Jain Journal 1973 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 14

JULY, 1973
eleven chief disciples of Lord Mahavira, only two, namely, Gautama and Sudharman outlived him, the rest died during his life-time. Why Sudharman and not Gautama (the eldest disciple) succeeded the Lord is a problem. The supposition of Colebrooke, Stevenson and Cunnigham which made Indrabhuti Gautama a rebel disciple of Lord Mahavira and confounded him with Gautama Sakya Muni, the reputed founder of Buddhism, is no longer tenable. The Jaina theologians account for this fact in this way. They say that whatever knowledge a Kevalin (a perfected saint) imparts to his disciples, he calls it as the result of his own thinking and not as something heard from the teacher. For this reason, Sudharman who was not a perfected saint at the time of Mahavira's demise, succeeded to the headship of the Church.
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Mahavira must have been a great man in his way and an eminent leader among his contemporaries (Jacobi). Like his great rival Buddha, he must have been an eminently impressive personality (Hoernle). From Buddhist accounts in their canonical works as well as in other books, it may be seen that this rival was a dangerous and influential one and that even in Buddha's time his teaching had spread considerably (Buhler). The followers of Mahavira called Nirgranthas are described in an old Buddhist Sutra as "head of companies of disciples and students, teachers of students, well-known and renowned founders of schools of doctrine, esteemed as good men by the multitude". (Quoted by Dr. Buhler in his essay on the Jainas).
Lord Mahavira, like his predecessors, preached the doctrine of universal love and brotherhood. The object of his Church was to lead all persons to salvation and it opened its arms, to quote the words of Dr. Buhler, "not to the noble Aryan; but also to low-born sudra and even to the alien, deeply despised in India, the Mleccha". In the Uttaradhyayana Sutra, we are told that birth is of no value. The same Sutra says elsewhere: "One does not become a Sramaṇa by the tonsure, nor a Brahmana by the sacred symbol Om, nor a Muni by living in the woods, nor a Tapasvi by wearing (clothes of) Kusa-grass and bark. One becomes a Sramana by equanimity, Brahmana by chastity, a Muni by knowledge and a Tapasvi by penance. By one's actions one becomes a Brāhmaṇa, or a Ksatriya, or a Vaisya or a Sudra." (Sec. XXV. 31, 32 & 33) A man of such lofty ideas and catholic views as Mahavira was, could not possibly use Sanskrit in his discourses as that language was understood only in the limited circle of the learned priests. Mahavira's object like that of Buddha was to raise the moral and spiritual condition of the non-Brahmin community. He, therefore, addressed the people in their