Over the centuries, the Acharanga Sutra has moved from being read almost solely as a literal manual for monastic discipline to being approached as a layered spiritual document. Early on, it functioned primarily as a direct rule‑book for wandering mendicants, prescribing meticulous patterns of conduct in walking, eating, speaking, and interacting so as to embody ahimsa in its most concrete form. The focus rested on visible austerity and external discipline, with minimal elaboration beyond the plain sense of the rules. In this phase, the text’s authority lay in its capacity to regulate every gesture of the ascetic life.

With the rise of classical Jain scholasticism, interpretation became more reflective and systematic. Commentators such as Haribhadra and others began to link the Sutra’s prescriptions to broader doctrines of karma, cosmology, and the stages of spiritual development, so that specific rules were seen as expressions of more general principles like non‑violence, non‑attachment, and truthfulness. The text was no longer treated only as a list of regulations but as a foundational doctrinal source grounding Jain monasticism. At the same time, hermeneutical distinctions emerged between rules regarded as universally binding and those understood as context‑dependent, allowing the tradition to preserve the authority of the Sutra while acknowledging historical and social change.

Sectarian and sub‑sectarian developments added further layers of interpretation. Within the Śvetāmbara tradition, for which the Acharanga Sutra is canonical, some orders continued to stress literal austerity based closely on its prescriptions, while others relied more heavily on later monastic codes and commentaries to adapt its ideals to settled monastic life and evolving circumstances. Digambara thinkers, though not accepting the Śvetāmbara text as their own canon, engaged its themes of non‑possession, wandering, and ascetic rigor through their own scriptural lens, arguing over the degree to which early discipline had been preserved or lost. Across these debates, the Sutra’s portrayal of radical renunciation remained a touchstone for defining authentic Jain asceticism.

In more recent interpretive currents, both traditional scholars and modern academics have read the Acharanga Sutra with an eye to its historical layers and enduring ethical vision. Philological and historical study has highlighted its value for understanding the formation of early Jainism, while also discerning possible strata within the text. At the same time, teachers and interpreters have drawn out its inner dimensions: the cultivation of equanimity, fearlessness, mindfulness, and inner non‑violence that underlie the outer rules. This has encouraged readings that see the Sutra not only as a technical code for monks, but as articulating a comprehensive ascetic worldview whose central insight—ahimsa as a way of seeing and being—can illuminate questions of personal conduct, social responsibility, and even the relationship between human beings and other forms of life.