşārthasiddhyupāya'' deals with the ...

Satkhandagama The (Sanskrit: "Scripture in Six Parts") is the foremost and oldest Digambara Jain sacred text. According to Digambara tradition, the original canonical scriptures of the Jains were totally lost within a few centuries of ''Nirvana'' of Mah ...

Samayasāra ''Samayasāra'' (''The Nature of the Self'') is a famous Jain text composed by ''Acharya Kundakunda'' in 439 verses. Its ten chapters discuss the nature of '' Jīva'' (pure self/soul), its attachment to Karma and Moksha (liberation). ''Samaya ...

Sarvārthasiddhi ''Sarvārthasiddhi'' is a famous Jain text authored by '' Ācārya Pujyapada''. It is the oldest extan commentary on ''Ācārya Umaswami's Tattvārthasūtra'' (another famous Jain text). Traditionally though, the oldest commentary on the Tatt ...

Siribhoovalaya The ''Siribhoovalaya'' ( kn, ಸಿರಿಭೂವಲಯ) is a work of multi-lingual literature written by Kumudendu Muni, a Jain monk. The work is unique in that it employs not letters, but is composed entirely in Kannada numerals. The ''Sa ...

Niyamasara Niyamasara is a Jain text authored by ''Acharya Kundakunda'', a Digambara Jain acharya. It is described by its commentators as the Bhagavat Shastra. It expounds the path to liberation. Subject matter ''Niyamasara'' deals with the three ethico ...

Jnanarnava ''Jnanarnava'' (Sanskrit: ज्ञानार्णव, IAST:''Jñānārṇāva'', Meaning: Ocean of Wisdom on Meditation) is an important Jain text in Sanskrit on various topics useful to the mendicant but focuses primarily on meditation. ...

* Mahapurana *

Mulachara __NOTOC__ Mulachara () (Fundamental Conduct) is a Jain text composed by Acharya Vattakera of the Digambara tradition, around 150 CE. Mulachara discusses ''anagara-dharma'' – the conduct of a Digambara monk.Mulachara Ka Samikshatmaka Adhyaya ...

* Tiloya Panatti

Shvetambara texts

* Shvetambara Agamas Suryaprajnaptisutra

Others

Yogaśāstra ''Yogaśāstra'' (''lit.'' "Yoga treatise") is a 12th-century Sanskrit text by Hemachandra on Svetambara Jainism. It is a treatise on the "rules of conduct for laymen and ascetics", wherein "yoga" means "ratna-traya" (three jewels), i.e. right be ...

* Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana * Trishashthi-Shalaka-Purusha-Charitra *Bhadrabahu Samhita * Jnanarnava or the Yogapradipadhikara *Pramana-mimansa (logic)

Texts claimed by both the sects

Tattvartha Sutra ''Tattvārthasūtra'', meaning "On the Nature 'artha''of Reality 'tattva'' (also known as ''Tattvarth-adhigama-sutra'' or ''Moksha-shastra'') is an ancient Jain text written by ''Acharya (Jainism), Acharya'' Umaswami in Sanskrit, somet ...

- 1st Jain text written in Sanskrit language.

Other texts

Ajitha purana The Ajita Purana was written by Ranna (Kannada poet), Ranna in 993 CE narrates the story of Ajitanatha, the second ''tirthankara'' of Jainism. This is the shortest in the Kannada language. It narrates two stories of the previous births of the ...

Antakrddaasah Antakrddaaśāh is the eighth of the 12 Jain āgamas said to be promulgated by Māhavīra himself. Antakrddaaśāh translated as "Ten Chapters on End-Makers" is said to have been composed by Ganadhara Sudharmaswami as per the Śvetámbara tra ...

Aupapātika Aupapātika (c. 1st-2nd century CE) forms part of the 12 Jain upanga āgamas as per Śvetámbara tradition. Aupapātika is translated as “Spontaneously Arising” so named as it contains descriptions of Heavenly beings and Hellish beings wh ...

Anuttaraupapātikadaśāh Anuttaraupapātikadaśāh is the ninth of the 12 Jain āgamas said to be promulgated by Māhavīra himself. Anuttaraupapātikadaśāh translated as "Ten Chapters about the arisers in the Highest Heavens" is said to have been composed by Ganadh ...

Atma Siddhi ''Atma Siddhi'' Shastra ( gu, આત્મસિદ્ધિ) is a spiritual treatise in verse, composed in Gujarati by the nineteenth century Jain saint, philosopher poet Shrimad Rajchandra (1867–1901). Atma according to Jainism means "so ...

Aupapatika Aupapātika (c. 1st-2nd century CE) forms part of the 12 Jain upanga āgamas as per Śvetámbara tradition. Aupapātika is translated as “Spontaneously Arising” so named as it contains descriptions of Heavenly beings and Hellish beings wh ...

Bahuriband Bahuriband (or Bahoriband), near Katni in Madhya Pradesh, is a famous inscription at the feet of a colossal stone image of Jain Tirthankara Shantinath. The colossal statue is in height. Inscription The inscription reads: :संवत १� ...

Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi ''Civaka Cintamani'' ( ta, சீவக சிந்தாமணி, lit=Jivaka, the Fabulous Gem, translit=Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi), also spelled as ''Jivaka Chintamani'', is one of the five great Tamil epics. Authored by a Madurai-based Jain ...

Drstivada Drstivāda is a legendary 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 himself and composed by Ganadhara Sudharmaswami. Drstivāda, translated as ...

Jnatrdharmakathah ''Jnātrdhārmakathāh'' is the sixth of the 12 Jain āgamas said to be promulgated by Māhavīra himself. Jnātrdhārmakathāh translated as "Stories of Knowledge and Righteousness" is said to have been composed by Ganadhara Sudharmaswami ...

* Kalpa Sūtra *

Līlāvatīsāra Līlāvatīsāra (epitome of Līlāvatī) is a poem composed by Jinaratna. Jina Ratna belonged to Khartara Gachchha of the Svetambara sect of Jainism. It tells the stories of the lives of a group of souls as they pass through a series of embo ...

Lokavibhaga The ''Lokavibhāga'' is a Jain cosmological text originally composed in Prakrit by a Digambara monk Digambara Sādhu (also ''muni'', ''sādhu'') is a Sādhu in the Digambar tradition of Jainism, and as such an occupant of the highest l ...

Nālaṭiyār The Nālaṭiyār ( ta, நாலடியார்) is a Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the post Sangam period cor ...

Neelakesi Neelakesi ( ta, நீலகேசி, lit=Woman with blue hair, translit=Nīlakēci) is an epic of Jainism. Tamil literary tradition places it among the five lesser Tamil epics, along with ''Naga kumara kaviyam'', ''Udhyana kumara Kaviyam'', ' ...

* Nishitha *

Nivvāṇalīlāvaīkahā The ''Nivvāṇalīlāvaīkahā'' (Nivvāṇa-līlāvaī-kahā) 'Story of the Final Emancipation of Līlāvatī' composed in 1036 by Jineshvara, a Jain monk. The work was composed in Jain Maharashtri, a Prakrit language. Jineshvara was a reformi ...

Prasnavyakaranani Praśnavyākaranani is the tenth of the 12 Jain āgamas as per Śvetámbara tradition said to be promulgated by Māhavīra himself and composed by Ganadhara Sudharmaswami. Praśnavyākaranani translated as “Questions and Explanations” d ...

Purvas The Fourteen Purva translated as 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 pers ...

Samavayanga Sutra Samavayanga Sutra (c. 3rd-4th century BCE) is the 4th amongst the 12 Angas of the Jaina canon. The sutra is believed to have been composed by Gandhara Sudharmaswami. This ancient manuscript is the holy book of the Svetambara sect. This tex ...

Acaranga Sutra The Acharanga Sutra (; First book c. 5th–4th century BCE; Second book c. 2nd–1st century BCE) is the first of the twelve Angas, part of the agamas (religious texts) which were compiled based on the teachings of 24th Jina Mahavira. The exi ...

* Shantinatha Charitra *

Silappatikaram ''Cilappatikāram'' ( ta, சிலப்பதிகாரம் ml, ചിലപ്പതികാരം,IPA: ʧiləppət̪ikɑːrəm, ''lit.'' "the Tale of an Anklet"), also referred to as ''Silappathikaram'' or ''Silappatikaram'', is the e ...

Sthananga Sutra Sthananga Sutra (Sanskrit: Sthānāṅgasūtra Prakrit: Ṭhāṇaṃgasutta) (c. 3rd-4th century CE) forms part of the first eleven Angas of the Jaina Canon which have survived despite the bad effects of this Hundavasarpini kala as per the Ś ...

Sutrakritanga Sūtrakṛtāṅga सूत्रकृताङ्ग (also known in Prakrit as Sūyagaḍaṃga सूयगडंग) is the second agama of the 12 main aṅgās of the Jain Svetambara canon. According to the Svetambara tradition it was w ...

* Upasakadasah *

Vaddaradhane Vaddaradhane by Shivakotiacharya is the earliest extant prose work in Kannada. It is a didactic work consisting of nineteen stories and is based on Harisena's ''Brhatkathakosa''. The work is also known for mentioning the precursor to modern idl ...

Valayapathi ''Valaiyapadhi'' ( ta, வளையாபதி, lit=Unbending Man, translit=Vaḷaiyāpati; ), also spelled ''Valayapathi'', is one of the five great Tamil epics, but one that is almost entirely lost. It is a story of a father who has two w ...

* Varangacharita *

Vikramarjuna Vijaya ''Vikramarjuna Vijaya'' (Kannada- ವಿಕ್ರಮಾರ್ಜುನ ವಿಜಯ) (''victory of the mighty Arjuna''), also known as Pampa Bharatha is a classic work of the 10th century Jain poet Pampa (902–975 AD). It is a Kannada version ...

Vipakasruta Vipākaśruta is the eleventh of the 12 Jain āgamas as per Śvetámbara tradition said to be promulgated by Māhavīra himself and composed by Ganadhara Sudharmaswami. Vipākaśruta translated as “The Scripture about Ripening” contains ...

Vyākhyāprajñapti ''Vyākhyāprajñapti'' ( sa, व्याख्याप्रज्ञप्ति "Exposition of Explanations"), commonly known as the ''Bhagavati Sūtra'' (), is the fifth of the 12 Jain Agamas said to be promulgated by Mahāvīra. The Vy ...

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