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GANADHAR GAUTAM-SWÄMI
Mahävir. During this deep thinking, he destroyed his ghäti karmas and immediately attained keval-jnän at the age of eighty. He attained nirväna at the age of ninety-two in 515 BCE.
Lord Mahävir attained nirväna on the last day of the Jain and Hindu calendar, known as Deepavali or Diwali. Gautam swämi attained Keval-jnän on the first day of the New Year.
Moral:
Gautam-swämi was a Brahmin by birth and a very well learned Pundit. When he met Bhagawan Mahavir and realized that Mahavir was far more knowledgeable and spiritually advanced than him, he let go of his ego and became his disciple.
Mahavir valued truth and would never conceal the mistake of his disciple to protect his own image. At the same time, Gautam-swami did not have an ego that would prevent him from going and asking for forgiveness for his acts towards others.
However, because of his attachment for Mahavir-swāmi, he took a long time to achieve omniscience even though many other disciples had attained it much earlier. In Jainism, attachment to any individual is considered a passion. To attain omniscience, one must get rid of all passions. When Gautam-swämi realized this and became detached, he attained keval-jnän.
06 - Questions:
1. What happened at Somil's yajna?
2. How did Gautam swämi feed 1500 hermits?
3. What did Gautam swämi not achieve? Why?
4. Just before Mahävir swami attained Nirväna where did he send Gautam swämi? Why? 5. What happened in the end? Which was the last ghäti karma that Gautam swämi lost?
JAIN STORY BOOK
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