Shatkhandagama

Shatkhandagama
Ṣaṭkhaṅḍāgama with commentary Dhavalā of Acharya Virasena
Information
Religion	Jainism
Author	Pushpadanta and Bhutabali
Language	Prakrit

Ṣaṭkhaṅḍāgama (Devanagari: षटखंडागम), literally the "Scripture in Six Parts", is the foremost and oldest Digambara Jain sacred text. According to Digambara tradition, the original canonical scriptures of the Jains were totally lost within a few centuries of Nirvana of Lord Mahavira. Hence, Satkhandāgama is the most revered Digambara text that has been given the status of āgama. The importance of the Satkhandāgama to the Digambaras can be judged by the fact that, the day its Dhavalā commentary was completed, it is commemorated as Shruta Pañcami, a day when all the Jaina scriptures are venerated. Satkhandāgama, the first āgama is also called the Pratham Shrut-Skandh, while the Panch Paramāgama by Acharya Kundakunda are referred to as the second āgama or Dvitiya Shrut-Skandh.

It is said to have been based on oral teaching of the Digambara monk, acharya Dharasena (1st Century CE). According to the tradition, alarmed at the gradual dwindling of scriptural knowledge, he summoned two monks, Pushpadanta and Bhūtabali to a cave, known as Chandra Gupha, or the Moon Cave, his retreat in mount Girnar, Gujarat, and communicated what he remembered out of originally vast extent of sacred Jain writings. He taught them portions of the fifth Anga Viahapannatti (Vyakhya Prajnapti) and of the twelfth Anga Ditthivada (Drstivada). These were subsequently reduced to writing in Sutra form by his pupils. Pushpadanta composed the first 177 Sutras and his colleague Bhutabali wrote the rest, the total being 6000 Sutras. The palm leaf writings of this long work, originally written in Prakrit were deposited sometime in the early centuries of the Common Era in the Digambara holy place of Mudabidri, a temple town in South-West Karnataka. Here, these scriptures were treated with great reverence, but became mere objects of worship. Digambara āgamas like Satkhandāgama and the Kasāyapāhuda were in a state of neglect and were not studied or made available to the community.