But as the centuries passed there was downfall in these capabilities and so Ācārya Puṣpadanta and Bhūtabali penned down the teachings of Mahavira in Ṣaṭkhaṇḍāgama.

It is said[weasel words] to have been based on oral teaching of the Digambara monk, acharya Dharasena (1st Century CE).

[2] According to the tradition, alarmed at the gradual dwindling of scriptural knowledge, he summoned two monks, Puṣpadanta and Bhūtabali to a cave, known as Candra Guphā, or the Moon Cave, his retreat in mount Girnar, Gujarat, and communicated what he remembered out of originally vast extent of sacred Jain writings.

[5] Jayadhavala was finished during the rule of the Rashtrakuta ruler Amoghavarsha in 838 AD (or Jagatunga according to some scholars) A palm leaf manuscript of this long work were preserved in the Digambara holy place of Shravanabelagola at the Siddhanta Basadi.

Some of the leaves contain beautiful paintings of historical importance[6] A copy was reputed to have been at the Malked (Manyakhet) Mutt, but that has not survived.

[4] With the support of Manikchand of Sholapur during 1896 to 1920, the Moodbidrai manuscript were transcribed in modern Nagari and Kannad scripts, without the knowledge of the Moodbidri temple trustees.

In the 20th century, Dr. Hiralal Jain was one of the first few lay scholars who decided to retrieve the āgamas, and bring to light with systematic editing and proof reading.

Dr Hiralal Jain, Pt Nathuram Premi and Jamunaprasada sub-judge together managed to convince Seth Sitabray Gulabray, a wealthy land-owner from Vidisha (Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh) belonging to the Paravāra community, to donate Rs.

In a period of twenty years, the Satkhandāgama, along with its massive Dhavalā and Mahādhavalā commentaries was edited from the original palm leaf manuscripts and published after very careful proof reading in consultation with senior Jaina scholars like Pt.

[9] The six parts are: Ṣaṭkhaṇḍāgama postulates karma theory, using a number of technical terms defining various concepts and mathematical notions.

The first five parts of the Ṣaṭkhaṇḍāgama along with the Dhavalā commentary and Hindi translation, running into 16 Volumes, was first published from Vidisha itself, by the family of Shrimant Seth Sitabray Gulabray.

But is now published by the Jaina Sanskriti Sanrakshak Sangh in Solapur and distributed by Hindi Granth Karyalay, Mumbai.