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The **Śrī Sūtrakr̥tāṅga Sūtra** is an important text in the context of the Jain tradition. I had the opportunity to study under the guidance of **Śrī Nānak Āmnāya**, the head of the **Staṇakavāsī Jain tradition**, **Sv. Ācārya Śrī Sohनलाल Jī M. Sā.**, who was a scholar of the **Āgamas**, a poet, and a close friend of mine during the last four years of his life. I also had the opportunity to teach **Muni Śrī Sadarśanalāl Jī** (now **Ācārya Śrī Sadarśan Manijī**) and **Priyadarśan Jī**, who were young monks at the time, under his tutelage. I taught them various subjects, including Sanskrit, Prakrit, grammar, literature, philosophy, poetry, ethics, and yoga, as well as the **Āgamas**.
Following the wishes of **Sv. Ācārya Śrī Sohनलाल Jī**, we began studying the commentary on the **Sūtrakr̥tāṅga** by **Śīlāṅkācārya** in **Gulābpura** in **Vikram Samvat 2052**. **Ācārya Pravara** was very happy about this, especially during his stay in **Rātakot**.
Many scholars from India and abroad have considered the **Sūtrakr̥tāṅga** to be a very important text within the **Dvādaśāṅga**. Scholars like **Dr. Harman** and **Dr. Pishel** have identified the language of the **Ācārāṅga** and **Sūtrakr̥tāṅga** as the oldest form of **Ardha-Māgadhī Prakrit**.
The discussions of non-Jain philosophical views in the **Sūtrakr̥tāṅga** are very useful for comparative philosophical studies. This is the only **Āgama** that presents the theories of different philosophers on topics like the soul, the world, and karma.
The **Sūtrakr̥tāṅga** discusses **Kriyāvāda**, **Akriyāvāda**, **Ajñānavāda**, **Kṣaṇikavāda**, **Pañcabhūtavāda**, and **Ātmaṣaṣṭhavāda**, but it does not provide a detailed explanation of any single philosophy. However, there are some hints that allow us to identify these theories with different philosophical schools. The discussions of various philosophical topics in the **Sūtrakr̥tāṅga** suggest that the philosophies that are available to us today had not yet reached their refined and established forms. This was probably the early stage of the development of philosophies. Different thinkers emphasized different theories to establish their own views. The descriptions in the **Sūtrakr̥tāṅga** inspire researchers to conduct further in-depth study and research on these topics. Researchers should pay special attention to this aspect. Studying these topics can help solve many mysteries in the field of philosophy.
The **Āgama** literature has always been considered important and useful in the Jain world. This is why a vast amount of explanatory literature has been written on them in the form of **niyuktis**, **bhāṣyas**, **cūrṇis**, and **ṭīkās**. The **niyuktis** are written in **Ārya-gāthā** meter in Prakrit. They explain the meaning or implication of the **sūtras** in a definitive way. To make the explanations understandable, many stories and examples are used, but only their mention is found in the **niyuktis**. These explanations are very symbolic and concise, and it is difficult to understand them without the help of **bhāṣyas** and **ṭīkās**. Therefore, the commentators of the **Āgamas** have written commentaries on the **niyuktis** along with the **Āgamas**. One special feature of the **niyuktis** is that they are short and written in verse, making them easy to memorize. Therefore, they could be quoted in religious sermons. Tradition holds that **Ācārya Dvitīya Bhadravāhu**, who was an expert in **Aṣṭāṅga Nimitta** and **Mantra Vidya**, was the author of the **niyuktis**.
Just as there were compositions in Prakrit **gāthās** for the **niyuktis**, there were also compositions for the **bhāṣyas**. The language of the **niyuktis** and **bhāṣyas** is ancient **Ardha-Māgadhī**. The main **bhāṣyas** are the **Niśītha Bhāṣya**, **Vyavahāra Bhāṣya**, and