Āgama
Āgama (Skt.). In Hinduism, a general term for scripture, but more specifically, a body of medieval Vaiṣṇava (specifically Pāñcarātra), Śaiva, and Śakta literature in Sanskrit and Tamil, called respectively the Pāñcarātra Saṃhitās, the Śaiva Āgamas, and the Śakta Tantras. There is also a collection of Jain Āgamas.
In Buddhism, āgama is the Mahāyāna name for the collections of writings known in Pāli as nikāya. Thus Dirghāgama is equivalent to Digha Nikāya, et al. In Jap., āgama is agon, as in agon-gyō, the four Chinese collections of sūtras. In Jainism, it is the term, along with siddhānta (established teachings); for the ‘canonical’ texts: see AṆGA.
In Buddhism, āgama is the Mahāyāna name for the collections of writings known in Pāli as nikāya. Thus Dirghāgama is equivalent to Digha Nikāya, et al. In Jap., āgama is agon, as in agon-gyō, the four Chinese collections of sūtras. In Jainism, it is the term, along with siddhānta (established teachings); for the ‘canonical’ texts: see AṆGA.
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