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Jain
Stories |
Ganadhar
Sudharmäswämi |
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Sudharmäswämi
was the fifth Ganadhar of Lord Mahävir. Ganadhar means a
group leader. Lord Mahävir had many pupils. They were divided
into 11 groups and each of them was placed under one Ganadhar.
As such, there were 11 Ganadhars in all. The first and foremost
was Gautam-swämi, whose idol you might have seen in the temple.
Actually, Gautam is his last name, because he belonged to the
Gautam clan. His first name was Indrabhuti, but he is popularly
known as Gautam-swämi. Even Lord Mahävir used to call
him Goyam, which is the Ardhamägadhi version of Gautam.
Sudharmäswämi
was the son of a learned Brahmin named Dhammil, who lived in a
village called Kollag situated in the present state of Bihar.
The place is now known as Kollua and according to the archaeologists,
it is the place where great Pundits like Vyakta and Sudharma had
their schools in ancient times. Dhammil was childless. His wife
Bhaddilä was therefore craving for a child and worshipped
the goddess Saraswati for that purpose. It is said that the goddess
was pleased by her devotion and blessed her to get a highly accomplished
son. Soon after that, Bhaddilä became pregnant, and in due
course, she gave birth to a son, who was named Sudharma. That
happened in 607 BC, which means Sudharmäswämi was 8
years older than Lord Mahävir.
The
boy grew up under the loving care of his parents. At the proper
age he was sent to a well known Äshram school, where he studied
Vedas, Upanishads and all other Brahmanical literature. By the
time he came back from the school, he was known as a learned Pundit
and his fame had spread round about. He then started his own school,
which became a great center of learning. Pupils used to come there
from all over the country. There were more than 500 students studying
under him.
At
that time in Päväpuri, a city of Bihar, there was a
prosperous Brahmin named Somil. Once, he decided to organize a
great sacrifice. He wanted all the well-known learned men to come
on that occasion. Indrabhuti Gautam, who was the most learned
Brahmin of that time, was going to be the presiding priest. His
equally learned brothers, Agnibhuti and Väyubhuti, were going
to sit by his side. Vyakta and other well known Pundits were also
scheduled to remain present on that occasion. Somil had come to
know about Sudharma and had sent the invitation to him. Sudharma
did not wish to miss the opportunity to attend that great sacrifice.
Moreover, he was eager to see the Gautam brothers. He therefore,
willingly accepted Somil’s invitation.
At
the appointed time, the sacrifice started in right earnest. Oblations
began to be offered together with the recitation of the appropriate
verses. As the sacrificial smoke rose towards the sky, they noticed
the celestial vehicles coming down. Indrabhuti and other priests
were satisfied that they could induce the celestial beings to
come down to accept the oblations. They were, however, disappointed
to see that the vehicles had diverted their direction and were
descending at the other end of the city. They could not make out
why, forsaking their great performance, the vehicles were bound
towards a different destination.
What
had happened was that after attaining omniscience, Lord Mahävir
had arrived at Päväpuri that very time. The heavenly
beings were therefore coming down to pay their homage to the Lord
and to listen to his sermon. Indrabhuti was surprised to know
that. He had never come across anyone more knowledgeable than
himself. He therefore guessed that Mahävir might be an impostor
who could have somehow impressed the heavenly beings. It was therefore
necessary to counter his tactics immediately. |
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that intention, Indrabhuti went towards the camping ground of the
Lord. As he approached, the Lord welcomed him by calling his name.
Indrabhuti was astonished that the impostor even knew his name.
But as he looked at the Lord, he was impressed by his personality.
His pride began to melt. The Lord soon asked him, ‘Gautam,
a doubt still lurks in your mind about the independent existence
of the soul. Isn’t that?’ Indrabhuti was dumbfounded
to hear those words, because he did have such a doubt. The Lord
then quoted the relevant Sutra from Veda itself and explained that
there was no reason to hold such a doubt. With that clarification,
the doubt of Indrabhuti was eradicated. Thereupon, he decided to
accept the Lord as his Guru. So falling at the feet of the Lord,
he requested to be accepted as a pupil. The Lord was pleased to
accede to the request and initiated him as the first pupil.
As Indrabhuti did not come back, his brothers
Agnibhuti, Väyubhuti and other Pundits like Vyakta went to
the Lord one after another. The Lord welcomed them, and, pointing
out their doubts pertaining to the soul, he gave them the convincing
replies. All of them were satisfied with the Lord’s elucidation
and became his pupils along with their own followers.
Now, it came the turn of Sudharma. He had the
concept that every living being could reincarnate in its own species.
In other words, human beings could be reborn as human only. His
belief was based on the analogy of plant life. An apple tree,
for instance, would produce the seeds from which only apple trees
can come out. The Lord welcomed him, too, and, pointing out his
doubt, he explained that as different types of plants could be
produced by cross breeding, so human beings could be reincarnated
as human or heavenly beings or even as animals depending upon
their tendencies and longings. Sudharma was convinced with that
explanation and became the Lord’s pupil along with his 500
followers. As a Ganadhar of the Lord he came to be known as Sudharmäswämi.
This happened during the 42nd year of the Lord.
The eleven Pundits who had come from Somil’s sacrifice became
his first pupils and later came to be known as Ganadhars. Thereafter
the Lord lived for 30 years. During that period, he continued
to move in different parts of the country in order to lay down
the path of liberation. During his discourses, Sudharmäswämi
always sat in front of him and carefully listened to what the
Lord had to say. That enabled him to compose the Lord’s
teaching in the form of Ägams.
By the time of the Lord’s Nirvän in
527 BC nine of the eleven Ganadhars had passed away and only Gautam-swämi
and Sudharmäswämi had survived. Since Gautam-swämi
had attained omniscience on the very night of Lord’s Nirvän,
the administration of the order was left to Sudharmäswämi.
During the next 12 years that he remained at the helm, he efficiently
managed the order set up by the Lord and spread his message far
and wide. He gained omniscience in 515 BC and attained Nirvän
in 507 BC at the ripe age of 100. After gaining omniscience, the
religious order was entrusted to his principal pupil Jambuswämi.
During the period of his stewardship, Sudharmäswämi
composed the Lord’s teachings in 12 parts, which are known
as 12 Anga Ägams. They are known as our original Ägams
and are collectively known as Dwädashängi. Dwädash
means 12, and Anga means limb. As there are various limbs of the
body, so there are these 12 limbs of the spiritual science. Many
of the Ägams are composed in the form of questions asked
by the disciple Jambuswämi and the replies given by Ganadhar
Shri Sudharmäswämi. A brief description of those 12
Ägams is given below.
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01
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Ächäräng Sutra
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It is the first and foremost Ägam.
It deals with the code of conduct for spiritual aspirants
and particularly for monks and nuns. It also covers Lord Mahävir’s life during
the period of renouncement.
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| 02 |
Sutrakrutäng |
It deals with different
ideologies, Karma, salvation and various other aspects of
special importance to the spiritual aspirants. |
| 03 |
Sthänäng Sutra |
It deals with various
aspects of Jainism by classifying them in 1 of 10 categories. |
| 04 |
Samaväyäng Sutra |
Its pattern is similar
to Sthänäng, but the classification extends to more than
10 categories. This
and Sthänäng together form a sort of Jain encyclopedia. |
| 05 |
Vyäkhyäprajnapti |
This is also known
as Bhagavati Sutra. It
deals with thousands of questions pertaining to spiritual
as well as worldly aspects, raised by Gautam-swämi and others
and replies given by Lord Mahävir. |
| 06 |
Jnätä-dharma-kathäng |
It conveys various
aspects of Jainism in the form of stories.
The story of Draupadi and the well-known story of
four daughters in law occur in this book. |
| 07 |
Upäsakdashäng |
It describes the lives
of Anand, Kämdev, and eight other laymen who adopted and
rigorously practiced the code for house-holders or Shrävaks
as laid by the Lord. |
| 08 |
Antakritdashänga |
It describes the lives
of 10 entities who ended the life cycle and attained liberation. |
| 09 |
Anuttaraupapätika |
It describes the lives
of the entities who are reborn in Anuttara heaven. Only the souls, who are destined to attain
liberation in the next life, are born in that heaven. |
| 10 |
Prashna Vyäkaran |
It describes violence
and other defilement as sources of Äsrava and narrates how
the major five restraints result in Samvar or prevention
of Karma. |
| 11 |
Vipäk Sutra |
It describes stories
depicting the consequences of Karma that the souls have
to bear at the time of fructification of Karma. |
| 12 |
Drishtiväda |
This Anga has been
lost more than 2000 years ago.
It had 5 parts.
One of them was known as Purvas.
There were 14 Purvas in all.
Four of them were lost before 300 BC The other Purvas
were also lost later on. |
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Many other Sutras were compiled thereafter. Aside from the above-mentioned
Anga Ägam sutras, the following Sutras are prominent.
Key Message:
Jainism has deep roots and we practice it based on the scriptures
that have been passed down from many generations. These scriptures
called Ägams have been authored by well qualified monks and
very respected souls. We don’t have the benefit of such
great monks as Gautam-swämi in this era, but we do have the
benefit of learning and extracting those ideas from the scriptures.
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