The Samavayanga Sutra is the 4th amongst the 12 Anga

Anga

Anga was a kingdom that flourished on the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 6th century BCE until taken over by Magadha in the same century. Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts like the Anguttara Nikaya, Anga also finds mention in the Jain Vyakhyaprajnapti’s list of...

s of the Jaina canon. The sutra

Sutra

Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...

 is believed to have been composed by Gandhara

Gandhara

Gandhāra , is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...

 Sudharma Svami. This ancient manuscript is the holy book of the Svetambara

Svetambara

The Śvētāmbara is one of the two main sects of Jainism, the other being the Digambar. Śvētāmbara "white-clad" is a term describing its ascetics' practice of wearing white clothes, which sets it apart from the Digambara "sky-clad" Jainas, whose ascetic practitioners go naked...

 sect. This text contains the essence of Jain religion, defined and catalogued systematically. It is believed to be written around the year 300 BC. It is a part of the collection of texts containing Lord Mahavira’s

Mahavira

Mahāvīra is the name most commonly used to refer to the Indian sage Vardhamāna who established what are today considered to be the central tenets of Jainism. According to Jain tradition, he was the 24th and the last Tirthankara. In Tamil, he is referred to as Arukaṉ or Arukadevan...

 teachings, collectively termed as Agama Sutras.

Subject matter of the Agama

Samavayanga Sutra contains elements of mathematics and astronomy. One of the interesting aspects of this text is its portrayal of Monasticism and spirituality in the terms of numerology.

Mathematics - The Samavayanga Sutra seems to be in continuation of the Sthananga Sutra and follows the numeric method of describing substances from 1 to 1 billion.

Astronomy – It contains discussion on Mount Meru, the jyotishcakra, the Jambudvipa itself, the measurements used in the Jaina canon, the Jaina Loka, the different types of Earth, the 7 Hells, the increase in water levels in the Lavana ocean and like.
It also gives information on the subject matter of the 14 Purva and the 12th Anga, Drstivada

Drstivada

Drstivāda is the last of the 12 Jain āgamas as per Śvetámbara tradition said to be promulgated by Māhavīra himself and composed by Ganadhara Sudharmasvami. Drstivāda translated as “Disputation about views” was said to contain entire knowledge of 14 Purvas or prior knowledge that is now considered...

. Being one of the oldest and most referred texts, it forms the backbone of the Jain literature. There is a description of the life-span of the Gods in the Samavayanga Agama. There is also a mention of the days of their inhalation and exhalation. It further defines and catalogues the main substances of the Jain religion from a different perspective than the Sthananga Sutra

Sthananga Sutra

As per the Śvetāmbara belief, Sthananga Sutra forms part of the first eleven Angas of the Jaina Canon which have survived despite the bad effects of this Hundavasarpini kala. This is the reason why, under the leadership of Devardhigani Ksamasramana, the eleven Angas of the Svetambara canon were...

. Furthermore, it contains references to the Damili script, an early Tamil script

Tamil script

The Tamil script is a script that is used to write the Tamil language as well as other minority languages such as Badaga, Irulas, and Paniya...

 which is also called as Tamil-Brahmi

Brāhmī script

Brāhmī is the modern name given to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of scripts. The best-known Brāhmī inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to the 3rd century BCE. These are traditionally considered to be early known examples of Brāhmī writing...

Script by the scholars.