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CHAPTER 4
JAINA SCRIPTURES
It is believed that originally, since the time of first Tirthankara there were two kinds of sacred books.
(I) Purvas, which were 14 in numbers and (II) Angas, of which 11 remain.
The 14 Purvas collectively made the twelfth Anga, known as the Dristivada. In early times sacred texts were not written down but were preserved in the memory of senior monks and passed on to their successors. Knowledge of all 14 Purvas continued up to Acharya Sthulibhadra, the eighth leader of Lord Mahavira's congregation. Gradually knowledge of the texts decreased until by 980 years after the nirvana of Lord Mahavira (453 A.D.) all the Purvas had been forgotten.
According to Svetambers Lord Mahavira discourse was in Ardhamagdhi language, in which the oldest scriptures are preserved. This was Prakrit (colloquial tongue) of the Magadh region (modern Bihar). The Gandhars (chief disciples) interpreted his discourse. Lord Mahavira had eleven Gandhars of whom nine achieved salvation before their master, whilst Indrabhuti Gautam achieved salvation eight years after Lord Mahavira. The burden of leading the Mahavira's Order fell on Acharya Sudharma who became the vehicle of Lord's words. Thus he was effectively the creator of twelve fold Agam (scriptures) (dwadshang). Digambers believe that the speech of Tirthankara is voiceless. They do not speak a word while giving a discourse but a divine voice is emitted from their whole body. In the Divine hall (samovsaran) this discourse is heard by every living being in their native language. According to Digamberas knowledge of all the Angas was
