Jaina Sutras, Part I (SBE22) (Sacred Books of the East)

This is volume 22 of the Sacred Books of the East, Part One of the Hermann Jacobi translation of the Jaina Sutras. This volume includes the Akaranga and Kalpa Sutras, two of the most important Jain sacred texts.

The Akaranga Sutra outlines rules for Jain monks. Most notably it describes steps which monks must take to avoid harming other living beings, including the microscopic life forms which the ancient Jains believed pervaded the universe. The Kalpa sutra contains a biography of the founder of Jainism, Mahavira, as well as other founders of the religion, and a list of the successive Jain leaders.

As is the practice at this site, the typography of the original has been preserved as far as possible. This means that italics are used to indicate distinctions between consonants in transliterated Sanskrit and Prakrit. The system used is documented on the charts attached to the Sacred Books of the East page. Most notably in this system, 'j' (roughly, the initial sound of the English word 'jam') is written italic g, hence the spelling Gain throughout, which is pronounced 'Jain.' This book is normally cited as 'Jaina Sutras' in modern publications and bibliographies.--J.B. Hare