Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c5.s8.1

c5.s8.1

Suyanāna or scriptural knowledge, otherwise known as Siddhānta or Āgama consists of the twelve Angas, twelve Upāngas, ten Painnas, six Cheda Sūtras, Nandī and Anuyoga and four Mūla Sūtras¹. These scriptures form the canon of the Śvetāmbaras alone and are disowned by the Digambaras. Out of this subsidiary canonical literature with the exception of the Angas, the lists and the titles of the texts are not always uniform. The number of the Painnas, for instance, is very indefinite and varies to a great extent. Sometimes Nandī, Anuyogadāra and Pañcakappa are placed at the head of the Painnas. The traditional number of books in the Siddhānta is forty five (Drstivāda being lost), but the number of texts mentioned in various places varies between forty five and fifty.²