Seaman sutra book
It sounds like you might be asking about the Jain text commonly known as Saman Suttam (often spelled “Saman Suttam”). Here’s a simple, authentic overview:
- What it is: Saman Suttam is a major Jain scripture in Śvetāmbara tradition, compiled to present a consolidated collection of many early Jain sutras (Anga/suttas) in a single volume. It is valued for summarizing core Jain teachings, ethics, and doctrine in a framework that lay and mendicants can study together.
- Purpose: It helps practitioners learn the foundational Jain concepts—tirthankar, karma and its effects, samvara (control of passions), gupti (self-discipline), right conduct, and the path to liberation—through a curated set of sutras.
- Digambara vs. Śvetāmbara: The exact compilations and the included texts differ between traditions. Śvetāmbara tradition principally uses Saman Suttam as a canonically important compilation, while Digambaras follow a different collection of canonical texts. In practice, both traditions aim to preserve the authentic Jain teachings, though the lists and order of sutras may not be identical.
- How to study: Start with a guiding introduction to the sutras, then read through selected sutras that cover ethics (ahimsa, satya, abstinence, brahmacharya), philosophy (karma, jiva, ajiva), and the practice of meditation and liberation.
If you’d like, I can point you to a Jain Knowledge resource that explains Saman Suttam in more detail, with the traditional Arth (meaning) preserved and clearly noting Digambara/Śvetāmbara distinctions.