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Though the scriptures say that the Arga Sūtras or (the Primary Canons or the Foremost scriptures) are considered to have been preached by the Tīrtharkaras (Lords Prophet-Propounders of the Jaina faith), we must remember that they preached only the meaning (Artha), which was then codified into sūtras (maxims or aphorisms) by their principal disciples (Ganadharas). In other words, the Tīrtharkaras only presented the thoughts or the ideas, which were then given the garb of words and codified into sūtras (maxims) by the Ganadharās. Other extra primary canonical works (Arga-bāhya Sūtras) were subsequently composed by the Ācāryas (Heads of religious orders or Spiritual Masters), Sthaviras (Senior monks) and other learned preceptors (Upādhyāyas).
The Jaina tradition doesn't lay as much emphasis on words as the Hindu tradition. It considers words only as a means to convey the thought, idea or meaning. In its view the meaning is important not the words. It is this lack of emphasis on words that the āgamas of the Jaina tradition could not keep their linguistic character unaltered as the Vedas have been able to do over the millennia. This is the reason why the Jaina Canonical literature got divided into two streams, namely the Ardha-māgadhīcanons and the Saurasenī canons. At present, the Svetambara tradition follows the Ardhamāgadhīscriptures and the Digambara tradition the Saurasenī canonical works.
Ardhamāgadhi Canonical Literature -
Ardhamāgadhi Canonical works, as the name suggests, are the sacred Jaina scriptures composed in the Ardhamāgadhi language that was prevalent as the language of the masses in the region between Magadha (South Bihar of the present time) and the Śūrasena(Western U.P. of the present). As this was the region in which the last and the twenty-fourth Jaina Prophet, Lord Mahā vīra, generally toured and preached, He chose this language as the medium of His sermons. His teachings were subsequently
SAMYAGJÑĀNA (THE RIGHT-KNOWLEDGE) : 147
