The ÃÂcÃÂrÃÂá¹ ga Sà «tra, the foremost and oldest Jain text (First book c. 5thâÂÂ4th century BCE; Second book c. Late 4thâÂÂ2nd century BCE), (3rd c. BCE) is the first of the twelve Angas, part of the agamas which were compiled based on the teachings of 24th Tirthankara Mahavira.
The existing text of the ÃÂcÃÂrÃÂá¹ ga Sà «tra which is used by the à ÂvetÃÂmbara sect of Jainism was recompiled and edited by Acharya Devardhigani Kshamashraman, who headed the council held at Valabhi c. 454 CE. The Digambaras do not recognize the available text, and regard the original text as having been lost in its original form. The Digambara text, Mulachara is said to be derived from the original ÃÂcÃÂrÃÂá¹ ga Sà «tra and discusses the conduct of a Digambara monk.
The ÃÂcÃÂrÃÂá¹ ga Sà «tra is the oldest agama, from a linguistic point of view, written in Ardhamagadhi Prakrit. The Sutra contains two books, or Srutaskandhas. The first book is the older part, to which other treatises were later added. It describes the conduct and behavior of ascetic life: the mode of asking for food, bowl, clothes, conduct while walking and speaking and regulation of possessions by ascetics. It also describes the penance of Mahavira, the Great Hero.
The second book is divided into four sections called Kulas. There were originally five Kûlâs, but the fifth, the Nisîhiyagghana, is now reckoned as a separate work. The first and second parts lay down rules for conduct of ascetics.
The ÃÂcÃÂrÃÂá¹ ga has been described in details in SamavÃÂyÃÂá¹ ga and the Nandá¿Â. According to them, the main studies of the ÃÂcÃÂrÃÂá¹ ga are 'ÃÂcÃÂra gocara' i.e. code of conduct, vinaya (humility), vainÃÂyika (fruition of humility), sthÃÂna (difference postures), gamana (travelling), cankramaá¹Âa (movements), bhojana-mÃÂtra (quantity of food intake), svÃÂdhyÃÂya (spiritual studies), bhÃÂṣàsamiti (principles of speech), gupti (restraint or of mind, speech and body), sayyà(place of stay), upÃÂdhá¿ (belongings) etc. The ÃÂcÃÂrÃÂá¹ ga recommends purity of all these aspects. Acharya UmÃÂsvati has briefly dealt with the subject matter of the nine chapters of the ÃÂcÃÂrÃÂá¹ ga. They are:
ÃÂcÃÂrÃÂá¹ ga Sà «tra quotes:
The ÃÂcÃÂrÃÂá¹ ga Sà «tra describes lack of clothes as being in full conformity with Jain doctrine (AS 1.6.2.3). Another passage in the ÃÂcÃÂrÃÂá¹ ga Sà «tra refers to the difficulties experienced by naked monk and also to the fact that he does not need to beg for and repair clothes (AS 1.6.3.1âÂÂ2).
The ÃÂcÃÂrÃÂá¹ ga Sà «tra describes two types of monks - Jinkalpi (who remained naked) and Sthavirkalpi (who may or may not drape garments around them). The ÃÂcÃÂrÃÂá¹ ga Sà «tra states the following three types of monks:
à ÂvetÃÂmbara texts state that knowledge of the scriptures gradually dwindled and monks did not possess the necessary qualifications to become Jinkalpi. A monk needs to know 10 or more purvas to be jinkalpi. All other monks with lesser knowledge were Sthavirkalpi and were allowed to drape clothes. Bhadrabahu and Sthulabhadra are both considered to have been sthavirkalpi monks by à ÂvetÃÂmbaras and that à ÂvetÃÂmbaras believe they were white-clad. Jinkalpi monks went extinct soon after Jambuswami attained nirvana. All the other monks of the à ÂvetÃÂmbara tradition are considered to be Sthavirkalpi as they drape white clothes.
Jinkalpi monks are said to have differed from present-day Digambara monks. They did not live within the society and meditated in seclusion in forests and caves and practiced much more austerity than monks today can.
Little to no information is found on how householders must conduct themselves. The text does not delineate a formal code of ethics and monastic practice as it is meant for Sthavirkalpi (more lenient than Jinakalpi monks) monks only.
Following are the commentaries on the Sutra: