PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Dear Sadharmik brothers and sisters,
Jai Jinendra!

Recently, JOY, the youth wing of Jain Society of Greater Detroit celebrated Valentine-themed event at United Methodist Children’s home. Also, Young Jains of America and Jain Youths of Edmonton had Blankets & Bhavana event where they made blankets for homeless people.

Jain Center of Greater Phoenix celebrated temple’s 11th Anniversary. Below you can see details on the above events.

Read an interesting story of Sudharmaswami, a Ganadhar of Bhagawan Mahavir.

Sincerely,
Mahesh Wadher
JAINA President

JAIN STORY: GANADHAR SUDHARMASWAMI

Ganadhars are the immediate disciples of a Tirthankar. All of Bhagawan Mahavir’s monks were divided into 11 groups and each group was placed under a Ganadhar. When Bhagawan Mahavir attained Nirvana, only two of the eleven Ganadhars were still living, the first Ganadhar, Gautamswami and the fifth Ganadhar, Sudharmaswami. Of the two, Gautamswami attained keval-jnan the day after Mahavir’s nirvana. It is a Jain tradition that a kevali monk or nun remains in a meditative state for the rest of his/her life and does not provide a leadership role to other monks. Hence, Sudharmaswami became the leader of all of the ascetics and the entire Jain community.

Sudharmaswami was the son of a learned Brahmin named Dhammil and his wife Bhaddila. They lived in a village called Kollag, now known as Kollua, in the state of Bihar. Dhammil and Bhaddila had both been longing for a child, and Bhaddila worshipped Goddess Saraswati faithfully. It is said that the goddess, pleased by her devotion, blessed Bhaddila by promising her a highly accomplished son. Soon after that, Bhaddila became pregnant, and in due course gave birth to a son named Sudharma. He was born in 607 BCE, making him eight years older than Lord Mahavir. Sudharma grew up under the loving care of his parents. At an appropriate age, he went to a well-known ashram, where he diligently studied the Vedas, Upanishads, and all other Hindu pieces of literature. By the time he returned from school, he was famous and well respected as a learned Brahmin pandit.
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QUOTE

The enlightened should contemplate that his soul is endowed with boundless energy.

- Bhagwan Mahavir