Sudharmaswami(Sanskrit:SudharmāsvāmīorSudharman;607 BC – 507 BC) was the fifthganadharaofMahavira.All the currentJainacharyasand monks follow his rule.
Sudharmaswami was the spiritual successor ofIndrabhuti Gautamain religious order reorganised byMahavira.[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 attainednirvanain 507 BC at the age of 100.[1][3]The leadership of religious order was then transferred toJambuswamiwho 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 othertirthankarasonly to the extent that theagamatexts 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]
