The Acharanga Sutra stands at the head of the Śvetāmbara Jain canon as a foundational text on monastic discipline, composed in Ardhamāgadhī Prākrit and cast in the concise style of sūtras. Its traditional organization is into two principal parts, known as Śrutaskandhas, which together map the path from external conduct to inner realization. Throughout, the work employs brief aphoristic statements, repeated stock phrases, and parallel constructions, often framed as what a monk should or should not do, so that the discipline is impressed upon the mind through rhythmic reiteration.

The first Śrutaskandha is regarded as the older and more fundamental portion, and it is internally divided into several sections or lessons (often termed Uddeśakas or similar designations). These sections interweave narrative and prescription, especially through depictions of Mahāvīra’s wandering life, his austerities, and his unwavering non‑violence in thought, word, and deed. From such exemplary portrayals, the text moves into detailed guidance on carefulness in walking, speaking, receiving alms, and handling objects, as well as rules for staying in villages or forests and relating to lay followers. Alongside external regulations, it also addresses inner discipline: control of passions, cultivation of equanimity, and the grounding of conduct in right knowledge and faith, while warning against transgressions, lapses, and attachment.

The second Śrutaskandha, though later in composition, continues this concern with the monk’s way of life, but in a somewhat more systematizing and, at points, more philosophical manner. It is commonly described as being arranged into several sections that revisit and clarify general monastic rules and vows, including the great restraints and their auxiliary observances. Further material regulates movement and residence—such as the choice of dwelling, seasonal stays, and routes of travel—always with an eye to minimizing harm to living beings and maintaining vigilance. The text also treats the monk’s relationship with lay followers, setting boundaries for accepting alms, teaching, and social interaction so that engagement with the world does not erode detachment. In its later portions, this second book gathers and consolidates disciplinary points, offering further prescriptions and summaries that recapitulate the ascetic ideal.

Seen as a whole, the Acharanga Sutra is organized so that the reader moves from an idealized model of the perfected mendicant, through the articulation of core principles such as non‑violence, restraint, and carefulness, into an increasingly fine‑grained network of rules governing every aspect of monastic life. The structure thus mirrors the inner journey it seeks to foster: from inspiration by the example of Mahāvīra, to understanding of the ethical and spiritual principles at stake, and finally to the painstaking regulation of conduct that allows those principles to be embodied in daily practice.