3. Dating Considerations

Jaina canonical texts are known to present difficulties related to dating and chronology.

The final redaction and documentation of the Śvetāmbara canon, was attempted around one thousand years after Mahāvīra’s liberation (nirvāṇa). The redaction of most of them is said to have been completed during the 5^th c. CE at the Vallabhi Council under the leadership of Devardhigaṇi, who is recognised by the epithet “kṣamāśramaṇa”. Before this council, the Jaina canons are implicit to have been preserved through an oral tradition. Defining the chronology of Jaina āgama texts is thus challenging.

Dundas (1992/2002: 22-23) presents the problem of dating the texts well:

‘[T]he accounts of the Council of Vallabhi, which took place around the middle of the fifth century CE and at which the Śvetāmbara scriptures were supposedly redacted for the final time, provide no help with regard to the dating of the actual sources involved. While we may be reasonably confident about the most important texts redacted at Vallabhi, we can only establish a relative chronology for them on the basis of language, metre, and the evidence of style, while also bearing in mind that the versions of the scriptures which we possess now have often been subjected to some sort of editorial process’.

Many initiatives have been undertaken attempting to frame the chronological periods of the texts. However, even with expert scholars, there is a huge difference of opinion. Where necessary, I have adopted generally accepted dates in this study.