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SĀRĀVALĪ PRAKĪRṆAKA
General Introduction -
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PREFACE
In every faith sacred scriptures occupy an important position amongst religious texts. Agamas enjoy the same position and importance in the Jaina faith as the Vedas in Hinduism, Tripitaka in Buddhism, Avesta in Zarthustism, the Bible in Christianity and the Koran in Islam. Āgamas are neither considered as created by a superhuman entity or Apauruşeya as the Vedas are taken to be; nor are they considered to be the divine message handed down by any Prophet as the Bible and the Koran are considered to be. However, they are the compilations of the preaching of the most venerable Arhatas and saints, who had realised the truth and attained enlightenment through spiritual practices and purification. Although the scriptures say that the Anga Sutras or the Primary Canons or the foremost scriptures are considered to have been preached by the Tīrthankaras or the the Prophets Propounders of the Jaina faith, we must remember that they preached only the meaning (Artha) i.e. they only presented the thoughts or the ideas, which were then given the garb of words or codified into sūtras or canonical texts by the Gaṇadharas - the principal disciples of Tirthankaras, Ācāryas (spiritual masters) and other learned Sthaviras or elders or senior monks.'
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The Jaina tradition does not lay as much emphasis on words as the Hindu tradition does. It considers words only as a means to
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