The Acaranga Sutra is the first of the eleven Anga

Anga

Anga was a kingdom that flourished on the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 6th century BCE until taken over by Magadha in the same century. Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts like the Anguttara Nikaya, Anga also finds mention in the Jain Vyakhyaprajnapti’s list of...

s, part of the agamas

Jain Agamas

Agamas are canonical texts of Jainism based on Mahavira’s teachings. Mahavira’s preaching were orally compiled by his disciples into various Sutras which were collectively called Jain canonical or Agamic literature. Traditionally these sutras were orally passed on from teachers to the disciples...

 (religious texts)which were compiled based on the teachings of Lord Mahavira

Mahavira

Mahāvīra is the name most commonly used to refer to the Indian sage Vardhamāna who established what are today considered to be the central tenets of Jainism. According to Jain tradition, he was the 24th and the last Tirthankara. In Tamil, he is referred to as Arukaṉ or Arukadevan...

.

The Acaranga Sutra discusses the conduct of a Jain monk. In antiquity, Acaranga was the first text that was studied by the Jain monks.

The existing text of the Acaranga Sutra which is used by the Svetambara

Svetambara

The Śvētāmbara is one of the two main sects of Jainism, the other being the Digambar. Śvētāmbara "white-clad" is a term describing its ascetics' practice of wearing white clothes, which sets it apart from the Digambara "sky-clad" Jainas, whose ascetic practitioners go naked...

 sect of Jainism

Jainism

Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...

 was recompiled and edited by KshamaShraman Devardhigani, who headed the council held at Valabhi 980 years after the death of Mahavira

Mahavira

Mahāvīra is the name most commonly used to refer to the Indian sage Vardhamāna who established what are today considered to be the central tenets of Jainism. According to Jain tradition, he was the 24th and the last Tirthankara. In Tamil, he is referred to as Arukaṉ or Arukadevan...

. The Digambaras do not recognize the existing text, and regard the original text as having been lost in its original form. The Digambara Mulachara

Mulachara

Mulachara is a Jain text composed by Acharya Vattakera of the Digambara tradition, who lived around 1st-2nd century CE. It incorporates the concepts derived from the Acharanga text, which is now regarded to be lost in the Digambara tradition....

 text includes the Digambara tradition derived from Acharanga.

Introduction

The Acaranga Sutra is the oldest agam, from a linguistic point of view, written in Ardhamagadhi Prakrit

Prakrit

Prakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...

. The Acaranga 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 begging for food, bowl, clothes, conduct while walking and speaking and regulation of possessions by ascetics. It also describes the penance of Mahavira

Mahavira

Mahāvīra is the name most commonly used to refer to the Indian sage Vardhamāna who established what are today considered to be the central tenets of Jainism. According to Jain tradition, he was the 24th and the last Tirthankara. In Tamil, he is referred to as Arukaṉ or Arukadevan...

, 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.

Āgamas are the most ancient works in Jaina-literature. We find two versions of Āgamas in Samavāyāṅga — Dvādaśāṅga (Gaṇipiṭaka) and Caturdaśa Pūrva. In the Nandῑ Sūtra we get two divisions of Āgamas — (i) Aṅgapraviṣṭa and (ii) Aṅgabāhya.

All references about the course of studies for the Jaina monks and nuns, which are found in Āgama-literature, are related to the eleven Aṅgas and fourteen Pūrvas. In these references we find numbers of monks and nuns such as Gautama, Padmāvatῑ, Kālῑ, Atimuktaka Kumāra etc. Some of them are known to be the disciples of Ariṣṭanemi and some of them in the order of Mahāvῑra.

The Ācārāṅga has been described in details in Samavāyāṅga and the Nandῑ. According to them, the main studies of the Ācārāṅga are 'Ācāra gocara' i.e. code of conduct, vinaya (humility), vaināyika (fruition of humility), sthāna (difference postures), gamana (travelling), cankramaṇa (movements), bhojana-mātra (quantity of food intake), svādhyāya (spiritual studies), bhāṣā samiti (principles of speech), gupti (restraint or of mind, speech and body), sayyā (place of stay), upādhῑ (belongings) etc. The Ācārāṅga recommends purity of all these aspects. Acharya Umāsvati has briefly dealt with the subject matter of the nine chapters of the Ācārāṅga. They are:

1. Ṣaḍjῑvanikāya yatanā - self-restraint in respect of the six kinds of living beings.
2. Abandoning of ego over worldly things.
3. Conquest over trials and tribulations of life.
4. Unshakable perception about righteousness.
5. Detachment towards worldly affairs.
6. The process to decay or destroy the karmas.
7. Service towards elders.
8. Penance and austerities.
9. Renunciation of attachment to sexual objects

On Ahimsa

I so pronounce that all the omniscients of all times, state, speak, propagate, and elaborate that nothing which breathes, which exists, which lives, or which has essence or potential of life, should be destroyed or ruled over, or subjugated, or harmed, or denied of its essence or potential.

This truth, propagated by the self-knowing omniscients, after understanding all there is in universe, is pure, undefileable, and eternal.

In support of this Truth, I ask you a question - "Is sorrow or pain desirable to you ?" If you say "yes it is", it would be a lie. If you say, "No, It is not" you will be expressing the truth. What I want to add to the truth expressed by you is that, as sorrow or pain is not desirable to you, so it is to all which breath, exist, live or have any essence of life. To you and all, it is undesirable, and painful, and repugnant.

That which you consider worth destroying is (like) yourself.

That which you consider worth disciplining is (like) yourself.

That which you consider worth subjugating is (like) yourself.

That which you consider worth killing is (like) yourself.

The result of actions by you has to be borne by you, so do not destroy anything.

Commentaries

Following are the commentaries on the Acaranga Sutra:

1. Tîkâ of Silanka, also called Tattvâditya, said to have been finished in the 876 CE, with the help of Vâhari Sâdhu.
2. Dîpikâ of Jinahamsa Sûri, a teacher of the Brihat Kharatara Gakkha.
3. Pârsvakandra's Bâlâvabodha, generally closely follows the explanation of the older commentaries, more especially that of the Dîpikâ.
4. Acharanga Bhasyam Author(s): Acharya Mahaprajna (Acharya Tulsi, Acharya Mahashraman)Publisher: Jain Vishva Barati, Ladnun, India

English translations

Popular English Translations are :

1. Illustrated SRI ACARANGA SUTRA (2 volumes), Ed. by Pravartaka Amar Muni, Shrichand Surana Saras, Eng. tr. by Surendra Bothra, Prakrit Gatha — Hindi exposition — English exposition and Appendices
2. Acaranga Sutra, The Jaina Sutras, Jacobi, Hermann (1884)
3. Acharanga Bhasyam Author(s): Acharya Mahaprajna (Acharya Tulsi, Acharya Mahashraman)Publisher: Jain Vishva Barati, Ladnun, India

Editor((s): Muni Mahendra Kumar, Muni Dulaharaj
Translator: Dr. Nathmal Tatia

External links

• Text of Akaranga Sutra Translated by Hermann Jacobi