Philosophy In Jain Agams: Style of Composition

The first śrutaskandha of Sūtrakṛtāṅga is written in poetic style i.e. in verses. Sixteenth chapter seems as though it was written in prose style but in actual fact it is written in poetic verses. Analysing the word 'gāthā' (verse/stanza) niryuktikāra presents few options. There he writes that this chapter can be sung and it is written in the gāthā chanda or sāmudra chanda (meteors by name gāthā and sāmudra). The fifteenth chapter of first Śrutaskandha by the name 'Yamakīya'. This is composed in Yamaka alankāra. This is an exclusive example that expresses the poetic composition of āgamic literature.

A big part of second śrutaskandha is in prose and descriptive style. It has ample use of illustrations and similes. The simile of 'punḍarīka' seems very beautiful in the first chapter. In this the dialogue and question-answer style has also been adopted. This dialogue style is also found in the second chapter.^[1]