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enrichment of Tamil literature. According to a view 'Tirukkurala', the famous Jaina literature in Tamil, is written by a Jaina Acārya. In the 4th Century AD this Nirgrantha Sangha of Tamil region proceeded northwards via Karnataka. While the Nirgrantha Sangha of north branch into Sacela (Svetambara) and Acela (Yapaniya) proceeded southwards. Sacela Svetambara tradition travelled to north Karnataka via Rajasthan, Gujarat and Western Maharashtra, while Acela-Yapaniya tradition travelled to North Karnataka via Bundelakhand, vidisha, Vindhya, Satpuda and East Maharashtra. The inscriptions of Mrgesa Verma of 5th century AD in north Karnataka inform us of the existence of five Sanghas of Jainas- (1) Nirgrantha Sangha (2) Mula Sangha (3) Yapaniya Sangha (4) Kucarka Sangha and white clothed Maha-śramana Sangha. In the same period a copper plate discovered in northeast India reveal the existence of Pañca-stupanvaya. The white clothed Mahasramana Sangha of this period was divided in many families and branches, whose complete description is available in Kalpasūtra and the documents of Mathura.
In the long time span of about 1000 years i.e. between the Nirvana of Mahāvīra and 5th century AD, Ardhamagadhi Āgama texts were continuously written and compiled. Today, the Āgamas which are available to us are neither written by one single person nor at a particular time. Not only this, infact one single scripture contains a collection of the material from different periods. The first and foremost in this period was the assembly (Vācanā) of Pataliputra in 3rd century BC.
The Agamas called Angas and the Purva literature of Pārsva's descendents were probably compiled in this assembly. The issue of compilation of Purva literature became significant, as the tradition of Pārsva's descendant was History of Nirgrantha tradition
83 Jainism and its History
| SR No. | 032590 |
| Book Title | Jainism And Its History |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Sagarmal Jain |
| Publisher | Research Foundation for Jainology |
| Publication Year | 2018 |
| Total Pages | 328 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 34 MB |