All 72 kalas taught to men by lord aadinath
Bhagwān Ādināth (Rushabhdev) is traditionally said to have taught:
- 72 kalā (arts/skills) – to men
- 64 kalā (arts/skills) – to women
But very important to understand:
- There is no single, universally fixed item‑by‑item list of all 72 names in the Jain tradition.
- Digambar and Śvetāmbara granths both accept the number 72 for men, but
Because of this, giving one rigid list as “the only correct 72 kalās” would be misleading, not faithful to the actual Jain scriptural tradition.
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What did Ādināth actually teach (in essence)?
All traditions agree that Bhagwān Ādināth organized almost the whole civilised life of early humans. The 72 kalās for men mainly cover:
- Asi – use of weapons for protection and order (not for unnecessary violence)
- Masi / Lipi – writing, script, record‑keeping
- Kṛṣi – agriculture, ploughing, growing food
- Vidyā – education, various sciences
- Vāṇijya – trade, business, exchange
- Śilpa – crafts, architecture, construction, technical skills
Along with these, the 72 kalās include many types of:
- Fine arts – music, singing, dancing, playing instruments
- Crafts – carpentry, metal work, pottery, weaving, cloth‑making
- Administration & social skills – running a kingdom, rules of society, justice
- Counting & measuring – mathematics, weights, measures, accounts
- Everyday skills – management of house, animals, tools, etc.
His daughters are especially remembered:
- Brahmī – teaching script / language
- Sundarī – teaching numbers / mathematics
So, the spirit of the 72 kalās is:
> Ādināth Bhagwān gave people a complete lifestyle – how to live, work, trade, build, learn, and organize society – along with the spiritual path to liberation.
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Digambar and Śvetāmbara – any difference?
- Both accept:
- Differences are mostly:
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Why you rarely see a full 72‑item list in Jain books
- Many Jain texts focus more on principle than on memorising 72 labels.
- Art traditions (like temple panels of “72 kalā”) also group events/skills differently.
- Modern authors are careful not to claim “this one list is final” when classical sources themselves differ.
So, from the point of view of shuddh Jain darshan, what we can say with confidence is:
- Number: 72 kalās for men (and 64 for women) – accepted in both main traditions
- Core content: weapons‑discipline, writing, agriculture, trade, crafts, music, maths, administration, and other social skills
- Purpose: to make human life ordered, ethical and cultured, leading eventually towards dharma and renunciation, not towards more attachment.
You can read a simple explanation of this tradition here
and some additional discussion here
Because the exact 72‑name enumeration is not uniformly fixed in Jain scriptures, it is more correct and honest to preserve the principle and spirit of these kalās rather than present one doubtful “complete list.”