Philosophy In Jain Agams: Sūtrakṛtāṅga: Structure and Contents

Similar to Ācārāṅga, Sūtrakṛtāṅga also has two śrutaskandhas.^[1]  First śrutaskandha is older than the second one from the linguistic point of view. Probably, some later acharyas have added the second śrutaskandha. The first śrutaskandha has sixteen chapters whilst the second one has seven chapters. The number of pada  i.e. word count is approximately thirty six thousand. Even Dhavalā corroborates the same word count. However, current available Sūtṛakrtāṅga does not have those many padas. Similar to Ācārāṅga, it continuously suffered loss of its contents with the progression of time. Still it is beyond doubt that it has not been lost completely. Dhavalā and Jayadhavalā do not mention that it has two śrutaskandha and neither the number of its chapters has been mentioned.^[2]  This indicates that the division of this text into two śrutaskandha is a posterior effort.

The text prominently delves on Jain doctrines and those of others. By understanding doctrines of other philosophies, one's view about reality and tenets of the Jain tradition become much more lucid. Newly initiated ascetics have been introduced with all these doctrines to enable them to develop a distinct idea between right, wrong and analyse the doctrine's propensity.^[3] Nandī states that the Sūtrakṛtāṅga text mainly focuses on the establishment of doctrines of Jain tradition.^[4]

Aṅga literature had dealt with the conduct (ācāra) in several contexts. Ācārāṅga is first aṅga and has dealt with this subject in the context of spirituality. In Sūtrakṛtāṅga, it has been discussed from a philosophical point of view.