GAUTAMSWAMI
In 607 B. C., in the village of
Gobargaon, a Brahmin couple called Vasubhuti and Prithvi Gautam (family
name) had a son named Indrabhuti. He was tall and handsome. He had two
younger brothers named Agnibhuti and Vayubhuti. All three were well versed
in the Vedas and other rituals at an early age. They were very popular and
great scholars in the state of Magadh. Each one of them had 500 disciples.
Once
in the city of Apapa, a Brahmin named Somil was conducting a Yagna
(sacrificial ceremony) at his home. There were over four thousand Brahmins
present at the occasion, and there were eleven popular scholars among
them.
Indrabhuti stood out as a bright star.
Somil was a staunch supporter of the Brahmin philosophy and was very happy
during the ceremony. The whole town was excited by this event in which
they were going to sacrifice the sheep and the goats. Suddenly, Somil
noticed many celestial beings coming down towards his sacrificial site. He
thought that this would make his offering ceremony the most popular in the
history. He told the people, "Look at the sky, even the angels are coming
to bless us." The whole town was eagerly looking at the sky.
To their surprise, the celestial beings
did not stop at their site, instead they went further down. Somil's ego
melted away as he learned that the celestial beings paid homage to Lord
Mahävir, who had come to near by Mahasen Forest. Indrabhuti was outraged
by this incident and his ego was bruised. He started thinking to himself,
"Who is this Mahävir who does not even use affluent Sanskrit, but speaks
the common public language of Ardha Magadhi." Everyone in the ceremony was
overpowered by the mere presence of Lord Mahävir. Indrabhuti once again
thought, "Mahävir opposes animal sacrifices, and if he succeeds then we
Brahmins will loose our livelihood. I will debate with him." He left to
challenge him.
Mahävir welcomed Indrabhuti by calling him by his name even though they
had never met before. Indrabhuti was surprised, but then he said to
himself, "Who does not know me? I am not surprised he knew my name. I
wonder if he knows what I am thinking." Omniscient Mahävira knew what was
going through Indrabhuti's mind. Indrabhuti, even though a great scholar,
had a doubt about the existence of Atma (soul) and was thinking to
himself, "Can Mahävir tell that I doubt the existence of the soul?" The
next moment Mahävir said, "Indrabhuti, Atma (soul - consciousness) is
there and you should not question it." Indrabhuti was shocked and began to
think very highly of Mahävir. Then, they had a philosophical discussion,
and Indrabhuti changed his beliefs and he became Mahävir's first and chief
disciple. Indrabhuti was fifty years old at the time, and from then on he
was called Gautamswämi, beause he came from Gautam family.
Meanwhile in the town, Somil and other
scholars were waiting to greet the expected winner of the debate,
Indrabhuti. They were shocked to learn that Indrabhuti had become the
disciple of Mahävir. The other ten Brahmin scholars, also went to debate
with Mahavir, also became his disciples, the same way as Indrabhuti. The
people present at the Somil’s place began to leave, and Somil canceled the
ceremony and turned all the animals loose.
One time, Gautamswämi was going back
after the gochari (getting food or alms), and he noticed many people going
in another direction. He asked them what was going on. They said, "We are
going to see Anand shravak. He has been performing austerities and has
attained a special knowledge (Avadhignan)." Anand shravak was Mahävir's
follower, so Gautamswämi decided to go and visit him. When Anand saw
Gautamswämi coming to his house, he was very happy that his guru
(spiritual teacher) was coming. However, even though he was very weak due
to his austerities, he got up and welcomed Gautamswämi. Gautamswämi
inquired about his condition. Anand replied, "With your blessings, I am
fine." After some time, Anand told Gautamswämi with respect, "Reverend
teacher, I have attained Avadhijnan because of which I can see as high as
fourteenth heaven and as low as the seventh hell." Gautamswämi thought, "
A shravak can attain Avadhijnan, but not to this extent." Aloud he told
Anand, "You should do prayshchit (atonement) for your imagination." Anand
was puzzled. He knew what he could see, but his teacher told him to atone
for telling that. So, he politely asked Gautamswämi, "Does one have to
atone for telling the truth?" Gautamswämi replied, "No," and then left the
place thinking, "I will reconfirm this with Lord Mahävir."
Gautamswämi returned to Lord Mahävir,
who was sitting with his other disciples, and asked about Anand. Mahävir
said, "Gautam, Anand was telling the truth. How could a person like you
with so much knowledge make such a mistake? You should atone for your
mistake." Mahävir believed in the truth, and he would never cover up the
mistake of his disciple just to make their group look good. Gautamswämi
put his alms aside, and immediately went to Anand's house to ask for
forgiveness for his doubt. Anand was proud of his humble teacher, who did
not mind admitting his own fault to his followers.
On another occasion, Gautamswämi went to
town for the alms. He was returning with the kheer (a sweet made from rice
and milk) in a patra (bowl) when he saw fifteen hundred hermits.
Gautamswämi felt that they were hungry and offered them the kheer. They
began to wonder how Gautamswämi would feed all of them. Gautamswämi
requested all of the hermits to sit down, and then he served everyone with
the kheer with the help of
Aksheenmahanasi (nondiminishing)
Labdhi (special power). While serving the kheer, he kept his thumb in the
kheer. To everyone's surprise they were all well served from the small
patra (bowl). The hermits were all so impressed by Gautamswämi, that all
fifteen hundred decided to take diksha (renunciation) from Lord Mahavir.
Many sadhus, including those hermits,
attained Kevaljnan, but Gautamswämi was still unable to achieve it. He was
worried that he would never attain Kevaljnan. One day, Gautamswämi asked
Lord Mahävir, "There were eleven of us (main desciples - Gandhars) who
accepted diksha and most of them have attained Kevaljnan. Why am I so
unlucky that I am not able to attain Kevaljnan?" Lord Mahävir replied, "Gautam,
you have too much affection for me. In order to attain Kevaljnan you must
overcome the attachment. So, until you give up your attachment towards me,
it would not be possible for you to attain Kevaljnan."
On the day
when Mahavir was to attain nirvana (liberation), Mahavira sent Gautamswämi
out to preach to a man named Devsharma. On his way back, Gautamswämi
learned that Lord Mahävir had attained nirvana and reached the moksha
(salvation). Gautamswämi went into a state of shock and sorrow, lamenting,
"Lord Mahävir knew this was going to happen. Why did he send me away."
Gautamswämi could not stop his tears and started weeping. Within a few
minutes, he came back to his senses and began thinking, "Maybe this was
destined to happen this way. No one can live forever; no relationship is
permanent. Why was I so attached to Mahävir?" He contemplated that he was
wrong and gave up attachment for Mahavir. During this deep thinking, he
burned his Ghati Karmas and attained Kevaljnan at the age of eighty.
Gautamswämi taught and spread Jain
principles for next twelve years. He attained Moksha, at the age of
ninety-two in 515 B. C.
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