Sudharmaswami (Sanskrit: Sudharmāsvāmī or Sudharman; 607 BC – 507 BC) was the fifth ganadhara of Mahavira. All the current Jainacharyas and monks follow his rule.
Sudharmaswami was the spiritual successor of Indrabhuti Gautama in religious order reorganised by Mahavira.[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 attained nirvana in 507 BC at the age of 100.[1][3] The leadership of religious order was then transferred to Jambuswami who 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 other tirthankaras only to the extent that the agama texts 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]
