Sudharmaswami

Sudharmaswami
Statue of Sudharmaswami in Rujuwalika Jain Temple in Jharkhand
Venerated inJainism
Genealogy
Avatar birth607 BC
Avatar end507 BC
Parents
  • Rajanswami (adoptive father/uncle)
    Sampurn (father)
  • Prithvidarshyānā (mother)
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Sudharmaswami (Sanskrit: Sudharmāsvāmī or Sudharman; 607 BC – 507 BC) was the fifth ganadhara of Mahavira. All the current Jain acharyas and monks follow his rule.

Life

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Sudharmaswami was the spiritual successor of Indrabhuti Gautama in religious order reorganised by Mahavira.[1] He is traditionally dated from 607 to 507 BC.[2] In the Jain tradition he is believed to have obtained omniscience after 12 years in 515 BC.[1] He is believed to have attained nirvana in 507 BC at the age of 100.[1][3] The leadership of religious order was then transferred to Jambuswami who served for 44 years and was the last Ganadhara who survived after the death of Mahavira.[1]

For Jains, their scriptures represent the literal words of Mahavira and the other tirthankaras only to the extent that the agama texts are a series of fixed truths without a beginning or an end, and a tradition without any origin, human or divine, which in this world age has been channelled through Sudharmasvāmī.[4]

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d Natubhai Shah 2004, p. 39.
  2. ^ Natubhai Shah 2004, p. 41.
  3. ^ George 2008, p. 319.
  4. ^ Dundas 2002, p. 61.

Sources

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  • Dundas, Paul (2002) [1992], The Jains (Second ed.), Routledge, ISBN 0-415-26605-X
  • George, Vensus A. (2008), Paths to the Divine: Ancient and Indian, vol. XII, The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, ISBN 978-1-56518-248-6
  • Shah, Natubhai (2004) [First published in 1998], Jainism: The World of Conquerors, vol. I, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-1938-2
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