The Sthānāṅga Sūtra belongs squarely to the Śvetāmbara canon, where it’s counted as one of the twelve Aṅga-Āgamas. In this lineup of primary scriptures, each “Aṅga” or “limb” represents a core text—think of them as the founding pillars of Śvetāmbara Jain teaching. Sthānāṅga stands out for its methodical cataloguing of knowledge into sixty-six topics, from cosmology and ethics to the very art of debate.

While the Śvetāmbara tradition embraces all twelve Aṅgas (with Sthānāṅga often listed second), the Digambara school regards these texts differently, viewing much of the Agama corpus as redacted or lost. Modern efforts—like the 2025 digitization project at the Jain Manuscript Digital Archive—have breathed new life into Sthānāṅga manuscripts, making them accessible to scholars worldwide and underscoring their ongoing relevance.