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JAIN CHURCH.
ciple, but a brother disciple. He represented the church for 14 years up to 357 B.C. He sprang from Prâchin gotra, an inhabitant of Pratisthanpur in the South. He was initiated at the age of 45 and remained 17 years in Sâmanya vrata before he became the head. He died at the age of 76 or about 170 years after Mahavira. He was a great scholar and commentator. His niryuktis on Jain Siddhant are handed down to us, as living examples of his vast learning and knowledge of our Shastras. His brother according to Jain tradition was Barâhamihir, the well-known astronomer.
9. Sthulabhadra. He was a native of Pâtaliputra and belonged to Gautama gotra His parents were Sakâdala and Lachhal Devi, the former was a minister of the 9th Nanda King. He lived 30 years in home, and passed 20 years in Sâmanya vrata and 49 years as head of the church up to 308 B.C. He converted several Maurya kings to Jainism and was a great scholar of the time. He breathed his last 219 years (according to some 215 years) after Mahavira in his 99th year.
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