Jain Councils

Definition

The two great assemblies of Jain monks held to collect and preserve the teachings of Mahavira, the second of which produced the final canon of the Svetambara sect.

Key points

• First council: at Pataliputra, around the 3rd century BCE (about 300 BCE), under the leadership of Sthulabhadra; aimed to compile the twelve Angas after a famine had scattered the monks.
• The Pataliputra council was linked to the migration of part of the order under Bhadrabahu (with Chandragupta Maurya) to Shravanabelagola in the south, deepening the split.
• Second council: at Vallabhi (in Gujarat), in the 5th to 6th century CE (commonly dated about 512 CE), under Devardhi Kshamashramana; the surviving canon (Agamas) was finally written down here.
• The two sects are the Svetambaras (white-clad), who accept the Vallabhi canon, and the Digambaras (sky-clad), who reject these texts as the original teaching.

Why it matters for CAPF

The Pataliputra-Sthulabhadra and Vallabhi-Devardhi pairings, and the Bhadrabahu migration to Shravanabelagola that produced the Svetambara-Digambara split, are standard Jainism facts that parallel the Buddhist councils.

Common confusion

Pataliputra hosted both the first Jain council and the third Buddhist council, but under different leaders (Sthulabhadra versus Moggaliputta Tissa); the Jain canon was finalised at Vallabhi, not Pataliputra.

Parent note

mahajanapadas jainism and buddhism