JainSutra.org · Canonical Scripture

AagamaSutra

आगम सूत्र

The Living Word of Lord Mahavira — Preserved Across 2500 Years

The Jain Aagamas are the oldest surviving records of Lord Mahavira's teachings — transmitted orally for centuries by his direct disciples and preserved with extraordinary care across millennia. Each sutra is a precisely worded encapsulation of dharma: not philosophy in the abstract, but living instruction for the soul's journey toward liberation.

Scripture Type

Jain Canonical Texts

Taught By

Lord Mahavira

Translated By

Dishant Shah

Total Chapters

56

The Two Aagamas — Presented in Full

Both Jain canonical scriptures are presented sutra by sutra — with original Ardhamagadhi Prakrit text, full English translation, and commentary written for modern readers. No prior knowledge of Jainism required.

Also on JainSutra — Tattvartha Sutra
Philosophical Sutra · Umaswati · ~300 CE

Tattvartha Sutra

तत्त्वार्थसूत्र — That Which Is

Ten chapters. 344 sutras. The complete philosophy of Jainism — soul, matter, cosmos, karma, and liberation — in its most concentrated and authoritative form. The intellectual bedrock of the entire tradition.

10

Chapters

344

Sutras

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About This Project

Why These Translations?

The Jain Aagamas are among the oldest religious texts in the world — yet accessible, accurate, and commentary-rich translations remain rare. Most existing English versions are academic: dense with scholarly annotation, inaccessible to a general reader trying to absorb these as living teaching.

This project presents each sutra with three layers: the original Ardhamagadhi Prakrit text, a careful English translation that preserves the force of the original, and commentary written for modern readers with no prior knowledge assumed.

The goal is not scholarship. The goal is that a 19-year-old anywhere in the world can open these pages and feel, with full clarity, what Mahavira said.