During Mahāvīra’s lifetime he attracted a great number of disciples, both men and women, and from these grew the four orders of his community: monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen.
Monks.Chief amongst his followers were fourteen thousand monks (or muni) and at the head of these were eleven chief disciples or Gaṇadhara whom Jaina compare to the twelve disciples of our Lord, Gośāla the twelfth corresponding to Judas. Mahāvīra had seen in the case of Gośāla and others the special temptations and dangers which beset ascetics in their wandering life, and he resolved to combat these as well as he could by organization and regulations. He therefore divided his fourteen thousand followers into nine regular schools called Gaṇa and placed each school under the headship of one of his chief disciples or Gaṇadhara. The leading Gaṇadhara had five hundred monks under them, but some of the others had only three hundred or two hundred and fifty.
Gautama was at the head of a school of five hundred, and so were his brothers Agnibhūti and Vāyubhūti, his other brother Akampita[1] being at the head of three hundred scholars.
Sudharma was at the head of another school of five hundred monks.
Only two of these eleven Gaṇadhara, Gautama and Sudharma, survived Mahāvīra; the others attained Kevala jñāna and died of voluntary starvation at Rājagṛiha before their master’s death.
- ↑ The Sthānakavāsī Jaina do not believe that Akampita was the brother of Gautama; they think he was only a friend.
