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gation is always embellished with eight miraculous accompaniments called Prātihāryas. The Lord's divine voice, one of the eight Pratihāryas, is heard and enjoyed by all present in their respective tongue. Acharya Manatunga (c. seventh century CE) describes its splendour in his everlasting creation Bhaktamar Stotra:
स्वर्गापवर्गगममार्गविमार्गणेष्टः
सद्धर्मतत्त्वकथनैकपटुस्त्रिलोक्या: ।
दिव्यध्वनिर्भवति ते विशदार्थसर्व
भाषास्वभावपरिणामगुणैः प्रयोज्यः ॥ 35 ॥
Your divine voice is a guide that illuminates the path leading to heaven and liberation; it is fully capable of expounding the essentials of true religion for the benefit of all the beings of the three worlds; it is endowed with miraculous attribute that makes it comprehensible and understood by every listener in his own language.
Only a disciple of exceptional brilliance and accomplishment (riddhi) is able to fully assimilate, without doubt, delusion, or misapprehension, the irrefutable teachings of a Tīrthamkara. The presence of such a worthy disciple, called a Ganadhara, is mandatory in the congregation before the Tīrthamkara delivers His sermon.
There were eleven Gaṇadharas in Lord Mahavira's congregation, with Gautamasvami, also known as Indrabhuti or Gautam Ganadhara, as His chief disciple.
As per the teachings of Lord Mahavira, Gautamasvami compiled the most sacred canonical scriptures comprising twelve parts (Dvādasanga), also referred to as eleven Angas and fourteen Pūrvas, since the twelfth Anga comprises the fourteen Purvas. These scriptures contained the most comprehensive and accurate description of every branch of learning that one needs to know. The knowledge contained in these scriptures was transmitted orally by the teachers to their disciple saints.
During the next sixty-two years after liberation (Nirvāņa) of Lord Mahavira, sequentially, three Anubaddha Kevalīs attained omniscience
(xi)
