Silanka’s Vijnānāvṛtti (5th century CE) stands out as the oldest and most authoritative commentary on the Acharanga Sutra. Crafted in elegant Sanskrit, it unpacks every terse aphorism with meticulous care—often the first port of call for Digambara monastics seeking to grasp the subtle ethics and disciplines prescribed by Bhagwan Mahavira.

A few centuries later, the polymath Acharya Haribhadra Sūri added his own gloss, known variously as Tarjini or Jayastambha. Written around the 8th century, it weaves in analogies drawn from contemporary life—farming, warfare and courtly etiquette—making the ascetic ideals feel strikingly down-to-earth. Haribhadra’s flair for storytelling still sparks interest among students tracing the evolution of Jain hermeneutics.

Jumping ahead to medieval times, Virasena’s Samarāshṭaka commentary (10th century) took a more technical turn, layering in logical analyses and cross-references to other āṅgas. This work mirrors the vibrancy of scholarly debate then flourishing in Gujarat and Maharashtra, where Jain thinkers rubbed shoulders with Buddhist logicians and Hindu grammarians.

In modern scholarship, Champat Rai Jain’s 1917 English translation and notes opened the Acharanga to a global audience. More recently, Dr. Padmanabh S. Jaini’s annotated English edition (1979) and Vijay K. Jain’s bilingual volume (2002) combine critical apparatus with vivid introductions—ideal for anyone trying to bridge ancient monastic culture and twenty-first-century ethical concerns. Digitization projects at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute and the JAIN eLibrary have also made these commentaries freely accessible online, bringing the sages’ voices to smartphones and tablets around the world.

Together, these layers of commentary—from Silanka’s pioneering exegesis to today’s digital editions—chart a living conversation that continues to inspire both monastics and lay practitioners.