{"id":4009,"date":"2026-01-04T00:13:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T18:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/?p=4009"},"modified":"2026-01-05T11:05:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T05:35:05","slug":"jain-councils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/jain-councils\/","title":{"rendered":"Jain Councils"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Jainism is one of the world's oldest religions. The Jainas believe that their religious system is the result of the\u00a0<strong>twenty-four tirthankaras' teachings<\/strong>. Jaina teachings were originally passed down orally, but they were later compiled and recorded. The\u00a0<strong>first Jain council<\/strong>\u00a0was held at Pataliputra at the beginning of the 3rd century BCE and resulted in the compilation of the\u00a0<strong>twelve Angas,<\/strong>\u00a0whereas the second Jain council was held at Valabhi in the fifth century CE under the leadership of\u00a0<strong>Devardhi Kshamasramana.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<h2>First Jain Council<\/h2>\r\n<p>During the reign of the\u00a0<strong>Nanda King<\/strong>, the Jaina order was administered by two Theras:\u00a0<strong>Sambhutavijaya<\/strong>\u00a0(Sthulabahu) and\u00a0<strong>Bhadrabahu<\/strong>. Bhadrabahu was a contemporary of\u00a0<strong>Maurya King Chandragupta Maurya<\/strong>\u00a0and was the sixth Thera.<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>A terrible famine broke out in south Bihar near the end of Chandragupta Maurya's reign. It lasted for about twelve years. Bhadrabahu and his disciples migrated to\u00a0<strong>Sravanabelgola in Karnataka.<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Other Jainas remained in\u00a0<strong>Magadha\u00a0<\/strong>with Sthulabhadra as their leader, who changed the code of conduct for the monks. Around 300 BCE, they convened a council at\u00a0<strong>Pataliputra<\/strong>. The sacred teachings of Mahavira were divided into twelve angas at that council.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>The first Jain Council\u00a0<\/strong>was convened at\u00a0<strong>Pataliputra\u00a0<\/strong>by Sthulabahu, the leader of the\u00a0<strong>Digambaras<\/strong>, at the beginning of the 3rd century B.C.\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Sthulabhadra divided the Jaina canon into\u00a0<strong>12 'angas'<\/strong>\u00a0or sections during the first Jain Council at Pataliputra. This was accepted by\u00a0<strong>Svetambaras<\/strong>. The Angas are written in\u00a0<strong>Ardhamagadhi Prakrit.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t<li>The monks of the south disagreed with this compilation, and the\u00a0<strong>first split in Jainism\u00a0<\/strong>began. Jains are classified into two groups or two Jain sects:\u00a0<strong>Svetambaras and Digambaras.\u00a0<\/strong>Svetambara monks dressed in white. Digambara monks wore no clothing at all.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>Second Jain Council<\/h2>\r\n<p>The second Jain Council met in\u00a0<strong>512 CE in Vallabhi<\/strong>\u00a0(Gujarat) during the reign of the Maitraka Dynasty. It was presided over by\u00a0<strong>Devardhi Kshemasarmana.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>The\u00a0<strong>goal of this Council<\/strong>\u00a0was to collect sacred texts and write them down in a systematic manner.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>However, the\u00a0<strong>12th Anga<\/strong>\u00a0drawn at the first Council was lost this time. All the remaining Angas were written in\u00a0<strong>Ardhamagadhi<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>In the second Jain council, new additions were made in the form of\u00a0<strong>\u2018Upangas\u2019\u00a0<\/strong>or minor sections.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Twelve Angas:\u00a0<\/strong>The Angas treat the lives of the monks and are mostly made up of sermons on various themes of importance to the Jains.\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Acaranga<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Sutrakratnga<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Samvayanga<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Thananga<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Bhagavati<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Jnatadharmkatha<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Upasakadasa<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Antakritdasa<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Anuttaraupapatikadasa<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Prasna Vyakarana<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Vipaka Sutra<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Dristivada (The 12th anga is lost)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li>The\u00a0<strong>Acharanga sutta<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>Bhagavati sutta<\/strong>\u00a0are the most important of the 12 Angas. While the former deals with the code of conduct that a Jaina monk must follow, the latter comprehensively expounds the\u00a0<strong>Jaina doctrines.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Twelve Upangas:<\/strong>\u00a0Uvavaiya-sutta, Raya-pasenaijja, Jivajivabhigama, Pannavana, Suriya-pannatti, Jambudvipa-pannatti, Canda-pannatti, Nirayavaliyao or Kappiya, Kappavadamsiao, Pupphaio, Puppha-culiao, Vanhi-dasao.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%;height: 175px\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 25px\">\r\n<td class=\"tb-color\" style=\"width: 50%;text-align: center;height: 25px\" colspan=\"2\"><strong>Other Related Posts<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 25px\">\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%;text-align: center;height: 25px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/jainism\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Jainism<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%;text-align: center;height: 25px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/mauryan-administration\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Mauryan Administration<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 25px\">\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%;text-align: center;height: 25px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/vardhaman-mahavira\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Vardhaman Mahavira<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%;text-align: center;height: 25px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/ashoka\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Ashoka<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 25px\">\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%;text-align: center;height: 25px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/jain-councils\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Jain Councils<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%;text-align: center;height: 25px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/post-mauryan-period\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Post Mauryan Period<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 25px\">\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%;text-align: center;height: 25px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/sects-of-jainism\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Sects of Jainism<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%;text-align: center;height: 25px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/indo-greek-kingdom\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Indo-Greek Kingdom<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 25px\">\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%;text-align: center;height: 25px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/jainism-and-buddhism\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Buddhism and Jainism<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%;text-align: center;height: 25px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/sangam-literature\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Sangam Age<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 25px\">\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%;text-align: center;height: 25px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/mauryan-empire\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Mauryan Empire<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%;text-align: center;height: 25px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/kushan-empire\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Kushan Empire<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The First Jain Council, held in 300 BCE in Pataliputra, addressed scriptural interpretations and established key doctrines. The Second Council occurred later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[537,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-4009","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-quest-level-3","8":"tag-jain-councils","9":"tag-quest"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19562,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4009\/revisions\/19562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}