The Agams, also called the Jain Shrut, are as important in the JainDharma as are the Vedas in Brahmanic religion and the Pitakas in Buddhism.  The thinkers of the Mimamsa branch of Brahman philosophy considered the Vedas to be eternal and hence demonstrated them to beauthorless, while the thinkers of the Nyaya-Vaishesik and the otherbranches of the same philosophy maintained and demonstrated that theVedas are composed by God.

It is a wonderful feat of the Indians to have composed and preservedthe Vedas.  Even today one can come across hundreds of Brahmans who can recite from memory, without any error, the entire Vedas from thebeginning to the end.  Though they do not have the tradition of the meaning of the Vedas, they do have the tradition of Veda-recitation.

Lord Mahavir's preaching was orally complied by his disciples into many texts. This knowledge was orally transferred from acharyas (gurus) to the disciples over the course of about one thousand years. In olden times, monks strictly followed the five great vows of Jainism. Even religious scriptures were considered possessions and therefore knowledge of the religion was never documented. Also, during the course of time many learned acharyas (elder monks) complied commentaries on the various subjects of the Jain religion.