Gandhar Gautam Swami

Author(s): JAINA Education Committee
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

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GANADHAR GAUTAM-SWÄMI
need to do Prayashchitta (atonement) for believing you can do this." Anand was puzzled. He knew that he was correct but his guru questioned his truthfulness and told him to repent for it. He therefore politely asked Gautam-swami, "Does one need to repent for speaking the truth?" Gautam-swämi was equally puzzled and replied, "No one has to repent for speaking the truth." Thinking that he would confirm this with Bhagawan Mahavir, Gautam-swami left Anand.
Gautam-swami returned to Bhagawan Mahavir and asked about Anand's clairvoyance knowledge. Mahävir replied, "Gautam, Änand was telling the truth. He can see as high as the first heaven and as low as the first hell. Rarely can a layman attain such a level of Avadhi-jnän. You should repent for your mistake of doubting him." Mahävir valued truth and would never conceal the mistake of his disciple to protect his own image. Gautam-swämi set aside his alms and immediately returned to Änand and asked for his forgiveness.
Offering food to 1500 Hermits
On another occasion, Gautam-swämi went to a temple on Mount Ashtäpad to pay homage to the 24 Tirthankars. The mountain was very difficult to climb. At the foothill of the mountain fifteen hundred hermits were trying to climb the mountain but they were not successful. They saw Gautam-swämi complete this difficult journey and were very impressed. They decided to be his disciples. Gautam-swämi preached to them about true religion and the correct ways of penance and accepted them as his disciples. All fifteen hundred hermits became Jain monks. Gautam-swämi realized that they were hungry and offered them Kheer (rice pudding) from a small Patra (bowl).
They began to wonder how Gautam-swämi would feed all of them. Gautam-swämi requested all the hermits to sit down. Since he possessed a special power called Akshin-mahānasi Labdhi (non-diminishing power), he served everyone Kheer from his small bowl. While serving Kheer he kept his thumb in it to invoke the power. To everyone's surprise, they all were well-served from this small Pätra.
Gautam-swami's Keval-jnän
As time passed, all the disciples of Gautam-swämi attained Keval-jnän, the ultimate knowledge. However Gautam-swämi was still unable to attain it. He was worried that he may not attain Keval-jnän in this life. One day Gautam-swämi asked Lord Mahävir, "Ten other scholars joined me on the day that I accepted Diksha and all eleven of us became your disciples. Nine of them have attained Keval-jnän. All my disciples have attained Keval-jnän. Why am I so unlucky that I am not able to attain Keval-jnän?" Lord Mahavir replied, "Gautam, it is because you have too much affection for me. In order to attain Keval-jnän you must overcome all types of attachment, including attachment to your beloved Guru. Until you give up your attachment towards me, it will not be possible for you to attain Keval-jnän.”
On the day that Lord Mahävir was going to attain Nirvana (liberation), he sent Gautam-swämi to a nearby village to preach to a man named Devsharma. On his way back, Gautam-swämi learned that Lord Mahävir had attained Nirvana. Gautam-swämi lapsed into a state of shock and sorrow, "Lord Mahävir knew that this was his last day on Earth. Why did he send me away?" Gautam-swämi could not stop his tears. He also thought, "I could not attain Keval-jnän while Mahävir was alive. Now there is no hope of attaining Keval-jnän because he is gone forever." However within a few minutes he realized his error and began thinking, "No one can live forever. No relationship is permanent. Why am I so attached to Lord Mahavir?" He contemplated that he was wrong and gave up his attachment towards Mahävir. During this
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