The Shvetambara canon, carried orally for close to a thousand years, was committed to writing in this century in the recension the Valabhi Council settled. The written Agamas, in Ardhamagadhi Prakrit, preserved the sermons attributed to Mahavira and the discipline of the early community, and the manuscripts made at Valabhi became the parents of the temple libraries of western India.
Tagged: Jain Shvetambara
The Event
- Date
- 5th century (approximate)
- Era
- Councils and Schism; Standard periodization of Jain history
- Location
- Valabhi, Gujarat; today Vallabhipur, Gujarat, India
- Traditions
- Jainism
- Streams
- Shvetambara
- Key figures
- Devarddhigani Kshamashramana
- Key texts
- Agamas
Connections
- Valabhi Council; follows_from
Primary Sources
- The Kalpa Sutra account of the Tirthankaras.
- The Agamas of the Shvetambara canon.
Secondary Sources
- Dundas, Paul. The Jains. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2002.
- Shah, Natubhai. Jainism: The World of Conquerors. Sussex Academic Press, 1998.
Provenance: HIST-0606; confidence 0.85; accessed 2026-10-27.
Related on This Site
- A Kalpasutra Folio Art Entry
- The Dilwara Temples Art Entry
- The Gujarat Manuscript Ateliers Artist
- Digambara–Shvetambara split History Event
- First Council at Pataliputra History Event
- Mahavira (24th Tirthankara) History Event
- Parshvanatha (23rd Tirthankara) History Event
- Valabhi Council History Event