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Mahāvīra's chief disciples · 4,200 monks

The eleven gaṇadharas

एकादश गणधर

Eleven chief disciples leading nine gaṇas: five with five hundred monks each, two with two hundred and fifty, four with three hundred. Only one line of the eleven has descendants today.

The Kalpasūtra names them with their gotras and their following: Indrabhūti, Agnibhūti and Vāyubhūti of the Gautama gotra, five hundred śramaṇas each; Ārya Vyakta of the Bhāradvāja, five hundred; Ārya Sudharman of the Agniveśyāyana, five hundred; Maṇḍikaputra of the Vāsiṣṭha and Mauryaputra of the Kāśyapa, two hundred and fifty each; Akampita of the Gautama and Acalabhrātṛ of the Hārītāyana, three hundred each and one gaṇa between them; Metārya and Prabhāsa, both Kauṇḍinya, three hundred each and one gaṇa between them. Eleven men, nine gaṇas, four thousand two hundred monks.

Nine of the eleven attained mokṣa in Mahāvīra's lifetime and Indrabhūti Gautama shortly after; their pupils passed to Sudharman. The map draws the eleven as a fan at the crown, each bar as wide as his following, and lets ten of them end there.

MahāvīraIndrabhūti500Agnibhūti500Vāyubhūti500Vyakta500Sudharman500Maṇḍikaputra250Mauryaputra250Akampita300Acalabhrātṛ300Metārya300Prabhāsa300the eleven, by their monks1Sudharman · Agniveśyāyana2Jambū · Kāśyapathe last kevalī · 64 years after Mahāvīra, by tradition3Prabhava · Kātyāyana4Śayyambhava · Vatsa5Yaśobhadra · Tuṅgikāyana6Sambhūtavijaya · MāṭharaBhadrabāhu · Prācīnathe last śrutakevalī · died 170 years after, by tradition7Sthūlabhadra · Gautama8Mahāgiri · AilāpatyaSuhastin · Vāsiṣṭha9Susthita · VyāghrāpatyaSupratibuddha · Vyāghrāpatya10Indradatta · Kauśika11Datta · Gautama12Siṃhagiri · Kauśika13Vajra · Gautama14Vajrasena · Utkṛṣṭa15Puṣyagiri · Kauśika16Phalgumitra · Gautama17Dhanagiri · Vāsiṣṭha18Śivabhūti · Kautsa19Bhadra · Kāśyapa20Nakṣatra · Kāśyapa21Rakṣa · Kāśyapa22Nāga · Gautama23Jehila · Vāsiṣṭha24Viṣṇu · Māṭhara25Kālaka · Gautama26Sampalita · GautamaBhadra · Gautama27Vṛddha · Gautama28Saṅghapālita · Gautama29Hastin · Kāśyapa30Dharma · Suvrata31Siṃha · Kāśyapa32Dharma · Kāśyapa33Śāṇḍilya34Jambū · Gautama35Nandita · Kāśyapa36Deśigaṇin · Kāśyapa37Sthiragupta · Vātsya38Dharma Gaṇin39Devarddhi · Kāśyapathe canon written down at Valabhī · 980 years after, by tradition (some say 993)Godāsa gaṇafounded by GodāsaTāmraliptikā · Koṭivarṣīyā · Puṇḍravardhanīyā · DāsīkharbaṭikāUttarabalissaha gaṇafounded by Uttara and BalissahaKauśāmbikā · Sautaptikā · Kauṭumbinī · CandanāgarīUddeha gaṇafounded by RohaṇaUdumbarikā · Māsapūrikā · Matipatrikā · Pūrṇapatrikākulas: Nāgabhūta · Somabhūta · Ullagaccha · HastiliptaNāndika · ParihāsakaUḍuvāṭika gaṇafounded by BhadrayaśasKampīyikā · Bhadrīyikā · Kākandikā · Mekhalīyikākulas: Bhadrayaśaska · Bhadraguptika · YaśobhadraVeśavāṭika gaṇafounded by KāmarddhiŚrāvastikā · Rājyapālikā · Antarañjikā · Kṣemaliptikākulas: Gaṇika · Maighika · Kāmarddhika · IndrapurakaCāraṇa gaṇafounded by ŚrīguptaHāritamālākārī · Saṃkāśikā · Gavedhukā · Vajranāgarīkulas: Vātsalīya · Prītidharmika · Hāridraka · PuṣyamitrikaMālyaka · Āryaceṭaka · KṛṣṇasakhaMānava gaṇafounded by ṚṣiguptaKāśyapīyā · Gautamīyā · Vāsiṣṭhīyā · Saurāṣṭrikākulas: Ṛṣiguptika · Ṛṣidattika · AbhiyaśasaKauṭika gaṇafounded by Susthita and SupratibuddhaUccanāgarī · Vidyādharī · Vajrī · Madhyamikākulas: Brahmaliptaka · Vātsalīya · Vāṇīya · PraśnavāhanakaTrairāśika · founded by Rohagupta · a śākhā alonelater śākhās down the trunk: Madhyamā, Vidyādharī,Uccanāgarī and her four, Brahmadvīpikā, Āryavajrā, Vajrasena's fourthe canon written down at ValabhīThe string of elders, as a treeKalpasūtra, Sthavirāvalī — Jacobi, SBE 22the order and the gotras are the text's; the three years are tradition, markedeach gaṇadhara's bar is as wide as his following — 4,200 monks in all39elders · 11 gaṇadharas · 8 gaṇas
The string of elders, as a tree — The eleven gaṇadharas highlighted

Measurements and counts

Gaṇadharas11
Gaṇas9
Monks4,200
500 eachIndrabhūti, Agnibhūti, Vāyubhūti, Vyakta, Sudharman
250 eachMaṇḍikaputra, Mauryaputra
300 eachAkampita, Acalabhrātṛ, Metārya, Prabhāsa
Whose line continuedSudharman's

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समयं गोयम! मा पमायए

Do not be heedless, Gautama, for even a single samaya.

Uttarādhyayana Sūtra 10