From the time of Mahāvīra until around the 3rd century BCE, his teachings were passed on orally through the lineages of his followers. By the end of that period, these oral texts had been organized into a cohesive body of scriptures.
These sacred Jain texts are known as Āgamas (scriptures). They still survive today. They are arranged in a canon (standardized collection) of 46 texts of Mahāvīra’s teachings.
Additionally, another body of ancient Jain scriptures—no longer surviving—was known as the Pūrvas. These were 14 scriptures said to be not only from Mahāvīra’s teachings but also from all the 23 Jain tirthaṅkars (jīnas) that had preceded him.
All current Jain sects agree that these Pūrva texts were subsequently lost. Mahāvīra had supposedly prophesied that within 1,000 years of his passing those texts would be lost, and indeed they were.