For centuries after Mahavira, monks carried the scriptures in memory, reciting and teaching them aloud. Famines and the passing of learned teachers meant that parts were forgotten, and earlier councils at Mathura (under Skandila) and Valabhi (under Nagarjuna) had produced differing versions. Tradition says that about 980 years after Mahavira's nirvana — around 453 CE, or 466 CE by another reckoning — Devarddhigani called the monks together again at Valabhi in Saurashtra.
The council compared the two versions, settled the text, recorded differences where they could not be reconciled, and — for the first time — had the Agamas written down as manuscripts. The Agamas that Svetambara Jains study today descend from this work. Digambaras hold that the original Angas were gradually lost and do not accept this canon, relying instead on works like the Shatkhandagama. Many scholars identify Devarddhi with Devavachaka, author of the Nandi Sutra, though this is debated.
