Agam 44 Chulika 01 Nandi Sutra English Translation

Author(s): Dipratnasagar, Deepratnasagar
Publisher: Deepratnasagar

Page 9

NandiSootra
THE GLORY OF THE ORDER OF MAHAVIR
[022]MEANING -May the best and the universally beneficent religious order of Bhagavan Mahavir be victorious. The order that ever propagates the pious path of renunciation and leads to nirvana; reveals all the fundamentals (matter and life); reveals all forms and attitudes, and destroys evil path and the perversions of vile beliefs.
*OBEISANCE TO THE ERA-LEADERS*
[023] MEANING -I pay homage to Sudharma Swami of the Agnivaishyayan gotra (clan), Jambu Swami of the Kashyap gotra, Prabhav Swami of the Katyayan gotra and Shayyambhav Swami of the Vats a gotra.
COMMENTARY -After the founding of the religious ford by the Tirthankar the responsibility of the management of the religious order and organization rests with his principal disciples, the Ganadharas. The man who shoulders this responsibility after the nirvana of the Tirthankar is known as Pattadhar (Head of the Order). Nine of his chief disciples had attained omniscience and were liberated before the nirvana of Bhagavan Mahavir. In Pavapuri, Gautam Swami also became omniscient immediately after the nirvana of Bhagavan Mahavir. An omniscient, as a rule, is never a carrier of any tradition; as such, although alive, Gautam Swami did not become the head of the order. The responsibility of carrying on the religious tradition established by Bhagavan Mahavir came to Sudharma Swami making him the first Head of the Order. This is the PRAISE of the Acharyas belonging to the glorious lineage of heads of the order of Bhagavan Mahavir.
Arya Sudharma Swami - Arya Sudharma Swami was born into a Brahman family of Agnivaishyayan gotra. The names of his mother and father were Bhaddila and Dhammil respectively and they lived in the Videh area. The period of his birth is estimated to be around 80 B.V.N. (Before Vir Nirvana) Extremely talented Sudharma received the traditional Vedic knowledge of fourteen subjects from his scholarly father and established himself as a front line Vedic scholar of his time. Sudharma got initiated with his five hundred disciples during the first post Kewal-jnana discourse of Bhagavan Mahavir on Vatshakh Shukla 11, 500 B.V. (Before the beginning of the Vikrarn era) at that time his age was fifty years.
He got to spend three years with Bhagavan Mahavir and during this period, based on the Tripadi (tripod; the popular name given to the essence of Bhagavan Mahavir's discourse), he authored the twelve ragas which became the principal canons of the Jain tradition. Arya Sudharma had also taken over the control of the lineage of disciples of all the other Ganadhars by the time of Bhagavan Mahavir's nirvana. After remaining the Head of the Order for twelve years he attained omniscience in 12 A.N.M. (After the Nirvana of Mahavir) He got nirvana at the age of approximately one hundred years on Vaibharagiri hills near Rajagriha after observing a month long fast in 20 A.N.M.
Arya Jambu Swami - The successor of Sudharma Swami as the Head of the Order was Jambu Swami. He was born in a wealthy merchant family of Rajagriha in 16 B.V.N. (543 B.C.). The names of his father and mother were merchant Rishabhdatt and Dharini Devi respectively. When she conceived, mother Dharini had seen five divine dreams 1. Smokeless fire, 2. a lotus-pond, 3. Farms with ripe harvest, 4. a white elephant with four tusks, and 5. A jambu fruit of best quality. In due course, when she gave birth to a son he was named Jambu Kumar.
Aagam- 44 -NandiSootra
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Compiled by- Deepratnasagar