Philosophy In Jain Agams: Numbers of Āgama Literature

Basically the entire āgama literature was divided into two groups i.e. Aṅga praviṣṭa and Aṅga bāhya but later on it got divided into five groups-

1. Upāṅga
2. Mūla Sūtra
3. Cheda Sūtra
4. CūlikāSūtra
5. Prakirṇaka

There are several convictions about the numbers of āgamic texts. Among them these three are prominent-

1. Eighty four
2. Forty five
3. Thirty two

Eleven aṅga, twelve upāṅga, four mūla, six cheda, ten prakīrṇaka and two cūlikāsūtras - all together these forty five āgamas are accepted in the Śvetambara idol - worshiping tradition. Sthānakavāsi and Terāpanthī sects, negating thirteen texts i.e. ten prakīrṇaka, Jītakalpa, Mahaniśītha and Piṇḍa Niryukti from the list of āgamic literature accepts only thirty two texts as āgamas.

Those, who believe in eighty four āgama texts, count thirty prakirṇaka in place of ten and add ten niryuktis, yatijītakalpa, Sraddhājītakalpa, pākṣikasūtra, Kṣhmāpanāsūtra, Vandittu, Tithi prakaraṇa, Kavaca prakaraṇa, Sansakt niryukti and Viśeṣāvaśyaka bhāṣyaṁ to the list. In total it sums to eighty four āgamas.^[1]

Ten Prakīraṇakas

Prakīrṇaka means variant. Lord Mahavira had fourteen thousand monks. Nandī states about fourteen thousand prakīrṇaka of Lord Mahavira.^[2] At present, generally the number of Prakīrṇaka is believed to be ten but there is no similarity in the names of these ten texts. The most commonly accepted ten prakīrṇakas are as follows:

1. Catuḥsaraṇa
2. Ātur Pratyākhyāna
3. Mahāpratyākhyāna
4. Bhakta Parijña
5. Tanḍula Vaicārika
6. Sanstāraka
7. Gacchācara
8. Gaṇividyā
9. Devendra Stava
10. Maraṇa Samadhī

Those who believe in thirty two āgamas do not count prakīrṇakas as āgamic texts and those who believe in forty two āgamas accept them whilst those who believe in eighty four āgamas accept thirty prakīrṇaka texts under the āgama category.