Lord Mahavir preached Jain philosophy, values/principles, practices, ethics, conduct, and rituals to live a simple spiritual life. After his Nirvana, his preaching is compiled into many texts known as Sutras by his immediate disciples (known as Ganadhar) and later on by other Acharyas. These sutras are collectively known as Agam literature, the sacred books for the Jain religion. Agam literature is fundamentally divided into two groups:

• Anga Pravistha Agam / Anga-Agam – direct teaching and principles of Lord Mahavir. These are the oldest religious scriptures and backbone of Jain literature.
• Anga-bahya Agam – outside of Anga-Agam. These are commentaries and explanations compiled on the various subjects of the Anga-Agam literature by learned acharyas.

Traditionally these sutras were orally passed on from teachers (acharyas or gurus) to the disciples for several centuries. In older times, the books were hand-written and rare. Also, religious books and scriptures were considered possessions and attachments for ascetics. Therefore, Agam sutras were rarely documented and not widely distributed for or by ascetics.

During the course of time, it became difficult to keep the entire Jain literature (Agam sutras and commentary literature) committed to memory. Also, around 350 BC, the occurrence of twelve years famine made it extremely challenging for Jain ascetics to survive. A number of Agam sutras were forgotten or lost during the famine. Later, when the Jain congregation relaxed the vow of non-possession with regards to religious scriptures for ascetics, there were differing perspectives amongst Jain sects on authenticity of the Agam literature but the core intent, values and principles were consistently agreed upon.

• Digamber sect maintained that original Agam sutras were forgotten or lost due to lack of documentation. In absence of authentic scriptures, Digamber sect uses two main texts, three commentaries on main text, and more than 20 texts consisting of four Anuyog as the foundation for their religious philosophy and practices. These scriptures were written by Acharyas from 100 to 1000 A.D.
• Svetamber sect believed that only twelfth Anga-Agam known as Drastivada, which included fourteen Purvas was forgotten during famine but a significant portion of the remaining eleven Anga-Agams was remembered by their ascetics. The Svetamber ascetics held three conferences for the preservation of Jain literature in Paltiputra (320 B.C.), Mathura (380 A.D.), and Valabhi (520 A.D.). They have documented the Agam literature during the second and third conferences around one thousand years after Lord Mahavir’s nirvana.

For further information on Jain Agam Literature and the difference in approaches among various sects, please review pages 234-274 in the book titled Jainism in a Global Perspective – Collection of Jain papers of 1993 Parliament of World Religions, Chicago. The Jain eLibrary book # 014010.

The original literature in both sects was not compiled as per Anuyog but consists of texts like religious stories, principles of observances, mathematics, geography, astronomy, philosophical doctrines, theories etc. that aligned to each Anuyog. These religious sutras were later classified or grouped by Jain Acharyas into the four categories based on the style of narration to ensure that the context is taken into consideration while learning these sutras.

At the highest level, the intent of each Anuyog is to move the seeker towards the ultimate spiritual goal of eliminating Mithyatva (ignorance and wrong belief) and reducing kashayas (afflictions like anger, ego, deceit, and greed).