Svetambara Jains treat the Kalpa Sūtra as a cornerstone text—part hagiography, part monastic manual—handed down since the council at Valabhi (c. 5th century CE). Every Paryushana, congregations gather to hear elaborate recitations of Mahāvīra’s life from its pages: the renunciation at age 30, the 12-year austerities, the liberation under the Śrīvatsa mark. It’s more than history; it’s a living guide to vows, daily discipline and the subtle gradations of ascetic practice. Novices learn their niyamas (observances) by heart, and nuns commit the five samitis (restraint rules) to memory in white-robed study circles.

By contrast, Digambara communities generally don’t grant the Kalpa Sūtra canonical status. Belief holds that the original teachings were lost with the decline of Pāli and Prakrit fluency; surviving texts—like the Shatkhaṇḍāgama and Kasayapahuda—carry more weight. Rather than public recitals of Kalpa Sūtra episodes, Digambara monks emphasize doctrinal treatises on karma theory and meditative practices. Monastic discipline follows an oral lineage: a vow of nudity, total non-possession and selective adherence to a pared-down set of niyamas. Textual authority springs from commentaries by the likes of Kundakunda and Samantabhadra, not from Valabhi’s redaction.

That split shows up in festivals, too. While Svetambara youth quiz each other on 72 sections of the Kalpa Sūtra during online study groups (some using new smartphone apps), Digambaras focus more on silent retreats or discourse on mokṣa in community halls. Even academic conferences in Mumbai or at Harvard Divinity School track both streams—often highlighting how each tradition negotiates modern challenges, from ecological commitments to gender inclusivity.

At the end of the day, it’s a classic case of two siblings reading from slightly different family albums. One holds the Kalpa Sūtra like a treasured photo book, paging through every episode of Mahāvīra’s journey; the other treasures a different archive, believing its own path leads just as surely to liberation.