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Gandhad SUDHARMA-SWAMI
of the ascetics & the entire Jain community after Lord Mahavir's Nirvana.
GANDHARS ACHARYAS
anadhars are the immediate
disciples of a Tirthankar. Bhagawan Mahavir had eleven Ganadhars. All of Bhagawan Mahavir's monks were divided into eleven groups & each group was placed under a Ganadhar. When Bhagawan Mahavir attained Nirvana, only two of the eleven Ganadhars were still living, the first Ganadhar, Gautam-Swami & the fifth Ganadhar, Sudharma-Swami.
Sudharma-Swami was the son of a learned Brahmin named Dhammil & his wife Bhaddila. They lived in a village called Kollag, now known as Kollua in the state of Bihar, India. Dhammil & Bhaddila both longed for a child. Bhaddila worshipped goddess Saraswati (goddess of knowledge) faithfully. It is said that the goddess, pleased by her devotion, blessed Bhaddila by promising her a highly accomplished son. Soon after that, Bhaddila became pregnant, & in due course gave birth to a son named Sudharma. He was born in 607 BC, & was eight years older than Lord Mahavir.
Gautam-Swami attained Keval- jnan the day after Mahavir'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 & does not provide a leadership role to other monks. Hence, Sudharma-Swami became the leader of all
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