Who Was Gautam Swami? History, Miracles, and Enlightenment Journey
In 607 BCE, in a village named Gobar in the state of Magadha, lived a Brahmin couple named Vasubhuti and Prithvi Gautam. They had three sons: Indrabhuti, Agnibhuti and Väyubhuti. All three sons were well versed in the Hindu scriptures (Vedas) and were experts in the performance of Hindu rituals. They were great scholars at an early age, and each one of them had 500 disciples.
Somil’s Yajna
Once, in the nearby city of Apäpä, a brahmin named Somil organized a yajna (sacrificial ceremony). About 4,400 brahmins gathered for the occasion. Out of the eleven most popular scholars, Indrabhuti Gautam stood out as the head priest conducting the ceremony.
The whole town was excited by this event in which they planned to sacrifice sheep and goats. As Indrabhuti was about to begin his ritual, they noticed many celestial beings descending from heaven towards the sacrificial site. Thinking that this would make the sacrificial ceremony the most famous in history, Indrabhuti inwardly rejoiced, telling the people, “Look at the sky. Even the celestial beings are descending from heaven to bless us.” Everyone eagerly looked up at the sky and awaited their arrival.
To everyone’s surprise, the celestial beings did not stop at their site. Instead, they continued past the site and headed towards the nearby Mahäsen forest. Indrabhuti soon learned that the celestial beings were not coming for the yajna, but were going to pay homage to Bhagawän Mahävir, who had just attained Keval-jnän and was about to deliver his first sermon in the language of Ardha Mägadhi or Präkrit.
Indrabhuti was furious that the celestial beings would not pay their respects to his sacrificial rite. He angrily thought to himself, “Who is this Mahävir? He does not even use the rich Sanskrit language to deliver his sermon, but speaks the common people’s language of Ardha Mägadhi.” He decided to debate with Mahävir in order to prove to the celestial beings that he was more knowledgeable than Mahävir, and so he left the ritual with his 500 disciples to debate with Mahävir.
Even though they had never met before, Mahävir immediately welcomed Indrabhuti by his name. At first, Indrabhuti was caught off guard, but then he thought, “Why shouldn’t Mahävir know my name? I am Indrabhuti Gautam, the famous scholar.” However, it was really Bhagawän Mahävir’s omniscience (unbounded knowledge) that allowed him to recognize the Brahmin and know all of his thoughts. Mahävir knew that Indrabhuti had come to debate with him. He also realized that Indrabhuti had doubts about the existence of the soul, or Ätmä.
Mahävir asked, “Indrabhuti, do you doubt the existence of soul?” Then he explained that the soul exists and is eternal. He provided the proper interpretation of the Hindu scriptures (Vedas) and convinced Indrabhuti that the soul does exist. Indrabhuti was shocked and surprised that Mahävir had known his doubts about the existence of the soul and the proper interpretation of his scriptures. Upon realizing how incomplete his knowledge had been, he felt awakened and refreshed and became Mahävir’s first and chief disciple at the age of 50. From then on, he was called Gautam-swämi, as he came from the Gautam family.
Meanwhile, Somil and the other ten scholars were at the yajna waiting to greet the expected winner of the debate, Indrabhuti Gautam. However, they were stunned to learn that Indrabhuti had become a disciple of Mahävir. The other ten Brahmin scholars, with their disciples, immediately set out to debate with Mahävir and became his disciples, too. Dejected and abandoned, Somil cancelled the ceremony and set all the animals free. These eleven learned scholars became the main disciples of Lord Mahävir and are known as the eleven Ganadhars.
This event occurred when Mahävir was 42 years old and had just attained omniscience. Mahävir lived for another 30 years. During that period, he continued to travel to different parts of the country in order to spread the message of compassion and explain the path of liberation.
Änand Shrävak’s Clairvoyance Knowledge
Gautam swämi was living his life as a Jain monk, observing all the austerities and following the five great vows. Once, while returning from gochari (getting food or alms), he learned that many people were going to pay homage to Änand Shrävak (a Jain layman). He also learned that Änand Shrävak had attained clairvoyance knowledge, also known as Avadhi-jnän, by performing severe penance and austerities. Since Änand Shrävak was one of Mahävir’s followers, Gautam swämi decided to visit him.
When Änand saw Gautam swämi approaching his house, he was very happy. He welcomed Gautam-swämi, who inquired about Änand’s health and asked about his special knowledge. Änand respectfully replied to Gautam-swämi, “Reverend Guru, I have attained Avadhi-jnän. With this knowledge, I can see as high as the first heaven and as low as the first hell.” Gautam swämi explained to Änand, “A layman (Shrävak) can attain Avadhi-jnän, but not to this magnitude. You need to do präyashchitta (atonement) for believing you can do this.” Änand 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-swämi, “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 Bhagawän Mahävir, Gautam swämi left Änand.
Gautam swämi returned to Bhagawän Mahävir and asked about Änand’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.” 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 Ashtapad 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 were unsuccessful. Upon seeing Gautam swämi complete this difficult journey, they were very impressed and decided to be his disciples immediately. 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 pätra (bowl). They began to wonder how Gautam swämi would feed all of them, but Gautam swämi requested all the hermits to sit down. Since he possessed a special power called Akshin-mahänasi Labdhi (non-diminishing power), he served everyone kheer from his small bowl. While serving kheer, he kept his thumb in the bowl, invoking the power. To everyone’s surprise, the kheer in this small pätra was able to serve all of them well.
Gautam-Swämi’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 became worried that he might 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 dikshä and all eleven of us became your disciples. Nine of them have attained keval-jnän. All of my disciples have attained Keval-jnän. Why am I so unlucky that I am not able to attain Keval-jnän?” Lord Mahävir 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 nirväna (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 nirväna. He 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 Mahävir?” He realized that he was wrong and gave up his attachment towards Lord Mahävir. During this deep thinking, he destroyed his ghäti karmas and immediately attained keval-jnän at the age of eighty. He attained nirväna at the age of ninety-two in 515 BCE.
Lord Mahävir attained nirväna on the last day of the Jain and Hindu calendar, known as Deepävali or Diwali. Gautam swämi attained Keval-jnän on the first day of the New Year.