Question

In how many Angas, the teachings of Jain Tirthankaras are compiled?
A- 8
B- 10
C- 12
D- 14

Answer 1

Hint:
1. A Tirthankara (Sanskrit: tīrtha'kara; English: literally a 'ford-maker') is a saviour and moral dharma (righteous path) teacher in Jainism. The word tirthankara means the founder of a tirtha,which is a fordable route, the sa'sāra, through the sea of endless births and deaths.

2. A Tirthankara, according to Jains, is a person who on his own has overcome the sa'sāra, the cycle of death and rebirth, and made a path for others to follow.

Complete answer:
1. Jainism was established by the first Tirthankara. The wheel of time is divided into two halves, Utsarpi' or ascending time cycle, and avasarpi", the descending time cycle, Tirthankara provides a bridge for others to pursue the new teacher from sa'sāra to Mahavir Swami (liberation).

2. Jain cosmology (said to be current now). Exactly twenty-four Tirthankaras grace this part of the universe in every half of the universal time period. In the past, there were an infinite number of Tirthankaras.

3. There are 12 angas that compile the teachings of Jain Tirthankaras .

Therefore , the correct answer is C

Note:
1 Jains claim that Jainism, with the Tirthankaras leading every period of Jain cosmology, is everlasting dharma. Ahi-sā (non-violence), anekāntavāda (many-sidedness), aparigraha (non-attachment) and asceticism are the principal religious premises of the Jain dharma (abstinence from sensual pleasures).

2 In India, Jainism is treated to be a constitutionally distinct faith. It was historically regarded by a group of scholars as a Hindu sect or a Buddhist heretic, but it is one of the three ancient Indian religions.