Within the Jain tradition, the number of Āgamas is understood in more than one way, reflecting both historical memory and sectarian perspective. On one hand, there is the ancient remembrance that Mahavira’s teachings were originally organized into twelve primary Āgamas, or Aṅgas. Over time, it is held that the twelfth of these, known as Dṛṣṭivāda, was lost, leaving only eleven of the original twelve in active transmission. This view preserves the sense of an original twelvefold canon, even while acknowledging that not all of it remains accessible.

Alongside this, the Śvetāmbara community speaks of a more expansive canonical collection, traditionally counted as forty‑five Āgamas. In this reckoning, the twelve Aṅgas are joined by additional groups of texts, such as Upāṅgas, Chedasūtras, Mūlasūtras, and other related scriptures, forming a broader scriptural corpus. The Digambara community, by contrast, maintains that the original Āgamas have not survived and therefore does not accept the Śvetāmbara collection as an authentic preservation of Mahavira’s words. What emerges from these perspectives is a shared reverence for an original twelvefold teaching, coupled with differing assessments of how much of that revelation has been faithfully preserved in written form.