Ganadhar Sudharmä-swämi

Ganadhars are the immediate disciples of a Tirthankar. Bhagawän Mahävir had eleven Ganadhars. All of Bhagawän Mahävir’s monks were divided into 11 groups and each group was placed under a Ganadhar.When Bhagawän Mahävir attained Nirvana, only two of the eleven Ganadhars were still living, the first Ganadhar, Gautam-swämi and the fifth Ganadhar, Sudharmä-swämi.

 

Gautam-swämi attained Keval-jnän the day after Mahävir’s Nirvana. It is a Jain tradition that a Kevali monk or nun remains in a meditative state for the rest of his/her life and does not provide a leadership role to other monks. Hence, Sudharmä-swämi became the leader of all of the ascetics and the entire Jain community after Lord Mahävir’s Nirvana.

 

Sudharmä-swämi was the son of a learned Brahmin named Dhammil and his wife Bhaddilä. They lived in a village called Kollag, now known as Kollua in the state of Bihar, India. Dhammil and Bhaddilä both longed for a child. Bhaddilä worshipped goddess Saraswati (goddess of knowledge) faithfully. It is said that the goddess, pleased by her devotion, blessed Bhaddilä by promising her a highly accomplished son. Soon after that, Bhaddilä became pregnant, and in due course gave birth to a son named Sudharmä. He was born in 607 BC, and was 8 years older than Lord Mahävir.

 

Sudharmä grew up under the loving care of his parents. At an appropriate age, he went to a well-known Äshram (boarding school), where he studied the Vedas, Upanishads, and all other Hindu (Brahmanical) literature. He was a diligent scholar. By the time he returned from school, he was famous and well respected as a learned Brahmin Pundit. He then started his own school, which became a center of great learning. Over 500 pupils from all over the country came to study under his tutelage.

 

At that time in Päväpuri (also known as Apäpä), a city in Bihar, there lived a prosperous Brahmin named Somil. He had organized a great sacrificial Yajna. He invited all the well-known scholars of the time to

the event. Indrabhuti Gautam, who was the most learned Brahmin of that time, was the presiding priest. His equally learned brothers, Agnibhuti and Väyubhuti, attended along with seven other well-known Pundits. Sudharmä was also invited.

 

At the appointed time, the sacrificial ceremony began. At that time, the attendees noticed many celestial chariots descending towards the earth. Indrabhuti and the other priests were jubilant that they could persuade the celestial beings to descend and accept their respects. However, they were soon disappointed to see that the chariots passed over their ceremonial site and continued towards the nearby Mahäsen forest.

 

The celestial beings had actually come to pay their respects to Bhagawän Mahävir who had arrived at Päväpuri at the same time. After attaining Keval-jnän, Bhagawän Mahävir was going to deliver his first sermon and establish the Jain order.

 

Indrabhuti was outraged that the celestial beings did not pay their respect to his sacrificial rite. He decided to debate with Mahävir in order to prove to the celestial beings that he was more knowledgeable than Mahävir. So he left with his 500 followers to debate with Mahävir. He went to the place where Lord Mahävir was giving the sermon. As he approached, the Lord welcomed him saying, “Welcome Indrabhuti Gautam.” Indrabhuti was surprised. Then Bhagawän Mahävir addressed his doubts pertaining to the existence of the soul. After the explanation Indrabhuti and his 500 followers became the disciples of Mahävir.

Then it was Sudharmä’s turn. Sudharmä believed that every living being would reincarnate into its own species. In other words, human beings would be reborn only as human beings. His theory was based on the analogy of plant life. An apple tree, for instance, would produce the seeds from which only other apple trees could grow. Bhagawän Mahävir welcomed him too. He calmly and patiently explained to Sudharmä that human beings could be reincarnated as humans or heavenly beings or even as animals depending upon their Karma. He addressed all of Sudharmä’s doubts and explained to him the theory of Karma. Sudharmä saw the wisdom of Bhagawän Mahävir’s words and was convinced with the explanation and he too became a disciple of Bhagawän Mahävir. As a Ganadhar of Bhagawän Mahävir, he came to be known as Sudharmä-swämi. Sudharmä brought with him his five hundred disciples.

 

He was then followed by the remaining six Brahmin scholars. All eleven pundits became the Ganadhars of Bhagawän Mahävir. Dejected and abandoned, Somil cancelled the sacrificial ceremony and set all the animals free.

 

This happened when Mahävir was 42 years old and had just attained omniscience. Mahävir lived for another 30 years. During that period he continued to travel to different parts of the country in order to spread the message of compassion and explain the path of liberation. During those discourses, Sudharmä- swämi always sat in front of him and carefully listened to what Bhagawän Mahävir had to say. This enabled him to compose Mahävir’s teachings in the form of Jain scriptures known as Ägams.

 

After Mahävir’s Nirvana in 527 BC, the leadership of the Jain order was left to Sudharmä-swämi. During the next 12 years that he remained at the helm, he efficiently managed the Jain order set up by Bhagawän Mahävir and spread his message far and wide.

 

Shvetämbar tradition believes that during the period of his stewardship, Sudharmä-swämi organized Bhagawän Mahävir’s teachings into 12 scriptures, known as the 12 Anga Ägams. These original scriptures (Ägams), are collectively known as Dvädashängi. Dvädasha means 12, and Anga means limb (part). Many of the Ägams are composed in the form of questions asked by Jambu Swämi (Sudharmä-swämi’s disciple) and replies given by Sudharmä Swämi indicating Bhagawän Mahävir’s reply. Sudharmä-swämi attained omniscience in 515 BC and attained Nirvana in 507 BC at the age of 100. After attaining omniscience, the religious order was entrusted to his principal disciple Jambu Swämi.

 

Jainism has deep roots and we practice it based on the scriptures that have passed down for many generations. The scriptures called Ägams, compiled by the Ganadhars, comprise of the preachings of Mahävir-swämi. We do not have the benefit of the presence of such great monks as Gautam-swämi and Sudharmä-swämi in this era, but we do have the benefit of learning those

principles from the scriptures. Thus, we should take advantage of the scripture that have passed down through many generations.