is regarded as the most authoritative book on Jainism, and the only text authoritative in both the Svetambara and Digambara sects
Philosophy and Logic There are various later Jain works that are considered post-canonical, that is to say, they were written after the closure of the Jain canons, though the different canons were closed at different historical eras, and so this category is ambiguous. Thus,
Umasvāti's (c. between 2nd-century and 5th-century CE)
Tattvarthasūtra ("On the Nature of Reality") is included in the Digambara canon, but not in the Śvētāmbara canons (though they do consider the work authoritative). Indeed, the
Tattvarthasūtra is considered
the authoritative Jain philosophy text by all traditions of Jainism. It has the same importance in Jainism as
Vedanta Sūtras and
Yogasūtras have in
Hinduism. Other non-canonical works include various texts attributed to Bhadrabahu () which are called the
Niryuktis and
Samhitas. According to Winternitz, after the 8th century or so, Svetambara Jain writers, who had previously worked in Prakrit, began to use Sanskrit. The Digambaras also adopted Sanskrit somewhat earlier. The earliest Jain works in Sanskrit include the writings of
Siddhasēna Divākara (), who wrote the
Sanmatitarka ('The Logic of the True Doctrine') is the first major Jain work on logic written in
Sanskrit. Other later works and writers include: •
Jinabhadra (6th–7th century) – author of
Avasyaksutra (Jain tenets)
Visesanavati and
Visesavasyakabhasya (Commentary on Jain essentials). • Mallavadin (8th century) – author of
Nayacakra and
Dvadasaranayacakra (Encyclopedia of Philosophy) which discusses the schools of
Indian philosophy. •
Haribhadra-sūri (c 8th century) is an important Svetambara scholar who wrote commentaries on the Agamas. He also wrote the
Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya, a key Jain text on Yoga which compares the Yoga systems of Buddhists, Hindus and Jains. Gunaratna () wrote a commentary on Haribhadra's work. •
Prabhacandra (8th–9th century) – Jain philosopher, composed a 106-Sutra Tattvarthasutra and exhaustive commentaries on two key works on Jain Nyaya,
Prameyakamalamartanda, based on Manikyanandi's
Parikshamukham and
Nyayakumudacandra on Akalanka's
Laghiyastraya. •
Abhaydevsuri (1057–1135 CE) – A significant phase in the development of medieval Śvetāmbara Jain literature is marked by the Sanskrit commentaries attributed to
Abhaydevsuri. His works form part of a continuous exegetical tradition that sought to systematise the interpretation of canonical texts transmitted in Ardhamāgadhī and other Prakrits through Sanskrit scholastic prose. Abhayadeva Suri is credited with authoritative
vṛttis (commentaries) on several major texts of the Śvetāmbara canon. His commentary on the
Sthānāṅga Sūtra, an encyclopaedic text organised through numerical classifications, plays a central role in clarifying its compressed doctrinal lists and is treated in modern scholarship as indispensable for its interpretation. A Sanskrit
vṛtti is also attributed to him on the
Bhagavatī Sūtra (
Viyāhapannatti), one of the most extensive Jain Āgamas, in which canonical dialogues on karma theory, cosmology, ethics, and monastic discipline are explained and harmonised within broader doctrinal frameworks. In addition to canonical Āgamas, Abhayadeva Suri is associated with a commentary on Sanmatitarka, the foundational Jain philosophical treatise attributed to Siddhasena Divākara. Through this work, he contributed to the transmission and clarification of Jain logical and epistemological concepts alongside scriptural exegesis. Taken together, these commentaries illustrate a mature stage of Śvetāmbara exegetical practice in which grammatical analysis, doctrinal harmonisation, and cross-referencing across the canon were employed to stabilise interpretation and support monastic pedagogy. Abhayadeva Suri’s works circulated widely in manuscript and printed form and were incorporated into later Śvetāmbara scholastic curricula, including those associated with Tapāgaccha traditions. His commentarial corpus continues to be cited in modern academic studies of Jain canon formation, manuscript culture, and medieval Sanskritisation of Jain literature. author of
Vadamahrnava (Ocean of Discussions) which is a 2,500 verse
tika (Commentary) of
Sanmartika and a great treatise on logic. are both works on grammar written in .
Pañcagranthi by Ācārya Buddhisāgarasūri (10th century) in poetic form
, complemented with auto-commentary.
Siddha-Hema-Śabdānuśāsana by Acharya
Hemachandra () is considered by
F. Kielhorn as the best grammar work of the Indian middle ages. Hemacandra's book Kumarapalacaritra is also noteworthy. Malayagiri, a contemporary to
Hemachandra, also authored a Śabdānuśāsana, accompanied with an auto-commentary.
S. Vaiyapuri Pillai suggests that Tolkappiyar was a Jain scholar well-versed in the Aintiram grammatical system and posits a later date, placing him in southern Kerala around the 5th century CE. Notably, Tolkappiyam incorporates several Sanskrit and Prakrit loanwords, reflecting its historical and linguistic context. Another grammatical text Naṉṉūl (Tamil: நன்னூல்) is a work on Tamil grammar written by a Jain ascetic Pavananthi Munivar around 13th century CE. It is the most significant work on Tamil grammar after Tolkāppiyam. Prākṛta-Lakṣaṇa (
The characteristic of Prakrit) is one of the earliest extant specialised grammar of
Prakrit.
A. F. Rudolf Hoernle opines that the grammar was written by a Jaina author. Jain acharya Hemchandra also contributed to grammar. He wrote
Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana, which includes six languages:
Sanskrit, the "standard"
Prakrit (virtually
Mahārāṣṭrī Prākrit),
Śaurasenī,
Māgadhī,
Paiśācī, the otherwise-unattested Cūlikāpaiśācī and
Apabhraṃśa (virtually Gurjar Apabhraṃśa, prevalent in the area of Gujarat and
Rajasthan at that time and the precursor of
Gujarati language). He gave a detailed grammar of Apabhraṃśa and also illustrated it with the folk literature of the time for better understanding. It is the only known Apabhraṃśa grammar. He wrote the grammar in the form of rules, with eight adhyayas (chapters) and its auto-commentaries, namely "Tattvaprakāśikā Bṛhadvṛtti" with "Śabdamahārṇava Nyāsa" in one year.
Jayasimha Siddharaja had installed the grammar work in Patan's (historically Aṇahilavāḍa) state library. Many copies were made of it, and many schemes were announced for the study of the grammar. Scholars like Kākala Kāyastha were invited to teach it. Moreover, an annual public examination was organized on the day of Jñāna-pañcamī.
Kielhorn regards this as best grammar of Indian middle ages. The German scholar
Georg Buhler wrote, "In grammar, in astronomy as well as in all branches of belles letters the achievements of the Jains have been so great that even their opponents have taken notice of them and that some of their work are of importance for European science even today. In the south where they have worked among the Dravidian peoples, they have also promoted the development of these languages. The Kanarese, Tamil, Telugu literary languages rest on the foundations erected by the Jain monks."
Narrative, Poetics, and Puranas Jaina narrative literature mainly contains stories about sixty-three prominent figures known as
Salakapurusa, and people who were related to them. Some of the important works are
Harivamshapurana of
Jinasena (), Vikramarjuna-Vijaya (also known as Pampa-Bharata) of Kannada poet named
Adi Pampa (),
Pandavapurana of
Shubhachandra ().
Mathematics and Cosmology Jain literature covered multiple topics of mathematics around 150 CE including the theory of numbers, arithmetical operations, geometry, operations with fractions, simple equations, cubic equations, bi-quadric equations, permutations, combinations and logarithms. == Languages ==