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FOREWORD
By the grace of Supreme Soul and spiritual teachers I am able to present before the lovers of Jaina Āgamas the critical edition of the Acārāngasūtra. While preparing this edition, I utilized many old manuscripts and scrutinized various readings yielded by them.
On the attainment of omniscience Lord Viravardhamana, the twenty-fourth Jaina tirthankara, commenced to deliver religious discourses. Following these discourses, his direct principal disciples Gautama and others composed the twelve Anga works (dvādaśanga). Among these twelve works, the Acārangasūtra occupies the first place. Rev. Bhadrabāhusvāmi explained, with great respect, its importance and the first place accorded to it, giving many supporting reasons, the foremost being the one that it contains the essence of the preachings of Lord Mahāyīra. All the textual evidences pertaining to this point are given at length in my Gujarati Introduction.
The Acārāngasūtra consists of two Śruta-skandhas (Two Groups of Scriptural writings). The first one is known by the name of Ācāra or Brahmacarya or Navabrahmacarya. It is called Navabrahmacarya because it contains nine chapters (adhyayanas). The second śruta-skandha is of the nature of an appendix (cūlikā) and is known by the name of 'Agra' or 'Ācārägra'. It contains five appendices (cūlās). Among them the fifth one is called Niśitha-cūli. Since long this fifth cūlā has been separated from the Ācārāngasūtra and has been considered to be an independent sūtra called Niśīthasūtra. Even the author of Cūrni and Silācārya and others commented on the Ācārāngasūtra up to the end of the fourth cūla. Hence the present volume of the Acārāngasūtra contains the first Śruta-skandha up to the end of the fourth cūlā.
Authorship: All unanimously hold that Rev. Sudharmasvāmi, the fifth direct disciple of Lord Mahāvīra, has composed the first Śrutaskandha. Regarding the authorship of the second śruta-skandha, there are various views. Rev. Bhadrabāhusvāmī, in his Niryukti on the Acärängasūtra, states that sthaviras have composed the Ācārāgras. While commenting on this statement of Rev. Bhadrabāhu, the author of the Cürni, asks us to understand the term 'sthavira' in the sense of 'ganadhara' (direct principal disciple of Lord Mahāvira). Šīlācārya, the author of the Ācārängavrtti, takes this term 'sthavira' in the sense of Elders by dint of their knowledge, that is, knowers of the fourteen Purvas. In the Āvaśyakacūrni and the Parisistaparva we are told that the third and the fourth cūlās have been brought from (Lord Simandharasvāmi in) Mahāvidehaksetra by the nun Yakşā, a sister of Sthūlabhadra.
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