Sudharma was the fifth of Mahavira's eleven chief disciples. Because Gautama became omniscient on the morning after Mahavira's nirvana — and an omniscient being does not lead a community — the leadership of the order passed to Sudharma, who outlived the other ganadharas.
The scriptures as the Svetambara tradition preserves them are framed as Sudharma speaking to his own disciple Jambu: many texts open with the words “suyam me, ausam” — “I have heard, O long-lived one…”. Through this chain of teacher and student, the words of Mahavira were carried forward before they were ever written down. Every Jain monastic lineage today traces itself back to Sudharma.
